Classical & Choral Music: Fall Arts Preview 2015

It’s not all Beethoven and Bach, Debussy and Dvorak, Sibelius and Stravinsky. Some area classical and choral companies are working to shake up the traditional repertoire, either by presenting lesser-known works — such as two productions by Philip Glass and Kurt Weill this season from the Washington National Opera — or lesser-known artists with bold ideas. For example, the Kennedy Center will present two programs featuring Mason Bates, its new Composer-in-Residence, whose work incorporates sounds from electronic music. Another noteworthy production on tap this season is a new transgender-themed short opera presented by the always-groundbreaking company UrbanArias. Of course, there’s also at least four productions of Handel’s Messiah, countless other choral holiday sing-alongs — and not one, but two screenings of the movie Home Alone with live symphonic accompaniment.

ATLAS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

1333 H St. NE
Washington, DC
202-399-7993
atlasarts.org

• Great Noise Ensemble — Adventurous contemporary classical ensemble opens its 11th season with a “Fear Nothing New” program about the power of the human psyche and featuring compositions by Jenny Olivia Johnson, Nathan Lincoln-DeCusatis and Armando Bayolo (9/19)
• UrbanArias: As One — An inspiring story of a transgender woman, whose singing parts are split between a mezzo-soprano and a baritone, written by Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed (9/27-10/4)
• Capital City Symphony — “An American Tale” showcases three American composers, including Charlie Barnett and the world premiere of Mid-Century Mambo. Also on the bill is Aaron Copland with Appalachian Spring and Leonard Bernstein, whose Symphonic Dances is essentially a West Side Story sampler (10/18)
• Iva Bittova — Czech composer and improviser, who both sings and plays violin and evokes everything from gypsy dances to grand opera to sounds of nature (10/22)
• Capital City Symphony Family Concert (11/22)
• Brad Linde Ensemble: A Post-Cool Yule — This 10-piece chamber ensemble offers a program of deconstructed and re-imagined holiday classics (12/4)
• Great Noise Ensemble — Music reflecting the myriad stimuli we encounter on a daily basis (12/5)

BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Various locations

Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
1212 Cathedral St
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-783-8000
bsomusic.org

• Olga Kern: Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody — Marin Alsop kicks off the BSO’s new season by welcoming the Van Cliburn Competition-winning pianist for a romantic program that also includes Richard Strauss’s orchestral blockbuster An Alpine Symphony (9/17, Strathmore; 9/18-19, Meyerhoff)
• BSO Pulse: Dawes — A new concert series merging the BSO’s classical world with the indie-rock scene, kicking off with a collaboration between the L.A. rock band Dawes and a performance of Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 3 (9/24, Meyerhoff)
• Beethoven’s Pastoral — Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 is performed in a program led by Juanjo Mena (9/25, 9/27, Meyerhoff, 9/26, Strathmore)
• Don Giovanni — BSO’s new Principal Guest Conductor Markus Stenz brings his illustrious opera background to life in an all-Mozart program capped off with scenes from this anti-hero classic featuring eight soloists (10/1, Meyerhoff, 10/4, Strathmore)
• BSO SuperPops: Classic FM: Five Decades of Radio Hits — Jack Everly conducts the BSO in this recap of pop hits (10/8, Strathmore, 10/9-11, Meyerhoff)
• Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: In Concert — Marin Alsop leads the BSO in Edward Berkeley’s concert adaptation of Prokofiev’s sumptuous ballet, derived from the Bard’s classic play, featuring seven local actors and presented in association with Folger Theatre (10/16, 10/18, Meyerhoff, 10/17, Strathmore)
• Mozart and Mendelssohn — Joshua Wellerstein makes his BSO debut conducting Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 featuring YouTube sensation Valentina Lisitsa, and the BSO premiere of Baltimore-based composer Christopher Rouse’s Prospero’s Rooms, channeling the gothic energy of Edgar Allan Poe (10/23, 10/25, Meyerhoff, 10/24, Strathmore)
• Time Travel — Marin Alsop conducts the BSO in a science-forward program, narrated by NPR’s Scott Simon, and featuring two Philip Glass pieces, including Icarus at the Edge of Time, a story by special guest Brian Greene (11/5, Meyerhoff, 11/8, Strathmore)
• BSO Pulse: Wye Oak — The Baltimore folk/pop duo joins the BSO for a classical/rock performance of John Luther Adams’ Become River (12/12, Meyerhoff)
• Bolero — Jun Marki leads a flamenco-infused program of Falla, Debussy and Ravel (11/13, 11/15, Meyerhoff, 11/14, Strathmore)
• Hilary Hahn Plays Dvorak — Baltimore’s own international star violinist joins the BSO in a program also including Sibelius and led by Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu (11/19, Strathmore, 11/20-21, Meyerhoff)
• Handel’s Messiah — Edward Polochick once again leads the BSO, the Concert Artists of Baltimore Symphonic Chorale in Handel’s beloved oratorio (12/4, 12/6, Meyerhoff)
• BSO SuperPops: Tis The Season with Brian Stokes Mitchell — Damon Gupton conducts the BSO in a concert featuring the Tony-winning phenomenon performing traditional and contemporary holiday favorites (12/9, 12/11-13, Meyerhoff, 12/10 Strathmore)
• Christmas with the Morgan State University Choir — Eric Conway conducts the BSO and this historically black college choir in a selection of Christmas favorites, culminating in a gospel cantata (12/17-18, Meyerhoff)
• Home Alone: Movie and Music — Nicholas Hersh conducts the BSO and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society providing live accompaniment of John Williams’s score for the classic 1990 film (12/19, Meyerhoff)
• BSO SuperPops: Cirque de la Symphonie — Jack Everly helps ring in the new year with a performance pairing world-class acrobats and gymnasts with the BSO (12/31-1/2/16, Meyerhoff)
• Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3 — Piano giant Leon Fleisher joins to perform Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto for Left Hand in a program capped by Marin Alsop’s melancholic interpretation of a Romantic Russian classic (1/7/16, Meyerhoff, 1/10/16, Strathmore)
• BSO SuperPops: Pixar in Concert — Pixar presents a compilation of the music and imagery from the company’s 13 feature films as performed by the BSO conducted by Constantine Kitsopoulos (1/21/16, Strathmore, 1/22-1/24/16, Meyerhoff)
• Joshua Bell: BSO 100th Anniversary Concert — Superstar violinist joins Marin Alsop in a celebration of the BSO’s centennial (2/11/16, Meyerhoff)
• BSO SuperPops: An Evening with Sutton Foster — One of Broadway’s best performers (2/18, Strathmore, 2/19-21, Meyerhoff)

