Eliot Pfanstiehl, the founder and CEO of Strathmore, will retire as head of the organization in August,2018 after 37 years of service.“He has been Strathmore’s only leader and has shepherd the organization through tremendous growth—including construction of the 1,976-seat Music Center at Strathmore, the off-site venue AMP, and most recently, an announced renovation of the Music Center. He has shaped Montgomery County as an arts destination in greater Washington. The impact of his work is tremendous.”
Image below: Eliot Pfanstiehl - Photo by Kirsten Beckerman
The National Philharmonic
The National Philharmonic & Chorale, conducted by Stan Engebretson, with the Strathmore Children’s Chorus, will perform a concert titled Northern Lights in the Music Center on April 28.The program will feature Rachmaninoff’s Vespers (selections), Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo’s Northern Lights, Unicornis Captivatur & The Lake Isle, plus a world premiere of a commissioned work by young Bethesda composer Alistair Coleman.
The National Philharmonic, conducted by Piotr Gajewski, will perform Beethoven's Pastoral Symphonyin the Music Center on May 5. The program will also feature Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, with violinist Colin Sorgi, & Marjorie Merryman’sWindhover Fantasy.
Image below: Colin Sorgi - Photo by Michelle Dickson
The National Philharmonic and Chorale, led by Miroslaw Jacek Blaszczyk, guest conductor, will perform a concert celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Poland's Independencein the Music Center on June 2. The program will feature Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with pianist Brian Ganz. The program will also include Krzesimir Debski’s Hussars’ Polonaise & Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater. Other soloists will be Esther Heideman, soprano, Magdalena Wór, mezzo-soprano and Tyler Duncan, baritone.
Image below: Magdalena Wór
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
The BSO, conducted by Marin Alsop, will present Off the Cuff: Tchaikovsky with Balanchine, in The Music Center on April 27. The orchestra will be joined by the Baltimore School for the Arts Dancers, directed by Heather Watts. The concert will feature Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major, with choreography by Balanchine, who transformed the music for use in a ballet in 1934. Heather Watts was formerly a principal dancer for Balanchine.
Image below: Heather Watts by Inez and Vindoodh
The BSO, led by Music Director Marin Alsop, with the Baltimore School for the Arts Dancers, will perform Tchaikovsky with Balanchine in The Music Center on April 29. The all-Tchaikovsky program will include Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture, Suite from Swan Lake & Serenade for Strings in C Major - with Balanchine Choreography.
Image below: Maestra Marin Alsop
The BSO, conducted by Mario Venzago, will perform works by Liszt & Brahms in The Music Center on May 19.The program will include & Brahms’s Symphony No. 3 in F Major; Liszt’s Les Préludes & Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat Major. The orchestra will be joined by pianist Kit Armstrong in a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22.
The BSO, conducted by Marin Alsop, will perform Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D Minor in the Music Center on June 9.The program will also feature Bernstein’s Slava! A Political Overture & the composer’s Symphony No. 2, "The Age of Anxiety." The soloist will be Jon Kimura Parker, piano.
Image below Jon Kimura Parker
Select Performances at Strathmore
The Music Center at Strathmore & Beth Morrison Projects will present the world premiere of Iron & Coal, a theatrical concert by Jeremy Schonfeld - with director Kevin Newbury - on May 3 & 4. Schonfeld created Iron & Coal as a tribute to the bond he shares with his father, Gustav, a Holocaust survivor. More than 200 musicians on stage—including a rock band, chamber orchestra, and choirs—tell “Gustav's miraculous story of survival, the ripple effect it had throughout his life, and Jeremy's perspective as the child of a survivor. Traditional Jewish prayers, passages from Gustav’s memoir Absence of Closure, projection, and animation create an immersive experience.” Tickets for the concert are now on sale.
