August 4, 2002 Library of Congress Announces 2002-2003 Concert Season

Gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues, folk and popular music, as well as classical music and American musical theater offerings are on the schedule for this season's "Concerts from the Library of Congress" program. The series begins September 27 with a performance by Gospel Music Hall of Fame honoree and multiple Grammy Award winner Shirley Caesar and her ensemble.

A celebration of the Juilliard String Quartet's 40th anniversary as the Library's quartet-in-residence is a major focus of the 2002-2003 season, with a world premiere of work commissioned by the Library, master classes and guest artists. Other highlights include centennial tributes to two icons of American entertainment, Bob Hope and Richard Rodgers.

A special feature of this year's series is three pre-season concerts, "Summon the Heroes," in commemoration of September 11, 2001. Folk singer and songwriter Tom Paxton, the Virginia Grand Military Band along with the Library of Congress Chorale, and New York songwriter Suzanne Vega and fellow members of the Greenwich Village Songwriter's Exchange will perform on Sept. 10, 12 and 13.

Gathering artists from the American heartland, the series spotlights two past winners of the National Heritage Fellowship Award, blues pianist Pinetop Perkins and "conjunto" accordionist Santiago Jimenez Jr., a major figure in Tex-Mex border music. These two concerts are co-produced by the Library's American Folklife Center as part of their "Homegrown: The Music of America" concert series in cooperation with the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage and the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.

"I Hear America Singing"

"I Hear America Singing" is the general rubric for the Library's musical offerings, reflecting the broad sweep of American musical experience - from colonial times to the 21st century. It is also the theme for a future Web site that will provide access to the Library's unsurpassed musical treasures through a database of recordings, reproductions of manuscripts and printed music, moving and still images, and educational programs. The site opens doors to the nation's musical legacy that embraces a vast range of American musical expression--from gospel, rhythm and blues and Celtic music to bluegrass, country, klezmer and rock and roll.

Season Highlights

In honor of the Juilliard Quartet's history as a formidable champion of new American music, a series of anniversary programs pairs works by American masters - Elliott Carter, Gunther Schuller, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Milton Babbitt, and others - with the complete cycle of 16 string quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven, scheduled to be performed over a two-year period. Four distinguished American scholars, Charles Rosen, Lewis Lockwood, Pozzi Escot and Robert Cogan, will offer lectures and pre-concert presentations in the coming season; also scheduled in conjunction with the celebration are master classes, open rehearsals, broadcasts and a commemorative recording.

To mark the milestone 40th anniversary of the Juilliard's tenure at the Library, the Irving Fine Fund in the Library of Congress has commissioned Richard Wernick to write a work for string quartet and horn, to be premiered by the Juilliard Quartet and William Purvis in May 2003. Clarinetist Charles Neidich, cellist Marcy Rosen and pianist Gil Kalish will also appear as guest artists with the Juilliard Quartet during the 2002-2003 season.

All Library of Congress concerts and other public programs are presented free of charge to the public, but they require tickets for admission. No tickets are required for noontime events in this series, which are offered on the Jefferson Building's Neptune Plaza or in the Coolidge Auditorium.

Tickets are distributed by TicketMaster, telephone (301) 808-6900, (410) 752-1200; for out-of-state residents, (800) 551-7328. Each ticket carries a nominal service charge of $2, with additional charges for phone orders and handling. Tickets are also available at TicketMaster outlets; for a complete list, visit the TicketMaster site, www.ticketmaster.com. Although the supply of tickets may be exhausted, there are often empty seats at concert time. Interested patrons are encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to wait in the standby line for no-show tickets.

All concerts will be held in the Coolidge Auditorium, located on the ground floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., at 8 p.m., unless otherwise noted. For further information about "Concerts from the Library of Congress," call the Concert Information Line, at (202) 707-5502, or visit the Web site at www.loc.gov/concerts.

CONCERTS FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
2002-2003 Season

(Programs subject to change without notice; all concerts require tickets and take place in the Jefferson Building's Coolidge Auditorium, at 8 p.m., unless otherwise noted)

Sept. 10, 2002
"Summon the Heroes" -- Tom Paxton, folk singer/songwriter*
Recipient of the ASCAP Foundation 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award in Folk Music, author of such classics as "I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound," "Under American Skies," "Peace will come, and let it begin with me," and "The Bravest" - a tribute to the heroes of the New York police and fire departments who died on September 11, 2001.
Noon, Neptune Plaza (no tickets required)

Sept. 12, 2002
"Summon the Heroes" -- Virginia Grand Military Band
Library of Congress music specialist Loras Schissel conducts the Virginia Grand Military Band in a program of American band music, including Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever" and "Summon the Heroes" by John Williams. Geoffrey Simon directs the Library of Congress Chorale in the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"and Stravinsky's choral arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Noon, Coolidge Auditorium (no tickets required)

