GRANT COMMUNICATIONS

As Soloist
With the Toronto Symphony, May 26-27, 2010
Toronto Star May 26, 2010
“…You can thank visiting American violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, who is the wildly beating heart of this concert program…Salerno-Sonnenberg approached this technically and expressively dazzling music as a whole-body experience, holding nothing back. This is as engaging as concerts get.”                                                       

Recital with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, IN, April 24, 2010
South Bend Tribune April 25, 2010
“…As duet partners, the two musicians continue to make excellent decisions, and the audience Saturday night at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts was treated to a practically flawless performance from start to finish…The violinist rendered the melodies forcefully, with a sharp attack. She gave her glissandos long mournful swoops. She injected humor into a staccato sequence in the second movement. It was a vivid, emotional approach…They finished with big smiles, and the final impression was of two friends (and virtuoso geniuses) having a merry run through a duet for a lark in the parlor.”                                                                   

With Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, KY, April 17, 2010
Lexington Herald-Leader April 18, 2010
“…Some critics call Salerno-Sonnenberg histrionic. I call her scalding hot. And that’s because every bow stroke is passionately intentional. Histrionic is done for show. She is authentic, and that is why musicians adore playing with her. There are times when love moans and whimpers. In those times, the sound of her bow is ravishingly raw. Actually, the range of her tone is just as wide as the emotions that cascade through Piazzolla’s sound world..."
                                                                                           
With the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, October 29-31, 2009
Detroit Free Press October 31, 2009
“…Salerno-Sonnenberg brought her typical impetuousness and passion to the Barber concerto, opening with whispers so quiet they all but disappeared into silence. In the songful allegro, she teased and stretched out phrases and then dug deeply into the rhythm…The perpetual motion finale seemed shot from a cannon..."
 
With the Madison Symphony Orchestra, WI, October 23-25, 2009
The Capital Times October 24, 2009
“…Salerno-Sonnenberg is unendingly charismatic. Her nimble, adroit playing expressed weeping, ferocity, the warmest of songs, and great emotional demands. And the audience was with her for every second…” 

With the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington, DC , October 15-17, 2009
Washington Post October 16, 2009
“…Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, the violin soloist in the Barber, who is hyper-expressive and refreshingly down-to-earth. She is eminently communicative…”                                                                                                         

Ionarts.com October 17, 2009
“…Salerno-Sonnenberg played the Barber Concerto with utmost earnestness, passionate and so clearly intelligent…Her ability to communicate with and weave in and out of the orchestra was truly remarkable…She emerged from the orchestra from nothing – literally nothing, leaving the audience clinging to their seats until her sound gained more substance and gracefully exited the orchestra’s aural fold. She was a collaborator in the truest sense of the word, and it was refreshing to see in a soloist…”                                                                                           

With New Century Chamber Orchestra
Selected Review Excerpts

2011 New Century Chamber Music Winter Tour
January 29, Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, CA
February 2, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
February 3, Denison University Vail Series, Granville, OH
February 4, University Musical Society, Ann Arbor, MI
February 7, Northwestern University Pick-Staiger Hall, Evanston, IL
February 9, The Broad Stage, Santa Monica, CA
February 11, UC San Diego Art Power! San Diego, CA
February 12, UC Davis Mondavi Center, Davis, CA

