WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS ANNOUNCES 2021/22 SEASON

 

A return to live performances and in-person arts experiences with a wide range of programs covering classical and new music, jazz, dance, and more across diverse cultures

 

Including:

Piano artistry in fall 2021 featuring Matthew Whitaker, Lara Downes, and Tiffany Poon

 

Hazel Scott 101^st Birthday Celebration launching in 2022, with performances by
the United States Air Force Band and pianist Michelle Cann

 

Must-see concerts by classical powerhouses, including the trio of pianist Emanuel Ax,
violinist Leonidas Kavakos, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma; violinist Hilary Hahn with pianist Andreas Haefliger; violinist Itzhak Perlman; mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato;
bass-baritone Davóne Tines; and more

 

Genre-breaking explorations by violinist Johnny Gandelsman, composer Christopher Tin,
and interdisciplinary performing artist Migguel Anggelo

 

Contemporary dance innovations from Lil Buck and Syncopated Ladies

 

Signature gospel choir and Mars Arts D.C. events

 

(Washington, D.C.) — Washington Performing Arts today announced its return to live, in-person performances for the 2021/22 season in venues across the D.C. region. The upcoming season comprises wide-ranging events that represent both the organization’s characteristic eclecticism and the inherent diversity and daring of the region’s community. The newly announced programs include classical and new music concerts, jazz performances, multidisciplinary and contemporary dance productions, and more. The season as a whole focuses on the return of live art, centering artists’ voices, and supporting the creation of diverse new works.

 

Season subscriptions will go on sale on Tuesday, August 31 at 9:30am, with single tickets becoming available on Wednesday, September 15 at 9:30am. Further details about the 2021/22 season are available now on the Washington Performing Arts website.

 

“We are thrilled to be able to bring the immediacy and intensity of live, in-person performance to our audiences once again,” said Jenny Bilfield, Washington Performing Arts President and CEO. “Our community has been wonderfully supportive for the past 16 months, as we’ve collaborated with artists to offer their work online in light of the pandemic. We’ve learned valuable lessons in technology and virtual connectedness that we intend to carry forward into the future. But in the end, there’s no substitute for the here, the now, the togetherness of live performance, shared in community. Our audiences have told us they’re ready to return, and frankly, we can’t wait to welcome them back!”

 

In response to the region’s gradual emergence from COVID-related restrictions, the 2021/22 Season is reduced in scale—just over 20 events (as opposed to the typical 35–40) with only three of them taking place in the remainder of 2021. Nonetheless, there is no downsizing of breadth or ambition: instead, the upcoming offerings are a concentrated version of the virtuosity and adventurousness that audiences have come to expect from the artists in a Washington Performing Arts season.

FALL PIANO ARTISTRY

The season opens with pianist Matthew Whitaker, a jazz wunderkind whose 2020 appearance marked one of the organization’s last live events before the pandemic. Whitaker and his quartet will be joined on stage by the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir. Pianist Lara Downes, a performer and visionary familiar to Washington Performing Arts’s audiences, presents a new program, titled Tomorrow I May Be Far Away. In a blend of poetry and chamber works for piano and strings, Downes will collaborate with Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Rita Dove and with the Thalea String Quartet, an ensemble in residence at the University of Maryland School of Music. Hong Kong–born classical pianist Tiffany Poon makes her Washington Performing Arts debut as the latest in a decades-long series of Hayes Piano Artists, devoted to the world’s finest emerging pianists. An alumna of The Juilliard School and Columbia University, Poon is known both for her abilities as an instrumentalist and for her strong relationship with young audiences through her social media presence. On this recital, Poon will perform works by Clara and Robert Schumann.

 

HAZEL SCOTT 101^ST BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

A key component of Washington Performing Arts’s upcoming season is a series of performances celebrating pianist Hazel Scott’s 101^st birthday and amplifying her impact on American culture. Although Scott was an internationally renowned jazz and classical pianist, vocalist, actress, and activist from the 1930s–’50s, her activism, her status as an African American woman, and her blacklisting during the McCarthy Era have caused her to recede into near-obscurity. Washington Performing Arts is committed to reversing this historical injustice through events in the next two seasons that will commemorate Scott’s music and life—a celebration originally intended for Scott’s centenary year (pre-COVID) that will continue as planned, postponed yet no less potent. 

