Daniel Hope: premieres & adventurous collaborations with New Century Chamber Orchestra, U.S. recital tour, major European engagements, new DG album, & more in 2026–27
Daniel Hope (photo: Daniel Waldhecker)
“There are few figures in today’s classical music who so perfectly embody the role of ambassador for music as Daniel Hope.” – Gramophone magazine
(October 2026) — Daniel Hope – the Switzerland-based violinist whose “thriving solo career” is “built on inventive programming and a probing interpretive style” (The New York Times) – makes his mark on both sides of the Atlantic as well as on disc this season. In his new role as Artistic Advisor for Chamber Music at The Barns at Wolf Trap, VA, he gives two recitals celebrating “The Gilded Age,” the second of which falls during his North American recital tour devoted to “Treasures of the Belle Époque.” As Music Director and Concertmaster of San Francisco’s New Century Chamber Orchestra, he leads the conductorless ensemble on three Bay Area tours and more, collaborating with the Marcus Roberts Trio, pianist Lara Downes, bandoneonist Omar Massa, and baritone Thomas Hampson, as well as giving the world premieres of new works by Massa and Clarice Assad. In Europe, Hope embarks on his tenth season as Music Director of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra; tours a festive holiday program with the Belgrade Chamber Orchestra throughout Germany; rings in the New Year with the Philharmonie Baden-Baden; and makes multiple appearances at Dresden’s Frauenkirche Cathedral, of which he is the Artistic Director. He also expands his distinguished Deutsche Grammophondiscography with the physical and digital release of Born in Ukraine – 150 Years of Ukrainian Music on November 6. This full and varied lineup follows the success of the 70th anniversary season of Switzerland’s Menuhin Festival & Academy Gstaad, which marked Hope’s first as its Intendant & Artistic Director, and of his subsequent European tour with Jaap van Zweden and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra.
North American recitals: “Gilded Age” at Wolf Trap & “Belle Époque” on tour
Hope recently succeeded pianist Wu Han as Artistic Advisor for Chamber Music at The Barns at Wolf Trap, Virginia. Presented in partnership with New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the season-long series brings world-class soloists and ensembles to the rustic venue, to which Hope returns this season for “The Gilded Age,” a two-part recital series devoted to the turn of the 20th century. In Part 1, he and pianist Maxim Lando, “a demigod at the keys” (Frankfurter Neue Presse, Germany), capture the spirit of pre-World War I Europe through sonatas by Franck and Ravel, together with a pair of Elgar miniatures and Enescu’s Impromptu Concertant (Nov 1). Next, in Part 2, he pairs Kreisler’s nostalgic Slavonic Fantasie with two works embodying the emerging American voice: Dvořák’s Sonatina in G and Copland’s Nocturne. The program concludes with the East Coast premiere of a more recent American composition: Jake Heggie’s Fantasy Suite 1803, an eclectic piece commissioned for Hope by Germany’s Beethoven-Haus Bonn, of which he is President, that draws on sources ranging from Beethoven to tango (Jan 24). This time, Hope’s pianist is Simon Crawford-Phillips, his partner on the 2020 Deutsche Grammophon recording Belle époque, hailed as “an ingenious, gorgeous concept album” (The Telegraph, UK). Their Wolf Trap appearance forms the centerpiece of a three-date North American recital tour, bookended by performances of “Treasures of the Belle Époque” in Montreal, at the Salle Bourgie (Jan 23), and Napa, CA (Jan 27), where Hope and Crawford- Phillips perform Franck, Kreisler, Ravel, and Enescu alongside Fauré’s Andante for violin and piano, an arrangement of Falla’s Suite populaire espagnole, and Schoenberg’s D-minor Piece for Violin and Piano.
Bay Area tours & concerts with New Century Chamber Orchestra
Since 2018, Hope has served as Music Director and Concertmaster of San Francisco’s New Century Chamber Orchestra (NCCO), one of the world’s few conductorless ensembles. Having recently extended his tenure there for an additional three seasons, he is now set to become the longest serving Music Director in NCCO’s 34-year history. Furthermore, as San Francisco Classical Voice recently put it, under his auspices, the orchestra “continues to exceed expectations.”
This season, he leads the NCCO from the violin on three Bay Area tours and at a weekend of concerts in San Francisco, each program showcasing a characteristically creative collaboration. On a fall program that includes preludes by Pulitzer Prize laureates Caroline Shaw and Rhiannon Giddens, he and the orchestra are joined by the Marcus Roberts Trio – the jazz outfit of Grammy-nominated pianist Marcus Roberts, drummer Jason Marsalis, and bassist Rodney Jordan – for song suites by Gershwin and Ellington, in Berkeley (Nov 5), Mountain View (Nov 6), San Francisco (Nov 7), and San Rafael (Nov 8).
