Every now and then, you spot an unexpected name when scanning the classical music offerings in any given season. Nina Totenberg, say. Or Rick Steves.

Even Broadway legend Stephen Schwartz seems a bit misplaced. On a related note, one of the most anticipated attractions this season is a new adaptation of West Side Story. That’s a listing you’d expect to see in stage, but it’s here given that it’s coming from one of the region’s most prominent classical institutions: the Washington National Opera, also the reason you find Schwartz’s name here, as a co-host of its upcoming gala.

There are plenty more names you’d expect in this spring’s classical fare, including three of the genre’s giants when it comes to the litany of contributing composers. In fact, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Brahms are represented at least once at nearly every orchestra and chamber ensemble. Yet a solid number of American classical composers are also getting their due, with a decent showing of women and Black composers, too — and not only as a means of celebrating this July’s United States Semiquincentennial.

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THE ALDEN

McLean Community Center
1234 Ingleside Ave.
McLean, Va.
703-790-0123
mcleancenter.org

• Solomon Eichner, piano — A decade after his debut at Carnegie Hall, the Baltimore native demonstrates why his playing has been “praised for its virtuosity and his ability to make music sing and come alive” (3/29)
•  Main Street Chamber Players — Mixed instrumental ensemble from Fairfax County performs works from the standard chamber repertoire as well as newer pieces by female composers, composers of color, and living composers (4/26)
•  Jenny Lin, piano — Melody’s Mostly Musical Day is the name of a children’s book by Lin that inspired this program with props, storytelling, and performances of lighthearted and sprightly short classical works holding special appeal to children (5/31)

AMERICAN POPS ORCHESTRA

theamericanpops.org

• 9th Annual NextGen: Finding the Voices of Tomorrow — Only 10 young vocalists out of more than 500 who applied were selected as finalists for this year’s event, a live ceremony in New York that will be livestreamed online, with the winners, selected by a panel of judges plus votes from viewers, receiving cash prizes and paid professional opportunities with APO (4/12, The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, New York)
•  You Better Sing: APO Goes to Church — A program of soul-stirring versions of classic sacred songs made famous by legendary recording artists including Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, Whitney Houston, and Elvis Presley (5/16, Howard Theatre)
•  With One Voice: America250 — Talented collegiate singers and instrumentalists from all 50 states will join members of the APO for a program of compositions said to represent “the very best of American classical and popular music” in honor of the nation’s Semiquincentennial, with additional guest artists to be announced (5/31, DAR Constitution Hall)

BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

410-783-8000
bsomusic.org

• A Hero’s Journey: Schumann & Strauss — Eun Sun Kim conducts the BSO in a showcase of the rich harmonies and brassy fanfares of Srauss’s Ein Heldenleben while pianist Javier Perianes exhibits the timeless beauty of Schumann’s Piano Concerto (3/26, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall; 3/28, Music Center at Strathmore)
•  Seong-Jin Cho, piano — Celebrated pianist performs selections by Bach, Schoenberg, Schumann, and Chopin in recital (4/6, Meyerhoff)
•  Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Beethoven 6 with Alsop — BSO Music Director Laureate Marin Alsop showcases works evoking nature’s power, including the East Coast premiere of Australian composer Brett Dean’s Fire Music (4/16, Strathmore; 4/18-19, Meyerhoff)
•  Tchaikovsky 5 & The Bruch Violin Concerto — BSO Music Director Jonathon Heyward leads a program featuring violinist Benjamin Beilman as well as Leshnoff’s radiant Starburst (4/24, 4/26, Meyerhoff; 4/25, Strathmore)
•  Mendelssohn 3 & Needleman — BSO Principal Oboe Katherine Needleman performs Martinů’s Oboe Concerto while Kristiina Poska conducts the BSO in two cherished masterworks, including Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances (5/2, Meyerhoff; 5/3, Strathmore)
•  Censored Voices: Silent No More — EGC Productions partners with the BSO for a powerful chamber program of works by Russian composers who’ve been silenced, featuring pianist Joseph Holt, BSO Acting Associate Concertmaster Boram King, BSO Principal Cellist Dariusz Skoraczewski, and soprano Catherine Wethington (5/2, Meyerhoff; 5/3)
•  BSO Pops: Broadway’s Standing Ovations — Jack Everly leads the BSO and guest vocalists in songs from recent hit musicals Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress, Moulin Rouge, The Greatest Showman, and Wicked (5/8, Strathmore; 5/9-10, Meyerhoff)
•  Lintu Conducts Sibelius — Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu leads the BSO in performance of the composer’s Night Ride and Sunrise and Symphony No. 7, while Francesco Piemont performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 (5/14, 5/17, Meyerhoff; 5/16, Strathmore)
•  Heyward Conducts Elgar’s Enigma Variations — A journey through the British musical landscape also including Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto and Smyth’s Overture to The Wreckers with Elena Urioste as featured soloist (5/28, Strathmore; 5/29-30, Meyerhoff)
•  The Baltimore Chamber Orchestra: The Best of Baltimore! — A concert highlighting a variety of Charm City composers, including Frank Zappa, Karina Ingram, and Mason Bates (5/31, Meyerhoff)
•  Annapolis Symphony Orchestra: Shostakovich No. 5 — Headlined by “one of the most powerful works of the 20th century,” this program also finds Maestro José-Luis Novo conducting Reynaldo Moya’s vibrant Polo Romanesco and Claire Lewis conducting the Orion Youth Orchestra alongside their ASO musician-mentors in Nancy Galbraith’s Midnight Stirring (6/1, Meyerhoff)
•  Aspects of America — Cécile McLorin Salvant will sing from the American Songbook while the brothers McGill (Demarre on flute and Anthony on clarinet) perform a world-premiere by Billy Childs (6/2, Meyerhoff)
•  Rachmaninoff 3 — The brothers McGill will give an encore performance of the world-premiere concerto by Billy Childs as part of this program also featuring Heyward conducting Shostakovich’s Festive Overture (6/6, Strathmore; 6/7, Meyerhoff)
•  Verdi’s Rigoletto — The 2025-26 Season comes to a dramatic end with an in-concert presentation of Verdi’s tale of love, betrayal, and vengeance with Quinn Kelsey, Raven McMillon, Andrew Owens, Peixin Chen, J’Nai Bridges, and Christian Pursell leading the cast plus special guest The Washington Chorus (6/12, Meyerhoff; 6/14, Strathmore)

THE BARNS AT WOLF TRAP

1635 Trap Road
Vienna, Va.
703-255-1868
wolftrap.org

• The Flute, Sitar, and Tabla Trio — An evening of genre-blurring interpretations of Indian classical and contemporary Western music featuring Grammy-winning bansuri flutist Rakesh Chaurasia, versatile sitar player Purbayan Chatterjee, and tabla phenom Amit Kavthekar, co-presented by District of Raga (4/4)
•  Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center — Five guest artists come together for “Quintet Revelations,” a showcase of the “powerhouse chamber” style of a string quartet’s two violins, a viola, and a cello expanded to include piano, with works by Russian master Anton Arensky and French music champion Saint-Saëns (4/24)
•  Wolf Trap Opera NextGen: A Recital Curated by Renée Fleming — Three recent alumni of Wolf Trap Opera’s Filene Artist Program (soprano Brittany Logan, tenor Travon Walker, and baritone Laureano Quant), perform an afternoon recital hosted by the renowned soprano with accompaniment from pianist Javier Arrebola (5/10)
•  Wolf Trap Opera Salon Series: Will Liverman — The 2026 Filene Artist in Residence kicks off the Salon Series with a showcase of the music he loves (6/3)
•  Wolf Trap Opera Salon Series — Four additional “artist-curated salon evenings” will each feature two Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artists offering more chances to experience “the thrill of extraordinary voices in rare proximity” (6/8, 6/22, 7/6, 7/20)
•  Steven Blier Master Class (6/9, Center for Education)
•  Wolf Trap Opera: La Cenerentola (Cinderella) — Rossini’s “opera buffa” is a sparkling and witty adaptation of the classic fairy tale known for its exhilarating music and demanding vocal fireworks, and will be staged with a cast of soloists singing in Italian with English captions (6/18, 6/21, 6/25, 6/27)
•  Renée Fleming Master Class (6/23, Center for Education)
•  Wolf Trap Opera Studio: Aria Jukebox — Studio members will perform whatever classics the audience selects from a list of possibilities at the start of the program (6/28)
•  Wolf Trap Opera: Eugene Onegin — Tchaikovsky’s “exquisite” opera, adapted from Pushkin, is the “perfect story of missed chances and unrequited love,” and will be performed by a cast of established opera singers plus a few Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artists, all singing in Russian with English captions (7/17, 7/19, 7/23, 7/25)

