New Century Chamber Orchestra with Cho-Liang Lin June 12, 2007

The Grammy-nominated New Century Chamber Orchestra is pleased to announce the last four concerts of its 15th season, June 7-12, 2007. Grammy-nominated and internationally celebrated soloist and chamber musician Cho-Liang (Jimmy) Lin joins the 17-member string orchestra roster to present works by Mozart, Elgar, and the local premiere of the violin concerto Formosa Seasons by Taiwanese composer Gordon Chin.

In addition to performing and recording worldwide, Mr. Lin has been artistic director of La Jolla Summerfest for six years, serves on the faculty of the Julliard School, and was named Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America in 2000.


Thursday, June 7, 2007, 8:00 pm
St. John’s Presbyterian Church
2727 College Avenue, Berkeley

Friday, June 8, 2007, 8:00 pm
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
600 Colorado Avenue, Palo Alto

Sunday, June 10, 2007, 5:00 pm
Osher Marin JCC
200 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael

Tuesday, June 12, 2007, 8:00 pm
Herbst Theatre
401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco

TICKETS: Tickets can be purchased at www.ncco.org or through City Box Office online at www.cityboxoffice.com and by phone at 415.357.1111 or 415.392.4400. 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:

Mozart / Serenata Notturna
Gordon Chin / Violin Concerto Formosa Seasons, Cho-Liang Lin, Violin
Elgar / Serenade for Strings
Mozart / Symphony No. 29

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

Taiwanese-American violinist Cho-Liang Lin is lauded the world over for the eloquence of his playing and for the superb musicianship that marks his performances. Renowned for appearances as a soloist with major orchestras, he is also frequently heard in recital and in chamber music. Musical America named Mr. Lin its Instrumentalist of the Year in 2000.

Born in Taiwan in 1960, Cho-Liang Lin began his violin lessons when he was 5 years old. At the age of 12, he went to Sydney to continue his musical studies. His early teachers include Sylvia Lee and Robert Pikler. Inspired by an encounter with Itzhak Perlman while in Sydney, he arrived in New York in 1975 to audition for Mr. Perlman's teacher, the late Dorothy DeLay, at the Juilliard School. Within two years of his enrollment, Mr. Lin won the first Queen Sofia Violin Competition in Madrid and his concert career was soon launched. He has been a member of the Juilliard faculty since 1991 and resides in New York with his wife and daughter.

During the current year, Mr. Lin continues his wide-ranging musical activities. Performing on four continents, he appears as soloist with orchestras in Norway, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Canada and the United States. Apart from conventional repertoire, Mr. Lin continues his advocacy for contemporary music by presenting the world premiere of Taiwanese composer Gordon Chin's Double Concerto with cellist Felix Fan with the San Diego Symphony conducted by Jahja Ling as well as Chinese composer Bright Sheng's Three Fantasies at the Library of Congress with pianist Andre-Michel Schub. This summer, he will perform at festivals in Aspen, Ravinia, Santa Fe and Naantali, Finland.

As artistic director of La Jolla SummerFest for the sixth summer, the Los Angeles Times stated that Mr. Lin "has put together another bracing and provocative series." In his capacity as music director, he has helped commission and premiere works by Chen Yi, Chick Corea, Philip Glass, John Harbison, Mark O'Connor, Esa-Pekka Salonen among others. As a solo artist, he has premiered concerti by Tan Dun, Joel Hoffman, Christopher Rouse, Elie Siegmeister, Bright Sheng, George Tsontakis, George Walker and Chen Yi.

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