New Orchestra of Washington Announces 10th Anniversary Season 

On Friday, November 19 New Orchestra of Washington will open their 2021-2022 season at Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ (1 Westmoreland Circle NW, Bethesda, MD) at 7:30pm. The performance entitled, The Gift of Music: Dolor and Delight, will be NOW's first indoor concert since the beginning of the pandemic.

The performance will explore contrasting yet interwoven concepts of pain and delight, darkness and light, consonance and dissonance, with a beautifully conceived program of music by composers of diverse backgrounds. The concert includes works by George Frideric Handel, Alessandro Marcello, Antonio Vivaldi, George Walker and Jessie Montgomery. In celebration of the 10th anniversary season, as well as a return to indoor concerts, NOW is offering a special "Give a Gift of Music'' campaign, so that every purchased ticket will come with a complimentary ticket for a guest. Enter promo code BOGO to get this offer when you buy two or more tickets. More information and tickets can be found at this link.

In addition, NOW is announcing two more performances to round out the 2021-2022 season. On Sunday, February 13, 2022 at 4pm at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' Terrace Theater, NOW will host Madiba: Watching the Sunset-Honoring the legacy of Nelson Mandela. This performance will celebrate the legacy of anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, who was known as Madiba, a South African term of respect and affection. Mandela described his relationship with music as a key source of strength throughout his decades-long imprisonments during South Africa's struggle to end apartheid. The program includes works by Handel and Tchaikovsky, Mandela's two favorite composers. It will also include a premiere of South African composer Mokale Koapeng's Yixesha! Ke Nako (The Time is Now!), commissioned by Classical Movements for New Orchestra of Washington.

NOW will close out their 10th anniversary season at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' Terrace Theater on May 26, 2022 at 7:30pm with the performance of The Time is NOW!: 10th Anniversary Concert. The 10th anniversary season finale is dedicated to the most urgent issue facing humanity: the climate crisis. The program includes Threnody to Toki by Takashi Yoshimatsu, a lament for an endangered Japanese bird, and Equinox by Joseph Turrin, a celebration of all life on earth. The final piece of the concert and the season is Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland, bookending their beginning and this milestone 10th season with a piece performed at NOW's very first concert.

"We are thrilled to perform live concerts again and celebrate our milestone together with the NOW community who helped make it happen," says NOW Artistic Director, Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez. "We will honor where we began, celebrate how far we've come, and look forward to a bright future."

The performances of Madiba: Watching the Sunset and of The Time is NOW! are external rentals presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office and are not produced by the Kennedy Center. Tickets for these concerts will go on sale. Tickets for both 2022 concerts will go on sale in December. COVID protocals will be determined by each venue. For more information on the season ahead please visit: https://neworchestraofwashington.org.