BENDER JCC

Kreeger Auditorium
6125 Montrose Rd.
Rockville, Md.
301-881-0100
benderjccgw.org

• Terrence Wilson — Works by Brahms, Rachmaninoff, and Mussorgsky will be performed by this noted pianist, presented through the Polinger Artists of Excellence series (4/19)
•  Ariel String Quartet — Works by Dvořák, Porat, and Beethoven will be performed at this Polinger Artists of Excellence recital (5/17)

THE CHORAL ARTS SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

202-244-3669
choralarts.org

• From Darkness to Light: An Interactive Choral Discussion — Artistic Director Marie Bucoy-Calavan leads an innovative concert starting with the chorus performing Dona Nobis Pacem by Ralph Vaughan Williams and ending with Two Psalms by Gustav Holst, while in-between comes a “mid-concert lecture” to discuss and reflect on the “darkness to light” theme of Williams’ work in particular (4/18, Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall, 4915 E. Campus Dr., Alexandria, Va.)
•  Choral Arts in NYC: Carnegie Hall Duruflé Requiem — The organization “steps further into their role as the ‘Ambassador Chorus'” by singing at the esteemed Manhattan venue as the headlining ensemble of a concert featuring other invited choral groups from around the U.S. (5/26, Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave., New York)

DC’S DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

dcdd.org

• Symphonic Band Spring Concert — “Voices Lifted” is a show featuring works by Florence Price, Marre A. Douglas, Michele Fernández, Omar Thomas, Scott Joplin, and Duke Ellington (3/28, Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW)
•  DCDD Does Drag 2026 — The floral theme gets reprised for this year’s annual fundraiser aka “Garden Party” featuring drag performances from “kings, queens, and everyone in between” (4/18, Trade, 1410 14th St. NW)

DUMBARTON ARTS

Dumbarton United Methodist Church
3133 Dumbarton St. NW
202-965-2000
dumbartonconcerts.org

• Randall Goosby — Only 29 years old, star violinist regularly performs in grand concert halls as featured soloist with some of America’s top orchestras, all the more reason why this chamber music concert in the intimate Dumbarton church sanctuary with pianist Zhu Wang as his only accompaniment is a rare treat (4/10)
•  Camerata RCO — Musicians from Amsterdam’s famed Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra return to Dumbarton with “an eclectic and charming selection of chamber music essentials,” a program of works for winds and strings that showcases “the nimble elegance of Mozart” via the Austrian master’s “Kegelstatt” trio, “the emotional depth of Brahms” courtesy of the German giant’s Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano, and “the broad and dramatic [and] patriotic” style of Dvořák through an original arrangement of the Czech patron saint’s 7th Symphony (5/2)

DUMBARTON OAKS

Music Room
1703 32nd St. NW
202-339-6400
doaks.org

• Maeve Gilchrist, harp and Layale Chaker, violin — Performing a suite of music titled “Smoke Veins,” this new duo “draws from the musical vocabularies of their respective lineages,” Celtic for Gilchrist and Levantine for Chaker, to highlight similarities and “where their stories overlap.” Both artists are also directly connected to Dumbarton Oaks, with Gilchrist the Spring 2026 Musician-in-Residence and Chaker having been the Early Career Musician Resident in Fall 2021 (4/12-13)
•  Sandbox Percussion with Matthew Aucoin and Conor Hanick — The four members of Sandbox pair up with two pianists to perform Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato, “considered the most popular Dutch work in minimal music” (4/19-20)

FAIRFAX SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

GMU Center for the Arts
703-993-2787
fairfaxsymphony.org

• Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey — The travel guru leads a musical journey through the Old World in this multimedia event, pairing Romantic-era masterpieces performed by the FSO under the baton of Christopher Zimmerman with stunning visuals and captivating storytelling (3/29)
•  Prokofiev: Sounds of Genius — Selections from Prokofiev’s bold and emotionally charged ballet Romeo and Juliet and from his Symphony No. 5, composed in the waning months of World War II as a statement of hope and humanity, will bookend this concert with acclaimed instrumentalist Claire Huangci joining the FSO to perform the “fireworks” of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 (5/31)