 

The first event is a tribute concert co-presented with the United States Air Force Band, featuring pianist Michelle Cann as soloist. The performance explores the large-ensemble sound of Hazel Scott, with classical orchestra. The second is a more intimate piano recital inspired by the classical side of Scott’s art—an underknown aspect of her career even in her heyday, due to the limited performance opportunities for classical artists of color. Cann will pay tribute to Scott and to other female, African American, classically trained pianists and composers of her time, showcasing how they incorporated Black culture into their classical works—as well as performing transcriptions of Scott’s signature “Jazzing the Classics” style. 

 

Other performances will include looks at Scott’s jazz virtuosity (including her trio with Charles Mingus and Max Roach) and her reign as “The Queen of Café Society”—the groundbreaking, racially integrated night club in New York. The series finale, taking place in fall 2022, will be a new ballet by choreographer Tiffany Rea-Fisher, produced and presented in partnership with Dance Theatre of Harlem. The 25-minute work will trace Scott’s remarkable life through her recordings and through original music by composer Erica Blunt. Further details about this co-production and additional events will be announced at a later date.

 

CLASSICAL MUSIC POWERHOUSES

In keeping with Washington Performing Arts’s tradition of sharing pre-eminent classical music artistry with D.C.-area audiences, the upcoming season features several powerhouses in the field. Among them are celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma, alongside the acclaimed pianist Emanuel Ax and violinist Leonidas Kavakos. The super-trio, last seen in a Washington Performing Arts concert in 2017/18, will come together for an all-Beethoven program that showcases their unparalleled levels of musicality and interconnection. The virtuoso violinist Itzhak Perlman also returns with a multimedia program, bringing to light new and untold aspects of his life and career through live performance, storytelling, and rare TV clips and home videos. Another violin icon and longtime Washington Performing Arts collaborator, the incomparable Hilary Hahn, appears in recital accompanied by pianist Andreas Haefliger. The violin–piano duo will perform a delightful program of masterworks and contemporary compositions.

 

On the vocal front, Washington Performing Arts presents multi-Grammy Award–winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in Eden, a special program that explores humanity and nature through evocative music and theatrical effects. DiDonato will be joined by her frequent collaborators, il Pomo d’Oro chamber orchestra, and by the French stage director Marie Lambert. Bass-baritone Davóne Tines also presents a vocal program in which he follows the traditional structure of a Catholic mass but juxtaposes the works of J.S. Bach with spirituals and songs by Moses Hogan, Margaret Bonds, Tyshawn Sorey, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw. Tines will collaborate with D.C.-based pianist Lester Green for this recital.

 

Other notable classical performances in 2021/22 include: the 25th anniversary celebration of The Sphinx Organization, featuring the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Tito Muñoz, the Exigence Vocal Ensemble, members of The Washington Chorus, and mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges (a co-production with the Kennedy Center, in cooperation with The Washington Chorus); and a second Hayes Piano Artist performance showcasing British pianist Martin James Bartlett, winner of the 2019 Young Concert Artists International Auditions (a co-presentation with Young Concert Artists).

 

GENRE-BREAKING EXPLORATIONS

Throughout the new season, Washington Performing Arts reflects its enduring commitment to new and developing productions, in collaboration with visionary artists and partners. Among these is This is America, a new project by violinist Johnny Gandelsman of the Brooklyn Rider string quartet. In a co-presentation with the Library of Congress, Gandelsman will perform works for solo violin—including a piece by Anjna Swaminathan commissioned by Washington Performing Arts—inspired by the social justice reckoning that communities around the country experienced during the year 2020. Another long-awaited multidisciplinary production—which was originally scheduled to take place during the 2019/20 season but had to be postponed due to the pandemic—is Christopher Tin’s epic To Shiver the Sky. In a co-presentation with the United States Air Force Band, the Grammy Award–winning composer will premiere a grand work that features orchestra, the Choral Arts Society of Washington, and soloists in a musical exploration of humanity’s quest to take to the heavens. Tin’s symphonic composition is set to texts from pioneers of flight, ranging from Leonardo da Vinci to Amelia Earhart.

 

Further delving into interdisciplinary territory, Washington Performing Arts will present the preview/premiere of a hybrid work of dance, music, and theater—English with an Accent—in partnership with GALA Hispanic Theatre and co-commissioned by the Cultural Arts Center at Montgomery College. The evening-length work is the brainchild of Venezuelan artist Migguel Anggelo and features a company of dancers and singers, most of whom are immigrants. The semi-autographical fable follows a caterpillar who arrives in New York City, fleeing a dictatorship. Through dance, music, and storytelling, Anggelo explores the concepts of freedom, democracy, and the “American Dream” through the eyes of immigrants and contemporary artists.

