Event | Special Events Live! At The Library Featuring NY Andalus Ensemble

The Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building is open for extended hours every Thursday evening from 5 to 8 p.m. Visitors are invited to enjoy happy hour snacks and drinks available for purchase in the Great Hall while immersing themselves in the Library’s exhibits, collections and programs. The series will regularly feature special conversations, music, performances, films and displays that showcase the broad range of holdings at the national library.

During Live! At The Library, we also welcome visitors to experience the Library’s grand Main Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building. Usually reserved for credentialed researchers, this access offers visitors a glimpse inside one of Washington’s most beautiful spaces. Visitors may access the Main Reading Room on the First Floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building each Thursday beginning at 5 p.m.

Visitors to the Main Reading Room are encouraged to be mindful that it is a working research space and that the experience is one of quiet reflection. Visitors will be permitted to take photos of the space but may not photograph researchers at work. Bags and coats are not permitted on the floor of the Main Reading Room.

Join NY Andalus Ensemble for a unique musical journey highlighting the vibrant intercultural tapestry of Hebraic and Islamic traditions from Spain and North Africa, developed over centuries. Interweaving songs in Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, and Ladino, the Ensemble will present a dynamic and evocative performance celebrating mutual inspiration and shared cultural heritage. This café concert will bring to life the poetry and highly-structured, yet surprisingly improvised melodic modes (maqams/ nubah) discussed within the collections of the Library, transforming the Great Hall with the echoes of Andalus.

In conjunction with the concert, renowned musicologist, Dr. Edwin Seroussi will present a talk exploring the Library’s Abraham Pinto collection and the preservation of the sound of early 20^th century Jewish Morocco (Required tickets for the lecture can be reserved here).

This program is made possible through the generous support of the Lilly Endowment, Inc.