Early next year, Hope and the NCCO join trailblazing pianist Lara Downes, named 2022’s “Classical Woman of the Year” by NPR’s Performance Today, for the world premiere of Beauty Has No Borders by Grammy–nominated composer Clarice Assad, who describes her new work as an “homage to jazz and the visionary composers and performers who shaped it into one of America’s most transformative and enduring art forms.” Flanked by Mozart’s 29th Symphony and Stravinsky’s neoclassical ballet Apollon musagète, this takes them to Berkeley (Jan 28), Rohnert Park (Jan 29), and San Francisco (Jan 30).
Next spring, Hope and the orchestra give the world premiere of a new double concerto by Argentinian bandoneon virtuoso Omar Massa, alongside works by Piazzolla and Grammy-winning Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz. A leading Tango Nuevo artist whose work has been declared of “cultural and artistic importance” by Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Massa joins Hope as soloist for the violin and bandoneon concerto’s first performances in Berkeley (April 15), San Francisco (April 17), and Tiburon (April 18).
To conclude their season, Hope and the NCCO join American baritone Thomas Hampson, founder of the “Song of America” series, to explore San Francisco’s rich history through narration, imagery, and song. Combining works by Swiss composer Ernest Bloch, one-time Director of the San Francisco Conservatory, with traditional Chinese, Irish, Mexican, and African American songs, their evening-length collaboration takes place at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, where the historic United Nations charter was first signed (May 14–16).
Zurich Chamber Orchestra, “A Winter’s Tale,” & other European highlights
In Europe, the new season marks Hope’s tenth with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra (ZCO), where he took over from Sir Roger Norrington as Music Director in 2016. Since then, he has developed such a rapport with the conductor-less ensemble that The Stradmarvels: “Hope and his Zurich players respond to each other like chamber musicians.” The violinist leads and conducts multiple programs with the ZCO this season. He is the soloist in Vaughan Williams’s beloved Lark Ascending, alongside Mendelssohn and Beethoven symphonies (Oct 27), and in concertos by Telemann, Marcello, and Bach, on a predominantly Baroque program (Dec 1 & 2). After a pair of festive Christmas concerts at Dresden’s Frauenkirche Cathedral (Dec 11 & 12), they reunite for a collaboration with Swedish R&B, funk, and jazz trombonist Nils Landgrenat the Frauenkirche (April 23), where Hope has served as Artistic Director since 2019.
As well as celebrating the holiday season with the ZCO, he joins Serbia’s Belgrade Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director Daniel Geiss for “A Winter’s Tale”: a festive evening of stories and songs, featuring Hope both as a reader and as the soloist in works by Vivaldi, Paganini, and Morricone. This program takes them on a ten-city German tour (Dec 12–27) that concludes with a ten-concert residency in Hamburg, on the seasonally decorated stage of the Elbphilharmonie (Dec 23–27).
Hope rejoins Geiss and bandoneonist Omar Massa for a special New Year’s Eve concertwith soprano Fatma Said, bass Stephane Logerot, guitarist Joscho Stephan, the David Hermlin Trio, and Germany’s Philharmonie Baden-Baden (Dec 31). His other upcoming European engagements include a solo recital at the Dresden Frauenkirche, with an all-Baroque program that shines a light on the groundbreaking violin sonatas of Dresden native Johann Paul von Westhoff (Nov 20); and performances of Hope’s signature “Irish Roots” program in Weingarten (Dec 3) and Munich (Feb 10), Elgar’s Violin Concerto with the Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra and Yu Long in Bucharest (May 27 & 28), and Max Richter’s Vivaldi Recomposed in Seville (Jan 14 & 15) and Tenerife (April 29). Released in 2012, Hope’s Deutsche Grammophon recording of Richter’s take on The Four Seasons topped the charts in 22 countries and remains one of the bestselling classical releases of recent times.
New DG release: Born in Ukraine
On his next Deutsche Grammophon recording, Hope traces the history of Ukrainian violin and piano music from the 19th century to the present day on Born in Ukraine – 150 Years of Ukrainian Music. Due for physical and digital release on November 6, the album was recorded with young Ukrainian pianists Vitalii Kyianytsia, Alina Pronina, and Roman Fediurko, whose backgrounds and musical perspectives add a personal dimension to the project. Together they explore works by five pioneering figures from Ukraine’s musical past – Mykola Lysenko, Sergei Bortkiewicz, Mykola Leontovych, Yakiv Stepovy, and Borys Lyatoshynsky – alongside music by three living composers: Valentin Silvestrov, Alexey Shor, and Kyianytsia himself. The disc’s program is framed by the world premiere recordings of Shor’s Footprints in the Sand and the Adagio from Kyianytsia’s ballet The Perfect Scent. Hope says:
“My hope is that this album encourages listeners not only to discover some of Ukraine’s remarkable musical treasures, but also to celebrate a cultural legacy that has enriched European music for generations. At a time when that legacy continues to face immense challenges, preserving and sharing these voices feels more important than ever.
See Hope introduce Born in Ukraine.
Success of Menuhin Festival Gstaad & European tour with van Zweden
Earlier this fall, Hope toured Europe with Jaap van Zweden and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, wowing audiences and critics alike with his interpretation of the Elgar Violin Concerto in Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Cologne, and Dusseldorf. The Frankfurter Rundschau found his playing “exquisitely refined”; the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger noted that his “unpretentious performance, marked by serene mastery, made it all seem remarkably effortless”; and the Hamburger Abendblatt observed: “Hope’s tone and expression, technique and musicianship were once again utterly spellbinding.”
The tour built on the landmark 70th anniversary edition of Switzerland’s Menuhin Festival & Academy Gstaad this past summer. In Hope’s first season as its Intendant & Artistic Director, the festival presented more than 75 concerts in Switzerland’s Saanenland and Pays-d’Enhaut regions. Highlights included an Opening Night featuring living legends Zubin Mehta and Pinchas Zukerman; a collaboration between van Zweden and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra that anticipated the fall tour; performances by London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko, as well as by the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Royal Danish Orchestra, and Zurich Chamber Orchestra; guest appearances by artists including Daniil Trifonov, Sir András Schiff, Iván Fischer, Khatia Buniatishvili, Thomas Hampson, Gabriela Montero, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Steven Isserlis, Regula Mühlemann, Bomsori Kim, Isata Kanneh-Mason, and Marie Jacquot; and a new production of Puccini’s La bohème, starring Benjamin Bernheim under Marco Armiliato’s leadership. Welcoming the festival as “a celebration of music’s power to bring us together,” Bachtrack hailed its 70th anniversary season as a summer of “magical mountainside music-making.” Similarly, of Hope’s appointment as the festival’s Intendant & Artistic Director, the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger concluded: “As a longtime protégé of Yehudi Menuhin and a tireless advocate for music, the South African-born German-Irish violinist is unquestionably the perfect man for the job.”
Daniel Hope: 2026–27 engagements
Oct 27
Zurich, Switzerland
Kongresshauses Zürich
Zurich Chamber Orchestra
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 7
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Lark Ascending
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6
Nov 1
Vienna, VA
Wolf Trap: Chamber Music at The Barns
Recital with Maxim Lando, piano
“The Gilded Age: Part I”
ENESCU: Impromptu Concertant
RAVEL: Violin Sonata No. 1 (“Sonate posthume”)
RAVEL: “Blues” from Violin Sonata No. 2
ELGAR: Salut d’amour
ELGAR: Chanson de Nuit
FRANCK: Violin Sonata in A
Nov 5–8: tour with New Century Chamber Orchestra
Nov 5: Berkeley, CA (First Church UCC)
Nov 6: Mountain View, CA (Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts)
Nov 7: San Francisco, CA (Herbst Theatre)
Nov 8: San Rafael, CA (Osher Marin JCC)
“Groove”
Caroline SHAW: Entr’Acte for Strings
ELLINGTON: Song Suite (with Marcus Roberts Trio)
GERSHWIN: Lullaby
Rhiannon GIDDENS: At the Purchaser’s Option
GERSHWIN: Song Suite (with Marcus Roberts Trio)
Nov 20
Dresden, Germany
Frauenkirche Dresden
Solo recital
Works by J.S. BACH, BIBER, VON WESTHOFF, and others
Dec 1 & 2: concerts with Zurich Chamber Orchestra
Dec 1: Zürich, Switzerland (Kongresshauses Zürich)
Dec 2: Chur, Switzerland (Theater Chur)
C.P.E. BACH: Symphony in E minor (version for strings)
TELEMANN: Violin Concerto in A minor
MARCELLO: Oboe Concerto in D minor (arr. for violin)
VIVALDI: Concerto Grosso in D minor
MENDELSSOHN: String Symphony No. 10 in B minor
