21st Century Consort

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.

  • Above and Beyond

    at 5pm on Saturday November 162024

    Hirshhorn Museum’s Ring Auditorium – Smithsonian/NASA Chandra Observatory anniversary celebration. Art and music that relates to things overhead, from atmospheric avifauna to the distant reaches of outer space. Click here to get your free general seating ticket(s) from the Hirshhorn when they become available.

    Trevor Weston
    A.N.S. (A New Sound)
    Jordan Kuspa
    Sounds from Outer Space
    Juhi Bansal
    Trail of Stars
    Donald Crockett
    Celestial Mechanics
    Sophie Kastner
    Where Parallel Lines Converge (U.S. premiere)
    Lisa Bielawa
    Fictional Migrations
    Joseph Schwantner
    Sparrows