BARNS AT WOLF TRAP

1635 Trap Road
Vienna, VA
877-WOLFTRAP
wolftrap.org

• Jonathan Biss — Renowned American pianist and inaugural artistic advisor for Chamber Music at the Barns offers a Founder’s Day Celebration (10/23)
• Kuok-Wai Lio and Zoltan Fejervari — Young piano duo stops by the Barns days before making their Carnegie Hall debut (11/13)
• Calmus: Holiday Concert — German a cappella quintet charms with traditional and contemporary holiday music (12/6)
• The Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Ensemble (1/24/16)
• Voces8 — British vocal octet presents Light Devine, exploring the desire for comfort and light throughout the ages (2/12/16)

THE CHORAL ARTS SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Kennedy Center Concert Hall
202-244-3669
choralarts.org

• Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem — A concert dedicated to founder Norman Scribner, plus the world premiere of Battle-Flags, a commission from Zachary Wadsworth (11/15)
• A Family Christmas (12/13)
• A Choral Arts Christmas — A 35th annual holiday concert and gala mixing seasonal classics, favorite sing-alongs and popular Christmas standards (12/14, 12/20, 12/24)

THE CITY CHOIR OF WASHINGTON

National Presbyterian Church
4101 Nebraska Ave NW
Washington, DC 20016
202-495-1613
thecitychoirofwashington.org

• Bach, Britten and Haydn — Robert Shafer opens the choral group’s season with Bach’s Cantata 118, Britten’s Cantata Misericordium and Haydn’s Theresa Mass (10/25, National Presbyterian Church)
• The Holly and The Ivy: Music for Christmas 2015 — A candlelight processional sets the stage for this annual concert featuring the full choir and brass ensemble plus one area high school choir(12/14, National Presbyterian Church)

THE CLARICE

University of Maryland
College Park, MD
301-405-ARTS
theclarice.umd.edu

• Marc-Andre Hamelin — Known as a connoisseur of fine pianism and one drawn to the most challenging and unfamiliar pianistic terrain (10/4)
• Pacifica Quartet — A Grammy-winning ensemble considered one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today (10/9)
• UMD Wind Orchestra & UMD Concert Choir — Bruckner’s Mass in E Minor (10/9)
• UMD Symphony Orchestra — Elgar’s Enigma Variations (10/10)
• UMD Wind Ensemble — Funambulesque! (10/16)
• USMO Concerto Competition — School of Music students compete to be the next featured soloist with the UMD Symphony Orchestra (10/18, Preliminary Round)
• UMD Repertoire Orchestra (10/21)
• Imani Winds — Regarded as North America’s premier wind quintet (10/22)
• UMD Wind Orchestra — A program including Lang’s Are You Experienced?, a psychedelic musical reaction to Jimi Hendrix’s famed counterculture anthem (11/6)
• 14th Annual High School Choir Invitational — Talented high school choirs from Maryland and Virginia (11/11)
• Gordon Hawkins — UMD graduate and baritone known for work with the Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera and Seattle Opera(11/12)
• UMD Symphony Orchestra with Robert Schroyer — Percussionist performs Emmanuel Séjourné’s jazz-, rock- and flamenco-influenced Concerto for Marimba and Strings (11/13)
• UMD Women’s Chorus, UMD Men’s Chorus (11/15)
• UMD Chamber Music Showcase (11/16-17)
• Maryland Opera Studio: Don Giovanni (11/20-24)
• Elias String Quartet — U.K. ensemble offers intense and deeply felt performances (11/20)
• University Chorale (11/22)
• UMD Wind Orchestra, UMD Wind Ensemble — A program led by Michael Votta and featuring pianist Rita Sloan in a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Exotic Birds, featuring the calls of 47 different birds (12/6)
• UMD Women’s Chorus, UMD Men’s Chorus and the Maryland State Boychoir — 14th Annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (12/11)