CONTEMPORARY DANCE INNOVATIONS

Continuing to offer an array of arts programs, Washington Performing Arts welcomes two groundbreaking dance acts during its 2021/22 Season. The first is dancer Lil Buck, a virtuoso of the Memphis Jookin’ street-dance style, whose 2016 video collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma became a viral hit. Lil Buck will share a brand-new production, titled Memphis Jookin’: The Show, in which he pays homage to his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee using his signature, seemingly gravity-defying dance. The second dance presentation comes courtesy of the Los Angeles-based tap innovators Syncopated Ladies, whose founder is the D.C.-born dancer and choreographer Chloe Arnold. Syncopated Ladies will present a high-energy, joyous performance that combines tap dancing with hip hop, pop, and other styles.

 

GLOBAL ‘MESSAGES’ IN JAZZ AND INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC

As always, the Washington Performing Arts season considers the arts through an international and cross-cultural lens, with artists known both for embracing the traditions of their home cultures and for venturing far beyond them. Two exceptional performers whose 2019/20 engagements were impacted by the pandemic are making their official return. Although virtuoso tabla player Zakir Hussain was featured in the 2021 Home Delivery Plus series, the upcoming appearance puts him back on stage in person and in the company of his many D.C.-area fans. In a performance titled Triveni, Hussain will collaborate with two leading Indian classical musicians to explore the confluence of the varied instruments and distinct musical lineages for which each of them is known.

 

In another tradition-spanning collaboration, jazz piano master Danilo Pérez presents a performance that combines his passions of music and humanitarianism. Pérez and his Global Messengers sextet of musicians from Palestine, Greece, Jordan, and Panama will offer a culturally diverse program that builds community through music.

 

CHORAL AND MARS ARTS D.C. COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING

Washington Performing Arts’s signature choral and community programs continue into the 2021/22 season with both virtual and in-person events. When it comes to connecting with local audiences through live performance, the Washington Performing Arts Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choirs are top of mind. For nearly three decades, these outstanding choral ensembles have been delighting audiences in the D.C. area with their harmonious sounds, while providing educational outlets to its members and creating a powerful sense of community. Before the season officially begins, the gospel choirs will offer a free tribute performance commemorating the 20^th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. As part of the 2021/22 season, these outstanding groups also join members of the Choral Arts Society of Washington choirs to present Living the Dream… Singing the Dream, the longstanding tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy. The gospel choirs will also offer a Washington Performing Arts mainstage performance in June 2022—the official Season Finale and launch of the Choir’s 30^th anniversary.

 

Mars Arts D.C. returns for virtual and live performances in 2021/22. Mars Arts D.C.: Virtual will build on the groundwork laid last season with Creator's Notebook series of free online videos to present a sequel: OutFRONT. The short films will feature a new set of D.C.-area artists from go-go, rock, jazz, and folk styles in a more traditional concert format, exploring the skills required on stage. Meanwhile, the umbrella Mars Arts D.C. program—a partnership between Washington Performing Arts, Jacqueline Badger Mars, and Mars, Incorporated—will reactivate its highly accessible in-person programming, extending into all eight wards of Washington, D.C. The upcoming season will see new partner relationships with artists, fellow arts organizations, local businesses, and more. Additionally, Mars Arts D.C. will expand the roles of current and past partners with an exploration into new ways of presenting live/virtual hybrid experiences throughout the season.  

 

EDUCATION PROGRAMMING

Washington Performing Arts provides performances, in-school artist visits, classroom instruction, and teacher resources to more than 100 D.C. Public Schools each year. As students return to school this fall, the organization will offer updated in-person and digital program formats and teaching artist engagement to align with D.C.’s plans and arts curriculum for the next school year. Music, dance, composition, improvisation, and global education will be taught through programs designed for students in grades K-12, including Capital Arts Partnership residencies, DC Keys, DCPS Honor Ensembles, and the Embassy Adoption Program, all offered in partnership with D.C. Public Schools.

