The Grammy-winning ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA has been thrilling music lovers on four continents for 34 years. The centerpiece of each Orpheus season has been its celebrated concert series at New York's Carnegie Hall, in addition to extensive tours in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Accompanying acclaim for its live performances are numerous distinctions, including Musical America's Ensemble of the Year award.

This season, Orpheus collaborates with world-renowned artists, including pianists Emanuel Ax, Garrick Ohlsson, and Jeremy Denk, tenor Ian Bostridge, and violinists Gil Shaham, Sarah Chang, and Janine Jansen. The Orchestra will premiere a new work by Stephen Hartke, as well as Orphic Memories by Ingram Marshall. Marshall's premiere is the second commission in The Cheswatyr New Music Initiative, a collaborative partnership between NPR, WNYC Radio, The Cheswatyr Foundation, The American Music Center, and Orpheus.

Founded in 1972 by cellist Julian Fifer and a group of fellow musicians who aspired to present musician-led performances of standard and contemporary orchestral repertoire, Orpheus is a self-governing organization. Central to its distinctive personality is its practice of sharing and rotating leadership roles. For every work, the members of the orchestra select the concertmaster and the principal players for each section.

In addition to tonight's performance, Orpheus's 2006/2007 season tour includes performances throughout the country at concert halls in Chicago, Berkeley, Napa, Santa Barbara, Washington, DC, and the states of North and South Carolina, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.

10/06