CONCERTS FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Coolidge Auditorium
Thomas Jefferson Building
10 First St. SE
Washington, DC
202-707-8000
loc.gov/concerts

• Yarn/Wire — The Library of Congress launches its 90th season of concerts with one of America’s bold new music ensembles, a quartet of two pianists and two percussionists fresh off a collaboration with songwriter Sufjan Stevens (10/10)
• ATOS Trio — Premiere of new Library of Congress commission by composer Michael Hersch (10/16)
• Nicholas Phan and Myra Huang (10/17) — Tenor Phan teams up with pianist Huang to offer a beautiful program pairing major song cycles by Schumann and Britten with songs by Ned Rorem and Paul Bowles (10/17)
• Pavel Haas Quartet — Czech string quartet, one of the world’s greatest, performs an unusual program infused with the essence of Bohemian folk music courtesy of works by Martinu and Dvorak (10/23)
• WindSync — A vibrant quintet offers the premiere of Paul Lansky’s The Long and Short of It, commissioned by the Library (10/24)
• Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble The Soul’s Messenger — Visionary vocal artist is said to have expanded the boundaries of musical composition beyond words and of performance as a vehicle for spiritual transformation (10/30)
• Pomerium — The esteemed 15-voice ensemble takes its inspiration from the renowned chapel choirs of the Renaissance, reviving that golden age of a cappella singing (10/31)
• Bach Collegium Japan with Joanne Lunn — Bach guru Masaaki Suzuki offers a performance of his critically acclaimed ensemble along with this top British Baroque-focused soprano (11/4)
• Michelangelo String Quartet — A rare U.S. tour of this 13-year-old ensemble in a program centered around Shostakovich’s dramatic String Quartet in F Major (11/7)
• Ensemble Intercontemporain — Matthias Pintscher leads this collective of 31 core soloists, one of the world’s greatest ensembles dedicated to new music and 20th Century repertoire (11/13)
• Anne Sofie von Otter, Jonathan Cohen and Thomas Dunford — Swedish mezzo-soprano performs with keyboardist and rising star instrumentalist in a thoughtful program of Renaissance and Baroque songs, plus a few unexpected modern gems (11/17)
• Apollo’s Fire with Amanda Forsythe — Jeannette Sorrell leads Cleveland’s champions of the Baroque, who perform a program of operatic and instrumental music by Handel and Vivaldi and featuring a soprano the New York Times has called “simply dazzling” (11/19)
• Eric Ruske, Jennifer Frautschi and Gloria Chien — Acclaimed horn player leads an eclectic program with a two-time Grammy-nominated violinist (12/11)
• Borromeo String Quartet — The charismatic, trailblazing Ensemble-in-Residence at Boston’s New England Conservatory offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear all six Bartok quartets on the Library’s Stradivari string instruments as part of the annual Stradivari Anniversary Concert (12/18)

DAVIS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Georgetown University
3700 O St. NW
Washington, DC
202-687-ARTS
performingarts.georgetown.edu

• New Orchestra of Washington — Friday Music Series concert featuring a three-year-old ensemble focused on offering fresh interpretations of classic works but not restricted to simply the classical repertoire (9/25)
• Mexico City Woodwind Quintet — One of the most important chamber music groups in Mexico today perform a Friday Music Series concert (10/2)
• Jinsun Cho — Accompanist of the Georgetown University Chamber Singers performs an organ concert as part of the Friday Music Series (10/16, Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart)
• Grace Eun Hae Kim — Friday Music Series recital by this pianist who has been praised in the Washington Post for playing “rich in emotional contrasts” (10/30)
• DC A Cappella Festival 2015 – Annual concert co-hosted by two of GU’s most charismatic groups, the co-ed Phantoms and the all-female GraceNotes (11/7, 11/14, Gaston Hall)
• Modern Musick — Resident early music ensemble performs a Friday Music concert (11/13, Dahlgren Chapel)
• William Sharp with Steven Mayer: Charles Ives’ America — A Friday Music recital of songs from America’s supreme composer of art songs and performed by this baritone and pianist, two celebrated Ives exponents (11/20)
• World Percussion Ensemble — Fall Concert of this Georgetown group performing works by some of America’s prominent percussion ensemble composers, plus original pieces by members (11/22)
• GU Concert Choir: Messiah Sing-Along — Professor Frederick Binkholder leads professional soloists and musicians in this 5th annual sing-along of Handel’s famous oratorio (11/30, Dahlgren Chapel)
• GU Chamber Music Ensembles (12/30)

DUMBARTON CONCERTS

Dumbarton United Methodist Church
3133 Dumbarton St. NW
Washington, DC
202-333-7212
dumbartonconcerts.org

