Cultural Capital: The Big Quiet
Wednesday, Oct. 23, 7:15–9:15 p.m.
The Big Quiet is a mass meditation movement that brings together thousands of people at cultural landmarks and institutions across the U.S. Designed for people with any level of meditation experience, each event incorporates live sound practitioners, string instrumentalists and musicians to create a guided meditation and music experience unlike anything else. Visitors will have the opportunity to arrive early to browse NMWA’s galleries and exhibitions, then breathe deeply and slow down for this special event in the museum’s iconic Great Hall. Reservations required. $33 general; $28 members, seniors, students. Reserve online after Sept. 11.
Blackfeet Nation Tribal Festival
Saturday, Nov. 16, and Sunday, Nov. 17; 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.
Visitors can learn about the Blackfeet Nation and the many aspects unique to Blackfeet culture through this two-day festival. The Blackfeet Reservation, located in northwestern Montana along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, is home to one of the 10 largest tribes in the United States, with more than 17,000 enrolled members. Throughout the festival weekend, Blackfeet artists, performers, historians and culture bearers will share demonstrations and performances. Highlights will include seasonally appropriate dances and stories, and demonstrations of making traditional regalia from the hides of buffalo, deer, elk and antelope. During the celebration, visitors can see traditional and contemporary artistic creations, including beadwork, handcrafted jewelry, quillwork, pottery, horsehair work, moccasins, carvings and baskets.
Blackfeet Nation Tribal Festival
Saturday, Nov. 16, and Sunday, Nov. 17; 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.
Visitors can learn about the Blackfeet Nation and the many aspects unique to Blackfeet culture through this two-day festival. The Blackfeet Reservation, located in northwestern Montana along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, is home to one of the 10 largest tribes in the United States, with more than 17,000 enrolled members. Throughout the festival weekend, Blackfeet artists, performers, historians and culture bearers will share demonstrations and performances. Highlights will include seasonally appropriate dances and stories, and demonstrations of making traditional regalia from the hides of buffalo, deer, elk and antelope. During the celebration, visitors can see traditional and contemporary artistic creations, including beadwork, handcrafted jewelry, quillwork, pottery, horsehair work, moccasins, carvings and baskets.
Pocahontas: Her Place in the Emerging Atlantic World and Nascent United States
Tuesday, Nov. 19; 2 p.m.
National Museum of the American Indian, Rasmuson Theater, Washington, D.C.
Pocahontas lived and died not only in the maelstrom of the English–Powhatan encounter in the early 17th century, but at a singular moment in world history. She participated in the newly emerging Atlantic world. Her legacy helped shape Europeans’ conception of that world and the United States’ conception of itself for centuries. Why and how so? This presentation by National Museum of the American Indian Curator Cécile R. Ganteaume explores what is known about Pocahontas and her early impact on European and American thought.
CapitalBop continues its FALL 19 season with a special Traveling Loft presentation of the Noah Haidu Quartet and Kris Monson’s Suite for Charlottesville on Saturday, Nov. 23, picking up on the momentum from a sold-out concert last month featuring the legendary Fred Frith.
This month’s Traveling Loft, in the black-box theater at 1358 Florida Ave. NE, presents a mix of elder master artists and young up-and-comers. Haidu, a rising star on New York City’s straight-ahead jazz scene, brings a band featuring the veteran saxophonist Gary Thomas (who has worked with Jack DeJohnette, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Pat Metheny), drummer John Davis (a sideman for Cassandra Wilson and Leslie Odom, Jr.) and the legendary bassist Buster Williams, whose career has included stints with some of the most immortal names in jazz.
Kris Monson, a young bassist hailing from Virginia, will bring a band full of New York’s rising stars: Alex Hamburger (flute), Jasper Dutz (bass clarinet), Guy Moskovich (piano) and Jongkuk Kim (drums) — plus a couple of hard-hitting veterans from Monson’s native Charlottesville, guitarist Jamal Millner and trumpeter John D’earth.
