The Spring-into-Summer offerings this year in the classical realm are as rich, diverse, and extensive as ever. There’s even a WorldPride-affiliated event here and there, including a two-day festival that will close out May in surely the gayest way ever up at Strathmore. But don’t think for a second that the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington is gonna take that lying down. In fact, for WorldPride, the organization’s many choristers are planning to do a whole lot of popping up, all over the city, for two full weeks. And wouldn’t you know it, they’re even calling in reinforcements from all over the country.

THE ALDEN

McLean Community Center
1234 Ingleside Ave.
McLean, Va.
703-790-0123
www.mcleancenter.org

• The Borisevich Duo — A duo of Russian expatriates and alumni of the prestigious Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Nikita Borisevich, violin, and Margarita Loukachkina, piano, are partners in marriage and in music. The internationally renowned violin and piano duo will perform their annual recital as part of the Chamber Music Series at the Alden (5/4)
• Francesca Hurst, piano (6/8)

BARNS AT WOLF TRAP

1635 Trap Road
Vienna, Va.
703-255-1868
www.wolftrap.org

•  Great Sonatas: Mozart, Grieg, Fauré, Prokofiev — A joint program with Chamber Music at The Barns and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in which featured pianists Evren Ozel and Orion Weiss partner with one other musician from among featured violinist Paul Huang, cellist Jonathan Swensen, and flutist Adam Walker, providing a unique opportunity to witness personal collaborations between pairs of artists (4/4)
• Ustad Naseeruddin Saami & The Saami Brothers — Pakistani pop sensation Zeb Bangash, a star student of Saami’s, opens this evening exploring the spiritual healing power of khayal music, a genre of Indian classical vocal music, with the Saami family led by the last living practitioner of an ancient 49-note microtonal vocal scale who is a master of both khayal and quawwali, a form of devotional music performed by Sufi musicians. Concert presented in partnership with District of Raga (4/5)
• Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence — Another program from the two leading Chamber Music entities, the evening features violinists Paul Huang and Danbi Um, voilists Matthew Lipman and Timothy Ridout, and cellists David Finckel and Sihao He, performing string trios in combination by Haydn and Schubert in addition to performing as a sextet for works by Bach, Strauss, and the titular blockbuster from the classic Russian Romantic (4/25)
•  John Holiday, countertenor — A 2014 Wolf Trap Opera alumnus returns for a Chamber Music at The Barns program, rescheduled from this past January, of works by Price, Bonds, Robert L. Morris, Gershwin, and more (5/23)
• Wolf Trap Opera: The Marriage of Figaro — Four Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artists join the cast for this production of Mozart’s masterpiece, described as “a comical riot of mistaken identities, disguises, and delightful chaos,” a “brilliant exploration of class, love, and loyalty” (6/20, 6/22, 6/26, 6/28)
•  Wolf Trap Opera Studio: Aria Jukebox — Studio members will perform whatever classics the audience selects from a list of possibilities at the start of the program (6/29)
• Wolf Trap Opera: Studio Artists in Concert — Get to know this season’s select crop of artists in this free off-site event where they’ll perform some of their favorite pieces from the operatic canon (7/9, Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 3513 N St. NW)
• Wolf Trap Opera: Dialogues of the Carmelites — Four Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artists join to perform this production of Poulenc’s emotionally charged opera, set amidst the turmoil of the French Revolution, described as “a profound testament to conviction, sacrifice, and the resilience of the human spirit” (7/18, 7/20, 7/24, 7/26)

