The Kennedy Center will present a festival titled Music of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna, February 25-March 29.  The theme will be the Classical and Romantic music and culture that originated among the cities along the Danube River and its tributaries.  Mozart, the Strausses, Bartók, and Beethoven strolled the river banks and city streets, “drawing inspiration that changed the course of artistic history.”  
    The Kennedy Center, under the guidance of Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, will explore the themes and currents that emerged from the three great cities.  All of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) concerts in March and many other concerts was well will be part of the Music of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna featival.


    The Kennedy Center will present conductor/pianist Christoph Eschenbach & baritone Matthias Goerne performing Schubert's song cycle Winterreise - 24 songs to poems of Wilhelm Müller - in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on Monday, March 5.   Maestro Eschenbach is a renowned Schubert interpreter. Matthias Goerne is said to have been captivated by the song cycle when he was a small child.

    The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, with bass-baritone Matthias Goerne and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, will perform Music of Bartók in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, March 8-10. 

   The NSO, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, will perform Hungarian Dances in the Concert Hall on Friday, March 9.  The concert will feature works by composers Bartók, Kodály, Liszt, and Brahms and will be performed in German, with English supertitles.

    The NSO, with singers and chorus conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, will perform Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, in the Concert Hall, March 15-17. 

    The NSO, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, will perform Music by the Strauss Family in the Concert Hall on Friday, March 16.  The program will include works by Johann Strauss Jr. and brother Josef, including the overture to Die Fledermaus, in celebration of Vienna.

   The NSO, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, will perform Dvorák’s Stabat Mater in the Concert Hall, March 22-24.  The orchestra will be joined by singers Anne Schwanewilms, Nathalie Stutzmann, Steve Davislim, and Robert Holl. 

   The NSO, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, will perform Music of Dvorák & Janácek in the Concert Hall on Friday, March 23. 

   The Kennedy Center will present conductor/pianist Christoph Eschenbach and violinist Dan Zhu in a performance of Mozart violin sonatas on Monday, March 12 in the Terrace Theater.  The esteemed Beijing violinist performs in North America, Europe, and Asia, and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras around the world.  The concert will be part of the Kennedy Center's The Music of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna festival.

    The Kennedy Center will present the Takács Quartet performing quartets by Schubert and Bartók, plus Beethoven's Opus 131 in the Terrace Theater on Tuesday, March 13.  The concert will be part of The Music of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna festival.  The quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. 

    The Kennedy Center will present Katona József Theatre's Gypsies in the Eisenhower Theater, March 15-17.  The highly-respected company, which is from Hungary, will perform music of Gypsy musicians and Hungarians.  The performance will be part of the Kennedy Center's The Music of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna.

    The Kennedy Center will present Ute Lemper with the Vogler Quartet: Berlin Nights/Paris Days: The Art of Chanson in the Terrace Theater on Monday, March 19.   The Vogler Quartet, with pianist/clarinetist Stefan Malzew, will perform Weimar chansons and the classical works they influenced.  They will perform cabaret music from Berlin and Paris of the 1920s, combining classical repertoire influenced by non-classical elements with popular songs by Weimar composers, including Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler.   The program will include chansons made famous by Edith Piaf as well as songs by Argentina's Astor Piazzolla, Israel's Chava Alberstein, and others. 

    The Kennedy Center will present the Prague Philharmonia in the Eisenhower Theater on Tuesday, March 20.  The 48-member Czech orchestra will perform works by Mozart, Janácek and Vorisek.  

    The Friday Morning Music Club Foundation will present South Korean pianist Yoonjung Han in a solo recital in the Terrace Theater on March 28.   Ms. Han who has studied at The Curtis Institute and Juilliard.  

    The Kennedy Center will the present Prague’s Eben Trio  performing their U.S. debut in the Terrace Theater on Thursday, March 29.  They will perform Dvorák's "Dumki" trio and Smetana's trio plus Fiala’s Trio for violin, cello and piano.  The concert will be part of The Music of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna.  The "Dumki" was Dvorák's farewell gift to his homeland before his departure for America.

    The Duke Ellington School of the Arts will present An Evening with Smokey Robinson in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Saturday, March 3.  

    The Kennedy Center will present Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes: Double Portrait in the Kennedy Center Family Theater on Saturday, March 3.  The husband-and-wife jazz pianists perform two-piano, four-hand duets from their  Blue Note CD Double Portrait.  They will perform selections from the Great American Songbook plus original compositions, and some less-covered jazz standards.

