SMITHSONIAN at 8, in collaboration with Francophonie DC and La Maison Francaise at the French Embassy, presents La Grande Fête, the closing celebration of the 2019 DC Francophonie Cultural Festival.
WHEN: Friday, March 29, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
WHERE: La Maison Francaise at the Embassy of France, 4101 Reservoir Road, Washington, DC
Get ready for a spectacular party with a French accent. The annual Francophonie Cultural Festival spotlights the music, art, literature, film, cuisine, and customs of French-speaking countries and regions from across the globe. Its closing celebration, La Grande Fete, is always magnifique, and this year’s bash is no exception.
Beginning at 7 p.m., launch into a world tour of francophone cultures. Sample food and drink from more than 30 embassies as you explore each nation’s unique attractions and traditions.
Guinean singer/songwriter Natu Camara performs live with an energy that keeps you on your feet. Natu’s dynamic and mesmerizing voice is a fusion of soul, Afro-Rock, folk and pop. Combined with unique and joyful stage presence, she is sure to make for a memorable addition to this year’s La Grande Fete. Les the DJ will spin music from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and plenty of destinations in between. Don’t miss this chance to experience the best of the French-speaking world—all without leaving home.
General admission $40
Tickets must be purchased in advance (no sales at the door).
For tickets and further information the public may call 202-633-3030 or visit www.SMITHSONIANat8.org.
Washington Performing Arts hosts its 2019 annual Gala & Auction on March 30, 2019 at the National Building Museum (401 F St. NW). Tickets begin at $750; Young Sponsor tickets (for guests 40 and under) start at $200. Tables start at $15,000.
This year’s Gala, “Sizzle & Swing,” is a grand celebration of the art of jazz, from the classic big-band era to today’s up-to-the-minute expressions, fitting perfectly with Washington Performing Arts’ stellar spring lineup of jazz programming from Chucho Valdés and Cécile McLorin Salvant to an all-star tribute to Glenn Miller.
Gala performers include:
- Vocalists Veronica Swift (familiar to Washington Performing Arts audiences through her work with Chris Botti and Wynton Marsalis) and Stephen Scott Wormley (an alumnus of the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir, recently seen in the D.C. area as one of the stars of Signature Theatre’s The Scottsboro Boys);
- Mars Urban Arts Initiative Ensemble-in-Residence DuPont Brass;
- The Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir under the direction of Michele Fowlin; and
- The Sizzle & Swing Band
Gala guests will also be treated to a special preview of a newly commissioned transcription of a big band chart by Hazel Scott, the luminary American pianist, cultural icon, and civil rights advocate. This premiere anticipates Washington Performing Arts’ commemoration of Scott’s 100th birthday in 2020.
The Gala kicks off at 6:30 pm with cocktails and the Silent Auction, sponsored by Urban Winery, with the dinner and performance program starting at 8:00 pm. Stage, television, and film actress Tamara Tunie serves as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening. The Afterparty Speakeasy with DJ Dimmy is co-sponsored by Daimler and the Washington Performing Arts Junior Board.
“Washington Performing Arts has a long legacy of presenting both emerging and leading jazz musicians and amplifying jazz as a vital American art form,” said Washington Performing Arts President and CEO Jenny Bilfield. “Whether it is through our Capital Jazz program in partnership with D.C. Public Schools, master classes with artists like Cécile McLorin Salvant, or commissions by Wynton Marsalis and now this new arrangement of a Hazel Scott chart, Washington Performing Arts remains committed to spotlighting this vibrant genre in every dimension of our programs, onstage and off.”
All proceeds raised at the Annual Gala and Auction will support Washington Performing Arts’ arts education initiatives. These include Capital Arts Partnerships and the Embassy Adoption Program (both in partnership with the DC Public Schools); In-School Artist Residencies; the Washington Performing Arts Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choirs; master classes and lectures; and stipends for professional development teachers and Washington Performing Arts teaching artists.
