For the second year in a row Silent Dance Society (SDS) enlivens DC neighborhoods with a late night music and dance experience that doesn’t disturb any neighbors. The multisensory Silent Disco experience lets guests dance to 3 different music genres played by 3 live DJs as they take in the summer air and gorgeous views from city’s best rooftops. The wireless headset technology lets attendees completely submerge into the music as they switch between the different live streaming DJ channels. The music is transmitted directly to each headset so that one can adjust the volume to their liking or step away from the dance floor without losing the beat.
In partnership with the Cambria Hotel & Suites, SDS is bringing the weekly Silent Disco experience to Shaw neighborhood – every Saturday, May 7th through September 3rd from 8pm – 12am.
In partnership with the Embassy Ro Hotel, SDS is bringing the weekly Silent Disco experience to Dupont Circle neighborhood – every Friday, May 20th through September 2nd from 6pm-11pm
WHO: 3 Live DJs, 3 Different Music Channels, 1 Open Air Dance Floor
WHEN: Season Kick-off – Saturday, May 7th
8pm-12am
WHERE: Cambria Rooftop, 899 O Street NW, Washington DC
TICKETS: $10-15 online headset rental; $20 at the door if not sold-out http://silentdisco-may7.eventbrite.com, www.silentdancesociety.com
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW) commemorates its milestone 35thanniversary with Carmina 35 at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall onSunday, May 8, 2016 at 8 p.m., under the direction of Artistic Director Thea Kano. For more information, visit www.GMCW.org.
GMCW partners with New York’s Gallim Dance and 40 members of the New York City Master Chorale to perform a perennial favorite of classical music, Carl Orff’s canonical Carmina Burana. Soloists lending their talent to this performance are soprano Paige Cutrona, tenor Robert Baker, and baritone Young Kwang Yoo. The performance will also feature new choreography by the industrious Andrea Miller, Artistic Director for Gallim Dance.
A leading contemporary dance company based in New York, this collaboration complements the ethos of Gallim Dance, which celebrates the human spirit through works deeply rooted in the human experience of love, struggle and spirituality. Miller created a loose narrative for nine dancers, harnessing the passion and physicality that the music inspires to explore different relationships—same sex and heterosexual, romantic, platonic, and familial. She channels a spectrum of emotions—passion, sexuality, tension, struggle, joy—through characteristically big, bold movement.
This production of Carmina Burana will also be performed at Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
Orff’s sweeping masterwork is paired with touchstones from GMCW’s history. The second half of the concert will be bookended with significant works commissioned by GMCW— “Build A House” fromAlexander’s House and “This House Shall Stand” from Songs of My Family. The Chorus will also perform favorite selections from past concerts, as well as “This Train,” the first song rehearsed at GMCW’s inaugural rehearsal in 1981, GMCW’s anthem “Make Them Hear You” from Broadway’s Ragtime, and “We Kiss in Shadow,” performed by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus at the Kennedy Center in 1980, which served as the inspiration to start a DC-based gay men’s chorus.
Historical significance
A torchbearer and consistent, unified voice for equality, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC has been a steady presence in its community and at historic events that have impacted LGBT people. In 2013, GMCW sang on the steps of the Supreme Court when the Defense of Marriage Act was struck down, and returned in 2015 to sing jubilantly when the court ruled in favor of marriage equality. That same year, GMCW was the first LGBT chorus invited to perform in Cuba on a 10-day cultural and educational tour, helping to spread awareness about equality. The chorus sang at the Lincoln Memorial in 2008 for the first inauguration of President Barack Obama, performing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” with Josh Groban and Heather Headley. Additionally, GMCW vocal ensemble Potomac Fever performed at the White House in 2012 for the first-ever LGBT reception honoring rising LGBT leaders.
The chorus has grown from 90 members in its first season to more than 200 singing members today, educating and entertaining more than 10,000 patrons annually.
Spring Fest presented by Cathedral Commons, a new mixed-use development on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C., will be in full bloom onSaturday, May 14 from 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. The free event, curated by Art Soiree, will combine art, music, family-friendly fun and food throughout the day. Stroll the streets and listen to live musical performances, peruse local art, and taste delicious food and beverage offerings from neighborhood restaurants, and enter in for a chance to win prizes and giveaways from area retailers. Festivities take place rain or shine.
-12:00pm Open Air Workout (Bring your mat and join in )
– 12:45pm Miguelito Flamenco Band & Dancers
– 2:00pm Kiss & Ride Band (Blues/Jazz/Soul)
– 3:00pm Tara Hendricks Band (Brit Pop/Soul/R&B)
– 4:00pm Joi Carter (Alternative, Rock and So Much More!)