 

The Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs will return to the stage during the 2021/22 season, as noted above and in the chronological season schedule below. There will also be a number of special events in celebration of the 30^th anniversary of the Men and Women of the Gospel Choir. Students in the Children of the Gospel Choir, ages 9-18, will participate in weekly rehearsals, individual vocal coachings, masterclasses, and musicianship studies. Digital performance and recording projects will also be initiated and shared online throughout the year.

 

WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS 2021/22 SEASON

CHRONOLOGICAL SCHEDULE

 

Free Pre-Season Event:

A Tribute to the 20^th Anniversary of 9/11

Members of the Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs
Michele Fowlin & Theodore Thorpe III, artistic directors

Saturday, September 11, 8:30am
The REACH Plaza at the Kennedy Center

To mark the 20^th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, members of the Washington Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choirs sing in a powerful tribute event at The REACH—just across the Potomac River from the Pentagon.

2021/22 Season Opener:

Matthew Whitaker Quartet

With special guests Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir

Michele Fowlin, artistic director

Friday, October 15, 8pm

Lincoln Theatre

A former child prodigy, profiled on 60 Minutes and The Today Show, 20-year-old jazz pianist-organist Matthew Whitaker has wowed audiences from L.A.’s Playboy Jazz Festival—where he “inspired spontaneous dancing and a standing ovation” (L.A. Times)—to the Apollo Theatre and a (pre-COVID) 2020 Washington Performing Arts performance. He brings his irresistible virtuosity back to D.C. this fall, with a special guest appearance by our own Children of the Gospel Choir.

 

Tomorrow I May Be Far Away

Lara Downes with

Rita Dove, poet

Thalea String Quartet

Wednesday, November 3, 8pm

Sixth & I

 

Hailed for her “luscious, moody, and dreamy” playing by the New York Times, pianist Lara Downes is equally celebrated as a musical innovator and cultural investigator—as heard most recently and widely on her NPR interview series, Amplify with Lara Downes. In this performance, she presents a kaleidoscopic evening of music and poetry inspired by myriad stories of migration and transformation, joined in special-guest appearances by Pulitzer-winning poet Rita Dove and by the vibrant and innovative Thalea Quartet, Graduate String Quartet in residence at the University of Maryland School of Music. The program includes works by William Grant Still, Duke Ellington, Florence Price, Nina Simone, Alvin Singleton, Carlos Simon, and Quinn Mason.

 

Hayes Piano Artist

Tiffany Poon

Sunday, December 12, 2pm

Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

 

The phrase “something old, something new” comes to mind when considering the career to date of 24-year-old Hong Kong–born pianist Tiffany Poon. Steeped in classical tradition as a onetime student of Emanuel Ax and Joseph Kalichstein, she is also devoted to demystifying and building new audiences for classical music via her YouTube channel, where nearly 300,000 subscribers follow her concert videos, vlog entries, and “Classical Chats.” She devotes her Hayes Piano Artist recital to works by Clara and Robert Schumann.

 

Living the Dream…Singing the Dream

Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs

Michele Fowlin & Theodore Thorpe III, artistic directors

The Choral Arts Society of Washington

Scott Tucker, artistic director

Sunday, January 30, 7pm

Kennedy Center Concert Hall

 

The long-running, ever-popular tribute to the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. returns to in-person performance(!) as the combined choirs of Washington Performing Arts and Choral Arts celebrate the power of music, collaboration, and the human spirit.

 

Co-presented with the Choral Arts Society of Washington

 

Sphinx Symphony Orchestra

Tito Muñoz, conductor

Exigence Vocal Ensemble and Members of The Washington Chorus

Eugene Rogers, music director

J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano 

Tuesday, February 1, 8pm

Kennedy Center Concert Hall

 

Celebrating the 25^th anniversary of its parent Sphinx Organization, the 55-member Sphinx Orchestra, an all-Black-and-Latinx ensemble of top professionals from around the country, is joined by Sphinx’s own Exigence Vocal Ensemble and by D.C.-based guests The Washington Chorus, along with a special guest appearance by Met Opera star J’Nai Bridges. The program includes Joel Thompson’s powerful Seven Last Words of the Unarmed (which a Washington Performing Arts audience last heard in the March 2020 I Am a Man concert) plus additional works by Coleridge-Taylor, Carlos Simon, and others.

