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The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces 2022-2023 Season Fortas Chamber Music Concerts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
announces
2022-2023 Season
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts
Ten exquisite programs featuring today’s leading new voices in chamber music, including four commissioned works and D.C. premieres,
a season spotlight on composer/violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama,
the final year of Dover Quartet’s Residency, plus a rare engagement pairing pianist Evgeny Kissin and soprano Renée Fleming
New Fortas Season Dedicated to the
Late Artistic Director Joseph Kalichstein
Highlights include:
Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio with Ngwenyama
Dover Quartet
Israeli Chamber Project
String Sextets from Brahms & Ngwenyama
So Percussion with Caroline Shaw
Calidore String Quartet
A Far Cry
Benjamin Grosvenor
Isidore String Quartet
and Juilliard String Quartet
(WASHINGTON)— The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces programming for the 2022–2023 season of Fortas Chamber Music Concerts, the series’ 41st season and what would have been the 26th season under the leadership of its beloved artistic director and pianist Joseph Kalichstein (“Yossi), who passed away suddenly last week after a brief illness. The Center has announced that the upcoming Fortas season, which begins in October, will be dedicated in memory of Kalichstein and his many contributions to the artistic life at the Kennedy Center. Kalichstein was appointed Artistic Advisor for Chamber Music to the Kennedy Center and Artistic Director of the Fortas Chamber Music Concerts in 1997.
“It is difficult to imagine a Kennedy Center without Yossi for he has been so central to our artistic leadership for half of the institution’s 50 years of existence,” reflected Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter. “His impact on the D.C. music community is profound, and his influence on generations of musicians will endure for many years to come. He was both a generous guide and a consummate musician—always. Yossi’s brilliance and thoughtfulness was evident in every season he programmed here; it comes as no surprise that he continued to guide us and our audiences with his personalized notes about each and every program in the coming season’s brochure. We will cherish this season and dedicate these performances to our dear Yossi and his legacy of building an unrivaled chamber music program here in the nation’s capital.”
This season will feature several artists and ensembles that were originally scheduled for the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 seasons—Calidore String Quartet, So Percussion with Caroline Shaw, and the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, plus exciting new programs by artists making their Kennedy Center debuts including the Israeli Chamber Project, A Far Cry, Isidore Quartet, British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, and composer/violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama. The new season will also mark the final year of the Dover Quartet’s Kennedy Center residency and feature the Washington debut of the renowned Sphinx Symphony Orchestra and a rare, special performance pairing pianist Evgeny Kissin and soprano Renée Fleming (both subscriber add-on programs held in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, co-presented with Washington Performing Arts).
Representing the best of the genre with artists from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, the season offers 10 performances in 2022–2023, with repertoire spanning from Bach, Dvorák, Beethoven, Schumann, to Brahms and Tchaikovsky. Additionally, the season will include works by an array of America’s leading new voices—from Caroline Shaw, Angélica Negrón, and Julia Wolfe, to the young luminary Jessie Montgomery, along with Osvaldo Golijov, Mason Bates, Billy Childs, Tyson Davis, and more. Performances include four D.C. premieres and Kennedy Center co-commissions, one of which is through Music Accord, a consortium of U.S. presenters dedicated to the creation of new music, of which Kennedy Center is a member.
A much-anticipated centerpiece of the Fortas season will be a three-concert arc spotlighting award-winning composer and violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama, who makes her Fortas series debut as she performs in two concerts and whose compositions will be featured in three programs throughout the season. Born in Los Angeles of Zimbabwean-Japanese descent and a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ngwenyama has performed as a recitalist and with orchestras around the globe.
Green Shoots—as in new growth on tree, shrubs, and flowers and a metaphor for Kalichstein’s ardent support and mentorship of young musicians—is the name of a new annual initiative under the auspices of the Fortas Chamber Music Series that will feature and continue to foster talent of the current generation of young musicians for years to come. Kalichstein conceived of this new series based on his heralded career as a teacher of the next generation over the past four decades, most notably at Juilliard. In this inaugural Green Shoots program, the Isidore Quartet will perform in a special concert in the Justice Forum at the REACH on April 27, 2023.
2022–2023 Fortas Chamber Music Season Schedule
All concerts take place in the Terrace Theater unless otherwise noted.
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Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio & Nokuthula Ngwenyama
Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
The Kennedy Center’s beloved Trio-in-Residence welcomes award–winning composer/violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama to premiere her new piano quartet Elegy. The Kennedy Center co-commission was written as a response to the tragic events and social reckoning of 2020. Known for writing “music of bold, mesmerizing character” (Gramophone), Ngwenyama joins “superstars of the chamber music world” (The Washington Post) Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, and a pianist yet to be announced, for a memorable evening to kick off the 2022–2023 Fortas season.