THE CLARICE

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

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• Gamer Symphony Orchestra: Spring 2025 Small Ensemble Concert — Established in 2005, this student-run symphonic orchestra is the first of its kind, the first collegiate ensemble exclusively devoted to performing orchestral arrangements of video game music (4/6, Gildenhorn)
• Maryland Opera Studio: The Merry Wives of Windsor — A German adaptation of Shakespeare’s beloved play, Otto Nicolai’s comic opera is a tale of love and empowerment and the triumph of cleverness over folly that will be rendered here by UMD School of Music opera students (4/11, 4/13, 4/16, 4/19, Kay Theatre)
• Faculty Artist Series: Left Bank Quartet — Franz Schubert’s monumental Quartet in G Major and Alban Berg’s Quartet Op. 3 are the focus of this year’s recital by this ensemble of UMD School of Music string faculty members (4/12, Gildenhorn)
• University & Community Band Concert (4/12, Dekelboum)
• American Brass Quintet — Internationally recognized as one of today’s premier chamber music ensembles and ardent champion of new works by distinguished American composers, including for this performance a new commission from multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey (4/13, Gildenhorn)
• Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: Alsop Conducts Scheherazade (4/18, Dekelboum)
• Conductors’ Concert: UMD Symphony Orchestra and UMD Wind Orchestra — Symphony Music Director David Neely and Wind Music Director Michael Votta Jr., respectively, oversee this joint concert led by members of the graduate conducting studios (4/19, Dekelboum)
• New Music at Maryland Concert (4/23, Gildenhorn)
• Maryland Opera Studio: Opera al Fresco — A free “audience favorite” afternoon program previewing upcoming performances by the studio’s student artists (4/24, Grand Pavilion)
•  Maryland Day 2025 — The annual campus-wide, all-genre “open house” celebrating the creativity of Terps and the local community through performances, experiences, and activities (4/26)
• Maryland Opera Studio: Opera Scene Study — First-year students demonstrate their talent in a showcase from a wide operatic repertory accompanied only by piano and minimal props (5/1-2, Gildenhorn)
• UMD Balinese Gamelan Saraswati: Gamelan Concert (5/2, Dekelboum)
• National Orchestral Institute + Festival: Chamber Music Spotlight — Aspiring orchestral musicians from across the country take part in this Grammy-nominated month-long program led by Music Director Marin Alsop offering professional music experiences. Some of the stand-out performers of seasons past as well as faculty members come together for this NOI+F All-Stars evening of classical greatness (5/3, Gildenhorn)
• NOI+F: Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream — Felix Mendelssohn’s sumptuous score to Shakespeare’s classic comedy will be performed by NOI+F participants as part of a vibrant, multidisciplinary performance directed by Marin Alsop and also featuring Wolf Trap Opera’s 2025 Studio Artists (6/7, Gildenhorn)
• NOI+F: Mahler: Symphony No. 2 — Two performances of Mahler’s masterful “Resurrection” symphony featuring soprano Midori Marsh and mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Beteag and the National Orchestral Institute + Festival with conductor Marin Alsop (6/14, Gildenhorn; 6/15, Washington National Cathedral, 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW)
• UMD Symphony Orchestra: Season Finale Concert — Music Director David Neely leads “Beethoven, Brahms, and Ravel,” a celebration of works by three of the most influential composers of all time, including Beethoven’s Overture to Coriolanus and Ravel’s La vaise, before culminating in the poignant and bittersweet Symphony No. 3 by Brahms (5/10, Dekelboum)
• Alarm Will Sound: Paper Pianos — An evening-length multimedia work from Mary Kouyoumdjian combining narratives from four refugees and resettlement workers and exploring their senses of displacement, longing, and optimism, performed by a genre-busting 20-member ensemble that the New York Times calls “as close to a being a rock band as a chamber orchestra can be,” further enhanced here by intricate hand-drawn animations by artist Kervork Mourad (5/10, Kay Theatre)
• University Band & Maryland Community Band Concert (5/11, Dekelboum)
• UMD Percussion Ensemble Concert (5/12, Dekelboum)
• UMD Choral Activities: FrendeMusik & Voix de Chanson Concert — An a cappella ensemble led by undergraduate tenors and basses and another comprised of undergraduate sopranos and altos focused on a cappella treble choral music unite to perform an array of familiar standards and exciting new arrangements (5/12, Gildenhorn)
• Prince George’s Philharmonic: 59th Season’s Grand Close! (5/17, Dekelboum)

THE CHORAL ARTS SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

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

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• Haydn’s “Creation” — Artistic Director Marie Bucoy-Calavan leads a gripping performance of Joseph Haydn’s masterful oratorio pairing vivid orchestration from the Choral Arts Orchestra with powerful choral harmonies from the Symphonic Chorus and soloists Joélle Harvey, soprano, Kyle Tomlin, tenor, and Joseph Lattanzi, bass, further enhanced by dance students from the CityDance Conservatory as well as guest artist Matthew McLaughlin, a CityDance alum and former member of Mark Morris Dance Group, all performing a new work created by choreographer Robert J. Priore (3/30)
• A Choral Legacy: 60 Years of Creating Stories Through Voice — A spectacular tribute concert marking the organization’s diamond jubilee year featuring a new commission and special guest artists to be announced (6/15)

CONGRESSIONAL CHORUS

202-629-3140
www.congressionalchorus.org

• Showstoppers — Hits Across The Eras from Jazz to Broadway will feature jazz classics and modern favorites performed by the all three groups that make up this multigenerational family of choruses. Presented as an afternoon concert (6/14, Capital Turnaround, 700 M St. SE)
• Since Sondheim — A Broadway Cabaret offering the organization’s signature dazzling blend of song and dance, a revue at least nominally focused on “the bright talents who push the art form forward” post-Sondheim (6/14, Capital Turnaround)

FOLGER CONSORT

Folger Theatre
201 E. Capitol St. SE
202-544-7077
www.folger.edu

• Early Music Seminar: Kings and Commonwealth — Robert Eisenstein, this acclaimed early music ensemble’s co-artistic director, provides the historical and musical context about its upcoming concert (4/30, Virtually on Zoom)
• Kings and Commonwealth: The English Civil War — With a stated focus of “[delving] into the intersection of politics and melody,” the Folger Consort’s 47th season concludes with a program of music, “as charged and fervent as ever,” from the politically and religiously tumultuous era of 17th-century England. Eight guest artists on period instruments and voice join to perform political ballads about the Gunpowder Plot as well as that failed anti-monarchy coup’s most infamous co-conspirator Guy Fawkes, political songs from Thomas D’Urfey’s Pills to Purge Melancholy, and instrumentals from the royal courts of James I and Charles I (5/2-4)

GAY MEN’S CHORUS

202-293-1548
www.gmcw.org

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• Youth Invasion — Under the direction of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C.’s Associate Conductor C. Paul Heins, the GenOUT Youth Chorus returns for an annual concert giving voice to the identities and experiences of LGBTQ and allied youth, with this year’s special guests the Voices of Hope Youth Choir, comprised of youth grades 3 through 12 from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax and its broader Northern Virginia community (4/27, St. Thomas’ Parish, 1517 18th St. NW)
• Spring Affair with Nina West — The organization’s annual fundraiser comes with dinner and open-bar reception, live and silent auctions, special presentations, including the Harmony Award ceremony, not to mention entertainment from special celebrity guest West, who was crowned Miss Congeniality on Season 11 of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2019 and then returned last year to compete on Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars (5/17, The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC, 1150 22nd St. NW)
• International Choral Festival — In conjunction with WorldPride 2025, GMCW has organized a special two-week festival during which they’ll perform multi-artist pop-up concerts at various local venues in collaboration with visiting choruses from around the country. Currently, the lineup includes fellow gay men’s choruses from New York City, Philadelphia, the Twin Cities, Charlotte, and Hartford, as well as the New Wave Singers of Baltimore, Central Maryland Rainbow Chorus, the Triangle Men’s Chorus from Raleigh, New York City’s Asian Rainbow Chorus and Lavender Light Gospel Choir, the Richmond Allied Voices Treble Chorus, the National Flute Association LGBTQ+ Flute Choir, and Major Minors, the LGBTQ+ and allied youth chorus from Tennessee. The chorus also plans to perform John Bucchino’s A Peacock Among Pigeons at certain venues. Full details, including exact times and locations, to be announced (5/23-6/8, Various locations)

GMU CENTER FOR THE ARTS

4373 Mason Pond Dr.
Fairfax, Va.
703-993-2787
www.cfa.gmu.edu

• Les Arts Florissants: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at 300 (3/30, Concert Hall)
• Mason Symphonic Band (4/16, Concert Hall)
• Mason Wind Symphony Concert — “Niagara Falls: A Journey Through Power, Reflection, and Motion” (4/24, Concert Hall)
• Mason Opera: 27 — Ricky Ian Gordon focuses on the the art, literature, and relationships that flourished between the two world wars at the famed Parisian abode where American expats Gertrude Stein and her wife Alice B. Toklas lived and hosted everyone from Picasso to Matisse, Hemingway to Fitzgerald (4/25-27, Harris Theatre)
• Virginia Opera: Loving v. Virginia — A world premiere in collaboration with the Richmond Symphony that shares the true story of the Virginia interracial couple whose illegal marriage in 1958 was challenged all the way to the Supreme Court. Denyce Graves directs this opera with music by Damien Geter and a libretto by Jessica Murphy Moo (5/3-5, Concert Hall)
• Mason Symphony Orchestra — The last concert of the year will feature three winners of the 2025 Mason Concerto Competition in a mixed repertory program (5/5, Concert Hall)
• Dewberry School of Music Honors Recital 2025 (5/10, Harris Theatre)