 

Co-Presented with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in cooperation with The Washington Chorus

 

Free Performance:

Hazel Scott 101st Birthday Celebration: Program 1

The United States Air Force Band

Col Don Schofield, commander and conductor

Michelle Cann, piano

Karen Chilton, co-narrator and co-curator

Adam Clayton Powell III, co-narrator

Murray Horwitz, writer and co-curator

Saturday, February 5, 8pm

Lincoln Theatre

 

Pianist, actress, and activist Hazel Scott was one of the best-known musicians and celebrities of the first half of the 20th century, famed in the 1930s and ’40s as the “Queen of Cafe Society” (the first racially integrated nightclub in New York City) and in 1950 becoming the first Black American woman to host her own TV show. A true “Renaissance artist,” steeped in both the jazz and classical traditions, she was equally at home performing with a small combo, a big band, or a full orchestra—sometimes even playing two pianos simultaneously. This concert, part of a multi-event Washington Performing Arts “centenary-plus-one” celebration, features music Scott loved to perform plus other chestnuts from her era—including works by George Gershwin, Florence Price, and others.

 

Co-presented with The United States Air Force Band

 

Syncopated Ladies

Sunday, February 20, 8pm

Lincoln Theatre

Get ready for an explosion of tap-dance innovation, celebration, and motivation as the Syncopated Ladies take the Lincoln Theatre stage! Founded by D.C.-born, Emmy-nominated dancer-choreographer Chloe Arnold, the L.A.-based Syncopated Ladies combine their supercharged tapping with hip-hop, pop, and more in a singular style that has won fans around the globe (including celebs like Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, and Debbie Allen), more than 50 million online video views (including 2 million views in a single day for their video of Beyoncé’s “In Formation”), and national TV appearances on the likes of The Ellen Show and Good Morning America. Experience their magic for yourself—live and in-person—this February.

 

Hayes Piano Artist

Martin James Bartlett

Sunday, March 6, 2pm

Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

 

The BBC’s “Young Musician of the Year” in 2014 and the first-place winner of the 2019 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, 25-year-old English pianist Martin James Bartlett joins the estimable ranks of the Hayes Artists with a wide-ranging program of Rameau, Couperin, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, and more. In its five-star review of 2019’s Love and Death, Bartlett’s debut outing on Warner Classics, The Times (UK) wrote, “Bartlett’s ability to think long-term, rather than give in to immediate excitement, is probably his most impressive trait. No.2 on his score card may be his unaffected delicacy of touch, color, and tone…. Everything works to illuminate the music.”

 

Presented in partnership with Young Concert Artists

 

In Memory of Isaac Stern, Celebrating His 101^st Birthday

Emanuel Ax, piano

Leonidas Kavakos, violin

Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Monday, March 7, 8 pm

Kennedy Center Concert Hall

They’re back! The classical “super-trio” who dazzled and delighted a capacity Washington Performing Arts audience in February of 2018 returns to the Kennedy Center this March, delving into an all-Beethoven program and commemorating the milestone of the late violin master Isaac Stern’s 101^st birthday year. As the Washington Post wrote of that earlier performance, “It is undeniably exciting to hear three musicians bursting with such virtuosity and charisma together…. They fed off the electricity in the hall.” Be there this March, when lightning strikes twice.

 

Davóne Tines, bass-baritone

Lester Green, piano

Tuesday, March 15, 8pm

Sixth & I

Davóne Tines is “[a] singer of immense power and fervor” (Los Angeles Times), celebrated internationally for a path-breaking approach that combines a diverse repertoire with exploration of current social issues.  In this recital with ?piano maestro Lester Green ?(recently seen accompanying mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges in our Home Delivery Plus 2021 online series), Tines grounds his program in the ordinarium of the Roman Catholic Mass—Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei—juxtaposing the music of Bach with contemporary settings by Caroline Shaw, Tyshawn Sorey, and others, and drawing on the traditions of art song, spirituals, and gospel.

 

Memphis Jookin’: The Show

Lil Buck

Friday, March 25, 8pm

Lincoln Theatre

One of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch,” street-dance sensation Charles “Lil Buck” Riley has collaborated with a staggering range of renowned artists, including Yo-Yo Ma (in a video directed by Spike Jonze), Spike Lee, JR, Damian Woetzel, the New York City Ballet, and Madonna. In this new, evening-length production, he brings his innovative choreography and gravity-defying dancing to a celebration of the dance and music scenes of his home city of Memphis, TN, and of the namesake Memphis Jookin’ style that launched his brilliant career.

