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2009-2010 Schedule of Events and Performances

Season-at-a-Glance   2009: October | November | December   2010: January | February | March | April | May

All concerts are free but most require tickets (see ticket information and dates when tickets are available for each concert). All programs and dates are subject to change without notice. Please check this page for the most up-to-date information. Request ASL and ADL accommodations five days in advance at 202-707-6362 or [email protected].

Free noontime Folklife Concerts take place on September 16, October 7, and November 18 (please see Folklife Concerts page for information about each event).

OCTOBER 2009

Mendelssohn's draft of his Piano Trio no. 1, which he revised before publication, receives its first public performance by a trio of virtuoso soloists.

MENDELSSOHN: Cello Sonata no. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 45
ADAMS: Road Movies (McKim commission)
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Trio no. 1 in D minor, Op. 49

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Ron Regev talks about the draft and published versions of Mendelssohn's First Piano Trio.

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

Location: Mumford Room, 6th Floor, James Madison Building
The country rock pioneer and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member talks about the craft of the songwriter and his four-decade career—now coming full circle to the bluegrass of his California roots—that conjured an American era: The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and the Desert Rose Band.

(Part of “Insights: Exploring the Collections”)

Presented in cooperation with the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Winner of the Concert Artists Guild and the Kuhmo, London, and Bordeaux International Chamber competitions, the Carducci Quartet belongs to the cream of young chamber groups in Great Britain.

HAYDN: Quartet in E-flat Major, op. 33, no. 2 (“Joke”)
MOERAN: Quartet no. 2 in E-flat Major
BEETHOVEN: Quartet in C Major, op. 59, no. 3 (“Razumovsky”)

** CANCELLED **
6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Beethoven’s Deafness: A Medical Mystery” - Charles J. Limb, M.D.
(Part of “Music and the Brain II”) -- We regretfully announce the cancellation of the October 16th Music and the Brain lecture by Charles Limb, "Beethoven's Deafness: A Medical Mystery." The lecture is being cancelled due to the speaker's illness and will be rescheduled for spring 2010.

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

A special evening featuring period-instrument performances of the autograph score of Mendelssohn’s masterly Octet and Spohr’s Double String Quartet no. 3, op. 87.

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Preconcert presentation: Musicologist Clive Brown, University of Leeds professor, talks about the connections between Louis Spohr and Felix Mendelssohn.

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets

ONE MINUTE MORE
60 films, 60 composers, 60 seconds each—a fascinating multimedia presentation by the Paris-based Livingston who recruited a team of Dutch filmmakers and composers from all over the world. Critical raves from Le Monde to Wall Street Journal to Sports Illustrated.

6:15 pm - Congressional Members Room (view map) (no tickets required)
Preconcert presentation: Wednesday is Indigo Blue: Discovering Brain Synesthesia, Richard E. Cytowic, M.D. (Part of “Music and the Brain II”)

Post-concert discussion: A conversation with pianist Guy Livingston focusing on the creation of One Minute More—aspects of mental velocity and versatility and the perception of speed and tempo.

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NOVEMBER 2009

Steeped in the Czech string quartet tradition, this young ensemble received top prizes in the Banff, London, and  Prague Spring international competitions.

MOZART: Quartet in C Major, K. 465 ("Dissonance")
KALABIS: String Quartet no. 7
ZEMLINSKY: String Quartet no. 1 in A Major, op. 4

6:15 pm – Coolidge Auditorium (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Trance Formation: Music, Trance, Religious Experience, and the Brain,” Robert Sylvan, M.D.
(Part of “Music and the Brain II”)

The Warsaw foursome, described as “a phenomenon in the Polish chamber music scene,” has been honored with the Szymanowski Award by the Karol Szymanowski Foundation, the first ever string quartet to receive it.

HAYDN: Quartet in C Major, op. 76, no. 3 (“Emperor”)
SZYMANOWSKI: String Quartet no. 2
MENDELSSOHN: Quartet in D Major, op. 44, no. 1

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Dangerous Music III–Suckers, Firestarters, and Cultural Anarchists, Oh My!” - Jessica Crash, D.M.A. and Norman Middleton. M.M. (Part of “Music and the Brain II”)

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

Strikingly original music by the renowned kamancheh (spike fiddle) player/composer and an adventurous young quartet—collaborators in Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project.

