Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, October 24, 2019
New concept features a dynamic mix of celebrated headliners and rising stars in a relaxed lounge setting
The Club at Studio K runs from January through April 2020
(WASHINGTON)—The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces the Club at Studio K, a cabaret-style lounge concept offering world-class arts and culture in an up-close-and-personal setting. The Club at Studio K is located within the REACH—the Kennedy Center’s new annex—and will offer performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from January through April 2020.
In its first season, the Club at Studio K will feature headliners across genres, including jazz vocalist , Detroit techno pioneer , singer-songwriter , trumpeter and composer , and Eli Castro’s off-Broadway hit . The season will include more than 40 performances representing genres as diverse as comedy, jazz, Hip Hop, contemporary music, and new music. A complete calendar is below and online at http://tkc.co/CLUBATSTUDIOK. Additional performances will be announced at a later date.
Kennedy Center artistic leaders shaped the inaugural season of the Club at Studio K with mash-up programs that invite participation. Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz continues the 20th anniversary celebration of his group the Bandwagon by teaming up with Education Artist-in- Residence for an interactive Jazz Doodle Jam, and Moran closes the Club season with a Fats Waller Dance Party. Composer-in-Residence ’s KC Jukebox series moves to the Club with four performances by artists who blend technology and dynamic electro-acoustic palettes for a wholly original classical music experience. Hip Hop Culture Council Member celebrates the album release of his new project Stretch and Bobbito + the M19s Band: “No Requests.”
The Club at Studio K will also feature hometown acts, including and , and homegrown talents such as comedian , singer/songwriters The Amours, and with his new project, Ekhodom. The last Friday of each month will showcase up-and-comers and troupes on the D.C. comedy scene.
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In addition to single-night events, the Club at Studio K will be a hub for takeovers and residencies, including a pop-up with local social enterprise Broccoli City for a , a three-night takeover with as part of the second annual BGR!Fest, and the all-new with Kennedy Center partner and famed comedy troupe .
Designed by acclaimed architect Steven Holl as part of the Kennedy Center’s REACH expansion, Studio K features full theatrical lighting, a cobalt blue, saw-toothed acoustic plaster ceiling, a viewing balcony, and the signature “crinkle concrete” that diffuses sound. With just 250 seats, the Club at Studio K will feature four-seat café tables, high-top tables, sofas, bar stools, and textiles designed in consultation with interior designer Vicente Wolf of Vicente Wolf Associates.
The Club at Studio K builds on the 16-year legacy of the Kennedy Center’s Jazz Club, a series that for many years took place in the Terrace Gallery and has featured jazz luminaries such as Mulgrew Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Andy Bey, and Cécile McLorin Salvant. In recent years, the Center’s curators began experimenting with the multi-genre, club-style format in the Terrace Gallery.
In September 2019, coinciding with the opening of the REACH, Grammy award-winning pianist and composer Robert Glasper held a two-week performance residency in Studio K, showcasing four unique concept projects over the course of 12 performances and offering a first look at what visitors will experience when the Club at Studio K opens in 2020.
“The Club at Studio K extends the mission of the REACH, offering the kinds of informal experiences that 21st-century audiences seek out. Think of the Club at Studio K as a creative ‘hang space,’ and a cultural incubator, where artists and audiences can break the fourth wall and commune with each other, collectively generating their experience,” commented Simone Eccleston, Director of Hip Hop and Contemporary Music at the Kennedy Center.
