As the world grapples with the most severe global refugee crisis since World War II, musicians convened by conductors John Devlin and Lidiya Yankovskaya, herself a refugee who found asylum in the United States, are coming together to provide a voice to refugees in the country.
At 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 10, Yankovskaya and instrumentalists whose friends and families have fled to the U.S. to escape violence and persecution will perform a special concert for residents in the nation’s capital and surrounding areas. The performance will take place in The Fillmore Silver Spring and will feature a full symphony orchestra and soloists—including award-winning soprano Zhanna Alkhazova—performing works by refugee composers, such as Iranian composer Gity Razaz, Béla Bartók, and Irving Berlin, as well as music that involves refugee themes written by Verdi and Puccini, among others. The concert will showcase, through music, the positive impact that those who have come to this country seeking safety and a better life have had on American culture and society. It is one of three fundraising events that the Refugee Orchestra Project is organizing this spring.
“I organized the Refugee Orchestra Project as a way to demonstrate, through music, the critical role that these individuals play in our cultural landscape,” said Refugee Orchestra Project Conductor and Artistic Director Lidiya Yankovskaya. “In light of the negative rhetoric we regularly read and hear in the news today, I felt it important for all of us to once again be reminded of the essential role that refugees play in making American culture vibrant and strong.”
Devlin and the D.C.-based Gourmet Symphony will support this endeavor by recruiting local musicians to participate in the concert, as well as food vendors who will provide product and services to encourage donations for the cause.
“Gourmet Symphony was thrilled when the Refugee Orchestra Project representatives reached out to us about a possible collaboration around this worthy cause,” said John Devlin, co-founder and Artistic Director of Gourmet Symphony. “As artistic leaders in the nation’s capital, we feel that it is our responsibility to play an active role in our community and in matters of national importance. The concert will also allow us to engage culinary partners who are passionate about this cause. Our common goal is to offer a sense of connectedness and hope through the music and fellowship shared in this performance.”
Admission to the concert is free, donations are suggested. Guests who make a donation of at least $50 will receive premium seating and a gourmet gift box including snack bites from Gourmet Symphony’s culinary partners at Beuchert’s Saloon and Mike Isabella Concepts, among others—this will be capped at 100. Proceeds from donations will go toward the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), the global Jewish nonprofit that protects refugees in support of those seeking asylum in the U.S. and abroad.
Wednesday, April 12 (7 p.m.)
“54” (Miramax, 1998, R-rated*)
An American drama film written and directed by Mark Christopher about Studio 54, a world-famous New York City disco club.
Events are free and open to the public. Free tickets are required for admission to all activities. Tickets will be available beginning at 10:00 a.m. on March 30at this website. A limited number of press credentials will also be available for reservation. The deadline to reserve credentials for lectures, the symposium, and the dance party is Friday, April 28. Some of the events will be live-streamed on the Library’s Facebook page at facebook.com/libraryofcongress and its YouTube channel at youtube.com/LibraryOfCongress. All programs will take place at the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., or at its James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., both in Washington, D.C.
The excitement can be followed on Twitter at @librarycongress and #LCDisco.
As much as Jonathan Larsen’s unprecedented Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Rent impacted popular culture, it also transformed the lives of the actors that embodied a group of young friends trying to forge a life for themselves in New York’s bohemian East Village. 20 years after Rent’s Broadway debut, original cast members Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp reunite at the Music Center at Strathmore on Friday, April 28, 2017 at 8 p.m. to commemorate this cultural touchstone and 20 years of friendship. The concert of duets and solos will include originals, reimagined Broadway classics, and favorites from Rent. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (301) 581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.
Throughout the set, the duo will share stories about their careers, including what it was like working on one of the longest running musicals in Broadway history. Rent has proved a thread throughout their careers that has periodically brought the two back together—prior to the 20thanniversary concert tour, both reprised their Rent roles during the national tour in 2009.
Tony-nominated Adam Pascal recently returned to Broadway’s Nederlander Theater, where Rent lived for years, in the new musical Disaster! Since his days playing Roger in Rent, Pascal has starred in Aida, Chicago, and Memphis. He is currently playing Shakespeare in the national tour of Something Rotten!
After originating the role of Mark in Rent, Anthony Rapp went on to originate another character in If/Then alongside previous Rent co-star Idina Menzel, which debuted at Washington, D.C.’s National Theatre. He wrote the book Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent, about the demands of life in the theater during his mother’s battle with cancer, which he later adapted into a one-man show. It was recently announced that Rapp will star as “astromycologist” Lt. Stamets in Star Trek: Discovery for CBS All Access, the first series developed specifically for this platform and the first Star Trek series since Star Trek: Enterprise (2005). Stamets is also the first openly gay character conceived for the Star Trek franchise.
