Cellist Amanda Gookin takes a major step forward in her mission to make classical music an active force for political good with her Forward Music Project on March 29 at 9:00 p.m. inside Dupont Underground. Praised for “Gookin’s focus and ferocity—coupled with expert technical work” (The Strad), Forward Music Project is presented by National Sawdust Projects—the producing arm of National Sawdust. As part of DIRECT CURRENT’s initiative to take Kennedy Center artists and programming out into the world beyond the traditional concert hall, Forward Music Project reaches new Washington-area audiences at Dupont Underground, a reclaimed 75,000-square-foot art exhibition and performance space built inside the only underground station in D.C.’s old streetcar system.
Forward Music Project commissions seven original multimedia works for cello by some of today’s most forward-thinking composers: Leila Adu, Angélica Negrón,Amanda Feery, Allison Loggins-Hull, Nathalie Joachim, Jessica Meyer, andMorgan Krauss. Pushing the boundaries of traditional writing for cello, Gookin’s performance incorporates singing, chanting, staging effects, and projection art in collaboration with video and projections designer S. Katy Tucker (NSO Pops: West Side Story, the Ring Cycle). The stylistically contrasting compositions focus on the first-person perspectives of women, highlighting issues from the LGBTQ+ community and reproductive rights to harassment and human trafficking.
Ticket Information
Amanda Gookin’s Forward Music Project will be performed on Friday, March 29 at 9 p.m. at Dupont Underground. Tickets ($20) are available at the Kennedy Center Box Office, on the Kennedy Center website, and via phone through Instant Charge, (202) 467-4700; toll-free at (800) 444-1324. For all other ticket-related customer service inquires, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540
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.
Washington Bach Consort will continue to offer their original Downtown Cantata Series at the Church of the Epiphany on the first Tuesday of each month during their season.
Monday, April 1, 12:10pm
Washington Bach Consort will continue to offer their original Downtown Cantata Series at the Church of the Epiphany on the first Tuesday of each month during their season.
“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/.
The Choral Arts Society of Washington’s Chamber Singers and Youth Choir, together with the New Orchestra of Washington (NOW) and the Aeolus Quartet, will immerse their audience with soundscapes and projections in a subterranean musical experience for Into the Light. Presented on Friday, April 5th and Saturday, April 6th at 8:00pm at Dupont Underground, this unique concert will make use of the shimmering acoustics of the space. The program will present Steve Reich’s Different Trains, a choral and double string quartet arrangement of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and a new piece by Choral Arts’ Artistic Director Scott Tucker inspired by the acoustics of the venue, amongst others.
The performance will use the entirety of the Dupont Underground, a former belowground streetcar station which has been transformed into a public artspace. The setting will be particularly apt for the presentation of Reich’s Different Trains, a three-movement piece composed for string quartet (Aeolus Quartet, NOW’s Quartet-in-Residence) and sound effects, inspired by Reich’s train travel while living as a young American Jew during the time of the Holocaust.
For this production, the performers will begin on one end of the underground space and gradually move toward the other, emphasizing the transition from darkness into light. Simultaneously, lighting effects and projections by Production Designer JD Madsen will reflect on the musical content. Further immersing the audience, movable barriers will be used to guide the audience through the performance space.
In addition to Reich’s Different Trains, the concert will present works by Hildegard von Bingen, Gregorio Allegri, Samuel Barber, Ben Parry, R. Murray Schafer, Sarah Hopkins, and Knut Nystedt. Scott Tucker’s latest composition, The Moon and Her Maidens is inspired by the acoustics of the Dupont Underground and composed to pair with R. Murray Schafer’s Epitaph for Moonlight .
“I have been looking for opportunities to present choral music in a more interactive and immersive way,” says Choral Arts Artistic Director, Scott Tucker. “We visited Dupont Underground soon after it opened. The acoustics of the space, and the theme of light and darkness are what inspired the musical program. The collaboration with Jay Brock (Production Director) and JD Madsen (Production Designer) have helped us create a full-sensory experience that will allow the audience to engage with the music with more intensity than they would find in a traditional concert.”
“We are thrilled to bring together so many organizations and artists we have long admired for this unique collaboration,” says Tad Czyzewski, Choral Arts Executive Director, of the collaboration with NOW and the Aeolus Quartet.
More information and tickets ($20) can be found online at https://choralarts.org/events/
The Choral Arts Society of Washington’s Chamber Singers and Youth Choir, together with the New Orchestra of Washington (NOW) and the Aeolus Quartet, will immerse their audience with soundscapes and projections in a subterranean musical experience for Into the Light. Presented on Friday, April 5th and Saturday, April 6th at 8:00pm at Dupont Underground, this unique concert will make use of the shimmering acoustics of the space. The program will present Steve Reich’s Different Trains, a choral and double string quartet arrangement of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and a new piece by Choral Arts’ Artistic Director Scott Tucker inspired by the acoustics of the venue, amongst others.
The performance will use the entirety of the Dupont Underground, a former belowground streetcar station which has been transformed into a public artspace. The setting will be particularly apt for the presentation of Reich’s Different Trains, a three-movement piece composed for string quartet (Aeolus Quartet, NOW’s Quartet-in-Residence) and sound effects, inspired by Reich’s train travel while living as a young American Jew during the time of the Holocaust.
For this production, the performers will begin on one end of the underground space and gradually move toward the other, emphasizing the transition from darkness into light. Simultaneously, lighting effects and projections by Production Designer JD Madsen will reflect on the musical content. Further immersing the audience, movable barriers will be used to guide the audience through the performance space.
In addition to Reich’s Different Trains, the concert will present works by Hildegard von Bingen, Gregorio Allegri, Samuel Barber, Ben Parry, R. Murray Schafer, Sarah Hopkins, and Knut Nystedt. Scott Tucker’s latest composition, The Moon and Her Maidens is inspired by the acoustics of the Dupont Underground and composed to pair with R. Murray Schafer’s Epitaph for Moonlight .
“I have been looking for opportunities to present choral music in a more interactive and immersive way,” says Choral Arts Artistic Director, Scott Tucker. “We visited Dupont Underground soon after it opened. The acoustics of the space, and the theme of light and darkness are what inspired the musical program. The collaboration with Jay Brock (Production Director) and JD Madsen (Production Designer) have helped us create a full-sensory experience that will allow the audience to engage with the music with more intensity than they would find in a traditional concert.”
“We are thrilled to bring together so many organizations and artists we have long admired for this unique collaboration,” says Tad Czyzewski, Choral Arts Executive Director, of the collaboration with NOW and the Aeolus Quartet.
More information and tickets ($20) can be found online at https://choralarts.org/events/