TELEMANN: Ouverture-Suite in G minor, “La Musette”
GEMINIANI: Concerto Grosso in G minor (after Corelli)
J.S. BACH: Violin Concerto in A minor (BWV 1041)
Dec 3
Weingarten, Germany
Kultur – und Kongresszentrum
“Irish Roots”
Traditional Irish music; works by ROSEINGRAVE, PURCELL, OSWALD, O’CAROLAN, and others
With AIR Ensemble
Dec 11 (evening) & 12 (matinee)
Dresden, Germany
Frauenkirche Dresden
Zurich Chamber Orchestra
“Music for the Christmas Season”
Dec 12 (evening)–27: tour with Belgrade Chamber Orchestra / Daniel Geiss
Dec 12 (evening): Dresden, Germany (Schloss Elmau)
Dec 14: Stuttgart, Germany (Kultur – und Kongresszentrum Liederhalle)
Dec 15: Bielefeld, Germany (Rudolf-Oetker-Halle)
Dec 16: Nürnberg, Germany (Meistersingerhalle)
Dec 17: Bonn, Germany (Beethovenhalle Bonn)
Dec 18: Rostock, Germany (Stadthalle Rostock)
Dec 19: Essen, Germany (Philharmonie Essen)
Dec 20: Wiesbaden, Germany (Kurhaus Wiesbaden)
Dec 21: Berlin, Germany (Konzerthaus Berlin)
Dec 23 (4pm & 8pm), 25 (4pm & 8pm), 26 (12pm, 4pm, & 8pm), 27 (12pm, 4pm, & 8pm): Hamburg, Germany (Elbphilharmonie)
“A Winter’s Tale” 2026
VIVALDI: Concerto for Two Violins (third movement)
PAGANINI: Variations
MORRICONE: Cinema Paradiso
Selected readings
Dec 31: Baden-Baden, Germany
Festspielhaus Baden-Baden
Philharmonie Baden-Baden / Daniel Geiss
David Hermlin Trio
With Omar Massa, bandoneon; Fatma Said, soprano; Stephane Logerot, bass; Joscho Stephan, guitar
Jan 14 & 15
Seville, Spain
PIAZZOLLA: 4 Estaciones Porteñas
Max RICHTER: Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons
Jan 23 & 27: recitals with Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano
Jan 23: Montreal, Quebec (Salle Bourgie)
Jan 27: Napa, CA (First United Methodist Church)
“La Belle Époque”
ENESCU: Impromptu concertant for violin and piano
RAVEL: Violin Sonata No. 1
SCHOENBERG: Piece for Violin and Piano in D minor
FAURÉ: Andante for violin and piano, Op. 75
FALLA, arr. P. Kochanski: Suite populaire espagnole
KREISLER, after Dvořák: Slavonic Fantasie
FRANCK: Violin Sonata in A
Jan 24
Vienna, VA
Wolf Trap
Recital with Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano
“The Gilded Age: Part II”
DVOŘÁK: Sonatina in G
KREISLER: Slavonic Fantasie in B minor
COPLAND: “Nocturne”
Jake HEGGIE: Fantasy Suite 1803 (East Coast premiere)
Jan 28–30: concerts with New Century Chamber Orchestra
Jan 28: Berkeley, CA (First Church UCC)
Jan 29: Rohnert Park, CA (Green Music Center)
Jan 30: San Francisco, CA (Herbst Theatre)
“BLOOM”
MOZART: Symphony No. 29
Clarice ASSAD: Beauty Has No Borders (world premiere of NCCO co-commission, with Lara Downes, piano)
STRAVINSKY: Apollon musagète
Feb 10
Munich, Germany
Prinzregententheater München
“Irish Roots”
Traditional Irish music; works by ROSEINGRAVE, PURCELL, OSWALD, O’CAROLAN, and others
With AIR Ensemble
April 15–18: concerts with New Century Chamber Orchestra
April 15: Berkeley, CA (First Church UCC)
April 17: San Francisco, CA (Presidio Theatre)
April 18: Tiburon, CA (St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church Belvedere)
“PULSE”
Gabriela ORTIZ: La Calaca
Omar MASSA: Double Concerto for Bandoneon and Violin (world premiere; as soloist, with Omar Massa, bandoneon)
PIAZZOLLA: The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (as soloist)
April 23
Dresden, Germany
Frauenkirche Dresden
Zurich Chamber Orchestra
With Nils Landgren, trombone
April 29 & 30
Tenerife, Spain
Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife
April 29
Max RICHTER: Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons
April 30
BRUCH: Violin Concerto
May 14–16
San Francisco, CA
Herbst Theatre
New Century Chamber Orchestra
“San Francisco Rising”
Works by IVES, BLOCH, and GERSHWIN (with Thomas Hampson, baritone)
May 27 & 28
Bucharest, Romania
Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra / Long Yu
ELGAR: Violin Concerto