Sept. 13, 2002
"Summon the Heroes" -- Suzanne Vega and Friends
New York songwriter Suzanne Vega and fellow members of the Greenwich Village Songwriter's Exchange feature their songs from the Vigil Project, a collection honoring the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Included is her own "It Hit Home"- a song expressing "feelings, thoughts and observations from someone trying to make sense out of something seemingly senseless."
Tickets available Aug. 21

Sept. 27, 2002
Shirley Caesar and ensemble*
Inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2000 and recognized by President George W. Bush at the White House as a Black Music Month's Legend Honoree in May 2001, Caesar is one of a handful of singers who share the legacy of the legendary Mahalia Jackson and other revered artists of gospel music.

Sept. 28, 2002
Gospel Symposium and Dixie Hummingbirds*
One of the greatest Southern gospel quartets, the Hummingbirds have been performing continuously for more than 70 years and have been an important influence on pop artists, from the Temptations and James Brown to Stevie Wonder and Shirley Caesar.
1:30 p.m.- 4:30 p.m., Coolidge Auditorium (no tickets required)

Oct. 4, 2002
Santiago Jimenez Jr.*
Recipient of the National Heritage Fellowship Award in 2000, Jimenez is a singer and accordion virtuoso of the first rank who plays in the traditional style of "conjunto"- the accordion-based musical tradition that originated in south Texas in the 1950s.
Noon, Neptune Plaza (no tickets required)

Oct. 18, 2002
Los Angeles Piano Quartet
Harbison: November 19, 1828 (1988)
Turina: Piano Quartet in A Minor, op. 67
Fauré: Piano Quartet in C Minor, op. 15

Oct. 30, 2002
Founder's Day Concert -- Kristjan Järvi's Absolute
Playing music of classical and jazz masters, rock arrangements and contemporary music, this electro-acoustic band challenges the rigid perceptions of what constitutes "serious music." The concert celebrates the birth anniversary of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, founder of the Library's chamber music concert series. Absolute performs music by Stravinsky, Michael Daugherty, Jimi Hendrix, Richard Strauss and James Brown, as well as new works by the Absolute members.

Nov. 7, 2002
Pinetop Perkins with Bob Margolin Blues Band and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith*
Recipient of the 1999 National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Award for Traditonal Artist, the legendary piano icon, now in his late eighties, is possibly the last of the great boogie and blues piano men whose style of playing has influenced three generations of performers.
Noon, Coolidge Auditorium (no tickets required)

Nov. 15, 2002
Brentano String Quartet
"Contrapuncti" from J.S. Bach's "Art of Fugue" is performed, along with short companion pieces commissioned from a diverse group of living American composers including Steven Mackey, Wynton Marsalis and Charles Wuorinen.
Tickets available Oct. 2

Nov. 21, 2002
Rodgers Rarities, Aaron Gandy, Music Director
Sylvia McNair headlines an evening of distinguished performers hosted by Ted Chapin that showcases unknown and lesser-known songs in the Library's Richard Rodgers Collection. Visit the collection at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu002002.3. (PDF)
Tickets available Oct. 9

Dec. 2, 2002
New York Festival Of Song, Michael Barrett and Steven Blier, Artistic Directors
America's "Killer B" composers, Samuel Barber, Amy Beach, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, William Bolcom and Paul Bowles, wrote songs full of the hopes, joys and struggles of 20th-century Americans - from the working class stiff to the patrician blue blood - reminders of how much this country has to sing about.
Tickets available Oct. 23

Dec. 18, 2002
Juilliard String Quartet with the Avalon Quartet
Beethoven Cycle (Part1): String Quartet, op. 18, no.1
Seeger: String Quartet
Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat Major, op. 20
Tickets available Nov. 6

2003

Feb. 12, 2003
Juilliard String Quartet with Gilbert Kalish, Piano
Beethoven: String Quartet, Hess 34 (arr. of op. 14 Piano Sonata)
Shapey: "Millennium Designs" for Violin and Piano (McKim commission)
Beethoven cycle (Part I): String Quartet op. 18, no. 3
Pre-concert lecture: Pozzi Escot and Robert Cogan, New England Conservatory, 6:30 p.m., Whittall Pavilion
Tickets available Jan. 8, 2003

Feb. 14, 2003
Juilliard String Quartet
Shapey: Quartet no. 10 ("Quartet d'Amore") (Washington premiere)
Beethoven cycle (Part I): String Quartets op. 18, nos. 2 & 4
Tickets available Jan. 8, 2003