The Sacramento Bee, February 14, 2011
 “It's hard to imagine any ensemble making a more impressive debut at the Mondavi Center than that of the New Century Chamber Orchestra on Saturday evening. The 19-year-old Bay Area ensemble has been led since 2008 by firebrand violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. These fresh-faced musicians, whose orchestra operates much like symphonic collectives common in Europe, were smart in picking the iconoclastic Salerno-Sonnenberg as musical leader, for there is nothing ordinary about her.Salerno-Sonnenberg's musical approaches are sincere and her performances have  an electric edge. She brings star quality to the stage – a very good thing for this ensemble despite its collectivism. On Saturday, musical spark and intelligent musicianship were at play in what was the orchestra’s last concert of a taxing, month long national tour. But you wouldn't have known it by the fresh and powerful performance from these 19 musicians, some of whom are well known, including violist Emily Onderdonk and cellist Robin Bonnell, both players with the Sacramento Philharmonic.This chamber orchestra made the argument that it should be a regular on the classical music schedule at the Mondavi in Davis.The argument was made most elegantly and fervently with the performance of Astor Piazzolla's distinctive "The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires," from an arrangement by Leonid Desyatnikov. Written as four individual works that pay homage to Antonio Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," the lilt of tango is never far from its technically demanding intentions. Salerno-Sonnenberg took to center stage for this work and offered much sizzle on the violin. At times, when Desyatnikov asked for glissandos and pizzicatos, Salerno-Sonnenberg attacked the strings with caged violence. In certain cadenzas, she seemed so enmeshed in the music that, after sparking out a set of notes, she looked as if she had just returned from a faraway dream. Swaying and dancing rhythmically, she led a super-dense performance from the orchestra. …   That work was paired with another that draws inspiration from indigenous music: Bela Bartok's "Romanian Folk Dances." Like Piazzolla's "Seasons," this work is melodically rich and emotionally expansive. Here, Salerno-Sonnenberg led the orchestra from her chair, and it proved a vivid performance – at once buoyant and melancholic to honor the personality of each of the work's six movements.”                                                               

ChicagoClassicalMusic.org, February 8, 2011
“Northwestern University’s Winter Chamber Music Festival came to a close Monday evening, but not before the New Century Chamber Orchestra blew into Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The orchestra, led by versatile violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, presented a program tailored to the ensemble’s infectious personality and that of its exuberant leader. … Perhaps not intended to be performed as a suite, Piazzolla’s Four Seasons are no less atmospheric than Vivaldi’s set of four violin concertos from which the Argentinean composer drew his inspiration.  Piazzolla’s Seasons present a formidable challenge to any ensemble that attempts all four.  Even if an orchestra can master the supreme technical difficulties, the music requires the passion of a performer like Salerno-Sonnenberg to do justice to the artistic and emotional depth.  The Seasons are as dense as the South American humidity and, at times, as chaotic as Buenos Aires traffic; they are bound by the beauty of Piazzolla’s ever-present tango. Taking her place in the middle of the orchestra, Salerno-Sonnenberg pried intentionally harsh sounds from the entire range of her violin, and swung her hips to the propelling rhythms of Anthony Manzo’s bass.  She twirled Vivaldi riffs over tango syncopation, ornamenting the virtuosity of Piazzolla’s writing.  The orchestra wore the music on their faces, emphasizing the pained, violent, and amorous tendencies of Piazzolla’s tangos; Susan Babini seemed to say everything in the cello solo of "Winter."                  

AnnArbor.com February 4, 2011
“Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, intense and passionate violin soloist, has been on our radar screens for some time. Last night at Rackham Auditorium we met another Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg: inspiring leader; intense and passionate concertmaster; lover of a good joke and a good time; and music director of the most exciting chamber orchestra you may have never  heard, the Bay Area-based  New Century Chamber Orchestra. Check off all those Salerno-Sonnenberg qual-ities for the NCCO, now on its first — and sure not to be its last — U.S. tour, with Salerno-Sonnenberg in the director’s chair (and as soloist). Add in a few more: bravura technique, fearlessness, aural imagination. It added up, Friday evening, to a performance that crackled with electricity from start to finish. I'm already waiting for the Universal Musical Society to issue the next invitation. It was an evening in which dance rhythms held the floor, from Wolf through Bartok and Piazzolla to Tchaikovsky. And how alive and vital those rhythms were