FOLGER CONSORT

Folger Theatre
201 E. Capitol St. SE
202-544-7077
folger.edu

• An English Garden — A program of Elizabethan songs, sung by soprano Emily Noël, and instrumental music will be interspersed with short readings of poems, garden descriptions, and advice from contemporary authors (5/8/10)

GAY MEN’S CHORUS

202-293-1548
gmcw.org

• Youth Invasion – Free annual concert featuring the GenOUT Youth Chorus and giving voice to the identities of LGBTQ and allied youth marks its 10th anniversary this year, and will feature appearances by alumni (4/26, St. Thomas Parish, 1517 18th St. NW)
•  Spring Affair: Sapphire & Sparkle — An evening of music, laughter, and show-stopping style to celebrate GMCW’s 45th anniversary, with open-bar reception, seated dinner, live and silent auctions, special presentations and Harmony Award ceremony, plus actor and comedian Murray Hill as special celebrity guest emcee (5/16, The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC, 1150 22nd St. NW)
•  Soul Divas — Celebrating the music of a special caliber of divas who are so inspiring, they’re known simply by their first names: Tina, Aretha, Diana, Patti, Gladys, Whitney (6/6-7, Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW)

HYLTON PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Merchant Hall
Manassas, Va.
703-993-7759
hyltoncenter.org

• Chorale Broadway Showcase — “Bright Lights, Big City: Broadway Beginnings & NYC Dreams” (3/27-28)
•  Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra — “Mozart, Saint-Georges, and Beethoven: Masters in Motion” (3/29)
•  American Festival Pops Orchestra — “Celebrating America’s 250 Years!” (4/11)
•  District5 (4/21)
•  Manassas Symphony Orchestra — German Masters with Andrew Sords, violin (5/2)
•  Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra — “America at 250: A Musical Mosaic” (5/24)
•  Manassas Chorale — “Lights, Camera, Music!” (5/29)

THE IN SERIES

202-204-7763
inseries.org

• Passion Play: For Women Serving Time — The third of three original music-theater works being staged by the IN Series through its special “Passion Plays: A Festival of World Premieres” is this collaboration between Persian-American poet and scholar Fatemeh Keshavarz and pianist and composer Adrienne Torf, described as “[fusing] Faure’s Requiem, jazz elements, and Brechtian theatrical traditions in a powerful contemplation…of female incarceration in America” — giving voice to a population often overlooked. IN Series Artistic Director Timothy Nelson directs (4/10-12, Baltimore Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St.)
•  Song of Sakuntala — A new opera, or “dance-opera,” from the IN Series’ Nelson, based on a classic 5th-century story from India about love, loss, and redemption, features music performed with a mix of Western baroque instruments and Indian classical ones. Hari Krishnan serves as the production’s director and choreographer (6/6-14, Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE; 6/19-21, Baltimore Theatre Project)

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Coolidge Auditorium
Thomas Jefferson Building
101 Independence Ave. SE
202-707-5502
loc.gov/concerts

• Catalyst Quartet w/J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano & Terrence Wilson, piano — Two-time Grammy-winning opera star joins Catalyst for a “sumptuous program” with piano accompaniment (4/1)
•  Yilian Cañizares — Cuban-Swiss violinist/singer/composer blends native Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz and classical (4/9)
•  Raven Chacon Ensemble (4/11)
•  Zlata Chochieva, piano (4/15)
•  Dolce Suono Ensemble (4/18)
•  Reginald Mobley — Acclaimed American countertenor performs 17th-century music by Purcell, Dowland, Holland, and more (4/21)
•  Washington National Opera’s West Side Story: Behind the Scenes — A conversation with WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello and Leonard Bernstein’s daughter Jamie Bernstein (4/23)
•  Grossman Ensemble (5/9)
•  Christian McBride (5/15)
•  Simone Dinnerstein, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Katherine Needleman, and the Baroklyn Ensemble — An evening of chamber works by J.S. Bach to kickoff a Founder’s Day celebration marking a century of concerts presented at the Library (5/27)

