American
Chamber
Orchestra
2022 - 2023 SCHEDULE AT NORWALK CONCERT HALL
October 29, 2022 7:30pm
Mozart's Maurerische Trauermusik and Serenade No. 10 - Gran Partita
Kenji Bunch - Supermaximum and Jean Sibelius' Violin Concerto with Shan Jiang as soloist
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March 11, 2023 7:30pm
Brahms Requiem with The Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut and the Connecticut Chamber Choir
June 10, 2023 7:30pm
Concerto Competition Winners and More to come
2022
The
American Chamber Orchestra
Presents
Fall Concert -October 29, 2022 -7:30pm
Norwalk Concert Hall, 125 East Avenue, Norwalk
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Maurerische Trauermusik" (Masonic Funeral Music)
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Serenade No. 10 - Gran Partita"
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Kenji Bunch's "Supermaximum"
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Jean Sibelius' "Violin Concerto" with soloist Shan Jiang
Tickets available at the door
Tickets on Sale online until Saturday, October 29 at 12:00 noon through TIX
EVENT
Presents
Tickets available at the door
american chamber orchestra
Christopher James Hisey, Music Director
Winter Concert
Saturday, March 11, 2023 - 7:30pm
Brahms' Requiem
with The Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut, the Connecticut Chamber Choir and Soloists!
ACO Fall Concert 2022
Tickets on Sale online until Saturday, October 29 at 12:00 noon through TIX
Featuring Mozart's Maurerische Trauerusik - Masonic Funeral Music
Mozart's Serenade No. 10 - Gran Partita for Winds
Kenji Bunch - Supermaximum and
Jean Sibelius's
Violin Concerto with Shan Jiang as soloist
INFO
CONDUCTOR
A champion of new music Maestro Hisey frequently premieres new works.
Emmy Award Winning composer Rex Cadwallader recently said of Maestro Hisey’s work, “He is an advocate for new music, and a caring and careful medium through whom my music has been brought gracefully and powerfully to life.”
Christopher Hisey
Conductor Christopher James Hisey is the Music Director and Founder of the American Chamber Orchestra, Music Director and Founder of the Connecticut Philharmonic and Music Director of the Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras.
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He has also served as the Music Director of the Civic Orchestra of New Haven, Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra, the Troupers Light Opera Company, and Perrysburg Symphony Chorale as well as the Associate Conductor of both the Perrysburg Symphony and the Bowling Green Philharmonia and Opera Theater Orchestras.
Maestro Hisey has been a frequent guest conductor of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony and has made appearances with the Ruse Philharmonic and Pleven Philharmonic in Bulgaria, and the St. Petersburg “Klassika” Symphony, formerly the Leningrad State Philharmonic, in St. Petersburg, Russia. He has conducted concerts throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico and China. In addition, Maestro Hisey has conducted concerts with such notable musicians as Sir James Galway, Tim Janis, Jackie Evancho, James Dunham, Chris Finckel and Deborah Wong.
A passionate and sought after music educator Maestro Hisey frequently appears as guest adjudicator and clinician at schools and festivals throughout the region.
His student orchestras have won top prizes in competition and have been invited to appear at Carnegie Hall, NAFME Eastern Music Festival and other festivals and concerts in the United States and abroad. He has served as Professor of Conducting, Orchestration and Music Director of the Orchestra at Manhattanville College and Professor of Conducting and Music Director of the Orchestra at Fairfield University. For the last 20 years he has served as Director of Orchestras and Chamber Music at Greens Farms Academy, in Westport, CT.
Maestro Hisey holds a Bachelors degree in Viola Performance from the Eastman School of Music and Master’s Degree in Conducting from Bowling Green State Univeristy. He has been fortunate to study conducting with Emily Freeman Brown, David Effron, Gustav Meier, Donald Portnoy, and Donald Hunsberger.
Mr. Hisey lives in Bridgeport with his wife, Heather and their 4 children, Lauren, Alex, Grace and James.
FEATURED GUEST
Kenji Bunch
Kenji Bunch is one of America’s most engaging, influential, and prolific composers. Through an expansive blend of classical and vernacular styles, Bunch makes music that's “clearly modern but deeply respectful of tradition and instantly enjoyable.” (The Washington Post) Deemed “emotional Americana,” (Oregon ArtsWatch) and infused with folk and roots influences, Bunch’s work has inspired a new genre classification: “Call it neo-American: casual on the outside, complex underneath, immediate and accessible to first-time listeners… Bunch’s music is shiningly original.” (The Oregonian) Hailed by The New York Times as “A Composer To Watch” and cited by Alex Ross in his seminal book The Rest Is Noise, Bunch’s wit, lyricism, unpredictability, and exquisite craftsmanship earn acclaim from audiences, performers, and critics alike.
Bunch grew up in the Pacific Northwest, received conservatory training at The Juilliard School, and after 20 years in New York City, returned to reside in his hometown of Portland, Oregon where he serves as Artistic Director of Fear No Music. His interests in history, philosophy, and intergenerational and cross-cultural sharing of the arts reflect in his work. The varied style references in his classical music writing authentically mirror the diversity of global influence on American culture. Irresistible grooves frequent Bunch’s music, revealing his deft ability to integrate bluegrass, hip hop, jazz, and funk idioms. At the same time, the rich, tonal harmonies and drawn-out, satisfying builds which characterize his work have wide emotive appeal, and easily lend themselves to dance and film.
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Over sixty American orchestras have performed Bunch’s music. His vivid instrumentation “reache(s) into every section of the orchestra to create an intriguing mixture of sonic colors.” (NW Reverb) As the inaugural Composer in Residence for the Moab Music Festival (2021), Bunch composed Lost Freedom: A Memory in collaboration with and starring actor George Takei as the narrator of his own writings, interwoven with chamber ensemble. Other recent works include commissions and premieres from the Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Lark Quartet, Britt Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Music From Angel Fire, Chamber Music Northwest, Eugene Ballet, Third Angle New Music, Grant Park Music Festival, and 45th Parallel (2020 Composer in Residence). All-Bunch concerts have been mounted in New York City, Boston, Denver, Nashville, Mobile (AL) and Portland (OR), as well as at the Perpignon Conservatoire in southern France, the Stamford Festival in England, and The Oranjewoud Festival in The Netherlands. His dance collaborations include work with such renowned choreographers as Toni Pimble, David Parsons, Nai-Ni Chen, Kate Skarpetowska, Paul Vasterling, and Darrell Grand Moultrie. Bunch's film credits include The Bellman Equation and The Argentum Prophecies, and his extensive discography includes recordings on Sony/BMG, EMI Classics, Koch, Kleos Classics, RCA, Naxos, Pony Canyon, GENUIN, Capstone, MSR Classics, Innova, ARS, and Crystal labels.
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Also an outstanding violist, Bunch was the first student ever to receive dual Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in viola and composition from The Juilliard School and was a founding member of the highly acclaimed ensembles Flux Quartet (1996-2002) and Ne(x)tworks (2003-2011), and played fiddle and sang with the band Citigrass for over 15 years. He is a frequent performer with jazz, pop, folk, country, rock, and experimental musicians. Bunch directs MYSfits, the Metropolitan Youth Symphony’s conductorless string orchestra, and teaches viola, composition, and music theory at Portland State University, Reed College, and for the Portland Youth Philharmonic.