• A Far Cry: TransAmericana — Boston’s innovative, conductorless orchestra performs four amazing string works, including Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 3 for String Orchestra, Lena Frank’s Leyendas: an Andean Walkabout, Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9 and Ginastera’s Concerto per Corde (10/24)
• Nicholas White and the Raven Consort — An autumnal multidisciplinary program featuring song settings inspired by the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, including White’s The Raven, a cantata in eight movements for vocal quartet, as well as readings of Poe poetry (11/7)
• The Barnes and Hampton Celtic Consort: A Celtic Christmas — This organization’s candlelit holiday celebration has been a D.C. institution for over 35 years, transporting listeners to another time and place with its old instrumentation and setting (12/5-6, 12/12-13)
• Steven Beck: Goldberg Variations — Renowned interpreter of Bach performs one of the greatest works of the chamber canon plus the composer’s majestic Italian Concerto and Concerto in D minor (1/16/16)

THE EMBASSY SERIES

Various locations
202-625-2361
embassyseries.org

This 20-year-old series offers public access to foreign embassies and diplomatic homes in D.C. via classical concerts and followed by receptions, aimed at “uniting people through musical diplomacy.”

• Aleksey Semeneneko, violin, Inna Firsova, piano (10/6-7, Embassy of Ukraine)
• Beatrice Berrut, piano — A concert in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations (10/15, Swiss Ambassador’s Residence)
• Raphael Severe, Paul Montag — clarinetist and pianist (10/23, Embassy of Luxembourg)
• Eduardo Rojas, piano (10/29, Residence of the Colombian Ambassador)
• Adrienne Haan, singer, Israeli String Quartet, Heinz-Walter Florin, piano — A concert honoring the 50th Anniversary of German-Israeli Diplomatic Relations, featuring music of 1920s Weimar-era Berlin, klezmer and contemporary Hebrew songs (11/3, Embassy of Austria)
• Tomer Gewirtzman, piano — 4th Annual Daniel Pearl Memorial Concert in cooperation with the Embassy of Israel (11/9)
• Mariko Furukawa, piano (11/20, Japanese Ambassador’s Residence)
• Virgil Boutellis-Taft, Yoonie Han — Violinist, pianist (12/2, Embassy of France)
• Annual Christmas Gala (12/11-12, Embassy of Luxembourg)

FAIRFAX SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Center for the Arts Concert Hall
George Mason University
4373 Mason Pond Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-563-1990
fairfaxsymphony.org

• Beethoven’s 5th — Christopher Zimmerman opens a new FSO season with an all-Beethoven program including Symphony No. 5 and Piano Concerto No. 5 featuring Alon Goldstein (9/19)
• Beethoven & Sibelius — Sean Chen, a charismatic rising star and the 2013 Van Cliburn Piano Competition winner, joins to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in an otherwise Zimmerman-led, Sibelius-focused program, including his Symphony No. 2 (10/24)
• The Nutcracker — Hired last year as Principal Pops Conductor, Luke Frazier leads the FSO in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic also featuring local dance companies intended to become a new annual tradition (12/5)

FOLGER CONSORT

Folger Elizabethan Theatre
201 East Capitol St. SE
Washington, DC
202-544-7077
folger.edu

• Chanson Medieval: Music of Machaut and Dufay — A celebration of two of the most important French composers of the 14th and 15th centuries, both named Guillaume, who pioneered the Renaissance style of motets and chansons (10/9-11)
• The Season Bids Us: Christmas Music featuring Guido’s Four Seasons — It’s not certain whether Italian violinist Giovanni Antonio Guido’s Four Seasons compositions were written before Vivaldi’s, but both included poems for each season (12/8-23, The Church of the Reformation)
• The Wonder of Will: Early and New Music Celebrating Shakespeare — A collaborative program inaugurating celebrations tied to the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death and featuring Arcadia Viols and vocal ensemble Stile Antico, performing a setting of texts from Henry IV by acclaimed gay contemporary classical composer Nico Muhly (1/22/16-1/23/16, Washington National Cathedral)

GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, D.C.

Various locations
202-293-1548
gmcw.org

• Home Cooked Cabaret — A season-opening fundraiser featuring the cast of the chorus’ first show plus a hosted dinner and drinks (11/7, Kennedy Center Terrace Gallery)
• The S* Show — Select soloists from GMCW perform a cabaret toast to three American icons: Sondheim, Sinatra and Streisand (11/14, Atlas Performing Arts Center)
• Rewrapped Some of your favorite holiday songs as never heard before, rewrapped with glitter and glamour (12/5-6, 12/12-13, Lincoln Theatre)
• Rock Creek Singers and Potomac Fever (1/30/16, Barns at Wolf Trap)

THE IN SERIES

Source
1835 14th St. NW
Washington, DC
202-204-7763
inseries.org

• Latina Supremes — A tribute to Latina songwriters (9/19-20)
• Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land — A hauntingly beautiful opera about the coming-of-age of a girl from the heartland, inspired by the writings of James Agee (10/17-25, GALA)
• By George, By Ira, By Gershwin — A concert-in-cabaret spanning Tin Pan Alley, Hollywood and American operetta from one of the greatest brother songwriting duos (11/29-12/20)
• Mozart’s Bastian & Bastianna — Elizabeth Pringle’s sweet, funny English update of Mozart’s fairy tale opera will be followed by a holiday sing-along (12/5-13)

KATZEN ARTS CENTER

American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW.
Washington, DC
202-885-1300
american.edu/cas/auarts

• Connected: Music in the Museum: Steve Antosca — Washington composer and curator for New Music-in-Residence performs Elements: Five Transfigurations for Cello and Computer with music technologist William Brent and cellist Tobias Werner as part of a new music collective (10/8)
• Yuliya Gorenman — Internationally acclaimed concert pianist performs masterpieces of great Russian composers (10/10)
• AU Symphony Orchestra with Jess Bauer — Yaniv Dinur leads this concert celebrating Sibelius’ 150th birthday with a performance of his Violin Concerto featuring the 2015 AU Concerto & Aria Competition winner (10/30)
• AU Symphony Orchestra: Halloween Spooktacular (10/31)
• The Singing Capital Chorus: Harvest of Harmony! 2015 — Men’s a cappella ensemble performs its annual cabaret with a few other groups (11/7, Greenberg Theatre)
• AU Chamber Singers w/AU Symphony Orchestra Members — Daniel Abraham leads this program “When Spirits Attend in the Balcony” featuring works based on some form of early chant invoking ancestors and recent friends (11/7-8)
• 4×4: Celebrating Contemporary Chamber Music (11/14)
• AU Symphonic Band — Ben Sonderman directs the band in a program of classic gems and current favorites from the repertoire (11/15)
• AU Chorus — Casey Cook leads the choir in the program “Through Tempests and Trials” (11/21-22)

KENNEDY CENTER

2700 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20566
202-467-4600

kennedy-center.org

• Itzhak Perlman and Emanuel Ax — WPA presents a concert by these two celebrated statesmen of classical music touring in support of a new Deutsche Grammophon recording of Faure and Strauss violin sonatas (9/28, Concert Hall)
• Vijay Iyer and the Brentano String Quartet — The Fortas Chamber Music Concerts series kicks off its season with a concert featuring the Grammy-nominated composer/jazz pianist performing with acclaimed ensemble (10/7, Terrace Theater)
• Jeremy Denk — 2014 Avery Fisher Prize winner offers a solo classical recital presented by Washington Performing Arts (10/11, Terrace)
• Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra — Falun Dafa Association of D.C. presents a concert by this Chinese orchestra which merges elements of ancient Chinese culture with more modern Western symphonic sensibilities (10/11, Concert Hall)
• Seiya Ueno with Wendy Chen — Young Concert Artists presents the debut concert of dynamic Japanese flutist in a program accompanied by this YCA alumna (10/13, Terrace)
• Jamie Barton and Bradley Moore — Vocal Arts DC presents this mezzo-soprano and pianist in a program of Schubert, Dvorak, Chausson, Turina and arrangements of American hymns and spirituals (10/15, Terrace)
• Herbert Schuch — Washington Performing Arts presents a program by this Romanian pianist focused on the sound of bells (10/17, Terrace)
• Kennedy Center Chamber Players — Acclaimed ensemble of NSO musicians plays the Piano Trio in G Major and the String Trio in C Minor by Beethoven and the Horn Trio by Brahms (10/18, Terrace)
• David Aaron Carpenter with Salome Chamber Orchestra — A Fortas debut from charismatic violist and virtuosic ensemble performing works by Vivaldi, Piazzolla and Shor (10/26, Terrace)
• Mun Kyung Kim — New York Concert Artists & Associates presents a recital by this rising Korean piano star (10/27, Terrace)
• Evgeny Kissin — Washington Performing Arts presents Grammy Award-winning virtuoso in a performance of classic favorites with the gorgeous, sensual music of Spaniards Albeniz and Larregla (10/28, Concert Hall)
• Steven Isserlis, Robert Levin — British cellist is accompanied by fortepiano player for a program of Beethoven sonatas, presented by Washington Performing Arts (10/29, Terrace)
• Amit Peled, Noreen Polera — Washington Performing Arts presents this cellist and pianist in a program celebrating the centenary of Pablo Casals’ 1915 U.S. tour, plus a new work from Lera Auerbach commissioned for the occasion (11/8, Terrace)
• Mason Bates: KC Jukebox: 100 Years of Ambient Music — The Kennedy Center’s new Composer-in-Residence surveys an electronic music style with roots in 1930s Parisian lounge music and 1970s American minimalism, as part of an adventurous new concert series meant to shake up classical music by incorporating modern sounds and styles (11/9, Atrium)
• James Tocco — Famed American pianist performs Liszt’s complete Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses in this Washington Performing Arts presentation (11/10, Terrace)
• The Shanghai Quartet with Joseph Kalichstein & Jamie Laredo — Chausson’s Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet is the focus of this Fortas Chamber Music Concert featuring two of the three members of the Kennedy Center’s Chamber Ensemble in Residence (11/11, Terrace)
• Avanti Orchestra with Yifei Deng — Friday Morning Music Club Foundation presents a concert led by Pablo Saelzer and featuring this soloist performing Walton’s Viola Concerto and Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major (11/12, Terrace)
• Leif Ove Andsnes — Washington Performing Arts presents a return to D.C. from this “pianist of magisterial elegance, power and insight,” as the New York Times put it (11/14, Terrace)
• duo parnas with Ran Dank — Works for piano trio by Park and Shostakovich bookend this Fortas program from Indiana sisters string act and Israeli pianist (11/17, Terrace)
• Sang-Eun Lee, Noreen Polera — Korean cellist, a sensation at the 2014 Young Concert Artist auditions, performs a Washington Performing Arts program with piano accompaniment (11/18, Terrace)
• Ying Fang and Ken Noda — Vocal Arts DC presents this Chinese soprano accompanied by pianist in a program of Handel, Mozart, Strauss and Rachmaninoff (11/19, Terrace)
• Kennedy Center Chamber Players — Works by Copland, Britten, Bartok & Shostakovich (11/22, Terrace)
• Amernet String Quartet with Rachel Calloway and Adam Levin — Pro Musica Hebraica presents a concert of Sephardic and Spanish Jewish music with this audience favorite ensemble and a mezzo soprano and guitar soloist (11/23, Concert Hall)
• Opera Lafayette: Vivaldi’s Catone in Utica — Ryan Brown leads this mostly French-focused company’s first foray into the works of Vivaldi, with a semi-staged production, sung in Italian with English supertitles, directed by Tazewell Thompson (11/28-29, Terrace)
• The Tallis Scholars — The world’s leading exponents of Renaissance sacred music cross the pond for an enchanting early music Fortas Chamber Music program (12/3, Terrace)