    Jazz Performances will continue at The Kennedy Center on:

February 24:  Vocalist Milton Suggs
February 25:  Pianist Aaron Parks
February 26:  Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Visit www.kennedycenter.org

    The Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) will present trumpeter Chris Botti on Friday, February 17 in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.  Mr. Botti is the best-selling jazz instrumentalist in music and will return after a sold-out Kennedy Center performance last spring.

    WPAS will present violinist Julia Fischer, with pianist Milana Chernyavska, on Saturday, February 18 at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue.  The program will be comprised of works by Beethoven, Ysaÿe and Saint-Saëns..

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     WPAS, in conjunction with the Kennedy Center, will present the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Lorin Maazel on Wednesday, February 29 in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.  The program will be comprised of works by Mozart, Sibelius, and R. Strauss.  

   WPAS will present Herbie Hancock in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Sunday, March 11.

   WPAS will present violinist Vadim Repin at the Music Center at Strathmore on Friday, March 16.  The program will include works by Janáček, Ravel, Chausson and Grieg.  

   WPAS will present The Chieftains with Paddy Moloney in they 50th Anniversary Tour in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Friday, March 16.

     WPAS will present classical tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain and the Masters of Percussion in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Saturday, March 17.  Zakir is “widely considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement.”  He has recorded and performed with George Harrison, Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Henderson, Van Morrison, Airto Moreira, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Cobham, Mark Morris, Rennie Harris, and the Kodo Drummers.

    WPAS will present pianist Murray Perahia in the Music Center at Strathmore on Sunday, March 18.  The concert will include works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and Chopin. 

    WPAS will present Savion Glover in his latest venture, titled Classical Encounter, at the Warner Theatre on Friday & Saturday, March 30 & 31.  The tap dance king created and starred in the Broadway hit Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk and provided “the moves behind the main character of the film Happy Feet.”   In his new program he merges “acoustic syncopations with the smooth sounds of a live band……”

   WPAS will present violinist Mikhail Simonyan and pianist Alexei Podkorytov in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on Saturday, March 31.  The program will feature works by Pärt, Brahms, Prokofiev and Szymanowski.

    The National Philharmonic, conducted by Piotr Gajewski, will perform an All Bach program on Saturday, February 25 at the Music Center at Strathmore.  The program will feature Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos, each of which “display a light side of Bach's extraordinary genius.”  Each of the concertos highlights a different instrumental combination.  The soloists will be Nurit Bar-Josef, violin; David Whiteside, flute; Nicolette Oppelt, flute; Mark Hill, oboe; Chris Gekker, trumpet; Julie Keim, soprano; Magdalena Wor, mezzo-soprano; Robert Breault, tenor and Christopheren Nomura, baritone.

    The National Philharmonic will perform an All Mozart program on Saturday, March 24 in the Music Center at Strathmore.  The program will feature Assistant Conductor Victoria Gau; William VerMeulen, horn; Esther Heideman, soprano; Linda Maguire, mezzo-soprano; John Aler, tenor and Kevin Deas, bass.  The program will include Mozart’s "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" ("A Little Night Music"); the Horn Concerto No. 3, and Mozart's Requiem, which was his final work and left unfinished at his death.

Visit http://nationalphilharmonic.org 

      Maestra Marin Alsop will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in an Off the Cuff performance of Prokofiev's 5th Symphony in the Music Center on Friday, February 24.  She will describe how the landmark symphony “symbolized a turning point in the spirit of his people. With the composer himself on the podium, the first performance of this piece in 1945 occurred just moments after Red Army soldiers achieved victory by crossing the River Vistula and entering Nazi Germany in the final months of World War II.”

    The BSO, conducted by Marin Alsop, will perform Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony at the Music Center on Thursday, March 22.  The program will open with Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, and will continue with Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman and Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto, with percussionist Colin Currie.   

    Strathmore and Maestro Artist Management will present Max Raabe und das Palast Orchester on Thursday, March 1 at the Music Center at Strathmore.  The concert “will embody the high style and musical glory of the Cabaret era during the turbulent Weimar Republic.”  The program will include classics such as “Night and Day,” “Cheek to Cheek,” “I Got Rhythm” and more.  

    Experience Hendrix:  2012 Tribute Tour will be at the Music Center on Tuesday, March 6.  The show will feature an all-star lineup of musical greats paying homage to the Jimi Hendrix.