The 2019 Gala Co-Chairs are Lyn & Barry Chasen and Tom Gallagher & Barbara Myers. The Junior Board Gala Chairs are Rebecca Allen, Cassidy Grunninger, and Wesley Thomas. The Washington Performing Arts Women’s Committee Gala Chair is Denise Rollins, and the Women’s Committee Silent Auction Chair is Njambi. The Gala Committee comprises Paul Ashe, C. Wallace DeWitt, Adam Farra, Jay and Robin Hammer, Susan Hepner, Jordan Hepner and Nina Damato, Margaret Hurwitz, Angela C.Y. King, Grace Lin, Christina Co Mather and Gary Mather, Haley Morrison, Michelle Nelson, Ami Scott and Lucius Outlaw, Jan and Marike Paulsson, Kerrien Suarez, Ebony Thomas, Lindsey Woody, and The Washington Performing Arts Women’s Committee.
For more information about Washington Performing Arts and the Annual Gala and Auction, visit www.washingtonperformingarts.
Washington’s only playwrights’ collective devoted exclusively to developing and producing new plays—will host its annual fundraiser, The Joint–on Sunday, March 31, at Rhizome DC.
The Joint will take over the rooms of the Rhizome art space, familiar to some as the setting of the 2017 environmental hit Hello, My Name Is… by Deb Sivigny. Throughout the house, installations, intimate performances, and interactive projects will delight attendees as they rewind to remember the past and fast forward to the future.
There will be opportunities to celebrate the current generation of the Welders as they offer the in-process work by the last two playwrights in the second round of Welders leadership. At the end of 2019, the current roster of Producing Playwrights will be turning the company over to a new group of artists: The Welders 3.0.
The soon-to-be-announced third generation of The Welders will be in attendance at The Joint along with the past and present generations. The evening will be a fun opportunity for theater fans to engage with the generative artists taking the production of their work into their own hands.
Don’t miss this spectacular art-house-party filled with connection, sneak peeks, and a celebration of three generations “passing it on.” Plus, the event will feature a fire pit, silent auction, tasty food, and punch from Drink Company, home to the 2017 Spirited Award winning “Best American Cocktail Bar” Columbia Room.
Tickets are available at: https://thejoint2019.
“The Arts, Identity and Societal Inclusivity” Pop-up exhibit and conversations organized by the Arts for Global Development, Inc aims at facilitating an open, safe and creative environment to talk about identity, diversity as well as those issues that communities tackle on a day to-day basis especially in the context of voluntary and involuntary mobility of millions of people who are scattered across the globe.
The arts provoke thoughts and encourage people to embark upon issues that are sometimes hard to come to terms with. Contemporary artists often examine their identities by using themselves or aspects of themselves as a starting point to tell a story or address a larger issue like “acceptance or belonging”. During this event, one such contemporary designer and a multidisciplinary researcher Neba will showcase her fashion-art pieces that introduce unique and spiritual methods and folk pieces from her ancestry and upbringing.
Along with Neba’s one day/pop up exhibition called “Feast”, the Sandy Spring Museum Director, Allison Weiss and Cameron Okeke from Urban Institute will be sharing their experiences of how they’ve used the arts, from communicating the stories of displaced people to building creative and safe places in broken communities around the US.
“We certainly live in interesting times where social tension is rising in this ongoing “us and them” discourse. With this event we aim tobring our community together and use creativity as a means to broaden our perspectives. We do hope the works and discussions will inspire and encourage everyone in taking actions that support inclusion, ” said Nil Navaie, the founder and president of Arts for Global Development, Inc.
“The Arts, Identity and Societal Inclusivity” Pop-up exhibit and conversations event will be held at the Fridge Arts Gallery (516 8th Street SE, Washington DC) on April 4th from 5:30 – 8 pm.
The event is free, however RSVPs are recommended via http://www.art4development.net/.
