Strathmore will present their annual free outdoor concert series titled Live from the Lawn on select days,July 10-August 28.Guests are invited to “pack a picnic and settle onto a blanket” to enjoy the funk and the soul, the rhythm, and the harmony.
Strathmore will present their annual Backyard Theater for KIDSon Thursday mornings in July.The eclectic program offers “a perfect summer escape for busy families. Pack a picnic and enjoy live performances by highly esteemed and innovative family-friendly entertainers. From folk and jazz to the amazing sounds of the steelpan, Backyard Theater makes it easy to engage kids at every stage."
Strathmore has partnered with Montgomery County Recreation to present a series of free, fun, family-friendly events to suit all tastes as part of its ongoing Bloom initiative. Live concerts will occur on the second Saturday of each month from April to August 2019at the new Good Hope Neighborhood Recreation Center (14715 Good Hope Road, Silver Spring, MD). The concerts will feature a variety of genres, including jazz, classical, and even steel pan fusion. People interested in a more hands-on musical experience can sign up for classes.
The National Philharmonic, conducted by Piotr Gajewski, will perform a concert titled Odes to Freedom, featuring Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor (Choral) at The Music Center on June 1. The National Philharmonic Chorale will be joined by soloists Esther Heideman, soprano, Shirin Eskandani, mezzo-soprano, Colin Eaton, tenor & Kevin Short, baritone. The Dean of Chichester Cathedral in Sussex commissioned Bernstein to compose a choral piece for the cathedral’s 1965 music festival, and toward that end, the composer combined Biblical Hebrew verse with the choral traditions of the Christian church. Subsequently, Bernstein conducted Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 on Christmas Day 1989 in his “Ode to Freedom” concert celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall and making a universal declaration of faith in the power of freedom to unite humankind.
The BSO, conducted by Marin Alsop, with pianist André Watts, will perform Off the Cuff: A performance and discussion of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 - Emperor - in the Music Center on May 31.
The BSO, led by Marin Alsop, will perform Mahler's Symphony No. 9 in the Music Center on June 8. The symphony has been said to depict "the composer’s epic battle between his passionate love for life and the dread of death, particularly on Mahler’s mind since Beethoven, Schubert and Bruckner had been unable to survive past their ninth symphonies."
Washington Performing Arts will present pianist Evgeny Kissin in the Music Center on May 21.Kissin has been described as “a great and possibly the great native Russian pianist of our day” by the Los Angeles Times.
Image below:Evgeny Kissin - Photo Credit Sheila Rock
The Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras(MYCO) of Strathmore will perform two concerts on May 19.The matinee performance at 2 p.m. will include pieces by Beethoven, Dvořák, Musella, and Rimsky-Korsakov performed by MCYO’s Young Artists. MCYO’s Chamber Ensemble will perform Vivaldi’s “Spring and Summer” from The Four Seasons and Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances. The 7pm Performance will include “Largo” from Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours, and “The Blue Danube” by Strauss. The Philharmonic will perform Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld and Suite No. 2 from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.
The Music Center will present Youssou NDOUR, the Senegalese Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and activist, on May 29. NDOUR and his high-energy band Super Étoile “create a sound which is both characteristically Senegalese and outward-looking, an exciting synthesis of musical languages.”
Washington Performing Arts’ two namesake choirs—the Men and Women of the Gospel and the Children of the Gospel - will perform together at the Music Center on June 7. They have performed in the National Cathedral, the Kennedy Center, the White House and other esteemed venues.
Strathmore will present David Dimitri - L'homme Cirque (THE ONE-MAN CIRCUS) on select days, June 27-July 7 - except July 4. The world-famous high wire dancer and veteran of Cirque du Soleil and Big Apple Circus "epitomizes innovation as he alone performs an entire circus. Creating what he calls “a unique magic” in the intimate setting of a one-of-a-kind tent, his L’homme Cirque—or one-man circus—balances dramatic feats like high wire flips and a human cannon launch with humor, poetry, and serenades on the accordion. It’s as gripping as it is charming—and with grand flourish, be awestruck as he exits the tent on his high wire, crossing above at 150 feet and into the sky."
Strathmore will present EL GRAN FESTIVAL DE MUSICA CUBANA, with special guest star Ibrahim Ferrer, Jr., on June 29. In 1996, Buena Vista Social Club, with the help of American producer Ry Cooder, helped introduce the world to the golden era of Cuban music. This collective of veteran musicians "revived the romantic melodies of 1940s and 1950s Havana and seduced a new generation of listeners, even inspiring a documentary on the movement. Strathmore will welcome former members of Buena Vista Social Club along with an all-star lineup of Cuba’s most celebrated artists, performing son cubano, mambo, and guajirafused with modern hip-hop, soul, and R&B."
Strathmore Air will present Trey Sorrells, jazz saxophone in the Mansion, June 12 & 26.By integrating the technical aspect of hard-bop style jazz with the soulful melodies of gospel, Sorrells created an original sound resembling a mix of R&B, funk, and hip-hop. He is now a part of the band Future Prospect.