    Strathmore will present Spirit of Uganda: A Project of Empower African Children at the Music Center on Friday, March 9.  The young troupe includes musicians and dancers, with dramatic choreography and more.  They have been called “Ambassadors for Uganda’s 2.4 million orphans,” as they “personify the promise of Africa’s next generation and raise funds to support themselves and others displaced in their homeland.”

 The United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” will perform their 90th Anniversary Concesrt at the Strathmore General Admissions Center on Sunday, March 11.   The band, under the direction of COL Thomas H. Palmatier, 9th Leader and Commander, will present a performance celebrating its place in history as the “Band of the Chief of Staff of the Army,” and its role as the premier musical organization of the US Army. 
    The band was founded in 1922 by order of General of the Army John J. “Black Jack” Pershing (then Army Chief of Staff).  The concert will feature performances by many of the unit’s distinct musical elements, plus historical highlights.

   Strathmore will present Reel Around the Shamrock with Eileen Ivers in the Music Center on Thursday, March 15.  It’s a St. Patrick's Day Celebration featuring the Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance with Brendan Mulvihill and Billy McComiskey.  Violinist Eileen Ivers and her band Immigrant Soul, with and a host of gifted guests will provide “a jig-worthy party on stage at Strathmore!”

     Strathmore will present Ethan Bortnick and His Musical Time Machine in the Music Center on Friday, March 23.  Ethan learned to play the piano at the age of three, and is now ten!  He’s appeared in major concert halls, on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Good Morning America.   The musical prodigy will perform classics from Bach to The Beatles, Billy Joel, Little Richard, and more.  He will also share showbiz stories from his own pre-teen perspective during his interactive show! 

     Strathmore will present Red Star Red Army Chorus and Dance Ensemble in the Music Center on Wednesday, March 28.  The company of seventy performers includes singers, dancers and musicians.  They perform music of old Russia, including folk tunes and military music and dance.

    Strathmore will present vocalist Patti LaBelle at the Music Center on Saturday, March 30 & 31.  The two-time Grammy winning superstar will perform pop tunes, jazz standards, blues anthems and spirituals.

    The Mansion at Strathmore will host performances on:

February 22:     Artist in Residence: ellen cherry, singer-songwriter
February 23:    Narek Hakhnazaryan, cello & Noreen Cassidy-Polera, piano
February 24:    Friday Night Eclectic: Junkyard Saints
February 29:    Artist in Residence, Connaitre Miller, jazz vocalist 

March 4:           Ben Beilman, violinist 
March 7 & 28: Artist in Residence: Nate Foley, soul electric guitar
March 8:           Michael Thomas Quintet
March 9:           Stone Kawala with Burnett Benardo Jazz Trio and Spit Hot Fire
March 11:         Paul Galbraith, guitar
March 16:         Friday Night Eclectic: St. Patrick's Day A Capella Celebration
March 22:         Brasil Guitar Duo
March 23:         Friday Night Eclectic: Primitivity
March 28:         Artist in Residence: Nate Foley, soul electric guitar
March 30:         Friday Night Eclectic: Elikeh

Visit www.Strathmore.org

    Washington National Cathedral will present Organ Recitals on Sundays:

March 4:           Guest organist David Brock from Zephyr Cove, NV
March 18:         Guest organist Stewart Scharch from Oakland, CA
March 25:         Guest organist Eric Plutz from Princeton, NJ

April 8:              Cathedral organist Jeremy Filsell 
April 15:            Guest organist David Chalmers from Orleans, MA
April 22:            Guest organist Gerhard Weinberger from Germany
April 29:            Guest organist Andre Rakus from Mississauga, Ontario

May 6:               Guest organist Thomas Dahl from Hamburg, Germany
May 20:             Guest organist Gary Desmond from Bristol, England
May 27:             Guest organist Louis Perazza from New Hope, PA

Visit www.nationalcathedral.org/arts/organRecitals.shtml

    The Washington Bach Consort, under the direction of J. Reilly Lewis, will perform concerts at the National Presbyterian Church in Northwest DC on Sundays, March 25 & April 29. The concerts will have the theme of The Art of the Fugue and will feature Johann Sebastian Bach's Die Kunst der Fugue, BWV 1080.  In this rare performance of the complete work, audiences will hear the fugue in different ensemble groupings including string ensemble, harpsichord and organ.
    Each subscription concert is preceded by an hour lecture by Bach scholar Michael Marissen, Professor of Music at Swarthmore College.

