Events/Things To Do

The Folger Consort’s annual holiday concerts return this year with performances of A New World Christmas at St. Mark’s on Capitol Hill December 9-11. Shows will include music composed in the late 16-18th centuries.

Friday, December 9, 2022 at 8:00 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore

West Side Story & Romeo + Juliet
Piotr Gajewski, conductor

Sarah Chang, violin

From ballet to Broadway, Shakespeare’s most romantic and tragic love story has been interpreted by some of the greatest composers in history. Experience the exquisite Fantasy Overture from Romeo and Juliet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a passion piece for National Philharmonic Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski, followed by Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story Suite, arranged by David Newman. Violinist Sarah Chang, a favorite of NatPhil audiences, lends her captivating tone and energizing spirit as the featured soloist for the Bernstein classic. Finally, Gajewski will conduct a performance from Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet. Bring your loved one and make of your hands one hand while you listen to three distinct yet equally emotional musical interpretations of the bard’s most beloved tragedy.

Program:

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet Overture — Fantasy

Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story Suite (arr. Newman)

Sergei Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet Suite

The Folger Consort’s annual holiday concerts return this year with performances of A New World Christmas at St. Mark’s on Capitol Hill December 9-11. Shows will include music composed in the late 16-18th centuries.

The Folger Consort’s annual holiday concerts return this year with performances of A New World Christmas at St. Mark’s on Capitol Hill December 9-11. Shows will include music composed in the late 16-18th centuries.

Concert Celebrating the Garifuna Language with James Lovell 

Saturday, Feb. 25, 2 p.m. 

Visit the National Museum of the American Indian and enjoy a concert by James Lovell, a passionate Garifuna artist whose mission is to preserve the Garifuna culture, language and arts through music. He composes and translates songs that uplift and encourage younger generations to stay connected to the endangered Garifuna language, an Arawakan language spoken mainly in Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Live audiovisual event
Past, present, and future of the space exploration with the timeless soundtrack of Chopin’s music

Raising awareness and funds for establishing the Center of Excellence for Polish and Ukrainian specialists for Polytrauma in Poland

Tickets on sale are available at www.thespaceconcert.com

This spring, The National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center known as the home to the Space Shuttle Discovery (among other incredible exhibits), will witness an unforgettable event – “Chopin. The Space Concert”. Chopin’s timeless music, the unique NASA Space footage taken during the 2010 STS-130 space mission, and the fascinating panel discussion, at the venue that embodies the past, the present, and the future of space exploration – a match made in… Space.

Chopin. The Space Concert features the music of Frédéric Chopin that reached Space thanks to an American astronaut of Polish origin – Col. George D. Zamka who was the commander of the STS-130 mission. In February 2010 he took a CD with the music of the great Polish composer on board of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Chopin’s compositions were played during the installation of the seven-window dome, from which the astronauts had a view into Space for the first time. The observation dome, called the Cupola, is a seven-window observation portal making it the largest space window launched into orbit! And it has been a real game-changer. The footage of Chopin. The Space Concert is so breathtaking, thanks to the very existence of that Cupola.

On Thursday, March 23 at 7:30 pm the Folger Shakespeare Library’s

O.B. Hardison Poetry Series presents the Eudora Welty Lecture with Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Elizabeth Strout (Olive Kitteridge, My Name is Lucy Barton) at the National Press Club. Sponsored

by the Eudora Welty Foundation, this annual lecture celebrates creative origins in the spirit of Welty’s

treasured One Writer’s Beginnings.

Ann Patchett (Bel Canto and The Dutch House), who presented the Lecture from Welty’s living room in

Jackson, Mississippi in 2022, will introduce Strout. The Lecture will be followed by a book signing with

Elizabeth Strout.

Tickets are $25 ($20 for Folger Members and subscribers) and can be purchased at www.folger.edu/poetry

or by contacting the Folger Box Office at (202) 544-7077.

Previous Welty Lectures were delivered by Salman Rushdie in 2016, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in

2017, Richard Ford in 2018, Jesmyn Ward in 2019, and Ann Patchett in 2022.

Elizabeth Strout is widely known for her works in literary fiction and her descriptive characterization.

She was born and raised in Portland, Maine, and her experiences in her youth served as inspiration for

her novels—the fictional "Shirley Falls, Maine" is the setting of four of her seven novels. Strout's novels

include Amy and Isabelle, Abide with Me, Olive Kitteridge for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for

Fiction, The Burgess Boys, My Name Is Lucy Barton, Anything is Possible, Olive, Again, and Oh,

William!. Her latest book Lucy by the Sea was published in 2022.

