Letter V

Deborah Rutter, president of Washington’s Kennedy Center since 2014, has announced that she will vacate the post at the end of this year.

Rutter, who came to Washington after serving as president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, earlier held executive posts with the Seattle Symphony and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. During her time at the Kennedy Center, a new venue, The Reach, was added to the complex. Rutter also was instrumental in the appointment of Gianandrea Noseda as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra, and in adding hip-hop to the center’s offerings.

“What she does best is she democratizes culture,” Lonnie G. Bunch III, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, told The Washington Post’s Travis M. Andrews. “She makes sure that the culture she cares about, whether it’s orchestra or theater, is really made accessible to a wider audience. . . . [Y]ou can tell a lot about a country by how democratic it is when it comes to its culture. She’s really been one of the leaders reminding people there shouldn’t be high or low culture. There should be culture that shapes all Americans.”

“This is not related to the politics of who’s in the White House,” Rutter said. “The Kennedy Center is truly nonpartisan. . . . [F]or the last six years, I’ve had almost all Trump appointees as my board members. And we’ve had a fantastic era with them.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2025/01/27/kennedy-center-rutter-stepping-down/

A midwinter exploration of Scandinavian music, from an 18th-century wedding celebration to a contemporary contemplation on medieval mystical themes.

10 a.m.-noon EST
1500-1700 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Johan Helmich Roman: “Drottningholm Music” (selections)
Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Manze
(BIS)

Niels W. Gade: Violin Concerto in D minor
Christina Åstrand, violin
Tampere Philharmonic/John Storgårds
(Dacapo)

Grieg: “Peer Gynt” Suite No. 1
San Francisco Symphony/Herbert Blomstedt
(Decca)

Wilhelm Stenhammar: “Excelsior!”
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra/Neeme Järvi
(BIS)

Nielsen: “Pan and Syrinx”
Danish National Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Dausgaard
(Dacapo)

Olli Mustonen: Symphony No. 2 (“Johannes Angelos”)
Turku Philharmonic/Olli Mustonen
(Ondine)

Writing for the website digitaltrends, John Higgins deconstructs the notion that the analog recording process produces better (“warmer”) sound than digital recording, noting that “apart from perhaps a few rare instances, there’s no such thing as a purely analog production chain. At some point, even if you’re listening to a vinyl record, that audio signal was digital.” Unless the vinyl record was produced before the advent of digital recording.

Higgins, helpfully describes recording production chains in reasonably accessible terms for those of us who aren’t audio-tech nerds who already knew that DAW is the acronym for digital audio workstations. “Unless expressly put together to avoid all digital technology, a modern recording studio will include a DAW, a console that includes digital elements, digital instruments, digital effects modules, and digital controllers,” he writes.

“Mixing is done in the digital realm. Mastering is done in the digital realm. Even reissues and remasters of classic recordings that were originally fully analog are mixed and mastered from masters that were transferred to digital, likely years ago. It’s unavoidable.”

The renaissance of vinyl records is more tactile than audial: “I appreciate the ritual. Holding the record sleeve, admiring the art and design, sliding the LP out, carefully flipping it in my hands to select the side I want before placing it on my turntable and dropping the needle, it all satiates a need for appreciation.”

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/time-to-admit-to-vinyls-dirty-secret/

(via http://artsjournal.com)

One not-so-dirty secret of vinyl that Higgins doesn’t mention: It remains the most durable medium for recordings. Aged or stretched cassette and open-reel tapes are usually beyond rescue. A damaged or defective compact disc is a coaster. A corrupted digital file is lost and gone forever. A worn, scratched, even somewhat warped, vinyl record can still be played, although playing it does your stylus no favors.

10 a.m.-noon EST
1500-1700 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Beethoven: “Leonore” Overture No. 1
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich/David Zinman
(RCA)

Schubert: Quartet in A minor, D. 804 (“Rosamunde”)
Alban Berg Quartett
(Warner Classics)

Karol Szymanowski: Nocturne and Tarantella
(Grzegorz Fitelberg orchestration)
Ilya Kaler, violin
Warsaw Philharmonic/Antoni Wit
(Naxos)

Dvořák: Symphony No. 6 in D major
Czech Philharmonic/Charles Mackerras
(Supraphon)

Osvaldo Golijov: “Last Round”
St. Lawrence String Quartet
Ying Quartet
Mark Dresser, double-bass
(Warner Classics)

Centenary compositions: Music introduced in 1925, by George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, William Walton, Jean Sibelius, Leoš Janáček and Igor Stravinsky.

