The San Francisco-based New Century Chamber Orchestra has announced details of its 2009-10 season, the second for the orchestra under Music Director Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. Highlights for the string ensemble include the world premiere of Romanza, a violin concerto by William Bolcom, with Salerno-Sonnenberg as soloist. The orchestra has named Bolcom its Featured Composer for the season and will also perform his Serenata Notturna for Oboe and Strings, featuring soloist Laura Griffiths, and three of Bolcom’s piano rags arranged for strings. Other works scheduled for the four-program season include Strauss’s Metamorphosen for 23 Solo Strings; a new arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition by Clarice Assad; Bartók’s Roumanian Dances; and Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, with tenor Brian Thorsett and horn player Kevin Rivard. The NCCO’s Featured Composer program, which commissions new works, was established in 2008-09 with Clarice Assad as the first selected composer. The NCCO performs four concerts per season at each of four venues: the First Congregational Church in Berkeley; First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto; the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco; and the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center in San Rafael.
Posted May 22, 2009
Photo of Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg by Jim Block
Photo of William Bolcom by Katryn Conlin