Visit www.bachconsort.org

    The Washington Bach Consort’s free Noontime Cantata Concert Series features fifty-minute concerts presented on the first Tuesday of the month: October-December and March-May.   In an introductory talk, J. Reilly Lewis shares his enthusiasm and love for the music before presenting an organ work and one of Bach's cantatas performed by both chorus and period instrument orchestra.  
   The series will continue at the Church of the Epiphany on March 6.

Visit www.bachconsort.org/cantatas.php 

    The Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic Association, conducted by Ulysses S. James, and soloists from NOVA Community Chorus, will perform concerts at the Church of the Epiphany in Northwest DC on Saturday, March 31 and at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, VA on Sunday, April 1.  The programs will be comprised of works by Claude Debussy, Frederick Delius, Charles Bestor and Gustav Holst, featuring Marc Ramirez & Olivia Hajioff. 

Visit http://wmpamusic.org/html/performances/phil.html

    Dumbarton Concerts will present the Amerigo String Trio in a concert titled Serenade on March 17 at historic Dumbarton Church in Georgetown.   The ensemble is “the most recent major string trio to emerge in the world of chamber music,” and they will be making their Washington debut.  The trio was formed by New York Philharmonic Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow with cellist Inbal Segev and violist Karen Dreyfus.  They will perform two of the best-loved pieces written for string trio - the Beethoven and Dohnanyi Serenades.

Visit https://dumbartonconcerts.org/tickets/season.html#march

     José Ramos-Santana and Michael Adcock will perform masterworks of the four-hands piano repertoire –  - music for one piano, two performers –at Westmoreland Congregational UCC Church in Bethesda on Saturday, March 31.  Both pianists have won major piano competitions.  They will perform Schubert’'s Fantasie in f minor, Op. 103, Brahms’’ Sixteen Waltzes, Op. 39, Chabrier’s España, and excerpts from Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite” (Ma Mère l’Oye). 
    Mr. Adcock is a faculty member of the Washington Conservatory, and Mr. Ramos-Santana, who is a native of Puerto Rico is a faculty member at Catholic University, and a former faculty member at the Washington Conservatory of Music.
Visit www.washingtonconservatory.org

Visit http://leftbankconcertsociety.org/concerts

   The Embassy Series will present violinist Ray Chen and pianist Julio Elizalde at the Embassy of Australia on Friday, March 16.  Mr. Chen won the Queen Elisabeth Competition (2009) and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition (2008). 

    The Embassy Series will present violinist Bella Hristova and pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute a the Embassy of Bulgaria on Friday, March 23.   Ms. Hristova won first prize in the 2008-09 Young Concert Artists International Auditions.  Her program will include works by Schumann, Tower, Janáček, and Brahms.

Visit http://www.embassyseries.com/

    The PostClassical Ensemble, conducted by Angel Gil-Ordóñez, and bass trombonist David Taylor  will perform Schubert Uncorked on Saturday, March 31 at Georgetown University's Gaston Hall.  The concert will feature the world premiere of Franz Schubert/David Taylor: Arpeggione Concerto, plus the world premiere of Franz Schubert/David Taylor: Three Songs for bass trombone and strings, Der Doppelgänger, Die Stadt, Der Leiermann.

Visit http://postclassical.com/category/events/schubert-uncorked?utm_source=PostClassical+Ensemble&utm_campaign=85369a09f0-New_PCE_E_blast_TEST_110811_212_8_2011&utm_medium=email

      Dumbarton Concerts will present Brooklyn Rider, a string quartet comprised of Johnny Gandelsman, violin; Colin Jacobsen, violin; Nicholas Cords, viola; and Eric Jacobsen, cello at Dumbarton Church in Georgetown on Saturday, February 25.  Their program will include Beethoven’s Quartet No. 14 in c-sharp minor, The Suite from Bent for String Quartet by Philip Glass, Culai by Ljova and one of their own compositions.  The quartet has been acclaimed by classical, world and rock critics.  They interpret existing quartet literature and also create new works.  They have a long association with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble.

