SOUL CRACKERS
ANNUAL HOLIDAY SHOW
Saturday, December 21, 2019
8PM
Tickets: $20–$35
The best party music ever made + a band belting out soulful sounds = a rockin’ good time! The Soul Crackers honor the music of Memphis and Motown with their rollicking renditions of timeless songs like, “I Feel Good,” “Dancing in the Streets,” “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours,” plus some holiday favorites. Known for their signature medleys, lead vocalist Tommy Lepson, along with the nine-piece band’s horn section create combustible energy to get you on the dance floor.
Strathmore Presents
Artist in Residence
AYO (pop vocalist)
Wednesdays, January 15 & 29, 2020
7:30 pm
Sponsored by Mrs. Patricia Haywood Moore and Dr. Roscoe M. Moore, Jr.
Tickets $19
Mansion at Strathmore
10701 Rockville Pike
North Bethesda, MD 20852
Atlanta-born, Nigerian-raised Howard University graduate and pop powerhouse AYO hopes her music can provide a message of empowerment and liberation. Her versatile style ranges from pop to hip-hop to soul, but the core of her work is always emotional vulnerability, love, and self-actualization. Her performances in the Mansion at Strathmore are on Wednesdays, January 15 and 29, 2020 at 7:30PM, kicking off the Artist in Residence class of 2020 concerts. AYO’s performances are generously sponsored by Mrs. Patricia Haywood Moore and Dr. Roscoe M. Moore, Jr. Tickets and more information are available at www.strathmore.org or by calling (301) 581-5100.
AYO’s forthcoming EP release explores the intricacies of being a black woman in America, heralding a message of love, freedom, and self-discovery. She employs a soulful blend of smooth vocals and poignant lyrics to illustrate her struggles with identity and acceptance. Over the course of her accomplished career, AYO has been featured in NPR’s Christmas special, made the top eight contestants on BET’s Sunday Best, and performed at the Kennedy Center for the 2015 DC Jazz Festival. She was also a soloist for the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2016. Most recently, AYO portrays a young Ella Fitzgerald in the newly released HBO documentary, The Apollo.
AYO earned a bachelor’s degree from Howard University in Jazz Studies and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Jazz Performance. She credits her time in Howard University’s Jazz Studies program for giving her a solid foundation of music theory and technique from which she could expand and explore. Since graduating, the accomplished singer-songwriter has worked with artists such as Common, Chance the Rapper, and Andra Day.
7:30 p.m. Opera House
My Fair Lady
From Lincoln Center Theater comes “a sumptuous new production of the most perfect musical of all time” (Entertainment Weekly), Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady. Director Bartlett Sher’s glowing production is “thrilling, glorious and better than it ever was” (The New York Times). Boasting such classic songs as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “The Rain in Spain,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” My Fair Lady tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, and Henry Higgins, a linguistics professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a “proper lady.” But who is really being transformed?
Tickets: $39-159
WHAT:
Free Community Day
The first Sunday of the month is Community Day at NMWA! Visit us on Community Day for free admission to the museum—take this opportunity to explore our collection and special exhibitions before they close. Exhibitions include: Judy Chicago—The End: A Meditation on Death and Extinction, which showcases the feminist icon’s newest works; Live Dangerously, featuring a collection of modern and contemporary photography; Women Artists of the Dutch Golden Age, which explores the careers of highly successful artists in the Netherlands during the 17th and early 18th centuries; and Betsabeé Romero: Signals of a Long Road Together, the latest installation in NMWA’s public art series, the New York Avenue Sculpture Project.
Fierce Women Tours
Fierce Women Tours are available from 1–2 p.m. during Free Community Days. Discover a diverse cast of fierce women artists who refused to let men define their place; pushed back on the limited roles society accorded them; and blazed trails as artists, activists and innovators.
WHERE:
National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-783-5000
nmwa.org
WHEN:
Community Day: Sunday, January 5, 12 p.m.–5 p.m.
Fierce Women Tour: 1–2 p.m.
TICKETS:
No tickets are required for Community Days, but space is limited for Fierce Women Tours. First come, first served; sign up at the Information Desk upon arrival. Tours departs from the Great Hall.
PRICE:
Free
Game music legend Andy Brick leads the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and The Washington Chorus in concert premieres from more than a dozen video game classics in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Wednesday, January 8, 2020, at 8 p.m.
The full Game ON! program will feature music from Guild Wars 2, World of Warcraft, The Witcher 3, Assasin’s Creed 2, Assassin’s Creed 4, Bioshock, Diablo 3, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rayman Legends, Portal 2, Civilization V, Until Dawn, Destiny 2, League of Legends, and Overwatch. Beloved moments and scenes from these games come to life above the Orchestra during the concert as videos of HD game play and never-before-seen concept art from a selection of the games listed on the program are projected on screen above the stage.
