The 6th Annual Best Buddies PROM – two parties with one purpose – is a dynamic twist on the DC gala that features both student and adult receptions. It will be held Friday, April 5 at The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. This joyous night of music, friendship, fundraising, and making memories for young people with and without Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) will be the highlight of DC’s spring event season. PROM2019 will treat students of all abilities to a spectacular evening which is also a fundraising event for adults who believe in the mission of inclusion. Best Buddies was founded 30 years ago by Anthony Kennedy Shriver at Georgetown University. Tickets are on sale now at www.BestBuddiesProm.org.
“This year’s PROM will push us to surpass one million dollars in monies raised since we began PROM in DC in 2013… enabling us to open 64 friendship chapters in Virginia and Washington DC schools, support 25 (adult) Jobs participants at integrated workplaces, and facilitate leadership development opportunities for nearly 200 individuals with IDD,” said Karen Glasser, Regional Director of Best Buddies Capital Region. “We can’t wait to celebrate this $1M milestone with our Best Buddies family!”
The lively evening will be hosted by Tommy McFly, Best Buddies Capital Region Advisory Board Chairman and host of The Tommy Show. Music and Entertainment will be provided by crowd favorite, DJ Neekola, and performers from the Pelonkey Agency. The Reagan Building’s beauty will be on display with decor by Design Foundry elevating the PROM goers’ experience.
Students are the stars of the evening. Adults will also enjoy their own celebration, including a complimentary open bar, delicious passed hors d’oeuvres by Reagan Building Executive, Chef Xavier Deshayes, and an exciting live and silent auction. In addition, some of the region’s most celebrated chefs will lend their time and culinary creations to an exclusive VIP reception prior to the event. PROM is the perfect place to witness Best Buddies’ mission of social inclusion first-hand.
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/
When Lisa Fischer last performed at Strathmore she brought the house down to a thunderous standing ovation. Fischer and her band return to Strathmore, this time for a fully orchestrated performance. Featured in the Oscar-winning documentary film 20 Feet from Stardom, Fischer stepped into the spotlight after a successful career as a back-up singer for the likes of the Rolling Stones and Sting. This special evening brings together Fischer and her band, Grand Baton, with musicians from the National Philharmonic to perform powerful renditions of pop favorites by Luther Vandross, Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, and Sting.
This Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer delights audiences in every show and role, from film and television to voiceover and stage. The public fell in love with her as Sally in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Glinda in Wicked, and in fabulous roles on West Wing, Glee, and Pushing Daisies, but it’s Chenoweth’s gorgeous jazz standards, gospel songs, and opera works that fill concert halls with her loyal fans time and again. She will perform from her latest release of American Songbook classics, The Art of Elegance, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Current Jazz and Traditional Jazz charts, and #1 on Amazon’s Vocal Pop chart. No stranger to the Music Center stage, Chenoweth starred in Strathmore’s groundbreaking production I am Anne Hutchinson/I am Harvey Milk in 2016.
Yoga enthusiasts are getting ready to stretch as they listen to The American Pops Orchestra perform selections of early American folk music. Instructor Michael Peterson will guide attendees on a 70-minute journey through yoga and meditation on Saturday, April 13, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater-Molly Smith Study, 1101 Sixth St., SW, Washington, D.C.
Tickets are available at http://bit.ly/APOyoga
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.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces a concert featuring three-time Tony Award® winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Songs for a New World, The Last Five Years, The Bridges of Madison County) and 2018 Tony Award®winner Lindsay Mendez (Carousel, Wicked, Dogfight) on April 18, 2019 in the Eisenhower Theater. The evening will also feature the nine Musical Theater Fellows of KCACTF from across the United States and Helen Hayes Award winner Tracy Lynn Olivera (the Kennedy Center’s Me…Jane and Ragtime), one of the key teaching artists of the students’ residency at the Kennedy Center. The concert celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival’s National Festival, which will take place at the Kennedy Center April 15–20, 2019.
The National Festival includes short play readings featuring the finalists of the John Cauble Award for Outstanding Short Play and the KCACTF Ten-Minute Play Award; the National Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship auditions; master classes, visits to Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, the Shakespeare Theatre Company, and the opportunity to network with peers from across the nation and the Washington, D.C. theater community. The National Festival closes with the presentation of awards for excellence in production, directing, choreography, acting, writing, design, stage management, dramaturgy, and dramatic criticism.
Gregg Henry, Artistic Director of KCACTF states, “The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival has been offering professional development opportunities to thousands of young artists for the past 50 years. Jason has been a staple of KCACTF over the years—his students have been past recipients of the Musical Theater Award and he served as a teaching artist for several Festivals. We are thrilled that high caliber artists such as Jason and Lindsay will be performing in the 50th anniversary tribute as well as meeting with the playwriting and musical theater students while in residence.”