LEVINE SCHOOL OF MUSIC

2801 Upton St. NW
Washington, DC
202-686-8000
www.levinemusic.org

• Season Preview — Monuments and Miniatures is the fitting theme of the new milestone season at Levine, its 40th (9/26) Julietta Curenton — Flutist returns to Levine to present a Loeffler Family Alumni Series program of contemporary American pieces (10/22)
• Celebrating 40! — Celebrating Levine’s 40th anniversary in a performance of piano trios by Beethoven and Schumann written when the composers were 40, performed by violinist Fedor Ouspensky, cellist Igor Zubkovksy and pianist Anna Ouspenskaya (1/23/16, The Falls Church Episcopal)

LIVE! AT 10TH AND G

First Congregational United Church of Christ
945 G Street NW
Washington, DC
202-628-4317

facebook.com/liveat10thandg

• Vox Pop: A Cappella Fall Spectacular — Philadelphia’s Broad Street Beat serves as opening act (9/19)
• Mary Beth Bennett — A 30-minute organ recital by this internationally acclaimed organist as part of a meeting of the DC Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (9/21)
• Horman Violin Studio Master Class with Jody Gatwood — Featuring the repertoire being prepared to compete in the prestigious Menuhin Competition (9/26)
• Musical Treasures from Bulgaria and the USA — The Bulgarian Music Society and Bulgarian Music Center offers this concert of classical music from near and far (10/9)
• The Capital Hearings — One of D.C.’s most versatile a cappella ensembles performs classical favorites, vocal jazz and contemporary arrangements (10/10)
• Thomas Circle Singers: Fall Concert (10/17)
• Horman Violin Studio Master Class with Roy Sonne — Welcoming this violinist, educator and former member of the Pittsburgh Symphony (10/25)
• Capital Blend — D.C.-based all-female a cappella group presents the concert “Double Shot” (11/7)
• Word of Mouth: Fall Concert — One of D.C.’s newest mixed all-vocal bands, winner of D.C.’s first “Aca-Challenge” a cappella competition (11/14)
• Georgetown Chorale Holiday Concert (12/12)

NATIONAL CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre
1611 N. Kent St.
Arlington, VA
703-276-6701
nationalchamberensemble.org

• Mozart and Friends — The ensemble opens its 9th season with a program including Beethoven and Hoffmeister but centered on Mozart’s most famous chamber music masterpiece, Piano Quartet in G Minor (10/17)
• Holiday Concert — The 13-year-old pianist Avery Gagliano performs as a soloist with the ensemble for this annual event, featuring classical masterpieces and holiday classics, and of course carol sing-alongs (12/12)
• Valentine’s Day Concert: Armenian Musical Treasures w/Bowen McCauley Dance — Internationally renowned clarinetist Julian Milkis joins for a program of Armenian composers including Komitas and Arutiunian, plus the Bowen McCauley Dance troupe joins to perform a thrilling ballet by Aram Khachaturian (2/13/16)

NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC

Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane
Bethesda, MD
301-493-9283
nationalphilharmonic.org