THE IN SERIES

202-204-7763
www.inseries.org

• 2025 Annual Gala — In addition to food and drink, stunning musical performances, and an auction of one-of-a-kind items, this year’s gala will feature as special guest international opera superstar Denyce Graves, who will personally bestow The IN Series’ Denyce Graves Award to acclaimed actress Jane Alexander, who got her start at Arena Stage and most notably led the National Endowment for the Arts while it came under bruising attacks from the “Republican Revolution” of the mid-1990s (5/14, St. Francis Hall, 1340 Quincy St. NE)
• Ethiopia — Touted as “the long-awaited world premiere of the first ‘living newspaper,'” the IN Series concludes its season with a new work by writer Sybil R. Williams and composer Janelle Gill built from Arthur Arent’s 1937 original “hot off the press” stage play dramatizing Italy’s then-recent invasion of Ethiopia. Drawing new inspiration from an Ethiopian luminary known as “the honky tonk nun” as well as by the activism of Black soprano Mayme Richardson, Ethiopia explores how America’s Black and Brown communities responded to European colonialist aggression and weaves together jazz, classical, and African music (5/16-18, DC Waterfront location at 340 Maple Dr. SW; 5/30-6/1, Baltimore Theatre Project)

KENNEDY CENTER

202-467-4600
www.kennedy-center.org

•  The Choral Arts Society — Haydn’s “Creation” (3/30, Concert Hall)
• NSO Family Concert: Earth To Space — Music inspired by the planets, stars, and beyond, presented as part of the Kennedy Center’s Earth to Space Festival (3/30, Concert Hall)
• Galactic Hope by Ihab Darwish — Another Earth To Space Festival program with an Emirati composer performing a captivating symphonic composition channeling the immensity and wonder of the great unknown and drawing deeply from the United Arab Emirates’ space endeavors (4/9, River Pavilion)
• And No Birds Sing: A Requiem for the Earth by Margaret Leng Tan — A Singapore-native mentored by John Cage and dubbed the “diva of avant-garde pianism” by the New Yorker performs an Earth To Space Festival program of modern new American works providing “chillingly persuasive commentary on the untrammeled fury of nature unleashed by civilization’s relentless, wanton defilement of the planet” (4/10, River Pavilion)
• WPA: Yefim Bronfman, piano (4/14, Terrace Theater)
• WNO Orchestra — Members of the Washington National Opera Orchestra offer an assortment of chamber music (4/17, Millennium Stage)
• French National Orchestra of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: Bicentennial Lafayette Tour — An immersive and musical experience (4/21, Terrace Theater)
• Oliver Neubauer, violin, Janice Carissa, piano — Young Concert Artists presents the recital debut of this 24-year-old American violinist characterized by Neubauer himself as one that “expresses a yearning for something beyond our world, [and one in which] each work grapples with the depths of humanity and simultaneously contains an aspect of reaching for the stars” (4/22, Terrace Theater)
• Girma Yifrashewa Piano Concert — An enchanting performance by Ethiopian composer and classical pianist (4/23, Terrace Theater)
• Pan American Symphony Orchestra: Pasión por Tango — Under the direction of Sergio Alessandro Bušlje, this outfit presents its signature tango show featuring 25 musicians and three pairs of award-winning tango dancers (4/26, Terrace Theater)
• Paragon Philharmonic: Music of the Americas — Explore the vast and varied musical landscape of the Americas, from Samuel Barber’s deeply moving Adagio for Strings, to Adolphus Hailstork’s Sonata da Chiesa blending classical and spiritual traditions (4/27, Terrace Theater)
• WPA: Yunchan Lim (4/27, Concert Hall)
• Takács Quartet — Heralded for its innovative programming, virtuosic performances, and extensive discography, this Grammy-winning ensemble returns to the Kennedy Center for a Fortas Chamber Music concert in celebration of its 50th season (4/27, Terrace Theater)
• Opera Lafayette: RE|JOICE: 30 Years of Ryan Brown — A program celebrating an internationally acclaimed local opera company that has helped to broaden opera’s appeal and repertoire through a distinctive focus of performing nearly forgotten centuries-old gems of the genre, and doing so through the use of uncommon, often even exotic-sounding period instrumentation. Three decades after Artistic Director Ryan Brown founded the company, it’s now cited as “the nation’s oldest period instrument opera company.” The Opera Lafayette Chamber Orchestra and select guest vocalists will join to highlight some of the music, the musicians, and the composers from the past 30 years (5/1, Terrace Theater)
• Kennedy Center Chamber Players — Summer Concert (5/11, Terrace Theater)
• WPA: Janice Carissa, piano (5/18, Terrace Theater)
• 15th Annual National Memorial Day Choral Festival — Music Celebrations International presents this musical tribute to the nation’s veterans and fallen heroes, a grand concert featuring the Capital Wind Symphony and a 200-Voice Memorial Day Festival Chorus comprised of singers from choirs throughout the U.S. performing an entirely American program of traditional patriotic favorites (5/25, Concert Hall)
• Jennifer Koh — Known for an intense, commanding style, an earlier New York Times review praised Koh as “a superbly gifted violinist [who’s] proved to be a steadfast and sure surveyor of this terrain,” referring to Johann Sebastian Bach’s complete works for solo violin, which she’ll perform in one marathon performance billed “a feat attempted by very few” (6/8, Terrace Theater)
• National Chamber Ensemble: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons — Lynda Carter, the iconic Wonder Woman actress, will host a stunning multimedia and multi-sensory reimagining of Antonio Vivaldi’s timeless masterpiece, led by violinist and NCE Artistic Director Leo Sushansky, that sheds light on the fascinating story behind the beloved composition (6/12, Terrace Theater)

NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC

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

• Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 — Naima Burrs, a strong advocate for female and Black composers and musicians in classical music, conducts the orchestra in this season-ending program focused on three very different but very important “masterpieces of classical music written in the last century,” including The Boatswain’s Mate overture from groundbreaking British composer Dame Ethel Smyth and the Montgomery Variations from groundbreaking Black American Margaret Bonds, composed in response to the 1963 firebombing of an Alabama church and paired with text from her frequent collaborator Langston Hughes. The program, and the organization’s 40th season, closes with the famous titular work proclaimed a “triumphant success” effectively by the curtain call at its 1937 premiere, when it also inspired a standing ovation that lasted well over half an hour (4/5)

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Kennedy Center Concert Hall
202-467-4600
www.kennedy-center.org

• Fabio Biondi Conducts Mendelssohn’s “Italian” | Mao Fujita Plays Mozart — Under the baton of Biondi, Mendelssohn’s vivacious Symphony No. 4 captures the zest and exhilaration of Italy’s sun-soaked vistas, bustling cities, and idyllic countryside, while pianist Fujita plays one of the grandest of Mozart’s piano concertos, No. 25(4/3-6)
• Karina Canellakis Conducts Tristan and Isolde & The Poem of Ecstasy | Alban Gerhardt Plays Dvořák — As conductor, Canellakis takes on feats of musical storytelling in this visionary program of Wagner, Scriabin, and Dvořák, with Alban Gerhardt the featured soloist tasked with the Czech giant’s expressive and impressive Cello Concerto (4/10-12)
• Matilda in Concert — With Danny DeVito and David Newman (4/25-26)
•  Noseda Conducts Shostakovich’s Fourth | Lisa Batiashvili Plays Schnittke — Schnittke’s fiery postmodern, genre-defying Violin Concerto No. 1 will be rendered by Batiashvili as part of a program led by Music Director Gianandrea Noseda closing with Shostakovich’s revolutionary Symphony No. 4, billed as a work that “unleashes a wild, riveting, glorious assault on the senses” (5/1-3)
• Max Richter with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble — Performing The Blue Notebooks and In A Landscape (5/2)
• Noseda Conducts Mahler’s Sixth — Mahler’s tragic masterpiece seizes audiences from the very first notes and keeps everyone enthralled with a dream-like journey through the composer’s concepts of dark destiny, heroic struggle, and quiet bliss, and that’s all the more true with Noseda at the baton, given all the praise he generates when interpreting the Austrian Romantic (5/8-10)
• Noseda Conducts Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis — The Washington Chorus and remarkable guest soloists Erika Grimaldi, Rihab Chaieb, Saimir Pirgu, and Marko Mimica join the NSO under Noseda for this infrequently performed epic mass, billed as Beethoven’s greatest choral work (5/15-17)
• The Wizard of Oz in Concert — Out conductor Steven Reineke leads the NSO in a “Symphonic Night at the Movies” performing Herbert Stothart’s iconic score to the 1939 film classic live-to-picture at this “truly Technicolor symphonic event” (5/21-22)
