Sunday, August 21, 2016

New Century Chamber Orchestra Opens 25th Anniversary Season with Israeli Pianist Inon Barnatan

Next month Herbst Theatre will host the beginning of the 25th Anniversary Season of the New Century Chamber Orchestra (NCCO), which will also be the final season with Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg as Music Director. There will be several other firsts along with this being the first concert of a new season. It will be the first time that Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan, currently Artist-in-Association with the New York Philharmonic, will perform with NCCO. It will also be the first time that NCCO will give an afternoon concert, a matinee performance that will be held in conjunction with yet another first, the inaugural Stuart Canin Award Luncheon, named after NCCO’s founder.

Barnatan will perform as soloist in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 415 concerto in C major (which also has been cataloged at K. 387b). This concerto will be immersed in three different perspectives on modernism. The program will begin with the E-flat major “Langsamer Satz” (slow movement), which Anton Webern composed in 1905 in conjunction with his beginning his studies with Arnold Schoenberg. NCCO will give a string ensemble performance of this ten-minute work originally composed for string quartet. The major work on the second half of the program will be Philip Glass’ third symphony, composed in 1995 for string orchestra. The program will then conclude by recognizing the Anniversary Season with a performance of Peter Heidrich’s outrageously eclectic set of variations on “Happy Birthday.”

This concert will be given two performances in Herbst Theatre at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. The first will take place at 2 p.m. on Friday, September 16, followed by an 8 p.m. performance on Saturday, September 17. Ticket prices for both concerts will be $29, $49, and $61.

The Friday concert will be preceded by the inaugural Stuart Canin Award Luncheon held in honor of Bay Area philanthropists Paula and John Gambs. This will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, September 16 and will take place in the Green Room of the Veterans Building, one flight above the lobby for Herbst Theatre. Individual tickets to the luncheon will be $175, and for $225 one may purchase a luncheon ticket bundled together with a premium seat for the matinee concert. There are also special offers for the purchase of a table for ten.

Finally, there will be the usual Open Rehearsal held in the Kanbar Performing Arts Center at 44 Page Street, a short walk from the Muni Van Ness station. This will take place at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, September 14. All tickets are $15.

Tickets for the luncheon are being handled through a special Web page on the NCCO Web site. This provides specific information about options for ordering a table for ten, how much of the expense is tax-deductible, and hyperlinks for both the luncheon and other donations. City Box Office has set up a Web page for all other NCCO ticket purchases. These include the concerts, the open rehearsals, and subscription options that are still available.

No comments: