The Trust for the National Mall will celebrate its tenth anniversary as an official partner of the National Park Service with a benefit gala, the BALL for THE MALL.
WHAT: CNN’s Wolf Blitzer will serve as the Master of Ceremonies for the program, which will include a celebration of accomplishments to date and a look ahead to continued progress. The event will honor businessman and philanthropist, David M. Rubenstein, with the “History, Heroes, & Hope Award” for his dedication and continued support in restoring and improving the National Mall and visitor experience. Award-winning author and historian Douglas Brinkley will present Rubenstein with the honor. The benefit gala will also include a VIP reception, seated dinner with guest speakers and live music and entertainment. Ticket information at nationalmall.org/ballforthemall.
WHO: Honoree: David M. Rubenstein, Co-CEO & Co-Founder of the Carlyle Group
Emcee: Wolf Blitzer, CNN’s lead political anchor
Speakers: Douglas Brinkley, Author & Historian
Catherine Townsend, President & CEO of the Trust for the National Mall
Chip Akridge, Chairman, Trust for the National Mall
WHEN: May 11, 2017
6:30 P.M.
WHERE: On the grounds of the National Mall
Madison Drive at Twelfth Street
Celebrating ten years of partnership with the National Park Service, the Trust for the National Mall is dedicated to sustainably restoring, improving and preserving the National Mall for present and future generations. Stretching from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, the beloved but well-worn National Mall hosts 36 million visits each year but requires more than $840 million in deferred maintenance and needed upgrades. This public-private partnership is a model for bringing critical resources to the National Mall, home to the enduring symbols of our democracy.
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.
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.
Between a film premiere and a West End debut, there’s Strathmore. Unparalleled in her breadth and versatility, Audra McDonald brings the music that has shaped her career to the Music Center at Strathmore on Friday, May 26, 2017 at 8 p.m. The concert follows the premiere of her latest film, a live action remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and just before her West End debut in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. An icon of Broadway, McDonald is the winner of a record-breaking six Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and an Emmy Award. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (301) 581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.
Tickets to this show go on sale to the general public on Friday, March 10, 2017 at 10 a.m.
In addition to her Tony-winning performances in Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, she has appeared on Broadway in The Secret Garden, Marie Christine (Tony nomination), Henry IV, 110 in the Shade (Tony nomination), and Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed. The Juilliard-trained soprano’s opera credits include La voix humaine and Send at Houston Grand Opera, and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at Los Angeles Opera.
On television, she was seen by millions as the Mother Abbess in NBC’s The Sound of Music Live! and played Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC’s Private Practice. She won an Emmy Award for her role as host of PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center and has received nominations for Wit, A Raisin in the Sun, and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.
On film, she has appeared in Seven Servants, The Object of My Affection, Cradle Will Rock, It Runs in the Family, The Best Thief in the World, She Got Problems, Rampart, and Ricky and the Flash. She plays the Garderobe in the 2017 live-action remake of Disney’s classic Beauty and the Beast.
An exclusive recording artist for Nonesuch Records, she has released five solo albums for the label. McDonald also maintains a major career as a concert artist, regularly appearing on the great stages of the world and with leading international orchestras.
She was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2015 and received a 2015 National Medal of Arts, America’s highest honor for achievement in the arts, from President Barack Obama.
Of all her many roles, her favorites are the ones performed offstage—passionate advocate for equal rights and homeless youth, wife to actor Will Swenson, and mother to her children.
About Strathmore
Strathmore presents and produces exemplary visual and performing arts programs for diverse audiences; creates dynamic arts education experiences; and nurtures creative ideas and conversations that advance the future of the arts. The organization’s hallmark is the Music Center at Strathmore, with a 1,976-seat concert hall and education complex. Its core campus also includes the historic Mansion at Strathmore, which features an intimate Music Room and art galleries. Most recently, Strathmore opened AMP, a 250-seat cabaret-style venue located just up Rockville Pike from the core campus in the burgeoning Pike District of Montgomery County. Strathmore’s signature education, mission-driven programs include the Strathmore Student Concerts and the Artist in Residence program.
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Strathmore is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. An agency of the Department of Business & Economic Development, MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to non-profit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities.
Strathmore is also supported in part by the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.
Strathmore Presents
Audra McDonald
Friday, May 26, 2017
8 p.m.
Tickets $45-$105
Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane
North Bethesda, MD 20852
KENNEDY CENTER OPEN HOUSE: CELEBRATING JFK AT 100
Saturday, May 27, 2017, 12 p.m.–10 p.m.
With world premiere commission and activities for all
Campus-wide–FREE
In celebration of John F. Kennedy’s 100th birthday, the Kennedy Center will host an Open House. This free event welcomes the public to explore and experience the performing arts through the halls, theaters, and plazas of the Kennedy Center through more than 30 free performances, activities and events for all ages and tastes. The arts program will feature artists from across the U.S., the Washington, D.C. region, and abroad.
Highlights include:
- Bandaloop, the pioneers of vertical dance, will present multiple performances suspended from the roof of the Kennedy Center throughout the day.
- Company E, a D.C-based contemporary dance company, will perform a Kennedy Center JFK Centennial-commissioned work and world premiere, (In) Security or Jack and Nikki Do the Cold War Tango, in the Grand Foyer using both Millennium Stages simultaneously to explore the John F Kennedy/ Nikita Khrushchev relationship.
- Flexn will present five different performances throughout the day in the Eisenhower Theater of flex dance which is an electrifying form of street dance evolved from Jamaican bruk-up and reggae. Each performance will be in a different format (solo, two-on-two battles, full company), and each focusing on one of the five JFK Centennial ideals as well as opening with a discussion of the works by Peter Sellars and Reggie Gray.
- Finding a Line: Skateboarding, Music, and Media will return with a skate park and music stage open and active throughout the day on the plaza.
- Citizen Artist Fellow Paige Hernandez and Baye Harrell will perform “All the Way Live!” in the Family Theater.
- The National Memorial Day Choral Festival in the Concert Hall will present patriotic repertoire which will include works that celebrate President Kennedy such as the “Star Spangled Banner,” “America the Beautiful,” “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Inauguration,” and “To the Moon.”
- Local Washington Ballet will participate in Open House activities by presenting their independent commission Frontier.
All of the programming in the three largest theaters and the Grand Foyer will explore and celebrate the legacy of President Kennedy.
(WASHINGTON)—Washington National Opera (WNO) today announces an exciting
conclusion to its 2016–2017 season: the 2017 WNO Opera Gala, celebrating WNO
Board Chairman Jacqueline Badger Mars, who will step down as Chairman this
summer. The Gala, on Saturday, June 3, 2017, will include a concert in the Kennedy
Center Opera House featuring the WNO Orchestra and an array of musical stars who
will pay special tribute to Jacqueline Mars’s visionary leadership of WNO: legendary
soprano Renée Fleming, superstar mezzo-soprano and D.C. native Denyce Graves,
and Hamilton Tony Award® winner Leslie Odom Jr. The Gala is presented as part of
JFKC, the Kennedy Center’s season-long celebration of John F. Kennedy’s centennial,
and explores the themes of service and gratitude, which are often associated with
President Kennedy.
The Co-Chairmen of the WNO Opera Gala are WNO Life Chairman Mrs. Eugene B.
Casey and Mrs. John F. Mars. The Opera Gala pays tribute to Jacqueline Badger Mars
for her six seasons of leadership of the WNO Board of Trustees. Highlights of her
tenure include the founding of the American Opera Initiative, which for the last five
seasons has helped identify the brightest rising American composers and librettists and
has added their work to the repertory; the programming of an annual opera for families
at the holiday season, including Hansel and Gretel, The Little Prince, and the world
premiere commission of The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me; and the presentation of WNO’s
first-ever complete Ring cycles in 2016, a feat that put WNO into a very elite group of
American opera companies.
“I have been honored to work with Jacquie Mars since 2008, and her imaginative
leadership and guidance have brought WNO unparalleled growth and success while
also making the opera more accessible to a broader audience,” said WNO executive
director Michael L. Mael. “Our next Chairman will certainly have big shoes to fill, but I
am happy that Jacquie will continue to steer this company as a WNO trustee.”
Tickets for the Gala concert start at $49 and are on sale now to Kennedy Center
members. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 21, 2017 at 10 a.m.
For those who wish to purchase special Gala packages, the evening will begin with a
VIP cocktail reception on the Kennedy Center’s River Terrace at 5:30 p.m., followed by
the Gala concert at 6:30 p.m. After the performance, Gala package holders will depart
the Kennedy Center for elegant black-tie dinners hosted by many ambassadors at their
embassies or residences throughout the city, a longtime tradition of the Opera’s season-
ending social gathering.
The Opera Gala is WNO’s largest fundraiser and one of Washington’s most anticipated
events of the year. Proceeds from the Opera Gala will play a crucial role in advancing
the Opera’s award-wining artistic, educational, and outreach programs.
