Platinum-selling, 15-year-old vocal sensation Jackie Evancho brings her third studio album, Awakening, to Strathmore in her debut Music Center performance on Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 8 p.m. Evancho was a breakout star from America’s Got Talent, captivating global audiences with her lush voice at only 10 years old. She was immediately signed to Columbia Records, becoming the biggest-selling debut artist of 2011 with a total of 3 million albums in the U.S., and firmly entrenching herself as an exciting young talent to watch in the classical-crossover genre. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (301) 581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.
Since America’s Got Talent, Evancho has released a string of successful recordings including O Holy Night, Dream With Me, Heavenly Christmas, and Songs From The Silver Screen. Dream With Me, her first full length studio album, debuted on the Billboard Top 200 chart at #2 and is platinum. She has since acted in Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep alongside Susan Sarandon, Shia LeBeouf, and Nick Nolte, and performed as a special guest in Cirque du Soleil’s One Night for One Drop benefit at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Evancho has also participated in the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C.
Without foregoing the beautiful and lush classical-crossover compositions for which Evancho has become famous, she extends her stylistic reach on Awakening with contemporary material such as the haunting “The Rains of Castamere” from HBO’s Game of Thrones and a cover of U2’s “With or Without You.” Evancho also sings several original songs including the anthem “Take Me There” and “Open Fields of Grace.” She also tackles the ethereal ballad “Memories” by Dutch band Within Temptation, in addition to the popular classic “Think of Me” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. Awakening’s classical standards include Caccini/Vavilov’s “Ave Maria” and Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise.”
On Thursday, November 5, DC’s new retro-inspired nightclub Soundcheck (1420 K St. NW) will host French DJ and producer Cedric Gervais for the DC leg of his 2015 North American Tour. Tickets to see the 2014 Grammy Award-winning artist start at $20 and are on sale now. To reserve VIP table service with prime visibility, call 202.789.5429.
Guests can jam to Gervais’ top hits such as Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness” Remix, “Young & Beautiful“, as well as his newest single “Say My Name” (with ODESZA). Doors open at 10pm.
Echostage Managing Partner Antonis Karagounis and Partner Pete Kalamoutsos opened the region’s newest nightclub, Soundcheck, to Washingtonians in August. The locale features a unique sound system that mimics the acoustics of a recording studio with state-of-the-art music technology, including a German-imported speaker
ONE NIGHT ONLY
A Concert Benefitting Community Services for Autistic Adults and Children (CSAAC)
CSAAC invites you to join us as superband, Styx, performs in the intimate Music Center at Strathmore. Get up close and personal with one of the greatest bands of all-time as they perform an array of chart-topping hits all in support of Montgomery County-based non-profit, CSAAC – a nationwide leader in autism services.
A guitar signed by the band will be auctioned off at the end of the performance
The 36th Annual InterFaith Concert will be held on Thursday, November 19, 2015 at Washington Hebrew Congregation (3935 Macomb St. NW Washington, DC). The event will begin at 7:30pm and feature an amazing line up of diverse music and dance performances from local religious communities. In addition, we will be honoring Ambassador Jim Nicholson, former Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs and U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See with the Interfaith Leadership Award. The Master of Ceremonies will be Ms. Renee Poussaint, former network correspondent for both CBS and ABC and recipient of three national Emmy awards. Reserve your tickets today! tinyurl.com/
On Sunday, December 6th, digital arts collective The Beat & Path will host an all-day event at Flash Nightclub in celebration of the success of the DC-based web series Walk of Shame with support from the Washington, DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP). The event will feature music performances from D.C. top talent, including a headlining performance by E.A.S.Y. – the live electronic duo comprised of award-winning turntablists DJ Shiftee and DC’s own, DJ Enferno. Proceeds from the event will benefit DJ Enferno’s music education non-profit Mix Major, as well as the Dupont Underground, which will provide live art activations by local artists during the event.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased HERE.