WHEN: Saturday, May 14, 2016
WHERE: Cathedral Commons, 3401 Idaho Avenue, Northwest, Washington, DC 20016
Yogis Christy Skarulis and Ashley Braun, co-founders of pop-up yoga brand Grip The Mat, will be leading an open yoga session for the centennial celebration of the United States National Park Service hosted by National Geographic on Saturday, May 21 at 9 am in the Constitution Garden as part of the Biodiversity Festival. Join GTM as they explore one of the most notable National Parks, the Mall, and connect with each other with a light-hearted yoga session followed by a brunch by Peet’s Coffee. We would love for you to inform your readers so they can participate in this yoga event! Admission is free but participants can RSVP here. Make sure to bring a yoga mat!
About Grip The Mat:
While struggling to balance an overly demanding work life, Christy and Ashley realized they were compromising happiness, health, and interpersonal connections for unfulfilling job titles. They decided to take life into their own hands and quit their 9-5’s to build what they were craving, thus Grip the Mat was founded. The brand hosts pop-up events featuring mixed-level “feel-good” yoga paired with social experiences inside fun, unique spaces. By fostering fitness, mindfulness, and togetherness, GTM events offer a unique environment for mind-body and social connection while building a tight knit community of like-minded people. Setting Grip the Mat apart from any other yoga concept, participants do an hour-long session followed by a social component, such as wine tasting or brunch.
About Biodiversity Festival:
This two-day Biodiversity Festival is part of the cornerstone BioBlitz in the Washington, D.C. region. The National Mall at Constitution Gardens will feature hands-on science exhibits, food and art, as well as family-friendly entertainment and activities. Constitution Gardens will also serve as base camp for the National Capital Parks BioBlitz and as a connection to all the other BioBlitzes taking place at national parks that weekend.
About BioBlitz:
The 2016 National Parks BioBlitz is the culmination of a 10-year series of BioBlitzes co-hosted by the National Park Service and the National Geographic Society at different national parks across the country, leading up the centennial of the National Park Service. The first in the series took place at Rock Creek Park in 2007. Other BioBlitz locations have included Biscayne National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, and Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. This year, 13 parks in Greater Washington and more than 100 national parks across the country will host BioBlitz events. A longtime partner of the National Park Service, the National Geographic Society helped draft legislation to establish the NPS in 1916. The Society has given many grants to create and sustain national parks across the United States, and has extensively covered the parks in its media for nearly a century.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016 | 6-8 pm
Beuchert’s Saloon (623 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20003)
Tickets at gourmetsymphony.org/events
Ticket includes: beer tastings, passed small plates & live chamber music.
The Cathedral Choral Society will host a community sing-along, “Schubert is Great,” on Sunday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Washington National Cathedral. Music Director J. Reilly Lewis will conduct, accompanied by Todd Fickley on the Great Organ. Two works by Schubert will be read:Great is Jehovah, the Lord and Mass No. 2 in G. Tickets are $10, including score rental. Singers of all abilities are welcome.
The chorus will be joined by three guest soloists: Suzanne Karpov, soprano; Jonas Hacker, tenor; and Timothy Bruno, bass.
“Our community sing-alongs are a fantastic opportunity to experience the joy of choral singing in Washington National Cathedral. No matter your singing background, all voices are welcome to join in this fun event,” said Executive Director Genevieve Twomey.
Cathedral Sings is a twice annual program of the Cathedral Choral Society intended to promote lifelong singing. This is the final sing-along of the 2015/16 Season. The Cathedral Choral Society begins the 2016/17 Season – the organization’s 75th – in October. More information on the season’s concerts can be found online.
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About the Cathedral Choral Society: The Cathedral Choral Society is the resident symphonic chorus of Washington National Cathedral. Now in its 74thseason, the 145-voice chorus presents an inspiring concert season at the Cathedral and shares the joy of choral singing throughout the Greater Washington, DC Area through its community engagement programs.
For Tickets: All tickets are $10, and include the cost of score rental. To purchase tickets, or for additional information, please call (202) 537-2228 | (877) 537-2228 or visit the website, www.cathedralchoralsociety.org. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door the day of the performance.
At a Glance:
- Cathedral Sings: Schubert is Great, Sunday, June 12, 7:30 p.m., Washington
National Cathedral
- Tickets (includes score rental): $10
- Singers of all abilities welcome
- Music to be read: Schubert’s Great is Jehovah, the Lord and Mass No. 2 in G
- J. Reilly Lewis, conductor
- Guest soloists: Suzanne Karpov, soprano; Jonas Hacker, tenor; and Timothy Bruno, bass
- Jenn Gustetic, Small Business Innovation Research Program Executive at NASA
- Mike Piotnek, District Manager at Boston Beer Company
- Dan Milano, Managing Editor, Social Media at Circa
- Dan Zak, Reporter at the Washington Post