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Sphinx Symphony Orchestra • Piano Recitals • Our Song, Our Story • Living the Dream...Singing the Dream • Joshua Bell • 2021/22 Season Annual Report • Upcoming Live Events
Two D.C. Premieres with
Sphinx Symphony Orchestra Jan. 31 at 8 p.m.
The 55-member Black-and-Latinx Sphinx Symphony Orchestra joins vocal ensemble EXIGENCE, members of The Washington Chorus, Metropolitan Opera veteran Aundi Marie Moore and others for a powerful evening of sweeping orchestral works, traditional spirituals, and modern-day anthems at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.
Hear Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Ballade for Orchestra, Op. 3, swelling with ravishing melodies. Experience the D.C. premiere of Joel Thompson’s Seven Last Words of the Unarmed – a forceful and deeply moving composition for chorus, strings, and piano penned in response to the killings of unarmed Black men, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Kenneth Chamberlain, Amadou Diallo, and John Crawford.
Also on the program is Valerie Coleman's "Seven O'Clock Shout," commissioned by The Philadelphia Orchestra to honor frontline workers in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new work commissioned by Sphinx from the highly regarded, D.C.-born/based and Atlanta-raised composer Carlos Simon.
Co-presented with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in partnership with The Washington Chorus.
Leif Ove Andsnes
Jan. 24 | Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Norwegian piano luminary Leif Ove Andsnes returns for an intimate and wide-ranging evening of solo works by Beethoven, vaunted Czech composers Dvořák and Janáček, and 20th-century Russian composer Alexander Vustin.
Charles Richard-Hamelin
Jan. 28 | Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Québecois virtuoso Charles Richard-Hamelin joins the illustrious ranks of Hayes Piano Series artists in a program grounded in works by Chopin—a composer with whom he has been indelibly linked since winning both the Silver Medal and the Krystian Zimerman Prize at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
Our Song, Our Story
Fri., February 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Our Song, Our Story is an evening of operatic arias, art songs, and spirituals performed by lyric soprano Jacqueline Echols and baritone Justin Austin, in tribute to singers Marian Anderson and Jessye Norman. Created and directed by Damien Sneed, the repertoire for this expansive evening includes works by prominent African American composers past and present—including Margaret Bonds, Harry T. Burleigh, Richard Smallwood, and Sneed (in a newly commissioned work)—plus works by Handel, Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, Richard Strauss, and Gershwin.
Co-presented with the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA).
Living the Dream...Singing the Dream
Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs
The Choral Arts Society of Washington
Sun., February 5 at 7 p.m.
A must-see-and-hear annual highlight in tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
When the power of the human voice meets the spirit of community and the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the result is guaranteed to be joyous and inspiring—as thousands of Living the Dream attendees over the years can attest. Join us once again as the combined choirs of Washington Performing Arts and Choral Arts raise their voices in tribute both to Dr. King’s achievements and to his ongoing, indelible impact.
Co-presented with the Choral Arts Society of Washington.
Joshua Bell
Wed., February 8 at 8 p.m.
Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated artists of our era. He returns in recital this February, to share what the New York Times has aptly dubbed his “trademark glowing sound, effortless virtuosity, and improvisatory freedom.”
With piano accompaniment by Peter Dugan (NPR's From the Top), Bell performs sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven (Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Major, Op. 12), Sergei Prokofiev (Violin Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 80), and César Franck (Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano).
These performances are external rentals presented by Washington Performing Arts in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office and are not produced by the Kennedy Center.
In Case You Missed It:
2021/22 Season Annual Report
This past season, you and your fellow patrons, subscribers, donors and advocates helped make possible an extraordinary return to live performances, in-person education programs, expanded Mars Arts D.C. events, and more. We are grateful for your very generous investment, advocacy, and support. Enjoy perusing our 2021/22 Season Annual Report and reliving all of the wonderful moments—captured in words and images—that we shared, and which you helped bring to life!
Upcoming Live Events
Sphinx Symphony Orchestra
Tito Muñoz and Eugene Rogers
Members of The Washington Chorus
Aundi Marie Moore, soprano
Tue, Jan 31, 8 p.m.
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Feb. 26, 7 p.m.
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
COTTON
John E. Dowell, Damien Geter, Denyce Graves, Justin Austin, Laura Ward
Tue, Feb 28, 7:30 p.m.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater