Presented by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Founded in 1975 as the 20th Century Consort, the group became the resident ensemble for contemporary music at the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 1978. In 1990, the Consort was awarded the Smithsonian Institution’s Smithson Medal in honor of their long, successful association.

Under the direction of its founder and conductor, Christopher Kendall, the Consort’s artists include principal players from the National Symphony Orchestra, along with other prominent chamber musicians from Washington, D.C. and elsewhere.

From the program: In programming Stravinsky’s “Rite” with composer Scott Wheeler’s premiere of his cabaret song cycle (inventively based on the words and thoughts of Coco Chanel), we have a study in contrasts between the essential lyricism of Scott’s cabaret style, and how music critic Alex Ross described Stravinsky having “proceeded to pulverize [traditional Russian folks tunes] into motivic bits, pile them up in layers, and reassemble them in cubistic collages….”

Show Notes

Program

Scott Wheeler - A Woman of Her Time: Coco Chanel Sings (Premiere)

Lili Boulanger - D'un matin de printemps (1917)

Igor Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring (1912)