While the 2016–2017 season is coming to an end, the new season promises
excitement. WNO’s 2017–2018 season includes new productions of Verdi’s epic drama
Aida, the company premiere of Handel’s magical baroque opera Alcina, and Verdi’s
towering masterpiece Don Carlo, plus Rossini’s delightful comedy The Barber of Seville
and Bernstein’s biting satire Candide. The season also features a festival weekend of
four world premieres as part of the American Opera Initiative, the return of the holiday
family opera The Little Prince, two special Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist performances,
and more. Subscription packages are available now.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets for the Gala concert start at $49 and are available online, in person at the
Kennedy Center Box Office, and by calling (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-1324. For all
other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at
(202) 416-8540.
Peter Rowan
Wednesday, October 18th
Gypsy Sally’s
3401 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20007
Doors: 7:00 PM
Show: 8:00 PM
Tickets: $25.00, 21+
http://www.gypsysallys.com/
Grammy-award winner and five-time Grammy nominee, Peter Rowan is a bluegrass singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades. From his early years playing under the tutelage of bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe, and following his stint in Old & In the Way with Jerry Garcia and subsequent breakout as both a solo performer and bandleader, Rowan has built a devoted, international fan base through his continuous stream of original recordings, collaborative projects, and constant touring.
Born in Wayland, Massachusetts to a musical family, Rowan first learned to play guitar from his uncle. He spent his teenage years absorbing the sights and sounds of the Boston music scene, playing bluegrass at the Hillbilly Ranch and discovering folk and blues across the Charles River at the legendary Club 47 on Mt. Auburn Street in Cambridge. “I could sit in with the Lilly Brothers at the Hillbilly Ranch and then catch the MTA and be in time for Joan Baez’s last set at the Club 47. Bluegrass appealed to me. It was callin’ me—the harmonies, that high and lonesome calling-sound. Don Stover had played banjo with Bill Monroe, fiddler Tex Logan too, before they joined the Lillys. Mandolinist Joe Val taught me all the Blue Sky Boys and the Louvin Brothers songs. I would play a “sock-hop” with my rockin’ group, The Cupids, and then make a beeline for the clubs. Sonny Terry and Brownie Magee, Josh White, Muddy Waters- they all came to town! ”
Following three years in college, Rowan left academia to pursue a life in music. Rowan began his professional career in 1964 as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys, living in Nashville and playing with Monroe on the Grand Ol’ Opry every week. “One thing I liked about the Monroe style was that there was a lot more blues in it than other styles of bluegrass,” reflects Rowan. “It was darker. It had more of an edge to it. And yet it still had the ballad tradition in it, and I loved that.” Rowan stayed with Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, touring constantly both in the United States and in England, for two and a half years. ” We went from old-timey places way down south to the colleges up north, we played to all ages, long-time fans of Bluegrass and the college kids my own age.”
The late ’60s and early 70’s saw Rowan collaborating with musical compatriots in a number of rock, folk and bluegrass combinations: Earth Opera with David Grisman, Sea Train with fiddler Richard Greene (himself a graduate of Monroe’s band) Muleskinner with both Grisman and Greene, former Bluegrass Boy banjoist Bill Keith and the great Clarence White. From the ashes of Muleskinner, Rowan and Grisman went on to join Jerry Garcia, Vassar Clements, and John Kahn, forming the legendary bluegrass band Old & In the Way. It was during this time that Rowan penned the song “Panama Red,” a subsequent hit for the New Riders of the Purple Sage and a classic ever since. Other time-honored compositions by Rowan include ” Moonlight Midnight“, ” In The Land of the Navajo” and “Lonesome L.A. Cowboy”. Jerry Garcia himself recorded Rowan’s “Moonlight Midnight” and the haunting “Mississippi Moon”. The 1970’s also saw Peter Rowan playing and recording alongside brothers Chris and Lorin Rowan as the The Rowan Brothers. Their three albums for Elektra-Asylum featured original songs highlighted by the three siblings soaring harmonies.
Rowan subsequently embarked on a well-received solo career in 1978, releasing such critically acclaimed records as Dustbowl Children (a Woody Guthrie style song cycle about humanity’s spirituality in relationship to the earth), Yonder (a record of old-time country songs and Rowan originals in collaboration with ace dobro player, Jerry Douglas) and two extraordinarily fine bluegrass albums, The First Whippoorwill and Bluegrass Boy, as well as High Lonesome Cowboy, a recording of traditional old-time cowboy songs with Don Edwards and guitarist Norman Blake. Rowan’s recent releases- Reggaebilly, a wonderful blend of reggae and bluegrass and Quartet, a recording with the phenomenal Tony Rice, coupled with a relentless touring schedule have further endeared Peter Rowan to audiences around the world.