10 a.m.-noon EST
1500-1700 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Janáček: Sinfonietta
Filharmonie Brno/José Serebrier
(Reference Recordings)

Copland: “Music for the Theater”
Harmonie Ensemble/Steven Richman
(Bridge)

Stravinsky: Serenade in A major
Daniil Trifonov, piano
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Walton: “Portsmouth Point” Overture
London Symphony Orchestra/André Previn
(Warner Classics)

Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F major
Denis Kozhukhin, piano
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Kazuki Yamada
(Pentatone)

Sibelius: “Tapiola”
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Colin Davis
(Decca)

Belmont Music Publishers, which preserves and promotes the compositions of Arnold Schoenberg, was among many structures destroyed in the Pacific Palisades fire in Los Angeles.

“The entire inventory of sales and rental materials – comprising some manuscripts, original scores, and printed works – has been lost in the flames,” writes Larry Schoenberg, the composer’s son, who established Belmont in 1965. “For a company that focused exclusively on the works of Schoenberg, this loss represents not just a physical destruction of property but a profound cultural blow. . . .

“Belmont Music’s catalog encompassed Schoenberg’s complete range of compositions, from his early Romantic works to his groundbreaking twelve-tone pieces. These works, including compositions like ‘Verklärte Nacht’ and ‘Pierrot Lunaire,’ are foundational to the 20th-century classical repertoire. Belmont’s role in preserving and distributing these masterpieces was invaluable for musicians and scholars alike, who turned to the publisher for access to authentic, carefully edited editions of Schoenberg’s challenging but transformative music.”

Leaving his post at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin after the Nazis took power in 1933, Arnold Schoenberg settled in Los Angeles in 1935, teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California (USC), as well as teaching privately, until his death in 1951. (Among his students in LA was the teen-aged Dika Newlin, who in later life taught at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.)

In his home in LA’s Brentwood neighborhood, still standing as of this posting, Schoenberg was host to many gatherings of musical and show-business luminaries. Shirley Temple was a neighbor, and George Gershwin was a frequent tennis partner.

Larry Schoenberg, whose home also was burned, writes that Belmont will rebuild and distribute its collection in a digital format.

(via http://slippedisc.com)

Alexander Paley & Peiwen Chen, piano 4-hands
Alexander Paley, piano
Daisuke Yamamoto, violin
Neal Cary, cello
Jan. 10, St. Luke Lutheran Church

Arrangements of orchestral works for piano solo or piano 4-hands proliferated in the 19th century, to provide wider access to the music when orchestral concerts were few and far between, and to give composers a steadier source of income.

Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade,” one of the most lusciously string-centric works ever written, might seem an unlikely, even preposterous, candidate for a keyboard arrangement; but the composer produced one for piano 4-hands, and it’s surprisingly convincing.

Alexander Paley and Peiwen Chen, his spouse and 4-hands/duo partner, sprang Rimsky’s surprise in the 2003 edition of Paley’s Richmond music festival, and they reprised it in the opening concert of the festival’s 28th season.

The melodic flow of “Scheherazade,” and much of its atmosphere, come across more successfully than might be expected in the arrangement, especially at the moderate tempos that Paley and Chen adopted in this performance. The dances of “The legend of the Kalendar prince” and “Festival at Baghdad” are more overtly rhythmic in the piano reduction; but some of the more layered patches of orchestration and more turbulent effects – in the finale’s shipwreck, for example – translate more awkwardly to the keyboard.

The arrangement is, in its way, as much a tour de force as the orchestration. Paley and Chen played it, appropriately, to the hilt.

Paley was joined by violinist Daisuke Yamamoto, concertmaster of the Richmond Symphony, and Neal Cary, the orchestra’s principal cellist, in Rachmaninoff’s “Trio élégiaque” No. 2 in D minor, Op. 9.

This work was composed in 1893 as an elegy to Tchaikovsky and was given the same subtitle, “In Memory of a Great Artist,” as Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor, written 12 years earlier as an elegy to his mentor, the pianist-conductor Nikolai Rubinstein. Like the Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff’s trio is lengthy (its first movement runs about 20 minutes and feels longer) and darkly lyrical except for a few flashes of light in a central set of variations. It can be quite a slog in the wrong hands.