 

Hilary Hahn, violin

Andreas Haefliger, piano

Tuesday, March 29, 7:30pm

Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

Internationally renowned since her teens, violinist Hilary Hahn is one of the most prominent and widest-ranging artists in classical music today (and a longtime Washington Performing Arts friend and collaborator), devoting equal passion to her interpretations of Bach and to the championing of new works. She is also one of today’s most accessible and relatable artists, giving her ardent fans on social media a behind-the-scenes look at her often-grueling practice process and more. Her virtuosity and accessibility will come to the fore in this recital in the intimate setting of the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, where she is joined by German-Swiss piano master Andreas Haefliger, famed for “sonoristic and expressive nuances that not many others care to explore” (Gramophone).

 

English with an Accent

Music and Lyrics by Migguel Anggelo and Jaime Lozano

Migguel Anggelo, lead artist

Jaime Lozano, Musical Director, Arranger

Sarah O’Gleby, Director

Friday, April 1, 8pm

GALA Hispanic Theatre

Created by multidisciplinary Venezuelan artist Migguel Anggelo, English with an Accent is a new, hybrid work of dance and theater, narrated in a storytelling song-cycle and backed by a company of dancers and singers, largely composed of immigrants. The story is a semi-autobiographical fable that follows the journey of a newly arrived caterpillar in New York City. Fleeing the crime and noxious dictatorship of Venezuela, and unsure of which direction his insect life is taking, the protagonist of the story wonders: is he really a caterpillar, or just a lowly worm? As the caterpillar explores the streets of New York City, he begins to question his own identity as well as the promise of the “American Dream.” The work reflects Anggelo’s own story, exploring the intersections of queer, Latino, and immigration identities, as well as the role of the artist in contemporary society.

 

Co-presented with GALA Hispanic Theater. Commissioning support from the Cultural Arts Center at Montgomery College.

 

An Evening with Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman, violin

Rohan De Silva, piano

Saturday, April 2, 8pm

Kennedy Center Concert Hall

One of the world’s most respected violinists and music educators, Itzhak Perlman has reached out to new audiences throughout his storied career, from the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958 to Sesame Street in the 1980s to 2018’s duet with jazz pianist Jon Batiste on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In this multi-media program, joined by master pianist and longtime collaborator Rohan De Silva, he treats a Washington Performing Arts audience to a unique and intimate window on his life and work through live performance, rarely seen home movies, and personal anecdotes from more than a half-century of music-making.

 

Triveni

Zakir Hussain, tabla

Jayanthi Kumaresh, veena

Kala Ramnath, Carnatic violin

Thursday, April 14, 8pm

Sixth & I

 

A hallmark of tabla maestro and Washington Performing Arts audience favorite Zakir Hussain’s iconic career has been his groundbreaking work in fostering musical dialogues between Hindustani (North Indian) and Carnatic (South Indian) music. The title of this performance pays homage to this spirit: Triveni is the mythical site of the union of three sacred rivers in India, and at Sixth & I next April, Hussain leads a trio of Indian classical music virtuosos. Each member of the group is a leading exponent of their respective instrument—tabla, violin, and Saraswati veena—and each is also renowned as a master collaborator, innovator, and educator. Expect to be awestruck!

 

Eden

Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano

il Pomo d’Oro

Sunday, April 24, 7pm

The Music Center at Strathmore

Famed for a “presence felt with immediacy—vocally, viscerally, and with virtuosic impact” (Opera Today), Joyce DiDonato returns to Washington Performing Arts with a new, visionary passion project: Eden. Weaving together elements of theater and music—including works by Handel, Ives, Gluck, Mahler, and others—DiDonato explores both humanity’s essence and the majesty, might, and mystery of Nature. Joining her on stage is il Pomo d’Oro, an acclaimed, 20-member chamber orchestra specializing in historical performance. As DiDonato herself said of the project, “I want to use my voice and my vision now to go straight into the hearts of my listeners, and make them feel how precious our lives are, how wondrous our vast Earth is, and how absolutely vital our connection to one another is.”

 

Danilo Pérez’s Global Messengers

Saturday, Apr 30, 8pm

Sixth & I

The “effortlessly hip” (Guardian), Grammy-winning jazz pianist and UNESCO Artist for Peace Danilo Pérez unites his twin passions of music and humanitarianism in this international sextet. The Panamanian-born Pérez and his bandmates—hailing from Palestine, Greece, and Jordan—contribute their respective cultural learnings and personal experiences with the goal of building community through music.