On the road, Rowan performs internationally as a solo singer-songwriter, while stateside he plays in three bands: the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, a quartet featuring Jody Stecher, Keith Little, and Paul Knight; The Peter Rowan & Tony Rice Quartet; and his rocking band, The Free Mexican Air Force.
WHAT: Colon Cancer Alliance 7th Annual Blue Hope Bash
The Blue Hope Bash is the premiere fundraising gala of the Colon Cancer Alliance. It brings together both individuals and corporations that are passionate about supporting our mission to end colon cancer within our lifetime. Since the event’s inception in 2010, it has raised more than $5 million.
The Bash aligns our community of passionate advocates for an inspirational evening to celebrate survivorship and remember loved ones. This year, the Colon Cancer Alliance has set a goal to raise a record-breaking $1 million to support our mission and strategic plan: to invest $10 million in research, save 100,000 lives through increased screening and double the number of constituents Colon Cancer Alliance serves.
WHEN: Thursday, October 19, 2017
5:30 p.m. – VIP Reception
6:30 p.m. – General Reception
8:00 p.m. – Dinner & Program
10:00 p.m. – Event Ends
WHERE: Andrew Mellon Auditorium, 1301 Constitution Ave, NW – Washington, D.C.
EVENT THEME: In This Together
BASH EMCEE: Craig Melvin, Co-Anchor of NBC’s Weekend ‘Today Show’, National Correspondent for ‘Today’, and Anchor on MSNBC. Craig recently shared on the Today Show his connection with the disease when his brother Lawrence, was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer at age 39. Craig’s brother Lawrence and his wife Angela will be in attendance. (Today Show Link)
EVENT CO – CHAIRS: Avi & Michelle Benaim. Michelle Benaim was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in 2015 at age 47. She and her husband Avi turned to the Colon Cancer Alliance for support, guidance and information as they navigated Michelle’s diagnosis and have grown to be passionate supporters of the organization’s mission. Michelle passed away on September 30 at the age of 49. Her husband Avi, her three children, and their family will be in attendance to celebrate her life, legacy and dedication to ending the disease by increasing awareness and funding colon cancer-specific research.
SPECIAL GUESTS & VIPS IN ATTENDANCE:
Carmen Marc Valvo, American Fashion Designer, Colon Cancer Alliance Vice Chair & Survivor
Lindsay Czarniak, ESPN SportsCenter Anchor (wife of Craig Melvin)
Lawrence & Angela Meadows (brother and sister-in-law of Craig Melvin)
Former Senator Henry Waxman and his wife Janet Waxman
Roma Torre, Anchor for NY1News
John Backus, Managing Partner at Proof.VC and Colon Cancer Alliance Board Chair
KEY EVENING ELEMENTS & ADDITIONAL INFO:
This evening of hope, inspiration and celebration will feature a welcome reception, notable VIP’s, dinner, live and silent auctions and other elements such as:
Porche Car Raffle – one lucky winner will win a custom 2018 Porche Boxster. Only 850 tickets were printed and the winner does not need to be present to win. Raffle tickets are $100 and purchased online here.
Bubbles, Bourbon, & Bling – The Colon Cancer Alliance’s signature Bubbles, Bourbon & Bling raffle is back with a twist! Guest can purchase a glass of champagne or bourbon for $100 and be entered in for the chance to win a gorgeous 2.63 carat sapphire ring or a men’s Rolex Submariner watch courtesy of Liljenquist & Beckstead.
Lyn Ferriero – Recipient of the Erica & Michael Paul Memorial Award (in recognition of her long-standing dedication and generous service to the Colon Cancer Alliance).
For additional event information, visit www.BlueHopeBash.org.
Did you miss out on this year’s Oktoberfest? If so, it’s not too late. Fairmont Washington, D.C., Georgetown’s Oktoberfest will take place beginning Monday, October 23rd through Friday, October 27th from
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
The hotel’s courtyard will be transformed into a German Biergarten featuring a live grilling station, German music and draft beer. So, don your favorite lederhosen and dirndls or, just come as you are.
The grilling station will feature hotel chefs preparing a choice of Bauernwurst, a locally handcrafted German sausage and Weisswurst, a traditional Bavarian sausage, served with Kartoffelsalat, German potato salad, and a pretzel twist for just $5. A selection of traditional and spicy mustards will be available too.
Guests will also enjoy $5 drafts of Flying Dog Dogtoberbest Marzen Beer and other German beers throughout the week-long fest.
To kick off Fairmont’s Oktoberfest, a very Instagramable musician, Peter Giovani, will perform with his accordion on Monday, October 23rd, from 5 -7 p.m.
No reservations are required for Oktoberfest, seating is available on a first come basis. In the case of inclement weather, Oktoberfest will move into the lobby.
