La Famosa will partner with local rum distillery, Cotton & Reed, to host a holiday-themed coquito class and demo. Led by chef/owner Joancarlo Parkhurst and GM/Beverage Director, Phil Guernsey, the class will teach guests how to make Puerto Rico’s popular Christmas drink, coquito. Held at the Cotton & Reed Distillery on Sunday, December 12 at 1PM, the event includes:
- Demonstration of a no-cook coquito recipe
- Demonstration of a new seasonal cocktail, La Pera made with house-made spiced rum, fresh passionfruit and pear nectars, ginger beer, and grated nutmeg
- Seasonal bites from the La Famosa kitchen, including Coquito Bread Pudding (a new creation from Parkhurst not on the La Famosa menu), assorted Puerto Rican holiday cookies including Mantecaditos and Besitos de Coco, and Mezcla Sandwiches (mezcla is a cheese spread made with ham and pimento peppers)
- Take-home recipe cards for: Coquito, Pumpkin Spice Coquito, La Pera, Coquito Bread Pudding and Coquito Latte
- One 750 ml bottle of Cotton & Reed Mellow Gold Rum
- One bottle of La Famosa’s coquito base
Tickets, which can be purchased here, are available for $75 each.
National Chamber Ensemble presents a spectacular holiday concert for the community on Saturday, December 18 at 7:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington. NCE’s Holiday Cheer concert highlights the finest classical and contemporary masterpieces and holiday favorites together for the whole family. After a season of virtual performances NCE is thrilled to bring the Reuniting With The Masters LIVE season in person. A streaming video option is available for those unable to join at the venue. Chamber music is about intimacy of communication with the other musicians but also with the audience. We are excited to make music live.
The festivities include Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride”, “Chanukkah Festival” and “Rejoice” from Handel’s “Messiah”, Strauss Waltzes, the gorgeous music from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” and more. Young Artist Piano Competition winners will join the ensemble to perform following the competition finals on Dec 4. A Carols Sing-Along concludes the program to get everyone in the holiday spirit.
Star soprano Sharon Christman joins the ensemble to sing ” Rejoice” from Handel’s Messiah, Caccini’s Ave Maria and some holiday carols. In addition to being professor of voice at Catholic University in Washington D.C., Ms. Christman has performed leading roles with opera companies around the globe including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera and Dallas Opera among many others. Peter Davis of New York Magazine has called Ms. Christman’s singing “dazzling.” Daniel Webster of The Philadelphia Enquirer called her “a polished stylist with a gleaming voice.” Ms. Christman has been a guest soloist at The White House and a recitalist in numerous Artist Series including the National Gallery of Art. She was privileged to present the Washington premiere of John Corigliano’s new song cycle, The Tambourine Man, at the request of the composer, first with National Musical Arts and then for the Cosmos Club Artist Series.
4444 Arlington Blvd, Arlington 22204
Free on-site parking
In celebration of Black History Month, Hotel Zena hosts – Black Her-Story Makers Market – on Saturday, February 26. The event highlights 18 DC-area Black female artisans, makers, and business owners who all share a forward-thinking mission and will showcase their creations and services.
What: A trunk show event highlighting 18 DC-area Black female artisans, makers, and businesses. With a DJ playing music and craft cocktails and menu of snacks on offer from Figleaf, guests and locals will enjoy an afternoon celebrating Black visionaries. There will also be a sweets counter to build your own cookies and doughnuts, from Chef Caitlin’s Confectionery Counter. Following the event, all participating makers will have the opportunity to showcase their items in Hotel Zena’s Z-Shed shop which will feature a curated collection of local women makers during the month of March for Women’s History Month.
When: Saturday, February 26, 2022, from 12:00pm – 5:00pm EST
Where: Figleaf Bar & Lounge at Hotel Zena: 1155 14th Street NW, Washington, DC, 20005
Participating Women Makers: Bath Nut; 3Shades Chic; Black Nerd Coffee; Cheryl’s Bracelet Bar; Carra Hosiery; Ajahmure Beauty; Lizzmore; The Popcorn Bag DC; Creative Pounds; Eight Royale; Soultry; Pillow Byrd; Garçon Mélaniné & Co; Black Mint Interiors; Charismatic Creations LLC; Therapy With a Twist; Janet and Jol; Faith Hunter, Spiritually Fly
The 7th annual Jazz & Freedom Festival will bring together some of the finest musicians in D.C. (and beyond) with community activists confronting racial injustice and anti-Black violence in our communities. Presented by CapitalBop in partnership with Shannon Gunn and the Eaton DC, this year’s JAFF will take place all afternoon and evening on Saturday, Feb. 26, at the Eaton’s Beverly Snow warehouse space, and 100 percent of the proceeds will go directly to Harriet’s Wildest Dreams.
Jazz & Freedom Festival
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Eaton DC: 1201 K St. NW, WDC
Suggested donation $20/give what you can
3 p.m. Doors
3:30 Panel featuring Harriet’s Wildest Dreams
4:30-9:00 Five sets of music & poetry
9:00 Open jam session
Following Eaton policy and D.C. law, proof of full Covid-19 vaccination is required for entry. Vaccination cards and IDs will be checked at the door of the building; a negative test is not a substitute for proof of vaccination. Face masks required.
