One of only a handful of conductorless chamber ensembles in the world, New Century Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1992 and includes 19 string players from the San Francisco Bay Area as well throughout the United States. Musical decisions are made collaboratively, resulting in an enhanced level of commitment from the musicians and concerts of remarkable precision, passion, and power. In the 2017-2018 season, British violinist Daniel Hope served as the ensemble’s Artistic Partner and concertmaster and was appointed beginning in the 2018-2019 season as the ensemble’s Music Director, bringing a new era of vibrancy and leadership. Previous music directors of the ensemble include Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (2008-2017), Krista Bennion Feeney (1999-2006) and Stuart Canin (1992-1999).
In addition to performing beloved masterworks from the chamber orchestra repertoire, New Century commissions important new works, breathes new life into rarely heard jewels of the past and frequently performs world premieres. Through its Featured Composer program, composers are commissioned to write new works for the orchestra, with the goals of expanding the repertoire and providing audiences with a deeper understanding and appreciation of today’s living composers.
Beyond regular season concerts in the San Francisco Bay Area, New Century has toured nationally including 2011 performances in the Midwest, East Coast, and Southern California and a 2013 eight-state national tour. In June 2019, the orchestra embarked on its first European Tour, the largest and most ambitious artistic undertaking in the organization’s history, with appearances across Germany and Poland including the acclaimed Leonard Bernstein-founded Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Philharmonie Essen. Critically acclaimed recordings include From A to Z: 21st Century Concertos (May 2014), LIVE: Barber, Strauss, Mahler (November 2010) and Together (August 2009).
The orchestra has released seven compact discs. The most recent, From A to Z: 21st Century Concertos, is a compilation of four of New Century’s live world premiere performances of its newly commissioned works by William Bolcom, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Clarice Assad and Michael Daugherty. The recording was released in May 2014 on the NSS Music label.
Two additional albums were released on the NSS Music label, LIVE: Barber, Strauss, Mahler, released in November 2010, and Together, released in August 2009. The Orchestra’s first concert DVD, On Our Way, was released in May 2012, and weaves together documentary footage and a live tour concert from a February 2011 performance at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. The DVD was filmed by Paola di Florio, director of the 1999 Academy Award-nominated film Speaking in Strings.
Other recordings include a 1996 collaborative project with Kent Nagano and Berkeley Symphony Orchestra featuring the work of 20th century Swiss composer Frank Martin, and Written With the Heart’s Blood, a 1997 Grammy Award finalist, both on the New Albion label. In 1998 the orchestra recorded and released works of Argentine composers Alberto Williams and Alberto Ginastera on the d’Note label, and, in 2004, the orchestra recorded and released Oculus, a CD of Kurt Rohde’s compositions on the Mondovibe label. All of the recordings have been distributed both in the United States and internationally.
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