Cordancia Chamber Orchestra
- vibrant music to our vibrant community
Cordancia is a chamber orchestra based in Rochester, NY. The orchestra's award-winning programming blends eclectic, vibrant, lesser-known music with traditional classic repertoire. The orchestra’s performers are professional musicians, music teachers, music college students, and also musicians whose main occupation is in other f
ields. The orchestra’s mission is to bring new and rarely heard music into perspective of the familiar, to illuminate and to share the abundance of the lesser-known and the newly created repertoire. From its instigation, Cordancia’s purpose was to explore the wealth of music for smaller-seized orchestra and Sinfonietta-type ensembles. In 2016, Cordancia was awarded 2nd place for the orchestra’s programing in the prestigious, national competition, The American Prize.
“…a fascinating program of obscure orchestral gems written by important,
mostly under appreciated composers.” – Rochester City News
Cordancia's season includes 6-8 concerts with the 40+ member chamber orchestra and chamber music performances with smaller ensembles. In addition, an outreach ensemble offers educational programs in collaborations with schools in the Rochester area. The orchestra currently works with conductors Rachel Lauber and Casey Springstead. Soloists from the ensemble and guest soloists perform with Cordancia. In 2016, the Cordancia Concerto Competition for Young Performers was launched - renamed in 2017 as the Nico Toscano Concerto Competition. Cordancia is holding its third concerto competition this year in December, offering an opportunity for two young musicians ages 16-22 - one high school level and one college level student - a prize award and a chance to perform as a soloist in concert with Cordancia. In addition, Cordancia has collaborated with several other local performing artists and organizations such as the Eastman Chorale, Madrigalia, Vox Lumine, NYS Ballet, Meryton Assembly Dancers, comedians Kerry Young and Abby DeVuyst, dulcimer player Mitzie Collins, and has featured a number of guest soloists, including renowned cellist Steven Doane. In accordance with the mission of providing extraordinary experiences of music to the Rochester audiences, the orchestra has featured performers of instruments that traditionally are heard infrequently in symphonic context. These include: banjo, bagpipe, saxophone, Harding fiddle and dulcimer. "Cordancia presents innovative, unusual, and ambitious repertoire that should be heard more frequently. They collaborate actively with many other Rochester ensembles and make it possible for large-scale collaborative projects to succeed.” - Musician
The “Timeless Tales” educational outreach program spotlights 5 musicians from Cordancia in collaboration with story-teller Jay Stetzer. This educational outreach quintet with narrator offers programs at schools in the Rochester area that feature fairy tales retold in words and music. Cordancia was formed in 2009 by violinist Pia Liptak and oboist Kathleen Suher who met as members of the University of Rochester Symphony Orchestra; Kathleen as the principal oboist and Pia as the concertmaster. In Cordancia, Kathleen and Pia serves in the same roles as musicians. Cordancia became a not-for-profit in 2011 and the two musicians also serve as leaders and artistic directors of the organization. "In a short time, Cordancia has quickly become one of the most professionally organized and musically diverse chamber orchestras in the Rochester area. Cordancia's seasons rival any of the better known chamber music series in Rochester.” - Musician
The name Cordancia is combined from the Italian words for string, corda, and reed, ancia, respectively representing the violin and the oboe, the instruments of the founders of this ensemble. In a broader sense, the name represents the entire ensemble of strings and winds, piano and percussion. Visit our website for details about our 2019-2020 (10th season) season. www.cordancia.org