Visit http://dumbartonconcerts.org/ 

   Bach Sinfonia will present You Decide: Bach's Audition at Leipzig on Saturday, March 31.  The program will feature works by three competitors for the position of Cantor of Leipzig in 1722:  J.S. Bach, Georg Kauffman and Johann Graupner.  The Leipzig Town Council held auditions to fill the post, and. Johann Christoph Graupner won the audition.    However, Bach received the appointment because Graupner's employer would not release him.
    After hearing the audition catatas by the three composers, the audience can decide if the Town Council made the right decision.   Votes will be tallied to determine “who you feel should have received this coveted position.”
   The soloists will be Céline Ricci, soprano, Charles Humphries, alto, Craig Lemming, tenor and Phillip Collister, bass

Visit http://www.bachsinfonia.org/concert3.shtml

    The Alexandria Symphony (ASO), conducted by Kim Allen Kluge, with violinist Midori, will perform a concert titled A Magical Spell at the Schlesinger Center Concert Hall in Alexandria, VA  on March 31 & April 1.  The program will feature works by Mendelssohn, Stravinsky and Kluge. 
    The ASO is one of two recipients for Midori’s Orchestra Residencies program in 2012.  She will spend the week leading up to her performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto doing outreach in the school district of Alexandria. The concerts will also feature a performance of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.

Visit www.alexsym.org

    The Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Artistic Director Sylvia Alimena, will present a concert at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria on Sunday, February 26.   Vaughan Williams’ Oboe Concerto in A Minor will be performed, featuring Nick Stovall, oboe.  The concert will also include works by Arthur Honneger, Jean Françaix, and Truman Harris.

Visit http://www.eclipseco.org/

    The Washington Women's Chorus will have their Annual Gala and Silent Auction at the McLean, Virginia Community Center on Saturday, March 10.  Friends and supporters of the chorus will hear favorites from Broadway and beyond in a concert titled Wine, Women, and Song.

Visit http://www.washingtonwomenschorus.org/currentseason.html

    The Virginia Bronze Community Handbell Ensemble will perform a concert on March 25 at George Washington's Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, VA.  The program will “explore the wide variety of ballet music from the 20th century-- on handbells!” Composers whose works will be featured include Gershwin, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Glass.

Visit http://www.vabronze.org/

    The Inclusive Theatre Companies of Artstream will debut two musical plays at Gunston Arts Center, March 15-24.  The two one-acts will feature family-friendly trips to outer space.  The plays are Star Corps IV: The Search for Mind Zap and Oh My, An Invasion!  Star Corps IV will be directed and choreographed by ArtStream executive director, Patricia Woolsey, with music and lyrics by Daniel Villar. 
     Oh My, An Invasion! will be directed by John Newman, with music by Daniel Villar, lyrics by George Tilson and choreography by Elizabeth Cronin. 
     ArtStream is a DC-area non-profit that offers meaningful artistic experiences to individuals and groups with disabilities. 

Visit  www.art-stream.org/inclusive-general

    The National Concert Band of America will will perform on:
 
April 22:         Southern High School in Harwood, MD
May 20:          Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA

Visit http://www.nationalconcertband.org/



 


National Gallery of Art concerts will continue on:

February 26: Roger Wright, pianist - Debussy: Masques
March 4:  Pascal and Ami Rogé, duo-pianists
March 11:  Carmen Balthrop, soprano & José Cáceres, pianist
March 18:  Cyrus Forough, violinist & Stephen Ackert, pianist
March 19:  Westminster Schools Orchestra
March 25:  Meri Siirala, soprano & Danielle Hahn, pianist
March 31:  Taikoza  - Japanese music for traditional drums 

April 1:  Family Activity: Anraku-Miyata Duo
April 4:  Ayano Ninomiya, violinist & Timothy Lovelace, pianist
April 11:  Jack String Quartet
April 13:  Yoko Owada, flutist & Michael Langlois, pianist
April 15:  Family Activity: Billy Fox and the Kitsune Ensemble
April 20:  Claire Huangci, pianist
April 22:  National Gallery of Art Orchestra  Chosei Komatsu, guest conductor  Charles Wetherbee, violinist
April 25:  Robert Henry and Yoshikazu Nagai, pianists
April 29:  Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo  - Thierry Fischer, conductor & Yu Kosuge, pianist

Visit www.nga.gov/programs/music

     The Phillips Collection Sunday Concerts will continue on: 

February 26:     Cellist Jonah Kim

March 4:            Pianist Liudmila Georgievskaya
March 11:          Pianist Steven Osborne
March 18:          Verdehr Trio
March 25:          Pianist Roman Rabinovich

Visit www.phillipscollection.org/programs/music/index.aspx