• Joseph Weilerstein Conducts Bernstein & Dawson | Jon Kimura Parker Plays Gershwin — African-American composer William Dawson’s stirring Negro Folk Symphony is part of a program featuring quintessential music by two champions of the Great American Songbook, specifically, Bernstein’s ever-popular Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Gershwin’s jazz-infused Rhapsody in Blue featuring pianist Parker (5/29-31)
• Notes & Frames: A Film & Music Festival — The silver screen comes alive with a symphonic twist through this three-week celebration that’ll find the NSO performing in the Concert Hall beloved movie scores, new masterpieces, and more live-to-picture concerts. The lineup includes: Amadeus: Full Film with Live Orchestra — Arguably the most famous film about classical music, Miloš Forman’s opulent period epic, which scooped up eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture 40 years ago, screens live as the NSO under the baton of Richard Kaufman performs the score with the Cathedral Choral Society and pianist Lisa Emenheiser Sarratt (6/4); Classic Film Scores — Enjoy an evening filled with wonder and nostalgia as some of the greatest moments in cinematic history screen overhead while the NSO performs live-to-picture the timeless melodies that heightened the selected scenes. Teddy Abrams leads the program of classic music drawn from, among many others, King Kong, Robin Hood, Sunset Boulevard, Voyager, Lawrence of Arabia, Taxi Driver, and E.T. (6/6-7); Metropolis: Full Film with Organ — Surreal, sprawling, and operatic, Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi masterpiece screens as gay, Grammy-nominated organist Cameron Carpenter performs his original score, perfectly suited to the industrial, stylistic backdrop of the original silent film classic. Note: The NSO does not perform on this program (6/8); James Gaffigan’s Spotlight on Concertos by Three of Today’s Greatest Film Composers — Film music written by classical composers serves as the core of this program led by NSO favorite James Gaffigan, including Leonard Bernstein’s On The Waterfront, Nino Rota’s The Godfather Suite, Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s The Sea Hawk Main Title, and Aaron Copland’s Music for Movies. Those works will be featured at all three performances of the program, but each performance will spotlight a different one of three top film composers — with the added twist that each spotlight will be on a work for soloist or small ensemble written by the composer and not any of his works for film. The Thursday performance will spotlight James Newton Howard (The Hunger Games) and his NSO-commissioned Violin Concerto No. 2, presented as a world premiere featuring Grammy winner James Ehnes, followed on Friday with a spotlight on Michael Abels (Get Out) and the performance of his string quartet Delights and Dances with Ying Fu, Dayna Helper, Abigail Kreuzer, and David Teie. Finally, Saturday’s spotlight will be on Academy Award-winning legend John Williams and his Horn Concerto to be performed by Abel Perreira (6/12-14), and Kris Bowers Curates — The Oscar-winning director, composer, and pianist behind scores for Bridgerton, King Richard, and The Color Purple will perform in a program of contemporary film music that he also curates led by American conductor Anthony Parnther (6/30-31)

STRATHMORE

The Music Center
5301 Tuckerman Lane
North Bethesda, Md.
301-581-5100
www.strathmore.org