Feb. 21, 2003
Mozartean Players with Judith Malafronte, Mezzo-Soprano
An evening of keyboard trios by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven played on period instruments; also, Mozart lieder and selected Scottish songs by Haydn and Beethoven, including "The Glancing of Her Apron" and "Oh! Thou Art the Lad of My Heart, Willy."
Tickets available Jan. 15, 2003

Feb. 26, 2003
Juilliard String Quartet
Schuller: Duologue for violin and piano (McKim commission)
Beethoven cycle (Part I): String Quartets, op. 18, nos. 5 & 6
Tickets available Jan. 15, 2003

Feb. 28, 2003
Juilliard String Quartet
Schuller: Quartet no. 4 (Washington premiere)
Beethoven cycle (Part I): String Quartets, op. 59, nos. 1 & 2
Tickets available Jan. 15, 2003

March 15, 2003
Phyllis Bryn-Julson and Southwest Chamber Music
The Washington premiere of Richard Felciano's "An American Decameron," a song cycle based on "Working" and "Coming of Age" by Studs Terkel
Tickets available Jan. 29, 2003

March 21, 2003
Trio Fontenay
Beethoven: Piano Trio in E-flat Major, op. 1 no. 1
Ives: Piano Trio (1911)
Dvorák: Piano Trio in F Minor, op. 65
Tickets available Jan. 15, 2003

March 28, 2003
Jewels and Orioles
Doo-wop legends the Jewels ("Opportunity") and the Orioles ("It's Too Soon to Know") have delighted audiences for more than four decades with their spirited stylings.
Noon, Coolidge Auditorium

April 3, 2003
Piffaro, The Renaissance Band
The elegant sounds of the official, professional wind bands of the late Medieval and Renaissance periods, as well as the rustic entertainments of the peasantry, are performed on period instruments shawms, sackbuts, dulcians, recorders, krumhorns, bagpipes, lutes, guitars and percussion.
Tickets available Feb. 19, 2003

April 4, 2003
Kansas City Chorale
A program of American choral repertoire including traditional Shaker and Sacred Harp songs, works of William Billings and Stephen Foster, Randall Thompson's "Alleluia," and new works by Libby Larsen, Stephen Paulus and other living American composers.
Tickets available Feb. 19, 2003

April 10-11, 2003
Beaux Arts Trio
Beethoven: Piano Trio in E-flat Major, op. 70, no. 2
Liebermann: Piano Trio no. 2, op. 77
McKim piece, TBA
Tickets available Feb. 26, 2003

April 23, 2003
Davitt Moroney, Harpsichord
Presented under the auspices of the Mae and Irving Jurow Fund
J.S. Bach: The Six French Suites, BWV 812-817
Tickets available March 12, 2003

April 30, 2003
Juilliard String Quartet with William Purvis, French Horn
Commissioned by the Verna and Irving Fine Fund in the Library of Congress
Beethoven cycle (Part 1): String Quartets op. 74 & op. 59, no. 3
Wernick: Horn Quintet (World premiere)
Tickets available March 19, 2003

May 1, 2003
Lecture-demonstration with Beethoven scholar Lewis Lockwood and the Juilliard String Quartet
7:30 p.m, Coolidge Auditorium (no tickets required)

May 2, 2003
Juilliard String Quartet
Carter: String Quartet no. 5
Beethoven cycle (Part 1): String Quartets op. 95 & 127
Tickets available March 19, 2003

May 3, 2003
Turtle Island String Quartet
Formed in 1986, this group (its name is derived from Native American mythology) has been a singular force in the creation of bold, new trends in chamber music for strings that fuse the classical quartet esthetic with 20th century American popular styles including jazz, Hendrix, Zappa, rhythm and blues and bluegrass.
Tickets available March 19, 2003

May 9, 2003
James Carter's "Chasin' the Gypsy Band"
James Carter caused a sensation in the mid-90s with his high-powered free jazz style that ranges from the "slap tongue staccato" of the tenors of the early 1920s and Dixieland to swing, bop, fifties' rhythm and blues and funk - creating a unique sound that causes jazz purists to wince and lovers of its spirit to rejoice.
Tickets available March 26, 2003

May 10, 2003
Ying String Quartet
This remarkable foursome of siblings offers works by Haydn and Dvorák, and a sampling of pieces by Chen Yi, Tan Dun, and Bright Sheng.
Tickets available March 26, 2003

May 29, 2003
Bob Hope Centennial Symposium/Concert
An evening of performances and reminiscences in honor of the 100th birthday of the legendary entertainer.
Tickets available April 16, 2003

May 30, 2003
Vaudeville 2003
In honor of Bob Hope's roots, the Library of Congress Coolidge Auditorium will be home to a full-fledged vaudeville show. The program features an evening's entertainment inspired by vaudeville's golden age.
Tickets available April 16, 2003

* Concerts presented as part of "Homegrown: The Music of America," co-produced by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage and the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.