Music Division Concerts

Jazz on Film: Jazz on a Summer's Day, Friday, April 20, 2012 at 7:00 pm at the Old Naval Hospital

The Library of Congress partners with the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital for this free, co-sponsored filmscreening on Friday, April 20, 2012, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Join Senior Music Specialist Larry Appelbaum for the granddaddy of all concert films, a chronicle of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival where music greats like Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Anita O'Day, Chuck Berry, Mahalia Jackson, George Shearing, and Dinah Washington gave electrifying performances.

Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960; 84 minutes) was directed by noted commercial and fashion photographer Bert Stern and filmmaker Aram Avakian, who also edited the movie. In 1999, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film also features performances by Jimmy Giuffre, Sonny Stitt, Gerry Mulligan, Jack Teagarden, Buck Clayton, Jo Jones, Armando Peraza, and Eli's Chosen Six, a Yale student ensemble that included trombonist Roswell Rudd.

Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue S.E.

Tickets available April 4, 2012 at 8:00 am: Singer/songwriter Jose James. Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 8:00pm - Atlas Performing Arts Center

Singer and songwriter Jose James has been called precocious, goldenthroated, unexpected, "a savior of jazz." Recordings with Chico Hamilton and Junior Mance, and his debut disc "The Dreamer" reveal a sophisticated musical worldview that takes in hip-hop and cutting-edge performance poetry. For this Atlas appearance James and his colleagues explore the universe of underground beats, soul, jazz standards and the legacy of John Coltrane. What you'll hear, most of all, is what defines jazz at its best.

Pre-concert presentation -- 2:00 pm -- Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required) Jose James talks with Larry Appelbaum, Music Division

Film Screening: Bach & Friends, by filmmaker Michael Lawrence. Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 7:00 pm - Mary Pickford Theater

A beautifully photographed two-hour documentary not only for Bach lovers but anyone who loves music. Reflections and performances by more than two dozen world-class artists, including Philip Glass, Joshua Bell, Simone Dinnerstein, Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Jake Shimabukuro and Hilary Hahn. (running time, 116 minutes).

American Musical Theater at the Library of Congress: Concerts from the Archives
Curated by Mark Horowitz, Music Division

Tickets still available: ARDITTI STRING QUARTET with guest artist STEPHEN DRURY, piano. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 at 7:00pm @Coolidge Auditorium

The Arditti Quartet has earned a firm place in music history for its spirited and technically refined interpretations of contemporary music. Since its founding in 1974 several hundred quartets and other chamber works written for the ensemble have left a permanent imprint on 20th century repertoire, with milestone collaborations with such composers such as Andriessen, Carter, Denisov, Ferneyhough, Gubaidulina, Kurtag, Reynolds, Stockhausen and Xenakis.

To mark the Cage Centennial, Irvine Arditti and Stephen Drury perform a 1991 Cage violin and piano work commissioned by the McKim Fund in the Library of Congress, opening the program with this work at 7:00 pm; the concert will have two intermissions.

CAGE: Two4 (McKim Fund commission)
BERG: String Quartet, op. 3
BARTOK: Quartet no. 4 in C Major
ADES: Four Quarters
BEETHOVEN: Grosse Fuge, op. 133

Tickets available: TANYA TOMKINS, Baroque cello. Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 12:00 & 3:00pm @Coolidge Auditorium

A virtuosic traversal of J.S. Bach's technically demanding works for unaccompanied cello, by a master of the performance practice of his day. A rare chance to experience a comprehensive performance of the six suites, the last on a rare 6-stringed instrument.

12:00 pm - 1:30 pm PART ONE
Suite no. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 / Suite no. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010 / Suite no. 5 in C minor, BW 1011
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm PART TWO
Suite no. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008 / Suite no. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 / Suite no. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012

Pre-concert presentation - 2:00 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required) The Many Rooms of Bachâs Suites - Daniel Boomhower, Head, Reader Services, Music Division.

Tickets available Wednesday, March 7 @ 10:00 am: BACH & ITALY: CONCERTO KOLN with JAN FREIHEIT, guest cellist FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012 at 8:00pm @Coolidge Auditorium

Superlatives are in order for this exceptional ensemble, appearing this season at the Library, Alice Tully, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. With these masters of historically informed performance practice, and an orchestra of beautiful period instruments, you could come intriguingly close to hearing what might have been the true sound of the Baroque.

DALL'ABACO: Concerto op. 5 no. 3 in E minor
VIVALDI: Concerto for cello, strings and basso continuo in D minor, no. 23, RV 407
BACH: Suite for orchestra in C Major, BWV 1066
BACH: Concerto for oboe d'amore, strings and basso continuo, BWV 1055 (reconstruction after the harpsichord concerto, BWV 1055)
SAMMARTINI: Sinfonie in A Major
BACH: Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 in G Major, BWV 1049
Pre-concert presentation -- 6:15 pm -- Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)

April 21, 2012 11:00 am -- Coolidge Auditorium (no tickets required). Martin Sandhoff, flutist and Artistic Director, Concerto Koln. Special meet-the-orchestra Saturday workshop: Bach and Historically Informed Performance Practice. Don't miss this informal presentation--a special workshop with the entire orchestra onstage. No tickets required, seating is first come, first served.

