About Us

Named after Theodor Adorno, the German sociologist/philosopher of aesthetics, cultural awareness, and musicology, ADORNO Ensemble’s mission is to captivate audiences with a fresh, up-to-date concert going experience that showcases contemporary music as a relevant, compelling synergy of cultural and social participation. From interactive concerts in museums and galleries to online composition workshops, the group understands the benefits of a diverse, learning audience.

In 2006, ADORNO launched a sophisticated, cutting-edge podcast series the Gallery Sessions Radio Show, an ongoing live-recorded series of contemporary music concerts and artist talks held in San Francisco art galleries (ADORNO’s podcasts can be heard on adornoensemble.org). The series earned ADORNO first place in the 2007 ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award. Richard Scheinin of the San Jose Mercury News hailed a concert as, "...a beautiful, blazing performance by the ADORNO Ensemble, a crackerjack new music band that plays with conviction and vitality and blows the dust off classical music." From the San Francisco Classical Voice, “ADORNO once again played with dedication and passion. Its direct understanding and fearless approach to contemporary music is exemplary.” The group was featured on the independent music website fingeronthepulse.com as “Best Classical Group 2006”, and has garnered favorable mention from the New Yorker’s Alex Ross. This season, ADORNO is proud to be appointed the New Music Ensemble-in-Residence at San Francisco State University, and has launched a new online magazine, Pith Music (www.pithmusic.org).

Continuing its mission to create innovative programming that effectively promotes new music, in 2007, ADORNO launched an educational program for young musicians, ScoreXchange (www.scorexchange.org). An online composer workshop, students through ScoreXchange submit works for ADORNO to perform via videocast, and then work-shopped and discussed by participating guest composers and artists.

ADORNO has been awarded grants from the prestigious Copland Fund for Performing Ensembles and from the Barlow Foundation for Music Composition. The group has also been generously supported by the LEF Foundation, the Bernard Osher Foundation, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, the ASCAP Foundation, Meet the Composer Creative Connections, Clarence E. Heller Foundation, and the Argosy Foundation.