national gallery of art 2018 2019CONCERTS seventy-seventh season Welcome to the 2018 – 2019 season of CONCERTS AT concerts at the National Gallery of Art. In our seventy-seventh season, we examine — in a way that we are uniquely equipped to do — the relevance of THE GALLERY the arts in today’s world. Throughout our thirty-six Sunday and eight Friday performances, we ask the questions who, what, when, where, why, and how music and art reflect — and affect — our daily lives in the twenty-first century. We hope our spectrum of performers, exhibition-related concerts, and special themes will nourish and celebrate the importance of expression through the visual and performing arts. top Tapestry, photo by Susan Wilson. middle left Inscape Chamber Orchestra, photo by Jennifer White- Johnson. middle right Daniel Schlosberg, photo by Erin Clendenin. bottom Air Force Strings, photo by MSgt Joshua Kowalsky. WELCOME 3 CALENDAR The seventy-seventh season of concerts at the National 18 | Sunday | 3:30 Gallery of Art is open to the public, free of charge. Admittance Nobuntu p8 is on a first-come basis thirty minutes before the concert begins. For further information, call (202) 842-6941 or visit 23 | Friday | 12:10 nga.gov/music. Location TBD PROJECT Trio p22 Unless otherwise noted, concerts are held in the West Building, West Garden Court. 25 | Sunday | 3:30 M5 Mexican Brass p9 SEPTEMBER OCTOBER DECEMBER 16 | Sunday | 3:30 7 | Sunday | 3:30 Living Art Collective Julie Fowlis, vocalist p6 2 | Sunday | 3:30 Ensemble (LACE) Carolina Eyck + American Elisa Monte Dance p16 14 | Sunday | 3:30 Contemporary Music Curtis on Tour: Ensemble p9 23 | Sunday | 3:30 Jason Vieaux, guitar Emilio Solla Tango-Jazz Nigel Armstrong, violin p6 8 | Saturday | 1:30 | 2:30 Trio p6 West Building Rotunda 21 | Sunday | 3:30 U.S. Army Chorus p26 28 | Friday | 12:10 Vox Luminis p6 Location TBD 9 | Sunday | 1:30 | 2:30 New York Opera Society p22 26 | Friday | 12:10 West Building Rotunda Location TBD Encore Chorale 30 | Sunday | 3:30 Trio Sefardi p22 Jeanne Kelly, director p26 Piffaro: The Renaissance Band p16 28 | Sunday | 3:30 9 | Sunday | 3:30 PUBLIQuartet Mettis String Quartet With Ian Rosenbaum p16 With Gabrielius Alekna, piano p9 NOVEMBER 15 | Saturday | 1:30 | 2:30 West Building Rotunda 4 | Sunday | 4:00 Westminster Presbyterian East Building Auditorium Choir and Ringers Flophouse Crew p19 Benjamin Hutchens, director p26 11 | Sunday | 3:30 Tapestry p24 4 CALENDAR 16 | Sunday | 1:30 | 2:30 FEBRUARY APRIL West Building Rotunda Saint John Paul the Great 3 | Sunday | 3:30 7 | Sunday | 3:30 Catholic High School Choir Trio Valtorna p10 Haimovitz–Iyer Duo p15 Kelly Kingett, director p26 10 | Sunday | 3:30 14 | Sunday | 3:30 16 | Sunday | 3:30 Sō Percussion p10 East Coast Chamber Hot Club of San Francisco Orchestra p15 p26 17 | Sunday | 3:30 Lara St. John, violin 21 | Sunday | 3:30 23 | Sunday | 3:30 Matt Herskowitz, piano p10 Living Art Collective Daniel Schlosberg, piano Ensemble (LACE) Jessica Aszodi, soprano 22 | Friday | 12:10 Elisa Monte Dance Russell Rolen, cello p24 DJ Twelve45 p20 Armonia Nova p22 28 | Friday | 12:10 26 | Friday | 12:10 24 | Sunday | 3:30 Location TBD Location TBD Curtis on Tour: p22 Eric Mintel Quartet p22 Curtis Opera Theatre Duo Sonidos Vocal Quartet p12 30 | Sunday | 3:30 28 | Sunday | 3:30 Suchertorte Chamber The Brandee Younger Trio p15 Ensemble, Jeffrey Schindler, MARCH conductor p25 3 | Sunday | 3:30 MAY Noah Getz and Friends p24 JANUARY 5 | Sunday | 3:30 10 | Sunday | 3:30 Poulenc Trio p20 6 | Sunday | 3:30 Peter Vinograde, piano p12 New York Opera Society p19 12 | Sunday | 3:30 17 | Sunday | 3:30 The Canales Project p15 13 | Sunday | 3:30 Parthenia Air Force Strings p25 With Ryland Angel, 19 | Sunday | 3:30 countertenor p19 Yumi Kurosawa, koto 20 | Sunday | 3:30 With Anubrata Chatterjee, East Building Auditorium 22 | Friday | 12:10 tabla, and Virgil Gadsen, Krakauer-Tagg Duo p10 Location TBD dancer p20 Eya p22 25 | Friday | 12:10 Location TBD 24 | Sunday | 3:30 Noah Getz and Friends p22 Natalie Clein, cello p13 27 | Sunday | 3:30 31 | Sunday | 3:30 Inscape Chamber Orchestra Fauré Quartett p13 Richard Scerbo, director p25 CALENDAR 5 FEATURED SUNDAY CONCERTS WHO MOVES US? Curtis on Tour: Jason Vieaux, guitar, The National Gallery of Art’s concert series and Nigel Armstrong, violin presents weekly Sunday performances by October 14, 2018 | 3:30 outstanding local, national, and international West Building, West Garden Court artists, all of whom have myriad experiences to The Gallery brings back Curtis on Tour, The share. Enjoy tango, traditional Scottish songs, Nina von Maltzahn Global Touring Initiative of African gospel music, the genius of Bach, and the Curtis Institute of Music, for a third year so much more on the following afternoons. as Curtis’s exclusive presenter in Washington, with faculty member Jason Vieaux on the Emilio Solla Tango-Jazz Trio guitar and violin alumus Nigel Armstrong September 23, 2018 | 3:30 performing solos and duos. The program West Building, West Garden Court includes Astor Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango, Mauro