Paley, Yamamoto and Cary proved to be the right hands. Paley thrives on Rachmaninoff’s strain of high-romantic rhetoric and virtuosic keyboard writing, and Cary is a past master at dark lyricism. Yamamoto, not usually inclined toward heart-on-sleeve romanticism, tuned nicely to his colleagues’ interpretive wavelength. The Rogeri violin that the symphony acquired for him last year, a rather dark-toned instrument, suited this music perfectly.

The Alexander Paley Music Festival continues with a program of Franck, Shostakovich and Bizet at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 11, and music of Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt at 3 p.m. Jan. 12, at St. Luke Lutheran Church, 7757 Chippenham Parkway. Suggested donation: $20. Details: (804) 272-0486; http://paleymusicfestival.org

For the University of Richmond’s spring semester, Letter V Classical Radio moves to Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to noon (1500-1700 UTC/GMT) on WDCE, broadcasting at 90.1 FM, streaming at http://wdce.org, beginning on Jan. 14.

Mark-Anthony Turnage, the British composer whose music many listeners find challenging or off-putting, acknowledges that those listeners have a valid point, and feel “trapped” when they encounter it in concerts.

“If you go to an art gallery and there is a picture you don’t like, you can just move away, but if you are in a concert and sitting in the middle of a row, people are polite and won’t walk out,” Turnage says during an appearance on the BBC radio show “Desert Island Discs.”

The composer also “confesses that he too finds some living composers hard to enjoy,” The Guardian’s Vanessa Thorpe writes. “I understand it and I have difficulty with a lot of contemporary classical music – obviously naming no names,” Turnage says. “I remember when GQ [magazine] listed the biggest ‘turn-offs’ and contemporary classical music was at number one. And that was my world, so I thought: come on, that’s sad.”

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/05/modern-classical-music-can-be-a-big-turn-off-admits-composer-mark-anthony-turnage

One factor in the listener’s ability to connect with contemporary art-music that Turnage doesn’t mention – surprisingly, as he’s especially well-known as an opera composer: Presentation.

Two of my encounters with contemporary, at the time cutting-edge, music:

Tom Johnson, the American minimalist composer and music critic who died on Dec. 31, is widely remembered for “Nine Bells,” a piece in which the performer dances/creatively moves while striking bells suspended in a grid from an overhead frame. As music, seemingly random and forgettable; but as performance, borderline-riveting.

I’m surprised that “Nine Bells” hasn’t been picked up by the fitness industry. It’s a full-body aerobic workout that, as written, goes on for about an hour. I came out of a 1987 performance by Johnson eager to build the setup in my yard. Then it occurred to me that the neighbors might not appreciate the noise or the Druid-ritual vibe, and call in law enforcement or social services. I already had cats, and gargoyles on the front stoop; best not press my luck. If you’ve got the acreage and isolation – an OK from a cardiologist also might be advisable – I say go for it.

On the flip side, I endured a performance of Brian Eno’s “Ambient 1: Music for Airports,” presented in a starkly modern, rather dark museum space. Originally composed for overlapping tape loops, I heard it played by a sextet of live performers; so there was some physical action to see, but not enough to offset the background-ish, sonic-immersion character of the piece. In a 1998 review in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, I likened the experience to staring at a tank of tropical fish for an hour; the musicians, however, moved less than most fish.

My conclusion, from those and other encounters with new music: If it’s loosely or elusively structured, with indeterminate beginnings, middles and ends, inaccessible tunes, too much intricacy or too little, it doesn’t come across well in a sit-silently-in-the-dark classical concert setting. Such music benefits from a visual element – lighting, costumes, movement, staging in a stimulating or atmospheric space.

And, as Turnage observed, a contemporary composition should be experienced more than once before you render a verdict on it. The list of now-universally recognized masterpieces that bombed at their premieres is lengthy. It took generations for many works to be admitted to the standard repertory. If you think you’ve gotten all there is to get from a piece on one hearing, it may be negligible music. Or maybe a delightful ear-worm. You can’t be sure until you’ve heard it enough to give it a chance to grow on you.

Classical performances in and around Richmond, with selected events elsewhere in Virginia and the Washington area. Program information, provided by presenters, is updated as details become available. Adult ticket prices are listed; senior, student/youth, military, group and other discounts may be offered. Ticket prices do not include service fees.

