Louis Langrée conducts Ravel’s sultry, slow-burn Boléro and an NSO co-commission by Grammy-winning composer Joan Tower. Cellist and MacArthur Genius Grant winner Alisa Weilerstein joins the NSO for Tower’s bold new work titled A New Day.
Following previous engagements at the Kennedy Center including sold-out concerts, discussions, workshops, secret shows, community events, and the annual BGR!FEST, BLACK GIRLS ROCK! returns for its anticipated first-time collaboration with the NSO—presented in partnership with the Kennedy Center’s Hip Hop Culture program.
An adventure 65 million years in the making comes back to the big screen to celebrate John Williams’ 90th birthday. Watch Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning classic in high definition as the National Symphony Orchestra brings the composer’s iconic music to soaring life.
To celebrate the film’s 40th Anniversary and John Williams’ 90th birthday, the National Symphony Orchestra performs the composer’s complete Academy Award®–winning score as Steven Spielberg’s timeless classic is projected in HD on the big screen.
Acclaimed Japanese conductor Kazuki Yamada, who “turns concerts into celebrations” (Bachtrack), leads Rachmaninoff’s mighty Second Symphony. The program also spotlights Canada’s world-class pianist Stewart Goodyear in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s lively Piano Concerto No. 1.
Seven-time Grammy Award winner Emanuel Ax’s performances are “never less than spellbinding” (The New York Times). Don’t miss your chance to experience his unsurpassed virtuosity in Beethoven’s most introspective piano concerto.
Comprised of titled players of the National Symphony Orchestra, this acclaimed ensemble performs classics from four centuries of chamber music.
Gianandrea Noseda conducts the NSO premiere of Italian movie score composer Nino Rota’s Suite from Fellini’s La Strada. Rota’s ballet suite is paired with two evocative works by 19th-century composer Alexander Borodin.
Renée Fleming, Lalah Hathaway, Aoife O’Donovan, and Moses Sumney gather for a heartfelt tribute to folk music legend Joni Mitchell. This special evening will be led by Vince Mendoza—who won Grammys for his arrangement of “Both Sides Now,” from Mitchell’s album of the same name, and “Woodstock” from Travelogue.
Louis Langrée conducts Ravel’s sultry, slow-burn Boléro and an NSO co-commission by Grammy-winning composer Joan Tower. Cellist and MacArthur Genius Grant winner Alisa Weilerstein joins the NSO for Tower’s bold new work titled A New Day.
Dynamic concerto meets animated film! Follow a magical Sprite as it embarks on a musical journey through the inner workings of an orchestra—all set to live music from members of the NSO.
Grammy-winner Cristian Măcelaru conducts Dvořák’s Symphony No. 6, a masterwork bursting with fiery Bohemian spirit. Also on the program: one of Rimsky-Korsakov’s most colorful suites and the NSO premiere of former Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates’ Philharmonia Fantastique.
The Marine Chamber Orchestra is delighted to partner with internationally acclaimed flutist and Music Director of Dolce Suono, Mimi Stillman. Mimi will play a brand new Concerto written especially for her by composer Zhou Tian, along with a new arrangement for flute and orchestra of Argentinian composer Astor Piazolla’s famous Libertango. Of all the classical overtures that could open such a program, Mozart’s brilliant curtain raiser from his opera The Magic Flute is among the most fitting, and rounding out this Mother’s Day extravaganza is a performance of Maurice Ravel’s gorgeous suite of music taken from his ballet based on the traditional collection of children’s stories in Mother Goose. (Photo by Steve Anderson)