This concert is the most recent in CapitalBop’s marquee Traveling Loft series, which places nationally touring artists in unconventional venues around the District. This installment will take place at a theater and artist space that many fans of the D.C. theater scene — and attendees of CapitalBop shows past — might find familiar.
Doors open at 7:30 p.m., and the first set begins at 8. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door; students get $5 off the price of their admission. The show is all-ages.
Native American Heritage Day: Family Fun Day
Friday, Nov. 29; 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.
The museum’s unique family celebration of Native American Heritage Day showcases Native culture through interactive dancing, games, storytelling, hands-on activities and make-and-takes, as well as music and dance presentations. The program features the Dineh Tah Navajo Dancers throughout the day. Join the museum in recognizing the many contributions of Native Americans to all aspects of life in the United States.
2 p.m. Concert Hall
NSO Pops: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix™ in Concert
Year Five begins! Between crushing on Cho Chang, studying for his O.W.L.s, and the ever-growing number of detentions from Professor Umbridge™, Harry Potter™ must find the time to discover the secret of his terrible nightmares. See Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix™ in Concert presented in HD on a giant screen with composer Nicholas Hooper’s score played live by the NSO.
Tickets: $29-99
On Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. in the Main Hall of Union Station, a consortium of partners, including the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce—Mid-Atlantic Chapter, Washington Performing Arts, Union Station, and exclusive media partner WHUR 96.3 FM, will present the annual Norwegian Christmas Tree Lighting to the people of Washington, D.C. This beloved holiday event, which attracted 5,000 guests in 2018, is presented free to the public and will feature performances by The String Queens, whose members have collaborated with artists such as Ledisi, Janelle Monáe, and Common, and the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir.
In one of Washington’s most popular holiday traditions, which began in 1997, Norway will present a Christmas tree to the people of Washington, D.C., in recognition of the strong friendship between Norway and the United States, and in gratitude for America’s assistance during and after World War II. The theme for this year’s tree is the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These goals address the challenges we face as a global community and the 2030 target for achieving them. Specially designed ornaments and signage will represent the goals.
Complete Schedule of Events
Norwegian Christmas Tree Lighting (6:00 p.m.)
Featuring The String Queens, the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir, and a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. The 30-foot tree is decorated with 20,000 lights and ornaments representing all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Norway’s ambassador to the United States, Kåre R. Aas, will light the tree with a special guest, Member of the Norwegian Parliament Linda Helleland.
Free, registration encouraged | Family-friendly
Location: Union Station, 50 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002
Darius Rucker and Mark Bryan of Hootie & The Blowfish along with some additional GRAMMY winning surprise guests will sing a few songs in celebration of Mrs. Rosa Parks. Tour Mrs. Parks D.C. Home-Away-from-Home; The Mansion on O & O Street Museum.
This new exhibit will focus on things people don’t know about her – like her 10 year residence O Museum in The Mansion, in Washington, D.C. Although Mrs. Parks is famous for being the mother of the civil rights movement, her activism and personal history is also a part of the underpinnings for today’s women’s movement.
ABOUT Darius Rucker Darius Rucker is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the GRAMMY award-winning band Hootie & the Blowfish and GRAMMY winning country music star. His third career GRAMMY award was for Best Solo Country Performance for his 4x platinum selling cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel,” off his album, True Believers.
ABOUT Mark Bryan Mark Bryan is the multi-platinum, lead guitarist of the GRAMMY Award winning band Hootie & the Blowfish. He is known for their hits “Only Wanna Be with You”, “Hold My Hand”, “Let Her Cry”, Hootie and the Blowfish’s debut album Cracked Rearview Mirror went platinum 16 times, making it the 16th best-selling album of all time in the United States.
Proceeds go to support programming for the year long celebration of Mrs. Rosa Parks at O Museum
7:30 p.m. Eisenhower Theater
Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz presents: 2019 International Guitar Competition & All-Star Gala Concert
The jazz world’s most prestigious competition returns with three brilliant guitarists competing for top honors, plus a moving tribute to jazz legend Terence Blanchard.
Tickets: $35-125
