New Century Chamber Orchestra

The New Century Chamber Orchestra’s concert featuring The Four Seasons was bursting with soloists; almost every member of the 20-strong string (and harpsichord continuo) ensemble had a turn.

The NCCO, under Music Director Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, pushes the margins a little bit further with an illuminating program featuring two contrasting, yet ultimately congenial, mandolin concertos.

The New Century Chamber Orchestra began their 20th with a fascinating program of works exploiting antecedent musical styles. It made for a mesmerizing evening showcasing the ensemble’s commitment, technique, synchrony, passion, and sheer joy of music-making.

“Cows, in Berkeley?” No, but Schubert lieder played by the always adventurous New Century Chamber Orchestra.

A new CD from the New Century Chamber Orchestra is designed around Richard Strauss’ Metamorphosen, and bracketed with Barber, Mahler, and live recordings. Music Director Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and her orchestra have every right to be proud of it.

Anyone who might have arrived very late for Saturday’s splendid New Century Chamber Orchestra concert at Herbst Theatre would have gotten an amusing summary from fiddler Evan Price.

Compared to other forms of music-making, classical music is noted for keeping to the original score rather than arranging works anew for each performer. Leonard Bernstein once even suggested that “exact music” would be a better name. Yet there is a place for arrangements in our field, and one of those places was the First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto on Friday, where the New Century Chamber Orchestra gave a concert of Bach and Mussorgsky ... with a difference.

“Shadows and Light” was the theme of the final four concerts of the New Century Chamber Orchestra’s current season, with the repertoire selected for references to the night. But what really shone through the five pieces on the variegated program was how wonderfully the music and the players were suited to each other.

Christmas time is here, by golly. Time to mix a punch of Baroque orchestral music, sacred vocal music of various periods, and a medley of Christmas carols and Hanukkah songs. That's what the New Century Chamber Orchestra served up for its December concerts last weekend. I heard Friday's performance at First United Methodist Church, the "concrete tent," in downtown Palo Alto.