NATIONAL CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

703-685-7590
nationalchamberensemble.org

• Musical Gems of Ecuador: A Violinist’s Journey — Ecuadoran instrumentalist Jorge Saade leads a musical journey through the works of composers Claudio Aizaga, Corsino Duran, and Enrique Espín-Yépez, as well as Kreisler, Mozart, and Rachmaninov, and will be joined by pianist Carlos Cesar Rodriguez, cellist Vasily Popov, and violinist Leo Sushansky, aka the ensemble’s artistic director (4/11, Marymount University Ballston Auditorium, 1000 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington)
•  Mozart and Brahms: The Great Concertos — Two towering concertos performed in a rare chamber format will close the NCE season with grandeur and intimacy, with pianist Rodríguez performing Mozart’s famous Piano Concerto No. 21 “Elvira Madigan” and NCE’s Sushansky performing the iconic Brahms’ Violin Concerto (6/6, Gunston Arts Center – Theater 1, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington)

NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC

Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane
North Bethesda, Md.
301-493-9283
nationalphilharmonic.org

• Extreme Chopin: The Finale — After 16 years, pianist Brian Ganz finally completes his “quest to perform every note ever written by the prolific Polish composer Frédéric Chopin,” with the closing concert offering a signature wide-ranging mix of waltzes, nocturnes, mazurkas, and more (4/11)
•  The Blue Hour — NatPhil presents this powerful orchestral song cycle, touted as “a deeply moving meditation on memory, life, and loss,” which is based on Carolyn Forché’s haunting poetry and features original music created by five different women composers, including Shara Nova, who does double duty as featured vocalist (5/9)

OPERA LAFAYETTE

202-546-9332
operalafayette.org

• New Woman — A woman-centric story by female composers Marianna Martines and Maria Antonia Walpurgis, who defied 18th-century convention for doing so, that will be presented as a daring solo performance by soprano Lauren Snouffer portraying both Talestri, Queen of the Amazons, and Berenice, Princess of Egypt. Snouffer will also perform arias by Gluck and J.C. Bach originally written for castrato voice, “the era’s fiercest rival to the soprano,” while the organization’s acclaimed orchestra rounds out the program with Haydn’s Symphony 63 “Roxelana,” an instrumental work celebrating the Sultana of the Ottoman Empire (4/30, Sixth & I)

THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION

Music Room
1600 21st St. NW
202-974-6832
phillipscollection.org

• Francisco Coll — Another concert programmed to complement the new Miró exhibition also serves to celebrate contemporary Spanish composer, presented as part of the Leading International Composers Series. Works by Coll will be performed by the Terra String Quartet, guitarist Jacob Kellerman, and Jenny Lin, the Phillips Music director (3/29)
•  Stephen Drury — Noted pianist performs “Constellations After Miró,” an original program inspired by the surrealist artist and featuring works that explore color, form, and abstraction, from John Cage’s Etudes Australes, to Claude Debussy’s Études, from Manuel de Falla’s Fantasia Bætica to Dave Brubeck’s Blue Shadows in the Street (4/12)
•  Miró Quartet — Given the name, one of America’s most distinguished string quartets was a no-brainer for inclusion in this concert season, although notably their wide-ranging program of quartets by Beethoven, Caroline Shaw, Henri Dutilleux, and George Crumb is not directly Miró-themed at all (4/19)
•  Flamenco Vivo — One of America’s premier flamenco companies performs “TABLAO: An Intimate Flamenco Experience,” a showcase of the signature Spanish art form with an international cast of world-class dancers and musicicans performing live (4/26, Mansbach Auditorium)
•  Calder Quartet — An innovative ensemble named after the innovative American sculptor perform a program celebrating a broad spectrum of string quartets by American composers Samuel Barber, Florence Price, Ben Johnston, and Andrew Norman (5/3)
•  Brooklyn Rider — As close to rock stars as a classical string quartet can get closes out the 85th season of Phillips Music with “Citizenship Notes,” a timely and musically adventurous program ranging from Ludwig van Beethoven, to Bob Dylan, an original twist on the 1978 hit “The Times They Are A-Changin,'” to Franz Haydn, plus three new commissions by Don Byron, Ted Hearne, and Angélica Negrón exploring “questions of citizenship and democracy” in honor of America’s 250th anniversary (5/10)

STRATHMORE

The Music Center
5301 Tuckerman Lane
North Bethesda, Md.
301-581-5100
strathmore.org

