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.

  • F(P)igments

    at 5pm on Saturday February 212026
    with pre-performance discussion at 4pm

    Hirshhorn Museum’s Ring Auditorium

    Elliott Carter
    Figment I
    Katherine Balch
    Speckled the Green and Blue
    Elliott Carter
    Figment II
    David Froom
    Colors Passing Through Us
    arr. Mikhail Johnson
    MYC Quodlibet
    Elliott Carter
    Figment IV
    Soomin Kim
    H.A.N.Y.U.N.I.M.
    Elliott Carter
    Figment V
    Sarah Gibson
    I prefer living in color