Explore the Festival
New Century Chamber Orchestra
One of only a handful of conductor-less chamber ensembles in the world, New Century Chamber Orchestra is led by internationally acclaimed British violinist and Deutsche Grammophon recording artist Daniel Hope. Musical decisions are made collaboratively, resulting in an enhanced level of commitment from the musicians and concerts of remarkable precision, passion, and power. Beyond regular season concerts in the San Francisco Bay Area, the orchestra has toured nationally and across Europe, breathing life into beloved masterworks from the chamber orchestra repertoire and commissioning new works from today’s finest composers.
*Programming and artists subject to change, please refer to the participating organization’s calendar listing for the most up-to-date program.
Performance Times
Friday November 3rd, 7:30PM
Saturday November 4th, 7:30PM
Sunday November 5th, 3:00PM
Buy TicketsBuy TicketsEvents
Visitations
Journey into the beyond with Daniel Hope and New Century as they offer music for communing with spirits, whether connecting with those we’ve lost or outwitting death for another night! Mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor joins the orchestra in a candlelit, otherworldly setting to examine connections with the afterlife from many cultural angles, including a world premiere commission by Nicolás Lell Benavides that summons the spirit of Doña Sebastiana, Lady Death of the American Southwest.
Piece(s)/Composer(s)
BOGORODITSE DEVO” FROM ALL-NIGHT VIGIL
RACHMANINOFF
FÓLK FÆR ANDLIT (PEOPLE GET FACES)
Hildur GUÐNADÓTTIR
ÁRIA (CANTILENA) FROM BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS NO. 5
VILLA-LOBOS
“AMOR MÍO, SI MUERO Y TÚ NO MUERES” FROM NERUDA SONGS
LIEBERSON
ERLKÖNIG (THE ELF KING)
SCHUBERT
DOÑA SEBASTIANA (LADY DEATH) (WORLD PREMIERE, NEW CENTURY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA COMMISSION)
Nicolás Lell BENAVIDES
THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE
DUKAS (arr. Paul Bateman)
ELEGY: A CRY FROM THE GRAVE
Carlos SIMON
CANTUS IN MEMORY OF BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Arvo PÄRT
MISA CRIOLLA
RAMIREZ (arr. Paul Bateman)
Program Notes
British violinist Daniel Hope has enjoyed a thriving international solo career for more than 30 years. Celebrated for his musical versatility and dedication to humanitarian causes, he has been recognized with a string of honors including the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the 2015 European Culture Prize for Music.
Mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor is internationally acclaimed equally in the pillars of the classical music canon — from Beethoven and Mahler to Brahms and Ravel — as she is in works by modern masters, from John Adams and Bruce Dessner to Peter Lieberson and Joby Talbot. Her 2022–23 season included performances with Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony, Jun Märkl and the Taiwan Philharmonic, Gianandrea Noseda and the National Symphony Orchestra, and Xian Zhang with both the San Francisco Symphony and New Jersey Symphony.
Nicolás Lell Benavides has worked with groups such as the Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Music of Remembrance, New Opera West, West Edge Opera, Nashville Opera, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Friction Quartet, Khemia Ensemble, and Nomad Session. He was a fellow at the Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab and the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, was the first ever Young Artist Composer in Residence at The Glimmerglass Festival,and has been a fellow at the Del Mar International Composers Symposium.
Media