• Tord Gustavsen Trio — “Reflective blend of Nordic folk and jazz” (3/29, The Mansion)
•  Charlotte Hu, piano — Classical pianist honors women composers in her recital (4/2, Mansion)
•  U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club — Tin: The Drop That Contained The Sea featuring accompaniment by the Washington Festival Orchestra (4/18)
•  Beyond Earth: A Celestial Odyssey — Conductor Piotr Gajewski leads the world premiere of Henry Dehlinger’s latest cinematic symphonic work, a celebration of space exploration presented in partnership with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The program also includes selections from Dehlinger’s 2023 collaboration with NASA, Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony (5/10)
•  Maryland County Youth Orchestra — “With Heart and Voice” (5/13, 5/17)
•  Strathmore Youth Chorus — “Made in America” (5/22)
•  Renée Fleming — “Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene” (5/27)
•  Andrew Bird — The Nation Philharmonic will accompany Bird to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his album The Mysterious Production of Eggs (6/3-4)

WASHINGTON BACH CONSORT

202-429-2121
bachconsort.org

• Toccatas & Suites: Bach at the Summit — Noted keyboardist Adam Pearl will perform works by the finest 17th-century composers juxtaposed with select keyboard works that J.S. Bach wrote in the following century to give historical perspective and trace the musical evolution from one generation to another (4/10, Live! at 10th & G NW; 4/11, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 228 S. Pitt St., Alexandria)
•  Noontime Cantata Series — Now in its 37th season, this free showcase of Bach’s masterful works for organ is performed by a rotating cast of instrumentalists, with the spring performances featuring organist Jeff Kempskie accompanying four vocal soloists (4/13, St. Mark’s Capitol Hill, 301 A St. SE; 4/14, Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW)

WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA

washnatopera.org

• The Crucible — WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello and WNO Music Director Robert Spano developed this staging of Robert Ward’s Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, based on Arthur Miller’s classic play about the 17th-century Salem witch trials, starring mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges as Elizabeth Proctor and bass-baritone Ryan McKinny as John Proctor (3/29, Lisner)
•  The Old Maid and the Thief — WNO’s Cafritz Young Artists will perform Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera, with more details “coming soon” (4/16, Venue TBA)
•  West Side Story — Zambello heightens the mood and music of the classic Broadway musical from composer Leonard Bernstein and lyricist Stephen Sondheim through her operatic retelling. NOTE: The performances at Strathmore are only “semi-staged [with] singers and dancers in costume, with props, but no set” (5/8-10, Lyric Baltimore, 140 W. Mt. Royal Ave.; 5/14-15, Strathmore)
•  WNO Gala — Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz will be joined by Jamie Bernstein, author and daughter of Leonard Bernstein, in co-hosting this year’s ceremony marking the company’s milestone 70th anniversary and also celebrating the connections between opera and the American musical via the performance of selections from both genres to be performed by the WNO Chorus and Orchestra (5/16, National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW)

WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS

202-785-9727
washingtonperformingarts.org

• Pacifica Quartet with Nina Totenberg — The 4th Annual Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial Recital is billed as “a moving evening of music and storytelling [celebrating] the enduring spirit of American resilience and transformation,” specifically honoring trailblazing women who have shaped the world. The program includes two works co-commissioned by Washington Performing Arts: a tribute to RBG from Jennifer Higdon and a portrait of environmental pioneer Rachel Carson by Gabriela Lena Frank, both blending musical storytelling with narration as performed by the acclaimed quartet with NPR’s Totenberg narrating (4/12, Sixth & I Historic Synagogue)
•  Danish String Quartet with the Danish National Girls’ Choir — Music by Caroline Shaw, Lotta Wennäkoski, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Franz Schubert, and Rune Sørensen plus traditional Nordic songs will be performed by two great Dane music ensembles (4/18, Church of the Epiphany)
•  Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano — A rare full performance of Debussy’s complete Préludes, Books I & II, an “impressionistic masterwork” of 24 evocative miniatures that’ll find the internationally acclaimed pianist conjuring wind and water, myth and memory (4/23, Strathmore)
•  Sarod Trilogy — Indian classical music icon Amjad Ali Khan returns to the stage with his gifted sons and fellow sarod virtuosos, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, for what is touted as “an unforgettable evening of musical mastery, cultural legacy, and intergenerational artistry (5/2, Sixth and I)
•  Vadym Kholodenko, piano — The Van Cliburn Gold Medalist performs the monumental Piano Sonata No. 29, “Hammerklavier” by Beethoven and the darkly lyrical Ukrainian composer Borys Lyatoshinsky’s Three Preludes before concluding with the virtuosic flourish of Liszt’s six Grandes études de Paganini, heralded as “a breathtaking showcase of pianistic brilliance” (5/5, Sixth & I)
•  Julia Hamos, piano — This Hungarian-American artist’s adventurous spirit and compelling artistry informs a varied program including sonatas by Haydn and Mozart, Schumann’s beloved Fantasie in C Major, and selections of works from two of Hungary’s most important composers: Ligeti’s Études and Kurtág’s Játékok (Games) (5/16, Hopkins Bloomberg Center Theater, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW)