WHAT: The world premiere of the new series ‘Guess I’m a Ghost’ at DC Webfest as part of their American Web Series Watch Party block.
Guess I’m a Ghost is a comedy web series in eight episodes that explores coming to terms with your past mistakes, making amends, and how we both perform ourselves and find out about death through social media. Tonally, the series is a mix between High Maintenance and The Good Place. Using both naturalistic and absurd comedy, the show looks to see how we grieve over imperfect people we think we knew, but maybe didn’t at all. Diane…wasn’t the best friend. She liked to bend the truth and look out for number one. After embarrassing herself at a party, she’s killed in a ride-share accident when climbing into the front seat to charge her phone. Then, because of a mistake in the afterlife, she’s sent back to earth and forced to haunt those she could’ve treated a little better, and might owe her an apology themselves. The series features an original score by Leslie Hong of Haybaby, and will be released in full online on April 29th, following a screening in Los Angeles on April 27th.
WHEN: Saturday, April 13th at 6:00pm
WHERE: MakeOffices Glover Park – 2201 Wisconsin Ave. Suite #200 Washington DC 20007
HOW: Festival programming passes start at $45
OFERTÓRIO
CAETANO VELOSO
With Moreno, Zeca & Tom Veloso
For over 35 years, GRAMMY Award-winner Caetano Veloso has been a major musical, social, and cultural force in Brazil. The New York Times calls him “one of the greatest songwriters of the century.” Veloso’s latest project is a collaboration with his sons: Moreno, Zeca, and Tom. This legendary lineage performs an intimate, acoustic concert full of their favorite songs like “Um Canto de Afoxé Para o Bloco do Ilê,” and your favorite songs of Veloso’s like “Cucurrucucu Paloma,” “Sozinho,” and more. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encompassed theatre, poetry, and music in the 1960s, paving the way for pursuits in rock, pop, folk, and Bossa Nova.
Learn how the next generation of Baltimore’s artists and leaders are harnessing the power of creativity to tell their stories. As part of the day’s activities, attendees can create their own museum memes, buttons, and custom banners, learn how to screen print with Jubilee Arts: Youth in Business, and make a personalized zine with Baltimore Youth Arts. Special guests include the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore Ceasefire, and Open Works. Performances include screenings with Wide Angle Youth Media, musical ensembles with two Arts Every Day schools, and the Lethal Ladies of Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women step team.
The day’s festivities include Behind the Façade, a program of original monologues by Baltimore School for the Arts theater students. Performed in 1 West Mount Vernon Place, this performance brings to life the range of people, enslaved and free, who made Mount Vernon their home in the years before and after the Civil War.
Presented in collaboration with Arts Every Day. Special thanks to MECU of Baltimore and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts.
WHERE:
Walters Art Museum
600 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
WHEN:
Saturday, April 27, 2019
11 a.m.–4 p.m.
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Jonathan Drori, author and environmentalist
From India’s sacred banyan to the fragrant cedar of Lebanon, trees offer us sanctuary, inspiration and companionship – not to mention sustenance and raw materials – and forests have surprising parallels with human communities. In this fascinating and beautifully illustrated talk, Jonathan Drori, author and trustee of The Eden Project in Cornwall, and former BBC documentary film-maker and board member of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, uses plant science to illuminate how trees play a role in every part of our lives, from the romantic to the regrettable, and how they are capable of the most bizarre antics. An unmissable event for tree and nature lovers. Please note: Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Program begins at 7 p.m.
DATE: Thursday, May 2
TIME: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Conservatory Garden Court
FREE: Pre-registration required, visit www.USBG.gov/Learn
This program sponsored by the Friends of the U.S. Botanic Garden.
Proceeds from Collector’s Night Art Sales are split 50/50 between the artists and WPA, whose share goes to supporting its artist driven programs through artist honoraria, travel, artwork production, and other direct program costs.