Strathmore will present Michael Sturminger’s Just Call Me God, starring John Malkovich as a megalomaniacal dictator, in the Music Center on April 26.Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 films, from Places in the Heart to Con Air to Being John Malkovich. His recent performances of Just Call Me God sold out at London’s Barbican Centre. The musical drama features organ music by Bach, Liszt, and others. The show is a collaboration between Malkovich, Austrian director/dramatist Michael Sturminger, and organist and conductor Martin Haselböck.
Image below:John Malkovich
Strathmore will present Rob Lowe - Stories I Only Tell My Friends: LIVE!in the Music Center on May 11.The show was inspired by the success of Lowe’s two New York Times best-selling memoirs and offers “a peek behind the curtain of Hollywood fame, fatherhood, and marriage. Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, he was raised in Dayton, Ohio, before his family moved to California when he was a teenager.He has received 6 Golden Globe Award nominations, which span 4 of the 7 categories for male actors.
Image below:Rob Lowe.
Strathmore will present Michael Feinstein, the “preeminent ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” in the Music Center on May 12.The appearance is part of Strathmore’s season-long artistic collaboration with Feinstein. Feinstein will headline the Strathmore Annual Spring Gala with “a performance he’s personally curated, featuring guest performers handpicked as tomorrow’s torchbearers. This elegant evening of entertainment supports Strathmore’s nearly 350 annual programs that illuminate, ignite, and inspire our community.”
Image below: Michael Feinstein
Strathmore will present vocalist Boz Scaggs in the Music Center on June 13. The master of “blue-eyed soul” will include “a mix of his lifetime hits and the cool covers in his most recent album, A Fool to Care.” The album “featured his trademark soulful sounds and stellar guests including Lucinda Williams and Bonnie Raitt.”Scaggs started his musical career with Steve Miller and they eventually formed Miller’s "wildly popular band together."
Strathmore will present Herbie Hancock in the Music Center on June 24.The esteemed pianist and composer received an Academy Award for his Round Midnight score, plus 14 Grammy Awards, including album of the year. Hancock is now creative chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and institute chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. In 2011, he was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, and he received a Kennedy Center Honors Award in 2013 and a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2016.
Strathmore will present Kristin Chenoweth in the Music Center on June 27.The Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer works in film, television, voiceover and stage.She sings jazz standards, gospel songs, opera works & more. The concert will include music from her latest release of American SongbookClassics, The Art of Elegance, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Current Jazz and Traditional Jazz charts, and #1 on Amazon’s Vocal Pop chart in 2016. Chenowith starred in Strathmore’s groundbreaking I am Anne Hutchinson/I am Harvey Milk production in 2016
Potomac Valley Youth Orchestra (PVYO) will present the annual Spring Galacelebrating 27 years of music in the Music Center on May 18. The PVYO Philharmonia, Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia, Concert Orchestra, Preparatory Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, and Flute Choir will perform.
Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras (MYCO) of Strathmore will perform A Nod to Bernsteinin The Music Center on May 20 & 23. The concert will feature MCYO’s Percussion Ensemble, Symphony, and Philharmonic performing works “with some exotic strains and a youthful nod to Leonard Bernstein.”
Upcoming performances in the Mansion at Strathmore include:
April 25: Artist in Residence Chao Tian on the Chinese dulcimer April 27:Pianist/composer Robin Spielberg April 28: Pianist Jenny Lin - 26 vignettes by composers from Tchaikovsky to Chick Corea, plus props, storytelling, and projected illustrations from Ms. Lin’s accompanying book. Recommended for ages 4 and up.
May 9 & 23: Cecily – Vocalist & Songwriter - soul, jazz, and ’90s R&B
June 13, 20 & 27: Artist in Residence: Josanne Francis - natural pannist (steelpan musician) Image below: Josanne Francis by Jonathan Timmes
AMP, the popular venue which Strathmore manages in North Bethesda, features "live music with a gourmet edge" at Pike & Rose, an urban-minded, Metro-accessible neighborhood on Rockville Pike. To see a schedule of upcoming performances at AMP, visit www.AMPbyStrathmore.com