Disco Dance Party
7 p.m. -12:30 a.m. (Great Hall)
Gloria Gaynor Live: Disco Dance Party
The Library of Congress opens the doors of the Thomas Jefferson Building for LOC Disco Night, a celebration of the Library’s collections and the music of Gloria Gaynor, with an once-in-a-lifetime disco dance party in the historic Great Hall. Guests will have the opportunity to explore the Main Reading Room, meet curators, view special treasure displays, explore the Library’s exhibitions, and dance the night away. Gloria Gaynor and her band will kick off the evening with a live performance. Appearances by DJ Mike Simonetti and DJ Adrian Loving.
Free, tickets available, visit www.loc.gov/concerts/disco for more information.
Charlotte Hollister Annual Gala |
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What: Charlotte Hollister Annual Gala at the Arlington Arts Center Featuring: Jane Franklin Dance Directions to the Arlington Arts Center at DIRECTIONS Details: About Charlotte Hollister Annual Gala Tickets: ONLINE – http://www.janefranklin.com, $100 (VIP: online access to silent auction) |
PAUL D. MILLER aka DJ SPOOKY: REBIRTH OF A NATION
Tuesday, May 23, 2017, 8 p.m.
By Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky
Featuring Sound Impact
Eisenhower Theater–from $19
Conceived as a reimagining of director D.W. Griffith’s infamously racist 1915 silent film, The Birth of a Nation, DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation is a culturally significant project that examines how “…exploitation and political corruption still haunt the world to this day, but in radically different forms.” Today, more than a century since the release of The Birth of a Nation, the project continues to be presented internationally, engaging audiences in themes of civil rights and freedom, seen through the lens of DJ Spooky’s unique art of remixing. Dr. King once said that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”—one of the drivers behind Miller’s work is influenced by this. “I try to give people thought tools for mindfulness, or for thinking about the patterns we inhabit as not fixed of locked down, but changeable. It’s the beauty of that, which makes life worth living.” The Kennedy Center debut of Rebirth of a Nation is a multimedia performance featuring a string quartet from D.C.-based music ensemble Sound Impact. Two violins, a viola, and a cello will accompany three screen video projections, controlled live on stage by DJ Spooky.
The 2017 Events DC Embassy Chef Challenge presented by TCMA (A Drew Company) will highlight dishes and flavors from all around the world. Embassy chefs will gather on Wednesday, May 24 in the Atrium of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, where they will show off their skills and compete for the People’s Choice and Judges’ Choice awards.
The Events DC Embassy Chef Challenge not only encourages culinary diplomacy, but also celebrates the arts of many cultures and highlights some of the area’s amazing musicians, dancers and singers. Throughout the evening, cultural dances and artists will grace the stage along with the headlining band, City of the Sun, an instrumental post-rock trio from Brooklyn, New York.
“We are honored to bring together some of the world’s most culturally-distinct talents in the culinary and performing arts for the second-consecutive Events DC Embassy Chef Challenge,” said Erik A. Moses, senior vice president and managing director of sports, entertainment, and special events at Events DC. “May is International Cultural Awareness Month in DC and we look forward to both celebrating and advancing the city’s cultural diplomacy through cuisine and entertainment.”
Patrons can expect to taste traditional dishes from cultures both common and impossible to find in Greater-Washington such as salmon ceviche and merquén mussels curated by Chef Guillermo Muñoz of Chile. Haitian Embassy chef Cynthia Verna will be preparing a full-spread comprised of creole chicken, yellow basmati rice served with pigeon peas, Roma tomatoes and coconut milk; and a beet and carrot salad with homemade lime dressing. Representing the Embassy of Barbados, Chef Damien Leach will offer a unique spin on tropical fish with his piña colada mahi mahi filet.
Chef Red Garcia of the Philippines will be defending his title with a dish that uses a classic wrapping method called “binalot” – which is a way of wrapping foods with banana leaves, derived from the word ballot, which means “to wrap.” He will have a variety of foods to wrap such as rice, meat, fish, eggs and pickled vegetables. Dishes like kottu roti from the Embassy of Sri Lanka may be new to American diners and guests will have a chance to taste the dish and speak with the embassy’s culinary team about how it is prepared. Chef Anuradha Wijesinghe explains kottu roti as being made with godhamba roti, vegetables, egg or meat and spices.
Embassies will also be offering various native cocktails, beer, and wine to be sampled throughout the evening. Singapore will be serving up the city’s famous “Singapore Sling,” while the Embassy of Bolivia will have a selection of Bolivian wines for patrons to taste. The Embassy of Azerbaijan will be offering a variety of both red and white wines from their emerging high-altitude growing regions.
Chefs from every corner of the globe will be competing, including:
| ASIA | AFRICA | EUROPE | THE AMERICAS |
| Afghanistan Azerbaijan Bangladesh Indonesia Iraq Nepal Pakistan Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Uzbekistan |
Ghana Kenya Mauritius Morocco Rwanda |
Belgium Cyprus Germany Greece Malta Moldova |
Bahamas Barbados Bolivia Chile Dominican Republic El Salvador Ecuador Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Paraguay Peru |
TICKETS: Purchase your tickets and join the cultural event. General admission tickets are $75 and will include all global sips and bites and access to all live entertainment. For $125, VIP guests can enjoy a one-hour early entry to meet all chef’s and network with embassy community elites. For ticket purchases and more information about the event, please visit www.eventsdcembassychefchallenge.com.