Persian Traditional: Ascending Bird - arr. Colin Jacobsen/Siamak Aghaei
Vartabed Komitas: Armenian Folk Songs
Colin Jacobsen: Beloved, Do Not Let Me Be Discouraged
Kalhor: Silent City - arr. Ljova
Colin Jacobsen: Brooklesca

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “States of Mind: Music in Islamic Sufi Rituals,” Taoufiq ben Amor, Ph.D.
(Part of “Music and the Brain II”)

One of Austria’s leading ensembles and two eminent Glasgow-born singers celebrate Haydn and the Scottish poet Robert Burns.

JOSEPH HAYDN: SCOTTISH SONGS PROJECT

HAYDN: Trio in C Major, Hob:XV:27
HAYDN: Scottish Songs for George Thomson
SCHIFRIN: Elegy and Meditation (U.S. premiere)
HAYDN: Trio in E-flat Major, Hob.XV:29

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Rattling Roaring Willy!: the Scottish Songs of Joseph Haydn,” Norman Middleton, M.M.

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DECEMBER 2009

Considered one of the world-class chamber ensembles of its generation, the St. Lawrence String Quartet performs new American music by two prize-winning composers.

HAYDN: String Quartet in C Major, op. 54, no. 2   
JOHN ADAMS: String Quartet (Washington premiere)
EZEQUIEL VIÑAO: String Quartet (World premiere - Library of Congress commission)

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Making Music Changes Brains,” Gottfried Schlaug, M.D., Ph.D.
(Part of “Music and the Brain II” )

The members of this ensemble, one of the few professional string trios in existence today, are distinguished soloists and regular guests at major recital halls and international music festivals.

DOHNANYI: Serenade in C Major for String Trio, op. 10
ROCHBERG: Sonata for violin and piano (McKim commission)
BEETHOVEN: String Trio no. 1 in G Major, op. 9

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: In observance of Ernest Bloch’s 50th death anniversary, Roberto Diaz and pianist Andrew Tyson perform the composer’s Suite for Viola and Piano, commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge.

An exciting up-and-coming young group from Boston plays a program of works inspired by nature.

HAYDN: Quartet in C Major, op. 20, no. 2
DUTILLEUX: Ainsi la nuit (Koussevitzky commission)
BEETHOVEN: Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 127

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Yung Chin, one of America’s most respected makers of fine bows, leads a discussion about the Pernambuco tree, for centuries the wood of choice for the finest bows.

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JANUARY 2010

Since the farewell concerts of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio which he co-founded, the inimitable pianist and master pedagogue has started an ongoing series of collaborations with musical colleagues of international renown.  Featured are two piano quartets in E-flat Major, Mozart’s K. 493 and Dvořák’s op. 87.

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Music, Memories, and the Brain,” Petr Janata, Ph.D. (Part of “Music and the Brain II”)

THE RHEINGOLD CURSE: A Germanic Saga of Greed and Revenge
Archetypal characters in the 13th-century Icelandic Edda—the earliest version of the Nibelungen Saga—appear centuries later in Wagner’s Ring cycle. Sung in Old Norse with supertitles and visual projections.

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “The Icelandic Edda: Myth and the Mind, Wagner, Tolkien, and Beyond,” Hjálmar W. Hannesson, Ambassador of Iceland; Alexander Stein, Ph.D.; Donald Crosby; and Taru Spiegel, Ph.D. (Part of “Music and the Brain II”)

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FEBRUARY 2010

AMERICAN DREAMS
Vocal and instrumental music by American composers including Barber, Copland, Billie Holiday, Griffin, Hovhaness, Malvina Reynolds, Joan Szymko, Patricia  Van Ness, and others.

(Part of “America Sings in the Nation’s Capital” )

 

HANDEL IN ITALY
The acclaimed period instrument ensemble from Paris provides an evening of music that would have been performed in the sumptuous gardens of  Palazzo Ruspoli in Rome—cantatas and instrumental music by A. Scarlatti, Caldara and il caro sassone, the young Handel.

Presented in cooperation with the Embassy of France/Maison Francaise.

Resident ensemble at the Vienna Musikverein, the Altenberg Trio—recipient of the Robert Schumann Award for its recording of the complete piano trios—in the first of four concerts celebrating Schumann’s 200th birth anniversary.