 

Free Performance:

This Is America

Johnny Gandelsman, solo violin

Friday, May 13, 8pm

Coolidge Auditorium, The Library of Congress

 

Best-known to D.C. audiences as a co-founder of the adventurous string quartet Brooklyn Rider, violinist Johnny Gandelsman has re-imagined the works of Bach, recording not only the complete violin sonatas and partitas, but also the complete cello suites, praised by the New York Times for “an improvisatory feel of folk music.” His new project, This is America, is a set of 22 works for solo violin born out of the social-justice reckoning of 2020. The project gives voice to a diverse group of composers, including women, people of color, people of all ages, and representatives of myriad genres and backgrounds. The concert includes a new composition by Anjna Swaminathan, commissioned by Washington Performing Arts.

 

Co-presented with The Library of Congress

 

Free Performance:

Christopher Tin’s To Shiver the Sky

The United States Air Force Band

Col Don Schofield, commander & conductor

Christopher Tin, conductor

The Choral Arts Society of Washington

Scott Tucker, artistic director

Sunday, May 15, 7pm

The Anthem

 

After a year’s pandemic postponement, Christopher Tin’s monumental, multi-media salute to flight finally comes to the stage of The Anthem! Two-time Grammy-winning composer Christopher Tin is a master of the concert stage, silver screen, and gaming world. His work was featured on the soundtrack of blockbuster film Crazy Rich Asians, and he is beloved by millions thanks to his music for the game Civilization IV. To Shiver the Sky, a musical exploration of humankind’s journeys into the heavens, marries texts from pioneers of flight—from Leonard da Vinci to Amelia Earhart—to Tin’s inspiring and wonder-filled score for orchestra, chorus, and soloists.

 

Co-presented with The United States Air Force Band

 

Hazel Scott 101st Birthday Celebration: Program 2

Michelle Cann, piano

Wednesday, May 25, 8pm

Sixth & I

 

A major American artist of the mid-20^th century, Hazel Scott was best-known as a virtuosic jazz pianist—a celebrated presence on stage, on records, in movies, and later, on television. But she was also an exceptional classical musician, at a time when classical artists of color had few opportunities to perform. In this recital, the second concert in our 2021/22 Hazel Scott “centenary-plus-one” tribute, pianist Michelle Cann, "a compelling, sparkling virtuoso" (Boston Music Intelligencer), pays tribute to Scott and to other female, African American, classically trained pianists and composers of Scott’s time, including Florence Price and Margaret Bonds—all of whom incorporated Black culture into their classical works. Cann will also be joined on stage by special guests in dialogue about Hazel Scott.

 

Season Finale

Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs

Michele Fowlin & Theodore Thorpe III, artistic directors

Saturday, June 11, 8pm

Center for Performing Arts at Prince George’s Community College

 

Join the Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs for an unforgettable evening of inspiration as we close out the 2021/22 Season! For almost 30 years, these ensembles have shared the uplifting versatility of gospel music with audiences across the Washington metro area. Men and Women of the Gospel Choir, led by Theodore Thorpe III, rock the house with powerful and poignant performances while the Children of the Gospel Choir, led by Michele Fowlin, bring a youthful energy to the stage that is truly spellbinding.

ABOUT WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS

One of the most established and honored performing arts institutions in America, Washington Performing Arts has engaged for more than half a century with artists, audiences, students, and civic life. The city is truly our stage: for decades, in venues ranging from concert halls and clubs to public parks, we have presented a tremendous range of artists and art forms, from the most distinguished symphony orchestras to both renowned and emerging artists in classical music, jazz, international genres, and more. We also have an ever-expanding artistic and educational presence on the internet, envisioning ongoing opportunities for online connection and community.

 

Washington Performing Arts deeply values its partnerships with local organizations and other arts institutions. Through events online and in myriad performance venues and neighborhoods, we engage international visiting artists in community programs and introduce local artists to wider audiences. We place a premium on establishing artists as a continuing presence in the lives of both young people and adults through residencies and education programs.

 

Our achievements have been recognized with a National Medal of Arts and with three Mayor’s Arts Awards from the DC Government. We have now embarked upon our second half-century, ever inspired by the motto of our founder, Patrick Hayes: “Everybody in, nobody out.”

 

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