American Voices in Motion: Exploring the Composers of New Century's 2026/27 Season
From jazz legends to Pulitzer Prize winners, discover the American composers featured throughout New Century's 2026/27 season.
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, many arts institutions are reflecting on the artists, ideas, and traditions that have shaped our cultural landscape. For New Century Chamber Orchestra's 2026/27 season, Music in Motion, that reflection comes through the evolving story of American music.
Across the season, audiences will encounter works by seven American composers whose music reflects the country's extraordinary breadth of influences, traditions, and artistic voices. From the jazz innovations of Duke Ellington and George Gershwin to the contemporary perspectives of Caroline Shaw, Rhiannon Giddens, and Clarice Assad, alongside pioneering figures like Ernest Bloch, each program explores a different chapter in the ever-evolving story of American music.
As George Gershwin once observed:
"True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time."
More than a century later, those words continue to resonate. Together, these composers demonstrate that American music has never stood still—it grows, adapts, and reflects the people and communities who create it.
A Rich Tradition of American Music
Unlike many national musical traditions, American music has never been defined by a single style. Instead, it has emerged through a remarkable exchange of cultures, ideas, and experiences.
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, composers have drawn inspiration from jazz, spirituals, folk music, Indigenous traditions, popular song, global musical influences, and European classical forms. The result is a repertoire that continually reinvents itself while remaining deeply rooted in shared human experience.
The composers featured throughout New Century's 2026/27 season embody this spirit of curiosity and innovation.
Pioneers of an American Sound
George Gershwin and Duke Ellington transformed American music in equally profound ways. Gershwin blurred the boundaries between classical music and jazz, while Ellington elevated jazz into one of America's greatest artistic contributions through sophisticated orchestration, unforgettable melodies, and boundless imagination.
Their enduring influence comes to life in GROOVE with Marcus Roberts Trio (November 2026), when the aforementioned jazz trio joins New Century to perform song suites by Gershwin and Ellington. Roberts, one of today's leading jazz pianists, continues the musical conversation these composers helped begin, demonstrating how their influence still resonates across genres and generations.
Contemporary Voices Expanding the Tradition
American music continues to evolve through composers who embrace new perspectives while building upon the traditions that came before them.
Pulitzer Prize winning composer Caroline Shaw has become one of the defining voices in contemporary classical music. Her works move effortlessly between classical, vocal, and popular traditions, creating music that is inventive, intimate, and unmistakably her own.
Composer, performer, and musical historian Rhiannon Giddens, whose work explores the overlooked stories woven into American folk traditions. Drawing from roots music, Black string band traditions, and classical influences, Giddens reveals how cultures and communities have shaped one another across generations. Together, the music of Shaw and Giddens expands the conversation begun by Gershwin and Ellington in this season’s opening concert GROOVE in November 2026, demonstrating how American music continues to evolve while remaining deeply connected to its past.
Composer, pianist, and vocalist Clarice Assad brings yet another perspective to today's musical landscape. Her music draws from classical traditions while incorporating Brazilian rhythms, jazz, improvisation, and global influences, reflecting the increasingly interconnected artistic world of the 21st century. Acclaimed pianist Lara Downes performs the world premiere of Assad's Beauty Has No Borders in BLOOM with Lara Downes (January 2027), highlighting a composer whose work embodies the spirit of artistic collaboration across cultures.
The Immigrant Experience and American Music
Ernest Bloch
The season also features music by Ernest Bloch, whose career reminds us that American music has long been shaped by artists who arrived from elsewhere.
Born in Switzerland before becoming a U.S. citizen, Bloch found artistic freedom and opportunity in America. His deeply expressive works expanded the country's musical landscape while remaining rooted in his own cultural heritage—a powerful reminder that American music has always been enriched by diverse voices and experiences.
Bloch's music appears in San Francisco RISING (May 2027), a program which traces a century of the city’s transformation through narration, multimedia imagery, and music. Bloch’s music offers a perspective on American identity; one from an immigrant whose artistic voice flourished in his adopted home. His music underscores one of the season's central themes: that American music has always been shaped by many histories, many traditions, and many voices.
Celebrating the Diversity of American Composers
The composers featured throughout New Century Chamber Orchestra's 2026/27 season do not tell a single story about America. Instead, they offer many stories—across genres, generations, cultures, and lived experiences.
Whether through the jazz innovations of Duke Ellington and George Gershwin, the expressive lyricism of Ernest Bloch, or the contemporary voices of Caroline Shaw, Rhiannon Giddens, and Clarice Assad, each composer reminds us that American music is constantly evolving.
That spirit lies at the heart of Music in Motion. As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, these concerts invite us not simply to reflect on the past, but to experience a living musical tradition that continues to grow through new ideas, new voices, and new ways of listening.
Join New Century throughout the 2026/27 season as we explore these remarkable works and the artists who helped shape the sound of America. Season subscriptions are available now.
