One of only a handful of conductorless chamber ensembles in the world, New Century Chamber Orchestra includes 19 string players from the San Francisco Bay Area as well throughout the United States. Musical decisions are made collaboratively, resulting in an enhanced level of commitment from the musicians and concerts of remarkable precision, passion, and power. British violinist Daniel Hope serves as the ensemble’s Music Director, bringing a new era of vibrancy and leadership.

Winner of the 2024 Grammy for best contemporary classical composition, Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds uses a delicate, interconnected musical geometry to evoke patterns found in nature. Similarly, composer David Diamond wrote his exuberant work Rounds to dispel the gloomy wartime mood of the 1940s by writing music to celebrate American landscapes. The program closes with Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium), an epic work for solo violin, strings and percussion inspired by the ancient Greek debate over love in its many forms.