The centerpiece of the festival, of course, is the music. And the incredible lineup that the JAFF’s creative team — led by CapitalBop cofounder Luke Stewart, Shannon Gunn and Kelsye Adams — has assembled is stacked with brilliant talent from start to finish.
The acclaimed steel pan virtuoso and composer Victor Provost will play a headlining set with his band. A pair of incredible duos will also perform: bassist Corcoran Holt with percussionist/poet Jabari Exum, and Jupiter Blue (featuring Tara Middleton and DM Hotep, both members of the Sun Ra Arkestra).
Trombonist and co-organizer Shannon Gunn will lead the Jazz & Freedom Ensemble, a D.C. supergroup with a rotating lineup that anchors every JAFF. And to close out the evening, the Collect!v Crew — a DMV musicians’ collective anchored by bassist Dennis Turner and drummer Biscuit Bynum — will close out the night, bringing its groove-based take on contemporary Black music back to the Eaton, where it has been a regular presence over the past few years.
The festival will feature five sets of live music and poetry, as well as a panel discussion moderated by Harriet’s Wildest Dreams cofounder Qiana Johnson, featuring Ty Hobson Powell of Concerned Citizens DC, Jessica Teachey of The MusicianShip, Beth Yirga of the Palm Collective and musician Onrae Lateel.
Lionel Yu, the DC-based pianist behind the hit YouTube channel MusicalBasics (1,000,000+ Subscribers), makes his debut at the Kennedy Center, performing MUSICALBASICS, A Transcendental Experience at the Terrace Theater on Sunday, March 13 at 2:00 PM. An ambitious program of his most popular piano pieces, the concert will feature Yu’s remixes of pieces by Beethoven and his biggest hits “Fires of a Revolution” and “Rolling Thunder”. Yu, whose YouTube performance videos regularly go viral, takes the Terrace Theater stage after a memorable few months. In October, Yu performed to a sold-out crowd at the Europäische Musikstage Festival in Heidelberg, Germany. In January 2022, he released the second volume of his 2021 album, MusicalStories Volume II, which has been streamed over 900,000 times on Spotify. Yu subsequently reached 1 million YouTube subscribers.
Yu will be joined onstage by Korean-born violinist Soo Yeon Kim, a multi-faceted artist who regular appears in recitals in major concert halls and giving masterclasses throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and cellist Jeremy Russo, a winner of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas Concerto Competition who has performed in major festivals such as Schlern International Music Festival in Italy, Jeju Music Festival in Korea and Summit Music Festival in New York.
“The Kennedy Center show will be my biggest concert to date. I’ll be featuring all new arrangements of my own original piano pieces accompanied by violin and cello,” said Yu. “I’m also excited to perform a few interpretations of Beethoven’s work, including EDM dubstep remixes of his 5th Symphony, Fur Elise and Moonlight Sonata.”
Tickets to MUSICALBASICS, A Transcendental Experience are $38 – $55and available now at https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/classical-music/2021-2022/musicalbasics/.
The Wharf and Kirwan’s Irish Pub are excited to celebrate all things Irish at Ireland at The Wharf. During the festival, guests can thrill to the sound of bagpipers, listen to live music from 19th Street Band, Danny Burns and the Ben-David band on the main stage, watch authentic Irish dance performances from the Boyle School of Irish Dance and lift a pint in the Guinness beer garden on District Pier. The event is free to the public and all ages are welcome; guests must be 21+ to consume alcohol.
WHEN: Saturday, March 19, 2022 from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM
WHERE: District Pier at The Wharf, 101 District Square SW, Washington, DC 20024
Eli Waltz partners with An Indivisible Art Collective and Right Proper Brewing to present Eli
Waltz’s Americana Hour—a weekly concert showcasing artists carrying forward the legacy of blues and folk legends like John Fahey, Skip James, and Connie B. Gay.
“The aim of the series is to revitalize local interest in Americana, Blues and Folk music—a tradition in the D.C. area,” says Waltz. “Fewer venues cater to this style of music today. The goal is to reintroduce this style as a quintessential District sound, and bring the city’s history of Americana music to more people–to inspire a new generation of fans.”
The Americana Hour takes place every Saturday in March from 12 to 3p.m. at the Right Proper
Brewing Company’s Shaw location.
Anime Movies Days at The Wharf Return (3/26-3/27)
The Wharf is celebrating the globally popular Japanese genre of anime with an outdoor anime movie festival on March 26 & 27 on Transit Pier. Anime Movie Days at The Wharf includes favorites like Steamboy, Okko’s Inn, A Letter to Momo, The Sky Crawlers, and more. Anime movie screenings take place each day at 2pm, 4:30pm, and 7pm. Tickets are $10 per person, and drinks and snacks are available at the Cantina Bambina concession window.
Anime Movies Days at The Wharf Return (3/26-3/27)
The Wharf is celebrating the globally popular Japanese genre of anime with an outdoor anime movie festival on March 26 & 27 on Transit Pier. Anime Movie Days at The Wharf includes favorites like Steamboy, Okko’s Inn, A Letter to Momo, The Sky Crawlers, and more. Anime movie screenings take place each day at 2pm, 4:30pm, and 7pm. Tickets are $10 per person, and drinks and snacks are available at the Cantina Bambina concession window.