New Century Chamber Orchestra with Axel Strauss and Melody Moore January 28, 2007

The Grammy-nominated New Century Chamber Orchestra is pleased to announce the first San Rafael concert of its 15th season, January 28, 2007. The program features a 17-member string orchestra roster, soprano Melody Moore, and renowned guest concertmaster Axel Strauss.

Sunday, January 28, 2007, 5:00 pm
Osher Marin JCC
200 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael

TICKETS: Individual and season tickets can be purchased at www.ncco.org or through City Box Office online at www.cityboxoffice.com and at 415.392.4400. 4-concert orchestra subscriptions are $152/$100. Single ticket prices for the orchestra series are $42/$28.

A small service charge will apply for single tickets. Half-price tickets are available for students. For more information, call the NCCO at 415.357.1111 or visit the website at www.ncco.org.

PROGRAM:

Telemann / Ouverture des Nations Anciens et Moderns
Britten / Les Illuminations, Melody Moore, Soprano
Schubert / Death and the Maiden (Orchestrated by Mahler)

Les Illuminations, by British composer Benjamin Britten is based on the beautifully wild and volatile symbolist poetry of Arthur Rimbaud, and is rife with coded messages and passion. Franz Schubert's Death and the Maiden quartet, arranged for string orchestra by Gustav Mahler, takes its name from the music of its second movement, a set of variations on the introduction to Schubert's song Der Tod und das Madchen ("Death and the Maiden"), in which the maiden begs Death to pass her by and he replies "I do no harm. Come, sleep peacefully in my arms."

The New Century Chamber Orchestra (www.ncco.org), founded in 1992, looks for fresh, exciting new ways to present classical music in the San Francisco Bay Area by combining performances of extraordinary quality with innovative programming. The Music Director chooses the programs and guides the artistic vision, but the seventeen members of the orchestra perform without a conductor. Musical decisions are made collaboratively, resulting in an enhanced level of commitment on the part of the musicians to concerts of remarkable precision, passion and power. The NCCO also provides musical education to over 2,000 students annually in Bay Area elementary schools through intimate in-classroom presentations, and has released three compact discs since 1996, one of which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997.

About the Guest Concertmaster

In 1998, violinist Axel Strauss became the first German artist ever to win the Naumburg Violin Award, and in the seasons since, he has been equally acclaimed for his virtuosity and his musical sensitivity. His concerto appearances have taken him to Germany, Japan, China, and Eastern Europe. Mr. Strauss is frequently invited by music festivals, including the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, the Moab Music Festival in Utah, International Music Festival of Saga in Japan, and the Kammermusiktage Mettlach in Germany. He has also worked with such artists as Itzhak Perlman, Felix Galimir, and Ruggiero Ricci, and at the Marlboro Music Festival with Mitsuko Uchida, Andras Schiff, and Bruno Canino. His recordings include the violin version of the Sonatas Opus 120 by Brahms, the Duo for Violin and Cello by Zoltan Kodaly, a live recording of the Sibelius Violin Concerto, and a selection of Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words," arranged for violin and piano.

Mr. Strauss, who has been residing in the United States since 1996, maintains a busy performance schedule and serves as Professor of Violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He performs on an outstanding violin by J.F. Pressenda, Turin 1845, on extended loan through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society in Chicago

About the Soprano

Melody Moore, a 2006 Adler Fellow, was seen this past summer in the role of the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro with the Merola Opera Program. She is a recent graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and while there performed the roles of Candace Whitcomb in Stephen Paulus's The Village Singer and was the recipient of the Norman Treigle and Andrew White Awards.

Other performances include Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte and Amyntas in Il Re Pastore for Opera Circle of Cleveland and the title role in Suor Angelica for the Opera Theatre and Musical Festival of Lucca, Italy. Other roles include Violetta in La Traviata and Pamina in The Magic Flute.

On September 10, 2006 Ms. Moore scored an enormous success during the San Francisco Opera's annual Opera in the Park when she sang Manon Lescaut's "In quelle trine morbide" to great acclaim. The San Francisco Classical Voice headline for the the story by Janos Gereben on the following Tuesday read "Melody Moore's Marvelous Moment".

Official Website: http://www.ncco.org