WHAT: Embassy chefs from around the world will gather for the 2017 Events DC Embassy Chef Challenge presented by TCMA (A Drew Company), to showcase the unique flavors of their countries in a friendly, delicious culinary competition. With more than 30 embassies participating, this year’s event offers attendees a global culinary experience unmatched in Washington DC.
Attendees will have the opportunity to sample a sip and bite from all participating embassy chefs, and cast their votes for the People’s Choice award. The winner will be announced alongside the Judges’ Choice – selected by a group of elite members of the worlds of diplomacy, culture and the culinary arts, who will critique each dish and beverage before placing their votes.
The Events DC Embassy Chef Challenge not only encourages culinary diplomacy, but also celebrates the arts of many cultures and highlights some of the area’s amazing musicians, dancers and singers. In years’ past, performances have included Bolivian folk dancers, Russian violinists, Chinese dancers and Brazilian samba artists. This year’s event will feature a non-stop range of performances to accompany the delicious food and drink that will be served.
Embassy of Barbados, swept the competition in 2015 winning over the people and the judges, and was the Judges’ Choice winner last year, alongside Peoples’ Choice winner Embassy of the Philippines. Both countries will return to the competition this year to defend their titles and win another coveted golden pineapple.
WHEN: Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Atrium of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20460
WHO: Chefs from every corner of the globe will be competing, including:
| ASIA | AFRICA | EUROPE | THE AMERICAS |
| Afghanistan Azerbaijan Bangladesh Indonesia Iraq Kazakhstan Japan Korea Nepal Pakistan Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka |
Ghana Kenya Mauritius Morocco Tunisia |
Belgium Germany Moldova Ukraine |
Bahamas Barbados Bolivia Chile Dominican Republic Ecuador Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Paraguay Peru Uruguay |
PRICE: General Admission – $65.00
Includes all the global sips and bites and live entertainment
VIP – $95.00
Includes one-hour early entry to meet chefs, taste their offerings, and network with embassy community elite
For tickets and more information, please visit http://www.eventsdcembassychefchallenge.com/home_2017#tickets
NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONCERT HONORING JOHN F. KENNEDY
Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 8 p.m.
National Symphony Orchestra
Joshua Weilerstein, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano
Concert Hall–from $79
Program:
Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
William Grant Still: Poem for Orchestra
Mason Bates: Passage
John Williams: Cello Concerto
Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from On The Town
This performance features Kennedy Center Artistic Advisor at Large Yo-Yo Ma and is led by young American conductor Joshua Weilerstein in his Kennedy Center debut.
The National Symphony Orchestra performs the world premiere of Mason Bates’s Passage, an NSO commission created especially for JFK’s 100th. Passage examines the theme of American exploration through the visionary words of Walt Whitman and President John F. Kennedy. Composed for renowned mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and the NSO, the work imaginatively sets Whitman’s “Passage to India” alongside recorded fragments of JFK’s moonshot speech given in 1961. Two iconic American voices—that of poet and President—come together on a journey to the ever-expanding human frontier.
HUBBLE CANTATA
Thursday, May 25, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Paola Prestini, composer
Royce Vavrek, librettist
Concert Hall–from $15
The Hubble Cantata, brought to life by Metropolitan opera star Nathan Gunn (with soprano to be announced), music director Julian Wachner, a 20-piece instrumental ensemble, and a 100-person choir from The Washington Chorus, is an unprecedented live experience. The program pushes the boundaries of art and science as it takes audiences on a journey of wonder and exploration, seeking parallels between human life on Earth and the stars in the heavens. Framed by the birth, life, and death of a star—and connected to a narrative of a couple experiencing loss—the hour-long, space-inspired cantata features a cutting-edge virtual reality film (Fistful of Stars) by Eliza McNitt, music by composer Paola Prestini, and libretto by Royce Vavrek. Through his narration, New York Times best-selling author and eminent astrophysicist Dr. Mario Livio explains the larger celestial implications at stake, placing the characters’ story within the grand scheme of the cosmos.
In a final gesture, this family-friendly performance incorporates virtual reality cardboard headsets, simulating an immersive voyage through the universe, expertly created by The Endless Collective, a leading VR FX firm, with a 360-degree soundscape developed by Arup, the global leaders in acoustic and sound design. This mesmerizing live experience, co-produced by VisionIntoArt/National Sawdust, Beth Morrison Projects and Arup, reflects Livio’s poignant themes and the powerful realization that humans discovered, explore, and continue to expand the understanding of the universe, and man’s place in it.