RACHMANINOV: Trio élegiaque no. 1 in G minor                   
DVOŘÁK: Trio no. 1 in B-flat Major, op, 21
MARTIN: Trio sur des mélodies populaires irlandaises
SCHUMANN: Trio no. 1 in D minor, op. 63

6:15 pm – LJ-119 (1st floor, Jefferson Building) (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Why Do Listeners Enjoy Music That Makes Them Weep?” - David Huron, Ph.D.
(Part of “Music and the Brain II”)

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

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MARCH 2010

A public presentation by composers Steve Antosca and Roger Reynolds, moderated by Professor Thomas DeLio from the University of Maryland, College Park. This event is part of CHANGES: SEASONS, a spring 2010 series of lectures, workshops, forums and performances focussing on current and historical trends in the use of technology in music, as well as the role that performance spaces play in the dissemination of music, art and technology. No tickets required.

No tickets are required for the noontime concert; the evening concert requires free tickets distributed by TicketMaster.

FRANK BRIDGE: Second Piano Trio                 
WILLIAM BOLCOM: Second Sonata for Violin and Piano (1978 McKim Fund Commission)
BRAHMS: Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 40

The performers include Sonja Harasim, violin -- a student of Cho-Liang Lin and winner of the Shepherd School’s String Concerto Competition; Lachezar Kostov, cello -- a student of Norman Fischer and winner of the Grand Prix at the International “Music and Earth” Competition in Bulgaria and the top prizes at the “Young Music Talents” Competition and Kingsville Competitions in Texas; and pianist Andrew Staupe -- a student of Jon Kimura Parker -- who has recently completed a solo concert tour of Europe as part of the Netherlands’ “New Masters on Tour” series with stops at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Philipszaal in the Hague, the Theater Odeon in Zwolle, and Bulgaria’s Sofia Concert Hall. Part of “Insights: Exploring the Collections.”

Based at the Wiener Konzerthaus, this eloquent young group surveys two of Schumann’s piano trios along with the rarely-performed piano trio by his wife Clara—in the second of Schumann anniversary concert.

CLARA SCHUMANN: Piano Trio in G minor, op. 17
SCHUMANN: Piano Trio no.2 in F Major, op.80
SCHUMANN: Piano Trio no.3 in G minor, op.110

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Steve Soderberg, Music Division, Library of Congress

Two leading performers of the young generation of French classical musicians share an evening of virtuosic solo and duo works by Debussy, Poulenc, and Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata.

Co-sponsored by the Embassy of France and the French American Cultural Foundation.

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “The Positive Effects of Music Therapy in Health,” Concetta Tomaino, D.A.
(Part of “Music and the Brain II”)

NO TICKETS REQUIRED

Young artists from one of the nation's top conservatories celebrate the centennial of Samuel Barber. The program includes the Violin Sonata; Dover Beach for string quartet and baritone; Hermit Songs (Library of Congress commission); Summer Music for woodwind quintet; and, the Sonata in E-flat minor, Op. 26, for piano.

From Italy comes this “revelatory” fortepiano trio whose members play period instruments from three eras—Classical, Romantic, and Modern.

HUMMEL: Piano Trio in F Major, op. 22
MOZART: Piano Trio in G Major, K. 564
SCHUBERT: Piano Trio in E-flat Major, D. 929

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APRIL 2010

The internationally acclaimed quartet, in residence at the Library of Congress for four decades, returns with its new first violinist, Nick Eanet.

BARTÓK: Quartet no. 2
BOLCOM: Second Violin Sonata (McKim commission)
BEETHOVEN: Quartet in F Major, op. 135

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “I'm Frozen and I Can't Play a Thing!: Stage Fright and the Brain,” Norman Middleton, M.M.,   Music Division, Library of Congress (Part of “Music and the Brain II”)

The Juilliard coaches the Afiara Quartet, graduate resident quartet at the Juilliard School. Joining them, Juilliard's Dean of Chamber Music, Bärli Nugent, moderator; Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford, curator, Musical Instruments Collection, Library of Congress; and John Montgomery, luthier. No tickets required, seating is first come, first served. Held in Library's Coolidge Auditorium, this event is free and open to the public -- no tickets are required.

Dubbed  “pop stars of chamber music” this young ensemble from Munich generates an audience response typically expected at a U2 concert—the season’s third Schumann anniversary concert.

SCHUMANN: String Quartet in A minor, op. 41, no. 1
BARBER: String Quartet no. 1, op. 11
SCHUMANN: Quartet in A Major, op. 41, no. 3

 

San Francisco’s Alexander and Canada’s Afiara quartets join forces in Martinů’s sextet and Shostakovich’s octet in addition to performances by each group.

WOLFE: Mink Stole (McKim commission)
HARRISON: Quartet Set
ZORN: Cat o’ Nine Tails
VREBALOV: Pannonia Boundless

 

The Alexander String Quartet and composer-pianist-musicologist Robert Greenberg, who has been called “the Elvis of music history and appreciation” unravel the mysteries and marvels of Beethoven’s String Quartet op. 130, bringing to life the history, art, politics, intrigue and romance that have shaped this music.  

(Part of “Insights: Exploring the Collections”)

Cuban-born composer and drummer Dafnis Prieto is unquestionably one of the important leaders of the New Latin Jazz movement.  He has wonderfully blurred the line between traditional Latin-jazz and twenty-first-century postbop, fusing Afro-Cuban rhythms and modern jazz harmonies.
(Part of “On LOCation: Concerts at the Atlas Performing Arts Center”)

6:15 pm – Atlas Center for the Performing Arts (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Host of WPFW's "Sound of Surprise" Larry Appelbaum, Music Division, interviews Cuban drummer and composer Dafnis Prieto before a concert his Sí o Sí Quartet.

Cheered for high-energy performances, the Quartet premieres a new work by California composer Caleb Burhans commissioned by the Library of Congress. The rest of the concert includes Matthias Pintscher's “Study IV for Treatise on the Veil,” Jeff Myers’s “Dopamine,” and Xenakis’s “Tetras.” 

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Caleb Burhans talks about his new work with members of the Jack Quartet. (Part of “Music and the Brain II”)

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MAY 2010

Recipient of the prestigious NEA National Heritage Award, this violin and oud virtuoso and celebrated genre-exploring composer appears with members of Qantara, his all-star group that fuses Arab, jazz, Western classical, and Latin American music. Featured in this program is the world premiere of a work by Shaheen commissioned by the McKim Fund in the Library of Congress.
(Part of “On LOCation: Concerts at the Atlas Performing Arts Center”)

NO TICKETS REQUIRED – Whittall Pavilion

Composer, conductor, and creative thinker, John Adams, reads from his autobiography, Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life, in this special noontime event at the Library of Congress. The reading will be followed by a conversation and brief question-and-answer session, hosted by Music Division curator Loras John Schissel. Adams occupies a unique position in the world of classical music. His works, both operatic and symphonic, stand out among contemporary classical compositions for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound, and the profoundly humanist nature of their themes.

A program specially created for the Library of Congress by this accomplished group celebrates the birth anniversaries of Robert Schumann and Samuel Barber.  Highlights include Schumann’s Vier doppelcörige Gesänge, op. 141, and Barber’s Reincarnations, op. 16.

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Wellness and Growth: Acoustic Medicine and  Music Therapy,” Jayne Standley, Ph.D. and Vera Brandes, Ph.D. (Part of “Music and the Brain II”)

Admired for original compositions and reinventions, jazz pianist and composer Uri Caine brings an eclectic array of disciplines and influences to his music. His classical and jazz training and his poetic sense combine in ambitious hybrids that are often challenging but always inventive. (Part of “On LOCation: Concerts at the Atlas Performing Arts Center”)

6:15 pm – Atlas Center for the Performing Arts (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Uri Caine talks with Larry Appelbaum before appearing with his Trio.

With special thanks to the American Music Therapy Association and the Alzheimer's Association, National Capitol Area Chapter.

BACH AND THE BOHEMIAN GYPSIES
Montreal’s brilliant period instrument ensemble brings a program illustrating the influence of anonymous gypsy virtuosi on the works of two great Baroque composers.

BACH: Polonaises
BACH: Concerto in F minor, BWV 1056
BACH: Italian Concerto, BWV 971       
ANONYMOUS: Selections from the Uhrovska collection of 1730
TELEMANN: Concerto in E minor

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Nip/Tuck: the world of J.S. Bach transcriptions and revisions,” Norman Middleton, M.M., Music Division, Library of Congress

Featured concert at the 39th Annual Meeting of the American Musical Instrument Society.

Based in London, the Washington-born soloist and collaborative artist on harpsichord, foretepiano, and organ plays Wanda Landowska’s Pleyel harpsichord, featuring pieces from her 1927 concert at the Library of Congress. No tickets required.

Post-concert presentation (no tickets required)
A post-concert discussion with the artist is featured as part of the 39th Annual Meeting of the American Musical Instrument Society.

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The Library of Congress » Performing Arts
July 9, 2012