Jan. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverley St., Staunton
Jan. 4 (4 p.m.)
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 7599 Rockfish Gap Turnpike (U.S. 250 west), Greenwood
Jan. 5 (3 p.m.) (Note: new time)
Grace Episcopal Church, 5607 Gordonsville Road, Keswick
Three Notch’d Road
Peter Walker directing
“Twelfth Night in Italy”
works TBA by Monteverdi, Corelli, Vivaldi, Alessandro Scarlatti
$30
(434) 409-3424
http://tnrbaroque.org

Jan. 6 (7 p.m.)
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Ninth & Grace streets, Richmond
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Choir
Ryan Tibbetts directing & organ
“Lessons and Carols for Advent”
works TBA by Tibbetts, Bruckner, William Byrd, Adolphus Hailstork, Melissa Dunphy, Anna Lapwood, Sarah Rimkus
free
(804) 643-3589
http://stpaulsrva.org

Jan. 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Cathedral Schola Cantorum
Relic Ensemble
Daniel Sañez conducting
“What the Shepherds Said: a Christmas Sojourn”
free; tickets required
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org

Jan. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Daniel Stipe, organ
program TBA
free; tickets required
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org

Jan. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Luke Lutheran Church, 7757 Chippenham Parkway, Richmond
Alexander Paley Music Festival:
Rimsky Korsakov: “Scheherazade” (Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov arrangement)
Alexander Paley & Peiwen Chen, piano 4-hands
Rachmaninoff: “Trio élégiaque” No. 2 in D minor, Op. 9
Alexander Paley, piano
Daisuke Yamamoto, violin
Neal Cary, cello
$20 suggested donation
(804) 272-0486
http://paleymusicfestival.org

Jan. 11 (3 p.m.)
All Saints Episcopal Church, 8787 River Road, Richmond
All Saints Choir
Scott Hayes directing
Menotti: “Amahl and the Night Visitors”
cast TBA
in English
$15
(804) 188-7811
http://allsaintsrvamusic.com

Jan. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Luke Lutheran Church, 7757 Chippenham Parkway, Richmond
Alexander Paley Music Festival:
Franck: Violin Sonata in A major
Daisuke Yamamoto, violin
Alexander Paley, piano
Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 40
Neal Cary, cello
Alexander Paley, piano
Bizet: “Jeux d’enfants”
Alexander Paley & Peiwen Chen, piano 4-hands
$20 suggested donation
(804) 272-0486
http://paleymusicfestival.org

Jan. 11 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jonathon Heyward conducting
James Lee III: “Sukkot through Orion’s Nebula”
Anna Clyne: “Glasslands” (Saxophone Concerto)
Jess Gillam, saxophone
Holst: “The Planets”
women of Baltimore Choral Arts Society
$38-$99
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org/community-education/our-partners/bso

Jan. 12 (3 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Second Sunday South of the James:
Ayush Pal & Friends String Quartet
program TBA
donation requested
(804) 272-7514
http://bonairpc.org/concert-series

Jan. 12 (3:30 p.m.)
St. Luke Lutheran Church, 7757 Chippenham Parkway, Richmond
Alexander Paley Music Festival:
Beethoven: Violin Sonata in G major, Op. 30, No. 3
Daisuke Yamamoto, violin
Alexander Paley, piano
Schubert: “Divertissement à la hongroise,” D. 818
Alexander Paley & Peiwen Chen, pianos
Liszt: ““Harmonies poétiques et religieuses” – “Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude”
Alexander Paley, piano
$20 suggested donation
(804) 272-0486
http://paleymusicfestival.org

Jan. 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arts DC:
Samantha Hankey, mezzo-soprano
Myra Huang, piano
Schumann: “Dichterliebe”
Poulenc: “3 chanson de Federico García Lorca”
songs TBA by Satie, Schoenberg, Trenet, Weill, Porter
$50
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 16 (7 p.m.)
Jan. 17 (11:30 a.m.)
Jan. 18 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Carlos Miguel Prieto conducting
Gabriela Ortiz: “Téenek – Invenciones de Territorio”
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor
Jorge Federico Osorio, piano
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
$17-$133
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 16 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jonathon Heyward conducting
Britten: “Peter Grimes” – Passacaglia
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466
Conrad Tao, piano
Lutosławski: Concerto for Orchestra
$38-$99
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org/community-education/our-partners/bso