WOLF TRAP

Filene Center
1551 Trap Road
Vienna, Va.
877-WOLFTRAP
wolftrap.org

• United States Marine Band — “Blast Off!” to a new season in Wolf Trap’s outdoor amphitheater with the “longest-standing professional music organization in the U.S.,” 225 years and counting, performing a mix of favorite tunes from musicals and marching standards from the Armed Forces’ songbook, with the evening ending in fireworks (5/30)
•  NSO: St. Vincent — Symphonic reinterpretations of both favorites and deep cuts spanning the Grammy-winning art-rock/alt-rock artist’s “kaleidoscopic catalog” will be performed by the lesbian artist herself and the NSO led by Jules Buckley (6/26)
•  NSO at Wolf Trap: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi — Emil de Cou conducts the orchestra in a live performance of John Williams’ iconic Oscar-nominated score while the classic film is projected on giant screens (7/9)
•  NSO: A.R. Rahman — Genre-spanning music from one of the world’s most prolific film composers is on tap when Steven Reineke conducts the NSO in honor of the Grammy- and Oscar-winning Rahman, most famous for his score to Slumdog Millionaire (7/10)
•  NSO at Wolf Trap: Disney’s The Little Mermaid — A screening of the Disney musical classic will be enhanced with live accompaniment of the songs and score by Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman to be performed by the NSO under the baton of Reineke, and also by the audience via sing-alongs (7/11)
•  Wolf Trap Opera: Tosca — Puccini’s visceral story of love, betrayal, and sacrifice is staged as a a “Kay Shouse Great Performance” helmed by directors Tonya and Ryan McKinny and with a cast of established opera veterans plus a few Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artists, singing in Italian with English captions (8/7)
•  NSO at Wolf Trap: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony — NSO Music Director Gianandrea Noseda will lead the orchestra in Beethoven’s colossal masterwork, known as “the symphony by which all others are measured,” with a quartet of soloists from Wolf Trap Opera joining for the “Ode to Joy” grand finale (8/14)
•  NSO at Wolf Trap: American Mosaic — A celebration of American composers and their contributions to film, Broadway, and opera performed by the NSO under Maestro Noseda and centered on composer Peter Boyer’s titular work paired with photo historian Joe Sohm’s stunning imagery from all 50 states. The program also includes excerpts from Bernstein’s West Side Story and Candide and Gershwin’s An American in Paris (8/15)
•  NSO: Jon Batiste — The NSO conducted by Jonathan Taylor Rush will accompany the genre-defying, multi-Grammy Award-winning artist in orchestral spins on tunes from his repertoire (8/21)
•  NSO: Josh Groban — A night of “Hidden Gems” is promised from the classical crossover superstar, including carer-spanning classic covers and original songs, all performed with NSO accompaniment (8/22)
•  NSO: Gregory Alan Isakov — Christopher Dragon conducts the NSO in an evening showcasing tunes from the Johannesburg-born, Colorado-based balladeer (8/26)
•  NSO at Wolf Trap: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone — Revel in a high-definition, big-screen presentation of “the film that started it all” while Reineke conducts the NSO in the John Williams score (8/27)
•  NSO: Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration — The musical legacy of the Grateful Dead is on tap at this show commemorating 60 years of the original jam band as well as its late frontman’s enduring influence, featuring an all-star lineup with members of The Jerry Garcia Band and the guitarist from the tribute act Joe Russo’s Almost Dead among others, and of course the NSO adding symphonic power (9/4)
•  NSO at Wolf Trap: Hook — A 35th anniversary screening of Steven Spielberg’s epic starring Robin Williams as an adult Peter Pan with live accompaniment by the NSO and Maestro de Cou bringing to life the John Williams score (9/5)

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