• Symphonic Dances from West Side Story — Music Director Piotr Gajewski leads Strathmore’s resident orchestra in a season-opening concert offering the key themes from Bernstein’s classic musical and also featuring pianist Thomas Pandolfi performing Gershwin (9/19-20)
• Wagner’s Rienzi: A Concert Opera — Gajewski leads soloists, the Washington Men’s Camerata, National Philharmonic Chorale and the orchestra in a concert version of Wagner’s opera (10/3)
• Victoria Gau: Bach Favorites — Associate conductor leads soloists, the orchestra and its chorale in a medley of Bach (10/31)
• Chee-Yun and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade — Gajewski leads the orchestra in a program that also includes guest soloist performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 (11/28-29)
• Stan Engebretson: Handel’s Messiah — Chorale artistic director leads soloists, the orchestra and the chorale in this annual tradition (12/19-20)
• Brian Ganz Plays Chopin: Bel Canto on the Piano — Pianist offers a selection of songs in a program that includes Polish soprano Iwona Sobotka (1/9/16)
• Colin Sorgi: Bach Violin Concerto No. 2 — Gajewski conducts guest soloist in a program that also includes Mozart, Grieg and Britten (1/16/16)

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Kennedy Center Concert Hall
2700 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 
202-467-4600

kennedy-center.org

• Season Opening Ball Concert w/Sutton Foster — The NSO’s two principal conductors Christoph Eschenbach and Steven Reineke lead an opening concert also featuring percussionist Martin Grubinger and Tony-winning triple threat Foster (9/20)
• NSO Pops: Rajaton — The Finnish sextet returns for another sure-to-be dazzling show, “The Best of the Beatles” (9/25-26)
• Donald Runnicles and Olga Peretyatko — The Scottish conductor and Russian coloratura soprano both make their NSO debut performing Richard Strauss’s soaring and bittersweet Four Last Songs as part of a program also featuring works by Mozart and Elgar (10/1-3)
• Ludovic Morlot and Milos Karadaglic — The Seattle Symphony’s conductor leads the classical guitarist in a performance of Rodrigo’s beautiful Concierto de Aranjuez (10/8-10)
• Fireworks! Recital with William Neil — The NSO’s principal organist shows off the power of the Rubenstein Family Organ in a program also highlighting the NSO brass and percussion sections (10/14)
• NSO Pops: Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers (10/23-24)
• Lang Lang — Superstar pianist joins to perform Greig in an Eschenbach-led program also including Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 (10/29-31)
• Anne Sofie von Otter — Eschenbach leads the Grammy-nominated Swedish mezzo-soprano as well as the Choral Arts Society of Washington and the Children’s Chorus of Washington in a performance of Mahler’s epic, full-evening Symphony No. 3 (11/5-7)
• Gianandrea Noseda and James Ehnes — A program of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 but also featuring works by Casella and Rachmaninoff (11/12-14)
• Jiri Belohlavek and Igor Levit — Beethoven’s “Emperor” Piano Concerto No. 5 marks the NSO debut of pianist Levit as part of a NSO concert also featuring symphonies by Mozart and Martinu (11/19-21)
• NSO Pops: Home Alone — A 25th anniversary presentation over Thanksgiving weekend screened with live accompaniment of John Williams’ score by the NSO and also featuring the Choral Arts Society of Washington (11/27-28)
• Sarah Hicks and Cameron Carpenter — Curtis Institute of Music conductor leads a program featuring the flamboyant bisexual performer on the Rubenstein Family Organ, as well as the first NSO performance of new Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates’s Mothership, which mixes symphonic soundscapes with high-energy electronic dance rhythms (12/3-5)
• NSO Declassified: In Motion featuring Ben Folds — Classical crossover artist performs his new piano concerto during a multi-genre, multimedia concert (12/4)
• NSO Pops: The Von Trapp & Stephanie J. Block Family Holiday — Descendants of the family that inspired The Sound of Music perform a holiday show with a musical theater performer plus the Washington Chorus (12/10-12)
• Nathalie Stutzmann: Handel’s Messiah — The epic masterpiece is performed each year with a different conductor and acclaimed guest artists, plus this year the UMD Concert Choir (12/18-21)
• Neeme Jarvi and Baiba Skride — Estonian conductor leads a concert featuring the Latvian soloist making her NSO debut performing Prokofiev’s lyrical Violin Concerto No. 1 (1/14-16/16)
• NSO Pops: Broadway Today with Jeremy Jordan and Betsy Wolfe — A symphonic parade of showtunes featuring two of Broadway’s newer stars (2/26/-27/16)

STRATHMORE

5301 Tuckerman Lane
Bethesda, MD
301-581-5100
strathmore.org

• Andras Schiff — WPA presents a concert of part two of The Last Sonatas in the Austro-German musical canon as performed by this knighted pianist (10/26, Music Center)
• Strathmore Children’s Chorus — Institution’s resident chorus kicks off the holiday season, with guest ensemble Seneca Valley High School Choir (12/2, Music Center)
• Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras of Strathmore “Winter Soundscapes” is a holiday repertoire featuring philharmonic, symphony and chamber ensembles (12/6, Music Center)
• The Philadelphia Orchestra with Hilary Hahn — The orchestra’s glowing string section and rich sound are showcased in Bizet’s Carmen Suite and Stravinsky’s complete Firebird, plus Hahn performing Henri Vieuxtemps’ Violin Concerto No. 4 (12/7, Music Center)
• Seth Kibel & Friends — Local multi-instrumentalist and a cadre of klezmer-loving friends offers “Hanukkah Hodgepodge” (12/9, Mansion)
• Metropolitan Klezmer — Ensemble offers a holiday show fusing Yiddish music with jazz, funk and folk (12/16, Mansion)

WARD RECITAL HALL

Catholic University
620 Michigan Avenue NE
Washington, DC
202-319-5416
music.cua.edu

• The Music of Faith in Times of War — Musical Treasures from Mid-17th Century Vienna (9/26, St. Vincent de Paul Chapel)
• Mexico City Wind Quintet (10/1)
• Beethoven 32 Piano Sonatas Concert No. 6 — Sonatas No. 22 through 26 are performed as part of this year-long series of concerts from piano faculty and students of the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music (10/6)
• Giuliano Mazzoccante — A recital by the Italian pianist as part of the Washington International Piano Series at CUA (10/29)
• CUA Chamber Choir, University Singers and CUA Symphony Orchestra — Leo Nestor conducts the program “Sacred Music from the Bolivian Rain Forest” (11/7, Crypt Church, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception)
• Beethoven 32 Piano Sonatas Concert No. 7 — Faculty and students continue the series by performing sonatas No. 27 through 29 (11/10)
• Fall Opera: The Impresario — An English-language production featuring selections from other operas in Mozart’s oeuvre but focused on this short singspiel (11/19-22)
• Beethoven 32 Piano Sonatas Concert No. 8 — Faculty and students conclude the series by performing sonatas No. 30 through 32 (11/23)
• Christmas Concert (12/4, Shrine)
• Women’s Chorus (12/5, St. Vincent’s Chapel)
• Wind Ensemble Concert (12/14, Hartke Theatre)

WASHINGTON BACH CONSORT

National Presbyterian Church
4101 Nebraska Ave. NW
202-429-2121
bachconsort.org

• Mass Appeal — A program devoted to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Latin church music and featuring soprano Katelyn Aungst, mezzo-soprano Sarah Davis Issaelkhoury, tenor Robert Petillo and bass Steven Combs (9/20)
• Noontime Cantata Series — Free monthly concerts featuring a solo performance on the restored Aeolian-Skinner organ and one of J.S. Bach’s Cantatas with chorus and orchestra (10/6, 11/3, 12/1, Church of the Epiphany)
• Chips Off the Old Bach — Some of the instrumentals produced by the Bachs, featuring the consort’s founding music director J. Reilly Lewis on harpsichord (11/13, First Congregational United Church of Christ)
• Christmas with the Consort — Virtuosic organist Todd Fickley accompanies the Consort Chorus in a dynamic program of choral and organ holiday music (12/20)

THE WASHINGTON CHORUS

Various locations
202-342-6221
thewashingtonchorus.org

In addition to a Christmas performance this season with the National Symphony Orchestra:

• Behold, The Sea — Julian Wachner leads soloists plus the Washington National Cathedral Choir of Boys and Girls in a program of Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony and Elgar’s Enigma Variations (11/22, Kennedy Center Concert Hall)
• A Candlelight Christmas — The Madrigal Lords and Ladies from the McDonough High School in Pomfret, Md., perform with the chorus (12/13, 12/19, 12/21-22, Kennedy Center; 12/18, Strathmore)

WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA

Kennedy Center
2700 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20566
202-295-2400
dc-opera.org

• Carmen — E. Loren Meeker directs and Evan Rogister conducts the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Bizet’s most famous opera (9/19-10/3, Opera House)
• Appomattox — WNO presents the world premiere revised version, including a brand-new second act, of Philip Glass’ acclaimed English-language opera directed by Tazewell Thompson and conducted by Dennis Russell Davies (11/14-22, Opera House)
• American Opera Initiative: Three 20-Minute Operas — John DeMain conducts a semi-staged performance of three new 20-minute English-language operas
• American Opera Initiative: New Hour-Long Opera: Better Gods — Composer Luna Pearl Woolf and librettist Caitlin Vincent explore a dark chapter of American history with the story of Queen Lili’uokalani, the last reigning monarch of Hawaii (1/8-1/9/16, Terrace)
• Lost In The Stars — Renowned bass-baritone Eric Owens stars in Kurt Weill’s final work for the stage, a musical tragedy based on Alan Paton’s novel Cry, The Beloved Country (2/12-2/20/16, Eisenhower Theater)

WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS

Various locations
202-785-9727
washingtonperformingarts.org

• What Makes It Great?: Rob Kapilow with Yuliya Gorenman — Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is examined by the former NPR music commentator and then performed by pianist Gorenman, in a program co-presented by Smithsonian Associates (10/25, Church of the Epiphany)
• The Art of the Spiritual: Deep River — Washington Performing Arts Men & Women of the Gospel Choir and PostClassical Ensemble explore the impact of Harry Burleigh, Antonin Dvorak’s African-American assistant, on spirituals (11/7, University of DC Auditorium)
• Accordion Virtuosi of Russia — A co-presentation with host venue Lincoln Theatre of this more than 70-year-old Russian ensemble offering daredevil feats of keyboard and button prowess (11/8, Lincoln Theatre)

More Fall Arts 2015

• Film
• Television
• Stage
• Pop Music
• Dance
• Museums
• Above & Beyond