Giuliani’s Gran Duetto Concertante, “The virile throb of Astor Piazzolla was omni- op. 52, Antônio Carlos Jobim’s Medley of 3 present in Solla’s stately pulse.” — The New Tunes (guitar with violin improvisation), York Times and Manuel de Falla’s Seven Canciones Recognized worldwide as one of the most Populares Española. personal composers of the post-Piazzolla generation, Grammy-nominated Argentine Vox Luminis pianist, composer, and bandleader Emilio October 21, 2018 | 3:30 Solla brings his tango passion and jazz improv West Building, West Garden Court to the Gallery, along with his virtuoso Tango- Jazz Trio partners, French bandoneonist / Funeral Music for a Prince and a Queen accordionist Julien Labro and American One project, one objective, one path: saxophonist Chris Cheek. introduce today’s audiences to early vocal music, passionately conveying its quintes- Julie Fowlis, vocalist sence, and touching the light through the October 7, 2018 | 3:30 voice — Vox Luminis. This concert features West Building, West Garden Court works by Thomas Morley, Martin Luther, Henry Purcell, and Heinrich Schütz. Music of the Scottish Isles Julie Fowlis’s exquisite voice, interpretation of Scottish Gaelic culture, and ability to bring top Vox Luminis, photo by David Samyn. middle left Julie folk music out of the past and into our times Fowlis, photo by Fowlis Photography. middle right Emilio with irresistible dynamism have made her a Solla, photo by Emilio Solla Music. bottom Jason Vieaux, photo by GMD Three. genuine, award-winning star. Her unique ability to interpret the Scottish Gaelic culture of her roots resonates with all who hear her sing. 6 FEATURED SUNDAY CONCERTS Nobuntu instruments, and organic, authentic dance November 18, 2018 | 3:30 movements. “Nobuntu” is an African concept West Building, West Garden Court that values humbleness, love, unity, and family from a woman’s perspective. The ensemble Nobuntu, the female a cappella quintet from represents a new generation of young African Zimbabwe, has drawn international acclaim women singers who celebrate and preserve for its inventive performances that range their culture, beauty, and heritage through art. from traditional Zimbabwean songs to Afro The ensemble’s mission is the belief that music jazz and gospel. The ensemble’s concerts can be an important vehicle for change, one are performed with pure voices, augmented that transcends racial, tribal, religious, gender, by minimalistic percussion, traditional and economic boundaries. 8 FEATURED SUNDAY CONCERTS M5 Mexican Brass November 25, 2018 | 3:30 West Building, West Garden Court Brasscinación Serious fun from the baroque to Broadway! Founded in 2005, M5 Mexican Brass has gained wide international recognition as Latin America’s most successful brass quintet. The group’s recipe lies in its mix of high-class music-making and humor. Skilled at performing virtuosic chamber music in a broad variety of styles with a sound that is M5’s alone, the ensemble adds audience interaction, showmanship, and an inimitable Latin American charm to its concerts, each a unique musical- theatrical experience. Carolina Eyck + American Contemporary Music Ensemble Mettis String Quartet December 2, 2018 | 3:30 With Gabrielius Alekna, piano West Building, West Garden Court December 9, 2018 | 3:30 Fantasias West Building, West Garden Court Theremin virtuoso and composer Carolina Presented in collaboration with the Eyck joins the American Contemporary Music Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania Ensemble for the Washington, DC, premiere The Mettis String Quartet, named after an of their collaborative project, Fantasias, ancient Greek mythological figure known for which was released to critical acclaim on her cunning, wisdom, and skill, collaborates Butterscotch Records in 2016. For the with pianist Gabrielius Alekna in a concert project, Eyck composed six minimalist- celebrating Lithuanian composers. The inspired string quartet pieces, over which program includes Remigijus Merkelys’s she improvises a solo theremin part. With MiKonst for piano and string quartet, M. K. these pieces, Eyck strives to sonically Čiurlionis’s String Quartet, Philip Glass’s investigate the interplay between nature String Quartet no. 2 (Company), and Robert and human imagination. Eyck’s musically Schumann’s Piano Quintet, op. 44. daring and physically challenging composi- tions defy easy classification, while her uncanny mastery of the theremin and use of electronic effects bring an authentically top left Nobuntu, photo by Tswarelo Mothobe. top fresh sonic pallet to the forefront. right Carolina Eyck, photo by Christian Hüller. bottom M5 Mexican Brass, photo by Jérôme Direz. top Gabrielius Alekna, photo by Gedmantas Kropis. FEATURED SUNDAY CONCERTS 9 Krakauer-Tagg Duo Sō Percussion January 20, 2019 | 3:30 February 10, 2019 | 3:30 East Building Auditorium West Building, West Garden Court Breath and Hammer The Keyboard Re-imagined Breath and Hammer features David Krakauer Sō Percussion performs works originally and Kathleen Tagg’s original compositions composed for keyboard instruments.