• BSO: Let’s Misbehave: The Songs Cole Porter (4/4)
• Project Trio — High energy chamber music trio (4/6, The Mansion)
• Voices United: A Celebration of Global Harmony — Celebrating youth voices and the power of harmony (4/6)
• East County Strings: Gala Concert — A celebration of the 10th anniversary of this program through which talented students from 10 Montgomery County middle schools receive tuition-free, after-school coaching and show off what they learned in a large-scale public finale (4/9)
• Itzhak Perlman: In The Fiddler’s House — A live version of the violin virtuoso’s Emmy-winning PBS klezmer special from nearly 30 years ago, rendered on stage with Perlman as part of a septet as well as a six-piece Klezmer Conservatory Band (4/10)
• BSO: Scheherazade, Alsop & Montero — A soaring violin embodies the seductive voice of Scheherazade in Rimsky-Korsakov’s legendary take on the absorbing Arabian Nights, as part of a program led by Music Director Laureate Marin Alsop also featuring composer/pianist Gabriela Montero’s uproarious Piano Concert No. 1 “Latin,” complete with a mambo and a pajarillo dance from her native Venezuela, while Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz kicks off the evening with a scintillating tribute to the dance halls of Mexico City (4/17)
• BSO: Gil Shaham & Petrushka — Acclaimed violinist will apply his warm and poetic tone into a rendering of leading opera and film composer Erich Korngold’s dramatic and soaringly lyrical Violin Concerto, on a program led by Eva Ollikainen also featuring Stravinsky’s Russian folk music-informed Petrushka (4/27)
• BSO: Brahms Symphony No. 1 with Heyward — Music Director Jonathon Heyward puts his stamp on Brahms’ debut symphony, an essential pillar of the repertoire, paired with a new Cello Concerto commissioned from BSO Composer in Residence James Lee III, featuring the talents of Joshua Roman (5/1)
• WPA: Evgeny Kissin, piano (5/5)
• BSO: Heroes and Heroines — The dynamic and engaging conductor Sarah Hicks leads this thrilling concert offering a musical journey through some of the most iconic and adventurous film scores, from The Lord of the Rings to Star Wars (5/9)
• BSO: Mozart and Schubert — World-renowned interpreter of Classical masters, British conductor Dame Jane Glover leads the BSO in her thoughtful, informed takes on works by Mozart and Schubert allowing them to shine with full transparency (5/17)
• BSO: Zhang Conducts Tchaikovsky — Conductor Xian Zhang leads the BSO in an evocative work by the prolific Chinese-American composer Chen Yi as well as in the Suite of Tchaikovsky’s sublime ballet Sleeping Beauty and his intriguing symphonic poem Francesca da Rimini, inspired by a love triangle in Danté’s Inferno (5/29)
• WoCo Fest 2025: UPLIFT — An official WorldPride 2025 Partner Event, this two-day festival from the Boulanger Initiative and co-presented by Strathmore celebrates music by all gender-marginalized composers and features an eclectic lineup of LGBTQ+ and allied artists and ensembles performing Friday evening in the Strathmore Mansion and all day Saturday, both in the Mansion and on the Strathmore Lawn, in various configurations including musical exhibitions and composer workshops. Friday’s Opening Concert will include performances by Chinese dulcimer instrumentalist Chao Tian, the Marcolivia Duo of violin and viola, pianist and scholar Leah Claiborne, sitarist/vocalist/composer Ami Dang, the New Choir of Mt. Vernon, classical guitar/cello duo Boyd Meets Girl, and The Alex Hamburger Quartet. Saturday’s lineup includes PUBLIQuartet, Seraph Brass, Tapestry, Boyd Meets Girl, The QUEENTET Project featuring chamber ensemble District5 and D.C.-based drag artist Tara Hoot, the National LGBTQIA+ Flute Choir, the International Pride Orchestra Brass Ensemble, and an electrifying festival finale by composer/performer and media artist Pamela Z (5/30-31, The Mansion & The Lawn)
• BSO: Beethoven Emperor, Piano Concerto Featuring Bronfman — A dynamic program of works imbued with a strong sense of place, centered on Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, completed while under siege and melding Viennese sophistication with musical heroism amidst the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, which will be performed by Yefim Bronfman. This Heyward-led program also features Smetana’s The Moldau, a patriotic tribute to his Czech homeland offering a rousing and lush ode to the rivers and mountains surrounding Prague and a triumphant hymn finale, and the world premiere of Composer in Residence James Lee III’s BSO-commissioned Concerto for Orchestra, said to daringly and evocatively channel his love of Baltimore (6/7)
• BSO: Verdi’s Aida Conducted by Heyward — Forget sets, costumes, and live elephants: To appreciate the magnitude and wonder of Aida, Verdi’s tumultuous opera of love and loyalty, per the official blurb, “all you need is a prima donna as spectacular as soprano Angel Blue.” Further appreciation will come from Heyward’s skillful and soaring direction of this concert production with the BSO joined by four other guest vocalists, including Jamie Barton, and The Washington Chorus (6/15)
• MCYO Summer Strings (7/7)

WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA

Kennedy Center Opera House
202-295-2400
www.kennedy-center.org

• The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs — An operatic journey through the interior workings and spiritual journey of the complex co-founder of Apple as captured by Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Mark Campbell and the Grammy-winning electronic score by Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence emeritus Mason Bates. John Moore leads the cast in the titular role opposite Winona Martin as his wife and widow Laurene Powell Jobs, plus Jonathan Burton as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Justin Burgess as Jobs’ adoptive father Paul (5/2-10)
• American Rhapsody — Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves, and baritone Thomas Hampson will be featured at this concert, styled as a lively homage to American composers and the music that captures the American spirit. Directed by Eric Sean Fogel with conductor Marin Alsop, the program will include works by Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, and Margaret Bonds (5/3)
• 2025 WNO Gala — A special pre-performance cocktail reception on The River Plaza and a celebratory reception in The REACH immediately following the one-night-only, unforgettable performance of American Rhapsody (5/3)
• Porgy and Bess — Artistic Director Francesca Zambello’s adaptation of this landmark folk opera returns after playing to much acclaim across renowned opera stages. The production features a new generation of talented singers putting their spin on Gershwin’s beloved music, melding jazz, gospel, folk, and classical as if there’s nothing to it, successfully powering the libretto’s dramatic and poignant story. Brittany Renee and Alyson Cambridge will alternate from show to show as Bess, Michael Sumuel and Reginald Smith, Jr. will do the same portraying Porgy, and Norman Garrett and Kenneth Kellogg will follow suit as Bess’s formidable former lover Crown, with the large cast also featuring Chauncey Packer as colorful troublemaker Sportin’ Life, Denyce Graves as Maria, and Vuvu Mpofu as Clara (5/23-31)

WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS

202-785-9727
www.washingtonperformingarts.org

• Yefim Bronfman, piano — The revered Israeli-American musician will perform works by Mozart, Debussy, and Tchaikovsky in a solo recital billed as “a rare opportunity for D.C. audiences to experience his towering presence with such immediacy” (4/14, Kennedy Center Terrace Theater)
• Yunchan Lim, piano — The youngest person to ever win gold at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, when she was 18 (4/27, Kennedy Center Concert Hall)
• Evgeny Kissin, piano — A solo recital from this perennial Washington Performing Arts audience favorite, who’ll perform selections from Shostakovich, Bach, and Chopin (5/3, Strathmore Music Center)
• Janice Carissa, piano — A Gilmore Young Artist who made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 16, this Indonesian pianist performs a Hayes Piano Series recital with works by Bach, Beethoven, Rzewski, and Prokofiev that showcase her graceful agility and emotive style (5/18, Kennedy Center Terrace Theater)

WOLF TRAP

Filene Center
1551 Trap Road
Vienna, Va.
877-WOLFTRAP
www.wolftrap.org

• Hauser — Dynamic Croatian cellist, one-half of the internationally acclaimed duo 2Cellos, drops by for an electrifying solo performance supporting his 2024 album Classic II with his renditions of Mozart and Rachmaninoff (6/25)
• NSO at Wolf Trap: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert — Steven Reineke leads the NSO in a performance of John Williams’ iconic, Oscar-nominated score to accompany the projected screening of the full feature film (7/17)
• NSO at Wolf Trap: Jean-Yves Thibaudet Plays Gershwin — Superstar pianist will perform Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, a bluesy masterwork filmed with Charleston rhythms, while Katharina Wincor conducts the orchestra to perform Rimsky-Korsakov’s exotic Scheherazade (7/18)
• NSO at Wolf Trap: Carmina Burana — Carl Orff’s epic masterwork is an unstoppable force in its towering first movement, rolling in like thunder, announcing a celebration of spring, the delightful debauchery of nights at a tavern, and the joys and sorrows of love. To bring all that to vivid and full life on stage, Tianyi Lu leads the NSO with special guests the Choral Arts Society of Washington and the Children’s Chorus of Washington, as well as Wolf Trap soloists (7/25)
• NSO at Wolf Trap: Disney ’80s-’90s Celebration (6/26)
• NSO at Wolf Trap: Kelli O’Hara & Sutton Foster (7/1)
•  NSO at Wolf Trap: Back to the Future in Concert — A screening of the ’80s time-traveling blockbuster presented as you’ve never seen or heard it before, including approximately 20 minutes of brand-new music added to the film’s score by award-winning composer Alan Silvestri specifically for these unique live orchestra presentations, here featuring the NSO and conductor Emil de Cou (8/2)
• Wolf Trap Opera: Bizet’s Carmen — The sultry streets of Seville will be brought to life in Wolf Trap’s open-air amphitheater on a sure-to-be sultry summer night as the venue’s opera troupe revives Bizet’s fiery tragedy about the titular seductive charmer (8/15)
• NSO at Wolf Trap: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in Concert — The orchestra performs Alexandre Desplat’s iconic score as Harry and his friends face off for the last time against their foes, with the action projected onto high-definition screens almost making you feel in the middle of the action (9/5)
•  NSO at Wolf Trap: Cynthia Erivo — The Wicked star will light up the stage in a program of beloved Broadway hits and soul-stirring standards with the NSO led by Steven Reineke (9/6-7)

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