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SCHEDULE OF CLUB AT STUDIO K PERFORMANCES
Performance Dates Show Series
January 16, 2020 Martin Amini Comedy 7:30 pm
January 17, 2020 Stretch and Bobbito + the M19s Band: Hip Hop 7:30 & 9:30 pm “No Requests” Album Release Concert
January 18, 2020 Jazzmeia Horn * Jazz 7:30 & 9:30 pm
January 23, 2020 Elijah Jamal Balbed Quintet: The Karma Suite * Jazz 7:30 pm
January 24, 2020 Hip Hop Karaoke Hip Hop 7:30 pm
January 25, 2020 Kassa Overall’s “Blue Swamini” featuring Carmen Lundy Jazz 7:30 & 9:30 pm
January 30, 2020 DJ Juan Atkins Techno KC Jukebox 7:30 pm
January 31, 2020 Time Machine Roast Comedy 7:30 pm
February 1, 2020 Broccoli City Festival Preview Hip Hop 7:30 pm
February 6, 2020 Linda May Han Oh: Aventurine Jazz 7:30 pm
February 7, 2020 ill Camille Hip Hop 7:30 & 9:30 pm
February 8, 2020 Dulcé Sloan Comedy 7:30 pm
February 13-14, 2020 Valentine’s Day Residency: Bilal Contemporary Music 7:30 & 9:30 pm
February 27, 2020 Eric Hilton’s Ekhodom + Mason Bates KC Jukebox 7:30 pm
February 28, 2020 Story District’s Funnier Than Fiction Comedy 7:30 pm
February 29, 2020 Jason Palmer: Upward * Jazz 7:30 pm
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March 5–7 , 2020 BGR!Fest Secret Shows Hip Hop/ 9:30 pm Contemporary Music
March 11, 2020 DIRECT CURRENT: jaimie branch’s Fly or Die * Jazz 7:30 pm
March 13 - 14, 2020 Jason Moran & the Bandwagon and Mo Willems: Jazz Doodle Jam! * Jazz 7:30 pm (March 13) and 11 am (March 14)
March 14, 2020 DIRECT CURRENT: Camila Meza and the Nectar Orchestra * Jazz 7:30 pm
March 19, 2020 Contemporary Music 7:30pm & 9:30pm
March 20–21, 2020 Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Jazz/Contemporary 7:30 & 9:30 pm Music
March 26, 2020 Jeremy Kittel & Joshua Roman & the Verona Quartet: Whorls KC Jukebox 7:30 pm
March 27, 2020 Mortified Comedy 7:30 pm
April 2–3 , 2020 Made in Puerto Rico * Comedy 7:30 pm
April 9, 2020 Clarence Penn, Penn Station Jazz 7:30 pm
April 16–18 , 2020 Second City & Kennedy Center’s Jazz Comedy Experiment Jazz/Comedy 7:30 pm
April 23, 2020 Rob Garza’s Dissolve KC Jukebox 7:30 pm
April 24, 2020 Washington Improv Theater’s iMusical Comedy 7:30 pm
April 25, 2020 Jason Moran’s Fats Waller Dance Party * Jazz 7:30 & 9:30 pm
*Previously announced performance. Additional programs may be announced at a later date. Artists and performances are subject to change. For a full schedule of events, please visit kennedy-center.org
Ticket Information Tickets for performances at the Club at Studio K range from $10 to $75. Previously announced events are on sale to the general public now. Newly added events are available to Kennedy Center members beginning October 25 and to the general public on October 28. Tickets may be purchased online at kennedy-center.org, in-person at the Kennedy Center Box Office, or by calling (202) 467-4600.
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Need a Lift? The free Kennedy Center Shuttle, the Center’s link to Metro’s Foggy Bottom/George Washington University/Kennedy Center Metro station (blue/orange/silver lines), departs every 15 minutes from 9:45 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Monday – Thursday; 10 a.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday; noon to 11 p.m., Sunday; and 4 p.m. on Federal holidays. Standard parking rates apply when attending free events.
Funding Credits
David M. Rubenstein Cornerstone of the REACH
Capital One® is the Presenting Sponsor of Comedy at the Kennedy Center
Hip Hop Culture and KC Jukebox are presented as part of The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives.
Major Support for Jazz Programming is provided by The Buffy and William Cafritz Family Foundation.
The design aesthetic for The Club at Studio K was conceived of by Vicente Wolf of Vicente Wolf Associates. Additional support for the design of the Club was provided by Kennedy Center Trustee Margaret Russell. The furnishings are provided courtesy of Wayfair, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, and Perennials.
For more information, please visit kennedy-center.org. Discover the Kennedy Center on social media
#KennedyCenter
#KenCenREACH
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PRESS CONTACT Michelle Pendoley (202) 416-8196 [email protected]