The award-winning Walk of Shame series was originally funded by a successful crowdsourcing campaign featured on Kickstarter in 2013. Since first airing, film festivals, including the Toronto Web Fest 2015, Miami Web Fest, Brooklyn Web Fest, NYC Web Fest, Rome Web Fest, DC Web Fest and the upcoming Rio Web Fest, have all officially recognized the web series. At the DC Web Fest, Walk of Shame was an award recipient for Local Hero and Audience Choice, and at the Miami Web Fest, the series won awards for both Best Music/Score and Best Supporting Actress (Stephanie Ray Glass). Walk of Shame was recently nominated for an Emerging Voice Award at Brooklyn Web Fest. The series has also won an American University Visions Award for editing, and was nominated for an Emerging Voice Award at Brooklyn Web Fest, Best Cinematography at the Rio Web Fest, and Achievement in Music and Score at the upcoming New York Web Fest.
The six-episode, online-only series depicts a modern coming of age tale as told through the lens of DJ culture. The cast includes characters ranging from youthful bloggers to budding disc jockeys, and the series covers topical themes such as online dating and hipster fashion trends. Episodes are currently being released online with other transmedia content including mixtapes, original music and short web clips.
WHAT: The Beat & Path to host all day celebration at Flash nightclub with support from the Washington, DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP)
WHEN: Sunday, December 6, 2015
3PM – 9PM (Full music line-up TBA)
WHO: Performances by E.A.S.Y. (DJ Shiftee & DJ Enferno), Trayze, DJ Amen Ra, Spinser Tracy, Kerim, DJ As-One, DJ Bo, The Editor and more TBA
WHERE: Flash
645 Florida Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
Gypsy Sally’s presents an evening with Benton Blount Band and special guest Trotter Michaels on Thursday, January 28th. Benton is a southern rock-country singer/songwriter and was a finalist on the 10th season of America’s Got Talent.
Benton Blount
“I know people look at me, with my tattoos and appearance, and they don’t think I look like a country singer,” he says. “When I sing, I have a gruffness to my voice that’s different than most country singers too. But when I start to talk, you can hear that I’m as country as cornbread. And the songs, with their real-life stories and positive outlook on life, have more in common with country music than anything else. Country music is where I belong.”Indeed, when this hulking man with the imposing look starts to sing, people often are surprised at his tender love songs and his upbeat view of what people can achieve in their lives. “I like surprising people,” he says. “My life and my career have been full of surprises too. But it’s always a good surprise. I like showing people that this is what I should be doing, and this is where I belong!
Trotter Michaels (formally called The War and Treaty)
Baltimore-based Americana/folk/country/soul duo Tanya Blount Trotter & Michael Trotter Jr. have been creating music since June 2013. Michael plays the keyboard, Tanya plays the tambourine. Occasional accompaniment by a cello player, a mandolin or a guitar player results in a blend of classical, soul, folk, Americana, and love-filled revival convicting lyrics.
SHOW DETAILS
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2016
Venue: Gypsy Sally’s
Address: 3401 K Street NW
Washington, DC
Phone: 202-333-7700
Showtime: 8:00pm, Doors 7:00pm
Ticket price: ADV $12/ DOS $14
Website: www.gypsysallys.com
Valentine’s Day weekend featuring some of the area’s buzziest bands.
The British Embassy and the U.S. Department of State are celebrating the launch of “Try Rugby USA,” a campaign to grow international community outreach and youth development around Rugby in the U.S., with a friendly rugby match.
WHAT: U.S. v UK Friendly Touch Rugby Game
WHEN: 12:30-2:00pm Wednesday 24 February 2016
WHERE: Cooper Field at Georgetown University
3700 O St NW Washington DC 20007
Playing on the UK team is Ken Harvey, a former Washington Redskins player, to help highlight the affinity for sports on both sides of the Atlantic and the NFL international series in London. Other members of the UK team consist of British Embassy staff and British Defence staff. Tosh Askew, who has coached England U19s for 5 years and won Grand Slam in 2004, Nic Rouse, rugby union player for London Irish in the Aviva Premiership, and Caryl Thomas, head coach of the University of Bath Women’s rugby team and has played for Wales Women in the Six Nations Championship and in two World Cups (2010, 2014), will coach the UK team.
