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.

  • An Unsecret Garden

    October 3-42026

    Hirshhorn Museum’s Ring Auditorium

    Arnold Schoenberg
    The Book of Hanging Gardens for mezzo soprano and piano
    Helen Grime
    Aviary Sketches for string trio after Joseph Cornell
    Caroline Shaw
    Plan and Elevation for string quartet
    Peteris Vasks
    Landscape with Birds for solo flute
    Mikhail Johnson
    Wach Ya Haydn for solo piano
    Paul Novak
    Entwining for clarinet, violin, cello and piano