TBD, piano
Sharon Laredo Robinson, cello
Jaime Laredo, violin
Nokuthula Ngwenyama, viola
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 11
Nokuthula Ngwenyama Elegy
Kennedy Center Co-Commission
Antonín Dvorák Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 87
Dover Quartet
Wednesday, November 2, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
The Dover Quartet has been a Fortas favorite since its Kennedy Center debut in 2014, captivating audiences with its “expert musicianship” and “deep musical feeling” (The Chicago Tribune). Named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine, the ensemble partners once again with Grammy Award®–winning artist Mason Bates to present a new work artfully crafted for the quartet and commissioned by the Kennedy Center. Selections by Haydn and Dvorák round out the evening.
Joel Link, violin
Bryan Lee, violin
Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola
Camden Shaw, cello
Joseph Haydn Quartet in C major, Hob. III: 77, Op. 76, No. 3 (“Emperor”)
Mason Bates Suite for String Quartet (D.C. premiere)
Kennedy Center and Bravo! Vail Co-Commission
Antonín Dvorák String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 51
Israeli Chamber Project
Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 2 p.m.
Making its Kennedy Center debut, the Israeli Chamber Project brings together today’s most distinguished musicians in a dynamic ensemble of strings, winds, harp, and piano. Based in Israel and New York, the ensemble was created for members to give back to the community and showcase Israeli culture, drawing on the rich history of chamber masterworks and emerging voices from Israel. We welcome this “band of world-class soloists…in which egos dissolve and players think, breathe, and play as one” (Time Out New York) as they perform for the first time in the Terrace Theater.
Camille Saint-Saëns Fantasie for harp and violin, Op. 124
Igor Stravinsky L’Histoire du soldat
(Note: No narration, music only)
Maurice Ravel Introduction and Allegro
Arnold Schoenberg Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9
Arr. Anton Webern
Maurice Ravel Le tombeau de Couperin
Arr. Yuval Shapiro
String Sextets from Brahms & Ngwenyama
Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Written by Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Sexagesimal Celebration premiered in January 2020 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Phoenix Chamber Music Society. Making the most of this six-player configuration, the ensemble will also take on the rarely performed, but highly acclaimed, Brahms String Sextets. It was in these early works that Brahms differentiated himself from Beethoven and realized his own sound: rich in harmonies, subtle evolutions, and the persistent return of clever themes and motifs to delight audiences.
This performance is the second of a three-concert arc spotlighting award-winning composer/violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama.
Jaime Laredo, violin
Bella Hristova, violin
Nokuthula Ngwenyama, viola
Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola
Keith Robinson, cello
Sharon Laredo Robinson, cello
Nokuthula Ngwenyama Sexagesimal Celebration (D.C. premiere)
Johannes Brahms String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 18
String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36
So Percussion with Caroline Shaw
Monday, January 30, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Vocalist, violinist, Pulitzer Prize–, and recent Grammy Award®–winning composer Caroline Shaw returns to the Kennedy Center alongside her frequent partners in music, the trailblazing So Percussion. Known for her plethora of collaborations with artists such as Renée Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, and the Dover Quartet, Shaw’s multifaceted expertise pairs well with the So’s “consummate skill and quirky charm” (The New York Times). Their program is as unique as the artists themselves, consisting of new works by Puerto Rican composer Angélica Negrón, a Kennedy Center co-commissioned quartet by Julia Wolfe, and a new song cycle by Shaw.
Eric Cha-Beach, percussion
Josh Quillen, percussion
Adam Sliwinski, percussion
Jason Treuting, percussion
Caroline Shaw, vocalist
Angélica Negrón gone
new music
Julia Wolfe Forbidden Love
Kennedy Center Co Commission
Caroline Shaw Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part
**Subscriber Add-On**
Sphinx Symphony Orchestra
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 8 p.m.
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Part of the Sphinx Organization, the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra is a unique all-Black and Latinx orchestra comprised of top professionals from around the country. The program includes Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, a moving work composed by Joel Thompson and conducted by Eugene Rogers, Artistic Director of The Washington Chorus, quoting the last words of seven African Americans killed by police or authority figures.
