New European Strings (NES) Chamber Orchestra was founded by Dmitry Sitkovetsky in 1990 at the Korsholm Festival in Finland.

The NES brings together the most respected string players from top European ensembles. They have toured throughout Europe. Dmitry Sitkovetsky’s transcription for string orchestra of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) was recorded by the New European Strings for Nonesuch Records and was released to tremendous critical acclaim in the summer of 1995. In February 1997, they made their first USA tour performing in 14 cities from Los Angeles to New York. The New Yorker, in a review of this recording, wrote: “The New European Strings Chamber Orchestra combines interpretive insight with exemplary playing; even suspicious purists will hear contrapuntal felicities that keyboard players can only suggest.”

2–9 March: Château de la Flocellière

Soloists: Julia Sitkovetsky, Sergei Nakariakov, Boris Garlitsky