HOPE AND MORE: Violinist Daniel Hope and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra come to State Theatre New Jersey March 21.

State Theatre New Jersey presents Daniel Hope with Zurich Chamber Orchestra on Tuesday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $17.50-$70.

Music Director and violinist Hope leads the 76-year-old music institution, Zurich Chamber Orchestra (ZCO). A protégé of violinist/conductor Yehudi Menuhin, Hope is the first instrumentalist to be named music director of the ZCO. Conducting from the violin, Hope leads the orchestra in a program featuring Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending; “Waltz of Moment” from Silent Music by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov; as well as Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro and Mendelssohn’s D minor violin concerto. The program ends with Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for String Orchestra.

In the 1940s, music student Edmond de Stoutz used his free time to regularly meet with a number of friends and make music together. The joy of pursuing their creative ideals and the group’s shared passion for chamber music gave rise to the desire of forming a chamber orchestra. This led to the first public concert of the ZCO in Zurich in 1945.

For over 50 years, de Stoutz was inspiring and holding together the orchestra community. After his era, the conductors Howard Griffiths, Muhai Tang, and Sir Roger Norrington shaped the sound and musical ideas of the ZCO.

Today, the ZCO regularly visits international festivals in leading concert halls, tours throughout Europe, America, Asia, and South Africa, and releases CDs.

State Theatre New Jersey is at 15 Livingston avenue. Visit STNJ.org for tickets.