Ann Patchett is the author of seven novels: The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, The Magician’s

Assistant, Bel Canto, Run, State of Wonder, and Commonwealth. She has written three books of

nonfiction—Truth & Beauty, about her friendship with the writer Lucy Grealy; What Now?, an expansion

of her graduation address at Sarah Lawrence College; and This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, a

collection of essays examining the theme of commitment. In 2019, she published her first children’s

book, Lambslide.

Pink isn’t just a color, it’s a vibe. Celebrate the arrival of cherry blossom season at Long Bridge Park in National Landing for a two-part, pink-themed Saturday festival with morning activities for families and evening events for adults. Pump up the pink at Pink in the Park, presented by Amazon and produced by the National Landing Business Improvement District.

• Pink in the Pool: Jump into a splash of pink at the Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center. From 9 a.m. to noon, families are invited to take a free swim and toss around pink beach balls. After a dip in the pool, continue the family fun with kite and origami making, face painting, giveaways, sweet treats from Kona Ice, and tons of pink.

• Pink in the Park: The fun continues from 3 to 7 p.m. in the lot at Long Bridge Park for unforgettable music and entertainment with special guest and celebrity host Orlando Jones, and performances by DJ Chan Don, Crush Funk Brass, Umami House, Footwerk, Reesa Renee, and headliner Black Alley. Enjoy a beer and wine garden, food trucks, immersive art installations, Instagrammable moments, and much more. Performance lineup includes: 

  • 3:00 p.m.: DJ Chan Don

  • 3:30 p.m.: Crush Funk Brass

  • 4:00 p.m.: Umami House

  • 4:30 p.m. Footwerk

  • 5:00 p.m.: Reesa Renee

  • 5:45 p.m.: Black Alley 

Adult beverages, including beer and wine, will be provided by Crystal City Wine Shop, DC Brau, Drunk Fruit, Lost Boy Cider and more. Guests can also sample flavors of National Landing restaurants and food trucks including: 

• Peruvian Brothers 

• Pho Wheels 

• The Grease Wagon 

• Health Pub

• Beauty Champagne Bar

• Kona Ice

• King of Pops

• Nasim & Co

“With Pink in the Park, we are excited to bring all the pink energy and celebratory spirit of the National Cherry Blossom Festival across the river to National Landing in Arlington, Virginia,” said Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, President and Executive Director of the National Landing BID. “We’re proud to be highlighting the festival in our neighborhood’s signature park in collaboration with our sponsors and vibrant National Landing businesses and look forward to being part of our region’s storied cherry blossom celebration.”

“Amazon is thrilled to partner with the National Landing BID and the National Cherry Blossom Festival to bring the joy of the cherry blossoms to National Landing,” said Patrick Phillippi, Senior Manager of Community Engagement for Amazon. “Pink in the Park will be one of the largest National Cherry Blossom Festival events ever in Virginia and we are excited to celebrate spring with our community.”

WHEN: Saturday, April 1

• Pink in the Pool from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

• Pink in the Park from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center; 333 Long Bridge Drive, Arlington, Virginia

HOW: FREE festival tickets and pool passes are available at NationalLanding.org/Pink. Tickets are required.

Eastern Market’s North Hall is located at 225 7^th Street SE, Washington, DC, 20003.  North Hall is accessed from the south via the indoor food stalls or from the north at North Carolina Avenue SE.  Eastern Market is located a block from Metro.

Co-located, Offsite Art Book Fair Programming
Saturday, April 1 Art Book Fair Programs at CHAW
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop | 545 7th Street SE, Washington DC, 20003 (Three blocks south from Eastern Market)

• 2023 Capital Art Book Fair Exhibitor Panel Discussion | Presented by Paper Cuts | Saturday, April 1 from 11am-12pm
• Capitol Hill Art League Exhibition Open Juried Exhibition Reception| Saturday, April 1 from 5:30-7pm

Sunday, April 2 Art Book Fair Programs at Hill Center (Three blocks east from Eastern Market)
921 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC, 20003

• Free Workshop | Children’s Painting with Buck Herring|Sunday, April 2 from 3-5pm
• Exhibition: Hill Center DC Regional Exhibition Juried by Nehemiah Dixon III | See works from over 105 Artists from DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia | Sunday, April 2 from 10am-5pm

Eastern Market’s North Hall is located at 225 7^th Street SE, Washington, DC, 20003.  North Hall is accessed from the south via the indoor food stalls or from the north at North Carolina Avenue SE.  Eastern Market is located a block from Metro.

Co-located, Offsite Art Book Fair Programming

Sunday, April 2 Art Book Fair Programs at Hill Center (Three blocks east from Eastern Market)
921 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC, 20003

• Free Workshop | Children’s Painting with Buck Herring|Sunday, April 2 from 3-5pm
• Exhibition: Hill Center DC Regional Exhibition Juried by Nehemiah Dixon III | See works from over 105 Artists from DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia | Sunday, April 2 from 10am-5pm