Cleveland.com, February 3, 2011
“Having arrived Tuesday before the storm, music director Salerno-Sonnenberg and her 19-member string ensemble from the San Francisco Bay Area were more than warmed-up for Astor Piazzolla's "The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires" the following night. They were, to put it mildly, in sizzling form in this suave and haunting music. The piece is a 20th-century composer's homage to an 18th-century colleague, whose music occasionally peeks through the seductive, slashing and soaring textures. Like Vivaldi, Piazzolla places the solo violin in atmospheric settings surrounded by multiple strings. It's a  dazzling workout for a soloist of virtuoso technique and intrepid personality, qualities that certainly apply to Salerno-Sonnenberg, an independent musical spirit for nearly three decades. The expressive and physical extremes that long have been Salerno-Sonnenberg hallmarks turned out to be just right for Piazzolla's extravagant showpiece. Where the music scrapes, scoops and swoons, the violinist was there with bow hairs flying. Where Piazzolla twists rhythms like sweaty bodies intertwining, Salerno-Sonnenberg provided the sonic and visual stuff. The fine New Century players responded to their leader's fervor with equal intensity. There were charismatic solos by several principals, especially cellist Susan Babini and violist Cassandra Lynne Richburg. Bass player Anthony Manzo's input was sonorous and impish. In the night's other works, Salerno-Sonnenberg led from the concertmaster's chair, exerting firm control over phrasing, dynamics and colors, sometimes to quirky effect. Wolf's Italian Serenade received frisky, nimble treatment, while Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances went their exuberant and exotic way, thanks partly to debonair solos from Salerno-Sonnenberg and peers. The orchestra also immersed itself into Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, playing with warmth, vigor and mannerisms that often shifted the emphasis to details, rather than the big picture. Salerno-Sonnenberg made an overheated thing of Gershwin's "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" as the second encore, but the first – Alfred Schnittke's Polka – was a subversive delight. Hot, you might say, and ideal for a frigid winter's night.” (The Plain Dealer)

StarkInsider
All Things West Coast January 31, 2011
 “These dances opened with a lush, stately intro in which Salerno-Sonnenberg traded riffs with cellist Susan Babini before launching into the folk tunes that make up the body of this piece. At various points, it seemed as if the entire orchestra was breathing together. This accessible piece balanced the Wolf well, trading the melodic folk tunes for the Wagnerian serenade. These first two songs were a warm-up for the heart of the program, Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Piazzolla was new to me and the complexity of this smoky music sprinkled with musical jokes and highlighted with novel techniques such as fingers stroking the length of the string to create a spooky, alien sound was immediately gripping. Salerno-Sonnenberg took center stage here and dazzled the audience with the versatility of her playing. At some moments she was a complete power house, fingers flying with breathtaking speed. At others, like the Verano Porteño and Otoño Porteño,  she lingered on the deliciously  smoky urbane passages. Small snippets of Vivaldi crop up at unlikely moments, more to tease the listener than anything else.  I hope New Century records this extraordinary piece. The intermission that followed gave the listener a chance to regroup before the Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings in C major. Peter Laki’s program notes were appreciated here – his notes on the structure of the first sonatina and the fourth finale helped the listener appreciate the construction of this piece.

San Francisco Examiner.com January 30, 2011
“They began with Hugo Wolf's Italian Serenade (1887)- a jaunty dance featuring a lyrical solo by cellist Susan Babini and some lively interplay between Salerno-Sonnenberg and associate concertmaster Dawn Harms. Next up was Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances. There are six individual sections to the whole, but one is very brief and the final two are played without pause, so it seems more like four. The first, "Jocul Cu Bata" is based on the Roma folk music that Bartok so brilliantly transformed into an entirely different genre without losing the essence of the music itself. The second dance, "Braul," was a slow, sad lament to my ears though the program notes claim a different intent. By this point I was somewhat lost in the music and not really paying attention to which dance was what and suddenly I was carried away into the sweeping rhythms of the final two, which ended with a lively, exuberant finish. I would wager most of us in the Northern America are familiar with Astor Piazzolla's music through its use in tango and I hadn't heard the Four Seasons of Buenos Aires before. While the piece has moments that bear the distinct stamp of his slower songs you can dance to, this is a new Piazzolla to me. Fast, lively and dotted with quotes from Vivaldi's namesake work in each movement, this engaging piece was brilliantly performed and the audience loved it. The slow Invierno (Winter) section was especially beautiful. On a side note, this would have made an excellent addition to the program recently performed here by the Venice Baroque Orchestra of Vivaldi's and Phillip Glass' Four Seasons, called the Seasons Project. After the intermission came Tchaikovsky's Serenade for  Strings in C Major, a work full of lyrical  romanticism the composer wrote  in imitation of Mozart but bearing his own distinct lushness throughout. Salerno-Sonnenberg and Babini again shone throughout the piece, as did principal violist Cassandra Lynne Richburg. The two outer sections are melodic bookends to a delicate waltz and elegy, the latter being the spot where Richburg really made a lovely contribution. The audience responded with tremendous enthusiasm, earning two encores: Schnittke's Polka and Gershwin's "Bess You is My Woman Now." I thought these may have been more effective had their order been switched, thus sending the audience out into the rain with a dance in their step instead of a ballad on the brain, but that's just me. Everyone I spoke with afterward agreed the concert was terrific and every piece on the program worked well. Based on the first night, it looks like NCCO has a tremendously successful seven-date tour coming up. The Orchestra is performing in Cleveland, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Davis.”
 
Addition Press Acclaim with NCCO           

Contra Costa Times May 7, 2010
“…in a program bearing the label "Sea to Shining Sea," this exceptional violinist and the 18 string players in her ensemble gave us some of the best and most beloved works by three celebrated American composers…And when it was all over but the shouting and applause, it was hard not to walk out of there beaming with pride over the sheer mother lode of musical gold running through this country… ”                                                                       

San Francisco Chronicle May 8, 2010
“…’Romanza’ was written with Salerno-Sonnenberg in mind, and it shows - this is edgy, high-intensity music, and she delivered the solo part superbly… ”                                                                                   

The San Francisco Classical Voice May 8, 2010
“…The soloist pressed on with somber dignity and a final joyous exclamation…Salerno-Sonnenberg gave a spirited and subtly cadenced performance. Her playing was assertive, full of character, deferential when necessary, and always attuned to the overall effect…

The Epoch Times May 10, 2010
“Eight concert sets, three world premieres, and one CD after joining New Century Chamber Orchestra, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg has molded the 18-year-old ensemble into an entirely new creation. Aside from the group's talent as a whole, the most striking aspect of the ensemble is its collaborative, unpretentious music-making and the melding of individual artists into a single musical entity with a distinctly new voice. This new voice is largely the handiwork of Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg since she was given the non-existent baton. New Century Chamber Orchestra has no conductor…Once again, Salerno-Sonnenberg demonstrated not only her stunning array of sonorities and articulations, but also her genuine love of modern, cutting-edge music. As a soloist, she revels in the challenge of playing brand-new music and breathing a part of her own soul into them. On the other hand, as music director and concertmaster, she seems to truly enjoy digging into the established string orchestra repertoire and presenting well-known warhorses with a new twist…

San Francisco Classical Voice March 7, 2010
“…Big kudos are due Music Director Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, for her programming and musical leadership, because on Thursday, at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church, all four works got top-notch, absorbing performances, with the Britten lifted to greatness…

Contra Costa Times November 20, 2009
“……[NEW CENTURY] seems to have ascended several more steps under the leadership of violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, now in her second season as music director and concertmaster. It's not just a matter of having a celebrity on board; she seems to incite real pleasure and excitement among the players, a simpatico feeling… New Century's performance Thursday was pristine, delicate and often very quiet, allowing Bolcom's personal language (his ice-skating harmonies, slipping and sliding and teasing the ear) and masterly handling of string textures to speak...the unity of the orchestra, which plays without a conductor, was remarkable…”