Brick has composed music for many popular video games, including Sim City, Stranglehold, Sims 2, Arc The Lad, KidPix Deluxe, and the Kingdom series. He has also conducted and orchestrated live concert and recorded soundtracks for many immensely popular franchises, including Super Mario Bros., Halo, and Final Fantasy. Brick launched the live symphonic game score movement in 2003 when he conducted the world’s first Symphonic Game Music concert at the Gewandaus in Leipzig, Germany to a sold out hall. From there he went on to popularize the concept with many more sold out performances, eventually taking the sub-genre to new heights as the principal conductor and music director of “Play! A Video Game Symphony.”
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets (from $29–$89) are available at the Kennedy Center Box Office, online at kennedy-center.org, 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.
Under the baton of Emil de Cou, Diana Ross returns to the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) for three performances with her music book of memories showcasing Ms. Ross’ immense talent and a celebrated legacy spanning more than five decades. Performances take place January 9, 10, and 11, at 8 p.m., in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.
Diana Ross is one of the most successful singers of her generation, with a performing arts career that spans more than 50 years. The award-winning singer and actress is known for leading the powerful female group The Supremes, as well as her chart-topping solo career. Ross has received the Guinness World Record for her international success of having more hits than any other female artist on the charts, inductions into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a Kennedy Center Honor, a Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award, and countless other accolades and awards.
Ross has invited local D.C. gospel choir The Joyce Garrett Singers to join her once again onstage for this program. The Joyce Garrett Singers sang with Ross in her last appearance with the NSO and performed at the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors, at which Ross received the prestigious award for lifetime achievement.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets (from $39–$199) are available at the Kennedy Center Box Office, online at kennedy-center.org, 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.
7 p.m. & 9 p.m. Terrace Theater
WNO: American Opera Initiative: The New 20-Minute Operas
Three world premiere short operas will be staged in a concert performance, accompanied by a small chamber orchestra and followed by a Q&A with the artists and creative team. This season’s distinguished mentors include composer Laura Kaminsky, librettist Kelley Rourke, and conductor Anne Manson.
Tickets: $19-35
Under the baton of Emil de Cou, Diana Ross returns to the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) for three performances with her music book of memories showcasing Ms. Ross’ immense talent and a celebrated legacy spanning more than five decades. Performances take place January 9, 10, and 11, at 8 p.m., in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.
Diana Ross is one of the most successful singers of her generation, with a performing arts career that spans more than 50 years. The award-winning singer and actress is known for leading the powerful female group The Supremes, as well as her chart-topping solo career. Ross has received the Guinness World Record for her international success of having more hits than any other female artist on the charts, inductions into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a Kennedy Center Honor, a Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award, and countless other accolades and awards.
Ross has invited local D.C. gospel choir The Joyce Garrett Singers to join her once again onstage for this program. The Joyce Garrett Singers sang with Ross in her last appearance with the NSO and performed at the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors, at which Ross received the prestigious award for lifetime achievement.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets (from $39–$199) are available at the Kennedy Center Box Office, online at kennedy-center.org, 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.
Under the baton of Emil de Cou, Diana Ross returns to the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) for three performances with her music book of memories showcasing Ms. Ross’ immense talent and a celebrated legacy spanning more than five decades. Performances take place January 9, 10, and 11, at 8 p.m., in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.
Diana Ross is one of the most successful singers of her generation, with a performing arts career that spans more than 50 years. The award-winning singer and actress is known for leading the powerful female group The Supremes, as well as her chart-topping solo career. Ross has received the Guinness World Record for her international success of having more hits than any other female artist on the charts, inductions into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a Kennedy Center Honor, a Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award, and countless other accolades and awards.
Ross has invited local D.C. gospel choir The Joyce Garrett Singers to join her once again onstage for this program. The Joyce Garrett Singers sang with Ross in her last appearance with the NSO and performed at the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors, at which Ross received the prestigious award for lifetime achievement.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets (from $39–$199) are available at the Kennedy Center Box Office, online at kennedy-center.org, 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.
STEP AFRIKA!
STEP XPLOSION
Sunday, January 12, 2020
5PM
Tickets: $35–$75
Strathmore is proud to welcome back Step Afrika!, the first professional organization dedicated to the African American tradition of stepping. This performance begins with a showcase of the region’s finest step squads featuring lightning-fast footwork, percussive chants, and incredible synchronicity. In addition to Step Xplosion, Step Afrika! will showcase a portion of their new work, Drumfolk, commissioned by Strathmore. Drumfolk honors the heritage of step and places the evolution of this vibrant art form in its historical context. Tracing step’s roots to the African American percussive traditions of patting juba, hambone, ring shout, and tap, Drumfolk reflects on the harsh realities of the American South and celebrates the fortitude of the slaves who practiced these transcendent musical forms.
