New Century Chamber Orchestra with Margaret Batjer November 17, 2007

The Grammy-nominated New Century Chamber Orchestra is pleased to announce the next program in its 2007-08 season. The program, with performances in San Rafael, Berkeley, Palo Alto, and San Francisco, features a 17-member conductorless string orchestra with guest concertmaster Margaret Batjer.

Currently the concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and faculty member of the Thornton Music School at U.S.C., Margaret Batjer has selected a program that traces the arc of 122 years of Baroque music. In addition to such master composers as J.S. Bach and Handel, she includes the obscure but prolific contemporary of Vivaldi, Francesco Geminiani, and the virtuosic son of J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach. C.P.E. Bach’s strikingly different style provides a smooth bridge from the late Baroque to the cusp between periods, the Rococo, and brilliantly leads into Haydn’s early treasure, the Symphony No. 8, Le Soir.

PROGRAM:

F. Geminiani: Concerto Grosso No. 1 in D major
Handel: Concerto Grosso in A major, Op. 6, No. 11
J. S. Bach: Brandenberg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049
C. P. E. Bach: String Symphonie in E major
Haydn: Symphony No. 8, Le Soir

WHEN AND WHERE:

San Rafael – Wednesday, November 14 at 7:30pm
Osher Marin JCC, 200 North San Pedro Road
Underwritten through the generosity of Morton B. Blatt and Peter G. Holmstrom

Berkeley – Thursday, November 15 at 8pm
St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Avenue

Palo Alto – Friday, November 16 at 8pm
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 600 Colorado Avenue

San Francisco – Saturday, November 17 at 8pm
Florence Gould Theater, Palace of the Legion of Honor

TICKETS:
Individual and season tickets are on sale now at www.ncco.org and 415.357.1111 or through City Box at www.cityboxoffice.com and 415.392.4400. 3-concert orchestra subscriptions are $114/$75. Single ticket prices for the orchestra series are $42/$28 (a small service charge applies 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.

The New Century Chamber Orchestra, 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 guest concertmaster 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.

As part of its dedication to the future of music and to the community, the NCCO provides violin lessons to underserved students in Marin City and San Rafael’s Canal District, as well as intimate classroom performances by string quartets to students in Bay Area elementary schools.

The orchestra has released four compact discs, one of which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997.

About Margaret Batjer

Margaret Batjer made her first solo appearance at age fifteen with the Chicago Symphony in Menotti's Violin Concerto. Since then, she has been re-engaged by the Chicago Symphony and has appeared with a succession of major orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the San Jose Symphony under the direction of George Cleve and the Dallas Symphony conducted by Gunther Herbig.

Margaret Batjer graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Ivan Galamian and David Cerone. Throughout her career, she has won numerous prizes including the G.B. Dealey Awards in Dallas. Equally respected as a chamber musician, Ms. Batjer has performed regularly at the Marlboro Music Festival and on tours with "Music from Marlboro." She has appeared at the Minnesota Orchestra Sommerfest, Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, the Naples and Cremona Festivals in Italy. At the invitation of Maurizio Pollini, she performed with the Quartetto Accardo and Maestro Pollini, at the Salzburg Festival in 1995 and 1999, and on the Carnegie Hall “Perspectives” series in 2001.

Ms. Batjer has held the position of Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 1998, where she regularly leads the orchestra from the concertmaster chair. In 2001, she performed the Beethoven “Triple” Concerto with Jeffrey Kahane, Yo-Yo Ma and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. She has also performed the complete Beethoven and Brahms Sonatas for Violin and Piano with Jeffrey Kahane at Zipper Hall in Los Angeles.

In 2005, she joined the faculty of the Thornton Music School at USC. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Joel McNeely, and two children, Joshua and Claire.

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