A co-presentation of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington Performing Arts, in cooperation with The Washington Chorus
Sphinx Symphony Orchestra
Tito Muñoz, conductor
EXIGENCE Vocal Ensemble
Eugene Rogers, Music Director
Aundi Marie Moore, soprano
Members of The Washington Chorus
Eugene Rogers, Artistic Director
Carlos Simon Motherboxx Connection (Sphinx Commission)
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Ballade for Orchestra
Valerie Coleman Seven O’Clock Shout
Michael Abels Delights and Dances
Carlos Cordero Holding Our Breath
Traditional Fix Me, Jesus (featuring Aundi Marie Moore)
Arr. Augustus Hill
Joel Thompson Seven Last Words of the Unarmed
John Legend/Common “Glory” from Selma
Arr. Eugene Rogers
Calidore String Quartet
Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Recipient of a 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, the Calidore String Quartet first made international headlines as the winner of the Grand Prize of the 2016 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition. Following a “subtly nuanced” (Washington Classical Review) Kennedy Center debut in 2018, the quartet returns to the Terrace Theater for a program that shows off its “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct” (The New York Times). Audiences will experience a new Kennedy Center commission by Grammy®–nominated composer Anna Clyne.
Jeffrey Myers, violin
Ryan Meehan, violin
Jeremy Berry, viola
Estelle Choi, cello
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op 135
Anna Clyne Breathing Statues (D.C. premiere)
Kennedy Center Co-Commission (Music Accord)
George Walker Lyric for Strings
Leoš Janácek String Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters”
A Far Cry
Sunday, March 5, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.
The Boston-based Grammy®–nominated string orchestra makes its Kennedy Center debut with a program featuring three works all published within the last decade and Tchaikovsky’s heartfelt Serenade for Strings in C major. As a self-conducted orchestra, A Far Cry operates democratically—decisions are made collectively and leadership rotates among the players, referred to as “Criers.” This structure has led to consistently thoughtful, innovative, and dynamic programming. The ensemble “brims with personality or, better, personalities, many and varied” (The New York Times), cultivating a unique, high-energy experience for audiences and players.
Osvaldo Golijov Arum dem Fayer (Around the Fire)
Jessie Montgomery Banner
Juantio Becenti The Glittering World
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings in C major
Benjamin Grosvenor
Tuesday, March 14, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor performs for the first time in our Fortas season. A “one in a million” (The Independent) giant of solo piano, he first achieved prominence in 2004 as the youngest-ever winner of the keyboard section of the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year Competition at age 11. Now a storied performer of international acclaim, he has since taken his place as one of today’s most exceptional musicians with “a temperament rare in yesteryear, let alone now” (The New York Times).
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
Fortas debut
Johann Sebastian Bach Chaconne in D minor (from Partita No. 2, BWV 1004)
Arr. Ferruccio Busoni
Robert Schumann Fantasy in C major, Op. 17
Maurice Ravel Le tombeau de Couperin
Sergei Prokofiev Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major, Op. 83
**Subscriber Add-On**
Isidore String Quartet
Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Justice Forum at the REACH
As part of the Kennedy Center’s new Green Shoots initiative, we welcome the recent Juilliard graduates of Isidore String Quartet. The New York City-based ensemble formed in 2019 as part of Juilliard’s chamber music program and mentored by the late Joseph Kalichstein. Green Shoots aims to feature up-and-coming chamber artists in the intimate setting of the REACH, giving audiences a preview of stars-in-the-making.
This performance, the last of a three-concert arc spotlighting award-winning composer/violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama, will premiere a new Ngwenyama violin/viola duo.
Adrian Steele, violin
Phoenix Avalon, violin
Devin Moore, viola
Joshua McClendon, cello
Green Shoots
Johann Sebastian Bach The Art of the Fugue, BWV 1080
Billy Childs Awakening
Nokuthula Ngwenyama Violin/Viola Duo
Benjamin Britten String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36
**Subscriber Add-On**
Evgeny Kissin & Renée Fleming
Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 8 p.m.
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
A masterful pairing of Grammy®–winning musicians! A piano master and virtuoso Evgeny Kissin joins superstar soprano and Kennedy Center Artistic Advisor at Large Renée Fleming to headline an unforgettable evening in the Concert Hall. The program features Kissin performing all-Rachmaninoff repertoire on solo piano, followed by Kissin and Fleming together in additional music by Rachmaninoff and other selections for the second half. The full program will be announced at a later date.
A co-presentation of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington Performing Arts
Juilliard String Quartet
Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Having just celebrated its 75th anniversary, the ever-evolving Juilliard String Quartet is a living American legend. Hailed by The Boston Globe as “the most important American quartet in history,” the ensemble continues to inspire worldwide audiences with its unparalleled artistry and enduring vigor. From the beginning, the group has been revered for its bold interpretations of classics while also embracing the mission of championing new works. Each of the quartet’s performances is unique, as these four devoted musicians come together to share the wonders of string quartet literature.
Areta Zhulla, violin
Ronald Copes, violin
To be announced, viola
Astrid Schween, cello
Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 6, Op. 80
Tyson Davis String Quartet No. 2 (2022)
Antonín Dvorák String Quartet No. 14 in A-flat major, Op. 105
FUNDING CREDITS
Major support provided by the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas.
Artists and performances are subject to change.
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