TICKET INFORMATION
An Evening with Jason Robert Brown and his Band, with Special Guest Lindsay Mendez will be performed Thursday, April 18, 2019, at 8:00 p.m. in the Eisenhower Theater. For more information, please visit the Kennedy Center website, in-person at the Kennedy Center Box Office, or call (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-1324.
Music from the Suitcase + Meditations on Family with Pianist Anna Polonsky
Featuring Washington D.C. Premieres by Gity Razaz and Andreia Pinto Correia
Commissioned by Washington Performing Arts
Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 7:30pm
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | 2700 F Street NW | Washington, DC
Tickets: $45 at www.washingtonperformingarts.
On Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 7:30pm, Russian-American violinist Yevgeny Kutik, known for his “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique” (The New York Times) makes his Kennedy Center debut presented by Washington Performing Arts at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Terrace Theater (2700 F Street NW). Kutik and pianist Anna Polonsky, lauded for her “dazzling virtuosity” (San Francisco Chronicle) will perform selections from Kutik’s ongoing project Music from the Suitcase including Stravinsky’s Divertimento from A Fairy’s Kiss; Prokofiev’s Waltz from Cinderella (arr. Fikhtengoltz); and Rubenstein’s Romance in E-flat Major, Op. 44, No. 1 (arr. Wieniawski); plus Schnittke’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 and Prokofiev’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2. Following the concert, there will be a talkback with Kutik and NPR’s Nina Totenberg, who has followed Kutik’s career since his student days under her father’s tutelage.
They will also give the first Washington D.C. performances of two new works that are part of Kutik’s new commissioning project,Meditations on Family – Gity Razaz’s Cadenza for the Once Young and Andreia Pinto Correia’s Litania, commissioned for Yevgeny Kutik by Washington Performing Arts.
Refugees International will honor former special representative of the United Nations Secretary General for International Migration and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and senior counsel at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Louise Arbour with its highest humanitarian honor, the McCall-Pierpaoli Award, for her lifetime of work in the pursuit of justice and human rights at its 40thAnniversary Dinner on Tuesday, April 30, 2019. The award will also be presented to former president of Portugal H.E. Jorge Branco de Sampaio and President of the Carnegie Corporation Dr. Vartan Gregorian in recognition of their joint efforts to support Syrian students to pursue their higher education with the Global Platform for Syrian Students and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
“This year’s awardees have demonstrated incredible willingness to take on the most difficult challenges and push the international community to do better in pursuit of justice and human rights,” said Refugees International President Eric Schwartz. “We are humbled to be able to present them with this honor.”
Refugees International will also honor Taller Salud, a humanitarian aid group in Puerto Rico, with its Richard C. Holbrooke Award for providing critical services and unwavering support to the people of Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and María. U.S. Representative Will Hurd of Texas will receive Refugees International’s 2019 Congressional Leadership Award for his commitment to public service and recognition that humanitarian principles must inform policymaking toward those who have been forced to flee their homes. And Mayor Wilmot Collins of Helena, Montana will receive Refugees International’s Exceptional Service Award for his extraordinary advocacy on behalf of refugees not only in Helena but throughout the United States.
This year’s Anniversary Dinner Benefit Committee Chairs are Vali and Darya Nasr. Ambassador to the United States from Costa Rica Dr. Fernando Llorca Castro and Mrs. Evelyn Cermeño will serve as the evening’s Honorary Committee Chairs. Sarah Bovim, Vice President Government Relations at the Whirlpool Corporation, and Jodi Bond, Executive Vice President of Global Government & Industry Affairs at Chubb, will chair the Global Partnership Initiative.
Refugees International’s Anniversary Dinner is its largest fundraising event of the year. The celebration honors individuals and organizations that demonstrate extraordinary leadership and commitment to humanitarian action, changing the lives of refugees and displaced people around the world. Past honorees include Founder and CEO of Chobani Hamdi Ulukaya, Syria’s White Helmets, Sir Richard Branson, Rohingya human rights activist Tun Khin, journalist Maureen Orth, among many others. Attendees of the Anniversary Dinner include Members of Congress, diplomats, representatives of corporations, foundations, and nongovernmental organizations, and individuals whose generous support enables Refugees International to serve as a powerful voice for displaced people around the world.
This year’s event has made possible by corporate sponsorships from Chubb, Gilead Sciences, and
Repsol Oil & Gas, LLC and through generous gifts from our 40th Anniversary Celebratory Circle sponsors Eileen Shields-West and Robin West; our Lifesaving Circle sponsors Maureen White and Steven Rattner and Elizabeth and Michael Galvin; our Humanitarian Circle sponsors Jan Weil and Amos Avgar; our Changemaker sponsors Nina and Dino Saglimbeni and the Kathwari Family Foundation; and our Visionary sponsors George and Frederica Valanos, among others.