Jan. 18 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Pops
Naima Burrs conducting
Butcher Brown, guest stars
“Celebration of Black Music in Film”
works TBA from “The Wiz,” “Shaft,” “Get Out,” “Do the Right Thing,” other films
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 18 (7 & 9 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Washington National Opera American Opera Initiative
George Manahan conducting
Kyle Brenn & Lex Brown: “Tati”
Clare Fuyuko Bierman & JL Marlor: “Cry, Wolf”
Omar Najmi & Christine Evans: “Mud Girl”
casts TBA
Christopher Cano, stage director
in English
$28-$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 19 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony chamber ensembles
“Celebrate MLK”
Damien Geter: “I Said What I Said”
Geter: Quartet No. 1 (“Neo-soul”)
James Lee III: Clarinet Quintet
Marcus Grant: “Efflorescence: Unfolding, Developing, Blossoming”
Valerie Coleman: “Red Clay & Mississippi Delta”
$30; 18 & younger free
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 19 (3 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rennolds Chamber Concerts:
Time for Three
program TBA
$35
(804) 828-1169
http://arts.vcu.edu/music/concerts-and-events/

Jan. 19 (7 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Jan. 21 (7 p.m.)
I.C. Norcom High School, 1801 London Boulevard, Portsmouth
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Everett McCorvey conducting
Stephanie Sanders, saxophone
Amandla Vocal Quartet
Earl Bynum & The Mount choir
“A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
program TBA
free; registration required
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Jan. 19 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Kennedy Center Chamber Players:
Abel Pereira, horn
William Gerlach, trumpet
Michael Harper, trumpet
Craig Mulcahy, trombone
Seth Cook, tuba
Carlos Simon: new work TBA (premiere)
Malcolm Arnold: Brass Quintet No. 1
Anthony Barfield: “Gravity”
Victor Ewald: Brass Quintet No. 1
Betsy Bright: “Western Suite”
Leonard Bernstein: “West Side Story” Suite (Jack Gale arrangement)
$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 24 (7 p.m.)
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Grove Avenue at Three Chopt Road, Richmond
Belvedere Series:
Nicholas DiEugenio, violin
J.S. Bach: sonatas & partitas for solo violin
$30
(804) 833-1481
http://belvedereseries.org

Jan. 24 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
conductor TBA
Julia Bullock, soprano
Handel: “Solomon” – “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba”
Handel: “Alcina” – “Verdi prati”
Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons” – “Spring”
J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 – “Air on a G String”
Purcell: “The Fairy Queen” (excerpts)
Pachelbel: Canon in D major
Handel: “Giulio Cesare” – “Da tempeste il legno infranto”
Rameau: “Les Indes galantes” – “Les Sauvages”
Purcell: Sonata in D major for trumpet & strings
Purcell: “The Fairy Queen” – “If love’s a sweet passion”
J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048
Barbara Strozzi: “Che si può fare”
Telemann: “Hamburg Ebb and Flow” Suite
Lully: “Le bourgeois gentilhomme” – “Marche pour la cérémonie des turcs”
Handel: “Samson” – “Let the bright Seraphim”
free; tickets required via http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

Jan. 25 (8 p.m.)
Jan. 26 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Puccini: “Tosca” (concert presentation)
Jennifer Rowley (Tosca)
other cast TBA
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Greater Richmond Children’s Choir
in Italian, English captions
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 25 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Silkroad Ensemble
Rhiannon Giddens directing
Edward Perez: “And the Walls Become the World All Around”
other works TBA
$33-$55
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.calendar.gmu.edu

Jan. 26 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Music Series:
John Mayhood, piano
program TBA
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Jan. 26 (7 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Jeffrey Siegel, piano
“Keyboard Conversations: Dances for the Ears”
works TBA by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Granados, De Falla
$29-$50
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.calendar.gmu.edu

Jan. 28 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Nicolas Altstaedt, cello
J.S. Bach: Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007
J.S. Bach: Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011
Henri Dutilleux: “Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher”
Kodály: Sonata, Op. 8, for solo cello
free; tickets required via http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

Jan. 28 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Naomi Woo conducting
Esther Yoo, violin
Chao Tian, yangqin
Mark Rowswell, host & narrator
“Lunar New Year Celebration”
program TBA
$14-$58
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org/community-education/our-partners/bso

