When Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg says her New Century Chamber Orchestra will have its "most ambitious season," she is speaking of an organization with 23 ambitious years under its collective belt. The NCCO music director today announced a series of innovative concerts, featuring several works by Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon and concluding with a commissioned world premiere by her.
“New Century has never shied away from pushing the boundaries and thinking outside the box, and this season enhances our commitment to bringing the hottest talents, collaborations, and performances to the Bay Area," Salerno-Sonnenberg said in the announcement.
The series of four weekly programs, performed in Berkeley, Palo Alto, San Francisco, and San Rafael, begins Sept. 17-20 with Higdon's "Strings" from Concerto for Orchestra, "String Lake" from All Things Majestic, and To the Point. The unusual program includes the "Letter Scene" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, sung by soprano Susanna Phillips, Shostakovich's Elegy and Polka, and Rachmaninov's Vocalise, and Arvo Pärt's Trisagion.
On Dec. 17-20, NCCO's “Holiday Lights” program will have several works by Bach, including Sheep May Safely Graze and Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. The San Francisco Girls Chorus will participate along with klezmer and jazz clarinetist David Krakauer.
British violinist Daniel Hope will be guest concertmaster, Feb. 4-7, 2016, leading a program of works in tribute to his mentor, Yehudi Menuhin. The concerts will feature works by Bach, Pärt, Philip Glass, Mendelssohn, Vivaldi, Bechara El-Khoury, Toru Takemitsu, and Béla Bartók.
"Delight in Dancing" is the title of the series of season-closing concerts, May 5-8, with the Higdon premiere, Stravinsky's Apollon musagète, the "Dance of the Seven Veils" from Richard Strauss's Salome, and, for a bit of virtuosic froth, Khachaturian's Sabre Dance.
To back up a whole year, the current season (that's 2015) concludes May 28-31, with Derek Bermel's Murmurations, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite, and Schubert’s String Quartet in D Minor, "Death and the Maiden," arranged for string orchestra by Mahler.