Playing on the US team includes Whitney Stowell, President of Washington Irish RFC, and Chris Howard, a Tiger Rugby coach. Other players will include U.S. Department of State staff. James Walker, founder of Tiger Rugby, will coach and play on the US team.
The event is open to the public and media and free to attend. Parking is extremely limited, public transportation is recommended.
Rugby Facts:
- Rugby is the fastest growing sport in the US.
- The UK hosted the Rugby World Cup in 2015.
- Rugby will be part of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, having last been an Olympic sport in 1924. The US won gold that year, so have been the gold medal holders for more than 90 years.
- Famous rugby players include Sean Connery, Daniel Craig, John F Kennedy, JRR Tolkien, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Russell Crowe, Chris Farley, Meat Loaf and Ernesto “Che” Guevara.
History of Rugby:
Rugby lore has the game originating in 1823, when a pupil at Rugby School, William Webb Ellis, picked up the ball during a football match and ran with it. This new game slowly spread around public schools and universities, with the first formal rules inked in 1845. A Rugby Football Union (RFU) followed in 1871, with an inaugural international – England versus Scotland – played that same year. 1883 then witnessed Britain’s Home Nations Championship, the first international rugby competition. By 1908, with the sport having long spread into many former British colonies, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa had all sent touring teams to compete.
Despite continued growth, rugby union didn’t turn professional until the International Rugby Board (later the IRFB, now World Rugby) removed player-payment restrictions in 1995. Continental club competitions soon followed, including Europe’s much-vaunted Heineken Cup and Super Rugby in the southern hemisphere. Today, World Rugby boasts 117 member countries.
For the first time, Premiership Rugby will host a game in the US. The London Irish v Saracens game will be played at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey on 12 March 2016.
Try Rugby USA
Hosted by British Council USA, Friends of the British Council USA, and USA Rugby geographical unions and state based rugby organizations, the coaches from the Aviva Premiership Rugby Clubs will be joined on the road by coaches from US based Tiger Rugby. Together they will deliver a range of coach education sessions, coaching clinics for schools, universities, clubs, youth programs as well as linking with existing rugby based social projects like Play Rugby USA. They hope to build a sustainable network of coaches, clubs and players designed to bring together, develop the skills of and inspire the US rugby community to build pathways to introduce the sports and its values to youth.
Activities will take place in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, DC, and Texas in the coming months.
For more details: http://www.britishcouncil.us/programmes/society/try-rugby-usa
The Hamilton is usually home to indie rock concerts, but on Thursday, March 3 it will host an art history class – of a sort.
Walter Martin of the Walkmen’s first solo album for adults (‘Arts & Leisure’) is his wry and witty take on art history. For this special return to his hometown of DC, he’ll play songs about Alexander Calder’s toy circus, Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and first falling in love with art at the National Gallery. Needless to say, this won’t be the art history you studied in college.
NPR Music calls his new album “hard to resist” and the New York Times said it “carries a sense of wonder [with] a wry humor.” Read a recent interview at the Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1ouOMUX
Who: Walter Martin (of The Walkmen) CD Release Show
Where: The Hamilton, 600 14th Street, N.W.
When: Thurs, Mar 3 @ 7:30pm
With: Near Northeast, The Plate Scapers
RSVP: raypadgett@shorefire.com
On Saturday, March 12, DC arts supporters will come together to celebrate the Cathedral Choral Society and its mission of inspiring the community through the joy of choral singing with Gala 1941 at The Mayflower Renaissance Hotel. This gala is the Cathedral Choral Society’s most significant annual fundraising event, and supports the organization’s artistic and community engagement initiatives.
In celebration of the Cathedral Choral Society’s founding year, attendees will enjoy a ritzy evening of 1940s fun with big band swing, guest performers, dancing, and a silent auction. This gala will be “reception style,” with an open bar, food stations, and passed hors d’oeuvres. The sixteen-piece Brooks Tegler Band performs.
“Our spring gala is our most important annual fundraising event,” said Ernie Abbott, President of the Cathedral Choral Society’s Board of Trustees. “On the eve of our 75th anniversary season, this gala is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the artistic programming and community engagement initiatives of this organization. Support from our gala attendees will help ensure artistic vibrancy in our 75th season and beyond.”