Jan. 30 (7 p.m.)
Feb. 1 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Samuel Barber: “Vanessa” (concert presentation)
Nicole Heaston (Vanessa)
J’Nai Bridges (Erika)
Matthew Polenzani (Anatol)
Susan Graham (The Old Baroness)
Thomas Hampson (The Old Doctor)
in English
$17-$133
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Jan. 31 (7:30 p.m.)
Perkinson Arts Center, 11810 Centre St., Chester
Feb. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 6010 Fergusson Road, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Stewart Goodyear: Serenade for Strings
Julia Perry: Prelude for Strings
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
$30-$50
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 31 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Feb. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Virginia Symphony Pops
conductor TBA
“Dancing in the Street: the Music of Motown”
$15-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Feb. 1 (2 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Francesco Corti, harpsichord
Handel: “Giulio Cesare” Overture
Handel: Suite No. 1 in A major, HWV 426
J.S. Bach: “French Suite” No. 5 in G major, BWV 816
William Babell: Prelude in F major
Handel: “Rinaldo” Overture (William Babell arrangement)
J.S. Bach: “French Suite” No. 2 in C minor, BWV 813
Handel: Suite No. 3 in D minor, HWV 428
free; tickets required via http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

Feb. 1 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Robert Treviño conducting
Zhou Tian: “Metropolis”
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major
Karen Gomyo, violin
Ravel: “Alorada del gracioso”
Ravel: “Rapsodie espagnole”
Ravel: “Pavane pour une infante défunte”
Ravel: “La valse”
$38-$99
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org/community-education/our-partners/bso

Feb. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Men, Women & Children of the Gospel Choirs of Washington Performing Arts
Theodore Thorpe III directing
Choral Arts Society of Washington
Marie Bucoy-Calavan directing
“Living the Dream . . . Singing the Dream: a Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
program TBA
$28-$87
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 3 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
True North Symphony Orchestra & Choir
David Hamilton & Stephen Carrell conducting
Greg Nelson & Bob Farrell: “Saviour: a Modern Oratorio”
Wes Hampton, Travis Cottrell & Shane McConnell, tenors
Shelley Jennings, mezzo-soprano
Dan Baker, baritone
$15-$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 5 (7:30 p.m.)
Perkinson Recital Hall, North Court, University of Richmond
Richard Becker, piano
program TBA
free; tickets required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 5 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Holger Falk, baritone
Steffen Schleiermacher, piano
songs TBA by Schubert, Hanns Eisler
free; tickets required via http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

Feb. 6 (7 p.m.)
Feb. 7 (8 p.m.)
Feb. 8 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Stéphane Denève conducting
Guillaume Connesson: “Maslenitsa”
Khachaturian: Piano Concerto
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
Mussorgsky: “Pictures at an Exhibition” (Maurice Ravel orchestration)
$17-$133
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 6 (7 p.m.)
Studio K Club, Kennedy Center, Washington
Third Coast Percussion
Philip Glass: “Aguas da Amazonia” – “Metamorphosis No. 1,” “Amazon River” (Third Coast Percussion arrangement)
Jlin: “Perspective”
Tyondai Braxton: “Sunny X”
$17-$46
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 7 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Czech National Philharmonic
Pavel Snajdr conducting
Dvořák: “My Home” Overture
Tchaikovsky: “Variations on a Rococo Theme”
Gregorio Nieto, cello
Smetana: “Festive Symphony” in E major
$40-$65
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.calendar.gmu.edu

Feb. 8 (7 p.m.)
Marburg House, 3102 Bute Lane, Richmond
Belvedere Series:
Emily Fons, mezzo-soprano
Ambroise Aubrun, violin
Ingrid Keller, piano
“La vie en rose”
songs TBA by Poulenc, Fauré, Henri Duparc, Reynaldo Hahn, Edith Piaf
Franck: Violin Sonata in A major
sold out; waiting list
(804) 833-1481
http://belvedereseries.org

Feb. 8 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Pops
Hae Lee conducting
“Mancini: an Orchestral Love Affair”
Henry Mancini: works TBA
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Virginia Symphony Orchesatra
Eric Jacobsen conducting
Brahms: “Hungarian Dances” Nos. 10, 6, 4, 21
György Ligeti: Piano Concerto
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Piano Concerto No. 1
Yuja Wang, piano
Tchaikovsky: “Romeo and Juliet” Fantasy-Overture
$74-$170
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Feb. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Feb. 9 (3:30 p.m.)
Martin Luther King Jr. Arts Center, Charlottesville High School, 1400 Melbourne Road
Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia
Benjamin Rous conducting
Kristin Hauge: “Morning Overture”
Prokofiev: “Romeo and Juliet” (excerpts)
concerto TBA
UVa Concerto Competition winner TBA
$10-$53
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu