March 17–April 2: Daniel Hope & Zurich Chamber Orchestra Tour U.S. with “America” Program & More

Daniel Hope (photo: Daniel Waldhecker)

(March 2023) — Last year, Daniel Hope expanded his award-winning discography with the release of America, a celebration of U.S. composers from Copland to Sam Cooke, prompting the San Francisco Classical Voice to conclude: “Beautiful it truly is.” The violinist’s primary partner on the recording is the Zurich Chamber Orchestra (ZCO) – of which he is in now his seventh season as Music Director. This spring, Hope and the Swiss ensemble tour material from the album to the nation that inspired it, with performances of their “America” program in Ann Arbor, MI (March 17), West Palm Beach, FL (March 19), Costa Mesa, CA (March 25) and Fairfax, VA (April 2). Marking their third U.S. tour together, the trip also includes dates in New Brunswick, NJ (March 21), Savannah, GA (March 23), Berkeley, CA (March 26) and Troy, NY (March 31), with programs featuring concertos by Mendelssohn, Vaughan Williams and Bruch as well as Max Richter’s Vivaldi Recomposed, of which Hope’s 2012 recording topped the charts in 22 countries.

Looking ahead to the tour, the violinist says:

“I am thrilled to return to the U.S. with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. This will be our third North American tour since my becoming Music Director of this distinguished ensemble. We have always been welcomed by U.S. audiences and look forward immensely to sharing music with them again, from coast to coast.”

As Gramophone writes: “There are few figures in today’s classical music who so perfectly embody the role of ambassador for music as Daniel Hope.” Recognized with five Grammy nominations, a Classical Brit Award and the European Culture Prize for Music, the violinist has enjoyed a thriving international solo career for more than 30 years. Since succeeding Roger Norrington as Music Director of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra in 2016, he and the conductor-less ensemble have released five albums together: Journey to Mozart (2018), Belle Époque (2020), Serenades (2020), Hope (2021) and, most recently, America (2022).

Their ”America” program represents a love letter to the nation through some of its best-loved music: the iconic “Hoe-down” from Aaron Copland’s Rodeo and “At the River” from his Old American Songs; a suite of songs by George Gershwin, featuring such favorites as “I Got Rhythm” and “Summertime”; Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings; Florence Price’s lyrical Adoration; the spiritual “Come Sunday” from Duke Ellington’s historic Black, Brown and Beige; a suite of Kurt Weill numbers, including “Mack the Knife” and “September Song”; and Echorus, a work written for Hope’s mentor Yehudi Menuhin by minimalist master Philip Glass.

As well as sharing this “America” program with U.S. audiences, Hope and the ZCO look forward to performing orchestral works by Tchaikovsky, Elgar and Ukraine’s Valentin Silvestrov alongside a number of orchestral works featuring solo violin: Max Richter’s Vivaldi Recomposed; Mendelssohn’s lesser-known D-minor Violin Concerto; Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending; and Bruch’s Concerto for Violin and Viola, for which Hope and the orchestra will be joined by the Nash Ensemble’s Philip Dukes.

During his tour with the ZCO, Hope will also give a live webcast from WQXR, New York’s classical music radio station. Next Tuesday, March 21 at 11am, he will stop by WQXR’s Greene Space to talk about his projects with host Elliott Forrest and perform with pianist Maxim Lando. Their program will feature evocative music from Europe’s Belle Époque – the richly creative artistic period before World War I – which Hope previously explored with the ZCO on a Deutsche Grammophon release. The new video will stream live at WQXR.org and at the station’s YouTube channel.

To download high-resolution photos, click here.
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Daniel Hope and Zurich Chamber Orchestra: U.S. tour

March 17
Ann Arbor, MI
Hill Auditorium, University Musical Society
“America” program:
COPLAND: “Hoe-down” from Rodeo
ELLINGTON: Come Sunday from Black, Brown and Beige
PRICE: Adoration
WEILL: Song Suite
BARBER: Adagio for Strings
COPLAND: “At the River” from Old American Songs
Philip GLASS: Echorus
GERSHWIN (arr. Paul Bateman): Song Suite

March 19
West Palm Beach, FL
Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
“America” program (see March 17)

March 21
New Brunswick, NJ
State Theatre New Jersey
ELGAR: Introduction and Allegro
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Lark Ascending (version for violin and string orchestra)
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in D minor
Valentin SILVESTROV: “Waltz of Moment” from Silent Music for string orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY: Serenade for Strings

March 23
Savannah, GA
Lucas Theatre for the Arts
ELGAR: Introduction and Allegro
BRUCH: Concerto for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (with Philip Dukes, viola)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Serenade for Strings

March 25
Costa Mesa, CA
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
“America” program (see March 17)

March 26
Berkeley, CA
Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances
ELGAR: Introduction and Allegro
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in D minor
Max RICHTER: Vivaldi Recomposed

March 31
Troy, NY
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
ELGAR: Introduction and Allegro
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Lark Ascending (version for violin and string orchestra)
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in D minor
Valentin SILVESTROV: “Waltz of Moment” from Silent Music for string orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY: Serenade for Strings

April 2
Fairfax, VA
George Mason University
“America” program (see March 17)

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© 21C Media Group, March 2023