Founded in 1975 as the 20th Century Consort, the group became a resident ensemble at the Smithsonian Institution three years later. In its concerts at historic St. Mark’s on Capitol Hill, at the Hirshhorn Museum and at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Consort has presented exciting programs frequently related to museum exhibitions, featuring music by a diverse array of living composers – often world premieres – along with 20th century classics.
Under the direction of its founder and conductor, Christopher Kendall, the Consort’s artists include members of the National Symphony Orchestra and other prominent chamber musicians from Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. The ensemble is managed by Boyd Sarratt.
For over forty-five years the Consort’s concerts have been professionally recorded and archived, complementing the Consort’s produced studio recordings. This vast, living archive is permanently preserved at the University of Maryland, and can be heard without charge on our archive page, where it can be searched for any concert, composition or composer.
To read more about us, click here. And to see our full concert season, click here.
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Who’s Counting?
at 5pm on Saturday October 182025
with pre-performance discussion at 4pmHirshhorn Museum’s Ring Auditorium
- Sofia Gubaidulina
- Aus dem Visionen de Hildegard von Bingen
- George Crumb
- Ancient Voices of Children
- Guillaume de Machaut
- Rosa, lis
- Francois Andrieu
- Armes amour
- Magister Grimace
- A l’arme, a l’arme
- Juri Seo
- (world premiere)
- 50th Anniversary SeasonThe Consort ended last season (its 50th) with “Child’s Play,” inspired by the work of artists on exhibition in the Hirshhorn Museum’s own 50th anniversary exhibition that looked to recapture