About the Orchestra

The American Chamber Orchestra is a 65-member ensemble based in Fairfield County, Connecticut. We perform high baroque, classical, and early romantic repertory, and selected modern works, regularly including young professional musicians in our programs as featured soloists.

Founded in 2003 by Music Director Christopher James Hisey and a group of dedicated amateur musicians, we have presented 17 very successful concerts in Fairfield, Norwalk, and Bridgeport.

Among the highlights in our brief history:

June 12, 2004, the orchestra performed the world premiere of ‘Symphony – Wind River’ by Rex Cadwallader, an Emmy award-winning American composer.

In July 2005, the orchestra traveled to Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague, presenting four concerts during the tour.

February 11, 2006, we premiered Ed Thompson's orchestral suite 'Five in Fairfield,' depicting five places in Fairfield County.

The American Chamber Orchestra chooses the finest in orchestral literature to share with our audience, and a regular feature of our concerts is a pre-concert talk focusing on both the context in which the music we will perform was created, and analysis and discussion of the music itself, with recorded examples.

Artists who have appeared with the orchestra include Jenny Lind Award-winning soprano Stephanie Gregory, trumpeter Zebediah Upton, violinists Edita Orlinyte and Jinyeong Jessica Lee, violists Fiona Winning and Yaroslav Kargin, cellists Rebecca Patterson and Kangho Lee, pianist Assaff Weisman, and organist Ed Thompson.