The 2012-2013 season marks Orpheus Chamber Orchestra's 40th year of making internationally renowned music while reinventing the way the world thinks about musical collaboration, education and outreach, and democratic leadership. Orpheus has made more than  70 albums, including the Grammy® Award-winning Shadow Dances: Stravinsky Miniatures, worked with some of the leading soloists of our time in the United States and around the globe, and commissioned and premiered 34 original works. Orpheus continues to grow this season,  partnering with giants of the classical and jazz worlds, embarking on a European tour, expanding their repertoire for their regular Carnegie Hall season, and commissioning and premiering several new works.

The ensemble’s Carnegie Hall season will feature soloists soprano Sasha Cooke, baritone Nathan Gunn, violinst Anne Akiko Meyers, Wayne Shorter and his quartet, and Richard Goode. 2012-13 will be a season of many first for Orpheus. In October, the orchestra performs Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony for the first time and December will see an Orpheus debut of Barber’s Violin Concerto. Richard Goode, considered by many an honorary member of Orpheus after having played dozen of concerts and recording four unmatched albums during a nearly four-decade period with the orchestra, will play Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Orpheus for the first time in March. In addition to expanding their traditional repertoire, the Orpheus is delighted to premiere new pieces. The Carnegie Hall season begins with the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomas's Earth Echoes, a piece commissioned by Orpheus and written to commemorate the centenary of the death of Gustav Mahler. In November, Orpheus tours Russia, Germany, and Austria with jazz pianist Brad Mehldau premiering his new commissioned work, Variations for Piano and Orchestra on a Melancholy Theme. This is the first time Orpheus will visit Russia. Further highlighting the orchestra’s commitment to challenging itself by exploring the intersections of genres, Orpheus will also perform a new commissioned piece by Wayne Shorter at Carnegie Hall. Finally, Orpheus ends its Carnegie season with a large-scale new work by Gabriel Kahane, the ensemble’s first ever composer-in-residence, based on the WPA ... read full bio

The 2012-2013 season marks Orpheus Chamber Orchestra's 40th year of making internationally renowned music while reinventing the way the world thinks about musical collaboration, education and outreach, and democratic leadership. Orpheus has made more than  70 albums, including the Grammy® Award-winning Shadow Dances: Stravinsky Miniatures, worked with some of the leading soloists of our time in the United States and around the globe, and commissioned and premiered 34 original works. Orpheus continues to grow this season,  partnering with giants of the classical and jazz worlds, embarking on a European tour, expanding their repertoire for their regular Carnegie Hall season, and commissioning and premiering several new works.

The ensemble’s Carnegie Hall season will feature soloists soprano Sasha Cooke, baritone Nathan Gunn, violinst Anne Akiko Meyers, Wayne Shorter and his quartet, and Richard Goode. 2012-13 will be a season of many first for Orpheus. In October, the orchestra performs Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony for the first time and December will see an Orpheus debut of Barber’s Violin Concerto. Richard Goode, considered by many an honorary member of Orpheus after having played dozen of concerts and recording four unmatched albums during a nearly four-decade period with the orchestra, will play Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Orpheus for the first time in March. In addition to expanding their traditional repertoire, the Orpheus is delighted to premiere new pieces. The Carnegie Hall season begins with the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomas's Earth Echoes, a piece commissioned by Orpheus and written to commemorate the centenary of the death of Gustav Mahler. In November, Orpheus tours Russia, Germany, and Austria with jazz pianist Brad Mehldau premiering his new commissioned work, Variations for Piano and Orchestra on a Melancholy Theme. This is the first time Orpheus will visit Russia. Further highlighting the orchestra’s commitment to challenging itself by exploring the intersections of genres, Orpheus will also perform a new commissioned piece by Wayne Shorter at Carnegie Hall. Finally, Orpheus ends its Carnegie season with a large-scale new work by Gabriel Kahane, the ensemble’s first ever composer-in-residence, based on the WPA.

By performing without a conductor and integrating musicians into virtually every facet of the organization, Orpheus empowers its members and infuses performances with unparalleled energy. The Orpheus Process™, an original method that places democracy at the center of artistic execution, has been the focus of studies at Harvard and Stanford, and of leadership seminars at Morgan Stanley and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital, among others. The Orpheus Institute offers musicians, university students, and business leaders experiential training in collective leadership through the Orpheus Process™. With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the program is expanding nationwide; the 2011-2012 season featured the launch of a year-long residency at the University of Maryland. During the 2012-2013 season, The Orpheus Institute will be in residence at Interlochen Arts Academy, University of Maryland, Dartmouth College, Muhlenberg College, University of Connecticut, and Metro State University. As artists-in-residence, Orpheus visits the campuses to facilitate coaching sessions, rehearsals, and master classes. They also give performances. On and off the stage, Orpheus provides learning opportunities for more than 1,500 New York City public school students each year.

For more information, please visit orpheusnyc.org, connect with them on Facebook at facebook.com/OrpheusNYC, or follow them on Twitter at @orpheusnyc.

Last updated December 2012. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.