Tickets available Wednesday, March 7 @ 10:00 am: QUATUOR DIOTIMA FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2012 at 8:00pm @Coolidge Auditorium

"Definitely the most serious hope for chamber music in France" is the verdict from "Le Figaro." And for Gramophone, the young Diotima Quartet is "one of the 5 quartets you should know about." With 4 Diapason d'Or awards and 41 premieres so far, Diotima has built an impressive international reputation for its insightful and energetic approach to both contemporary and classical repertoire. Recent tours have taken them to major festivals and venues -- Cite de la Musique, Berlin Philharmonie, and the Sydney and Athens Festivals, to name a few.

SCHUBERT: Quartet no. 7 in D Major, D.94
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in C-sharp minor, op. 131
SMETANA: String Quartet in E minor ("From my Life")

Presented under the auspices of the Maison Francaise, Embassy of France, and the French American Cultural Foundation.

Tickets available Wednesday, March 7 @ 10:00 am: ARDITTI STRING QUARTET with guest artist STEPHEN DRURY, piano. Tuesday, Aprilil 10, 2012 at 7:00pm @Coolidge Auditorium

The Arditti Quartet has earned a firm place in music history for its spirited and technically refined interpretations of contemporary music. Since its founding in 1974 several hundred quartets and other chamber works written for the ensemble have left a permanent imprint on 20th century repertoire, with milestone collaborations with such composers such as Andriessen, Carter, Denisov, Ferneyhough, Gubaidulina, Kurtag, Reynolds, Stockhausen and Xenakis.

To mark the Cage Centennial, Irvine Arditti and Stephen Drury perform a 1991 Cage violin and piano work commissioned by the McKim Fund Library of Congress, opening the program with this work at 7:00 pm; the concert will have two intermissions.

CAGE: Two4 (McKim Fund commission)
BERG: String Quartet, op. 3
BARTOK: Quartet no. 4 in C Major
ADES: Four Quarters
BEETHOVEN: Grosse Fuge, op. 133

Tickets still available: Elias Quartet with Jonathan Biss, piano. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2012 at 8:00pm @Coolidge Auditorium

Newcomers to U.S. audiences, this young British quartet founded at Manchester's Royal Northern Music Conservatory has formed an artistic partnership with a poetic pianist whose reputation for virtuosity and musical integrity continues to grow exponentially. Biss takes a solo moment to shine in this lush all-Czech program.

SUK: Meditation, for quartet
JANACEK: Selections from In the Mists, for solo piano
JANACEK: String Quartet no. 1 ("Kreutzer Sonata")
DVORAK: Piano Quintet in A minor, op. 81

Tickets available: A Birthday Tribute to C.P.E. Bach with Con Gioia. Friday, March 9, 2012 @Coolidge Auditorium

Acclaimed soprano Julianne Baird partners with the early music scholarperformer Preethi de Silva, known for vividly imaginative performances of Baroque repertoire. Their program spans the eclipse of the harpsichord and the rise of the fortepiano, and acknowledges the influence of C.P.E. Bach, in form and style, on later masters.

Tickets available: Cygnus Ensemble/Samuel Beckett's Ohio Impromptu. Wednesday, March 7, 2012 @Coolidge Auditorium

Directed by JOY ZINOMAN Featuring TED VAN GRIETHUYSEN, actor and the CYGNUS ENSEMBLE. An extraordinary evening of theater and music begins the life of a new endowment for contemporary music at the Library of Congress, through a generous bequest from the composer and pianist Dina Koston. Seeing a performance of Samuel Beckett’s play Ohio Impromptu inspired Koston's last composition, Distant Intervals. Joy Zinoman, founding Emeritus Director of The Studio Theatre, directs the master minimalist's haunting and rarely seen short work, deeply rooted in Beckett's personal and imaginative life. Following it, the Cygnus players offer a work by Frank Brickle: "Farai un vers", for 2 guitars, cello and soprano, set to a text by Guillaume d'Aquitaine, the first troubador – a gesture to Koston's thoughtful programming style – and the world premiere of a new song cycle by Mario Davidovsky, commissioned for the occasion.

Pre-concert presentation -- 6:15 pm -- Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required): Joy Zinoman talks about Samuel Beckett and the genesis of the Library’s special production of Ohio Impromptu.

OHIO IMPROMPTU is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

This friday! Master Class with Paolo Pandolfo, viola da gamba. JANUARY 27, 2012 at 3:00 pm @Coolidge Auditorium

Considered one of the world's finest gambists, Paolo Pandolfo offers a free master class in the Library's Coolidge Auditorium, working with three young students: Amy Domingues (known in indie-rock circles for her band Garland of Hours), Niccolo Seligman, and Lucine Musaelian. This 90-minute event is open to the public, no tickets required. Seating is first-come, first-served. Doors open at 2:45. For further information, please call 202-707-8432.

Presented in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington. Co-sponsored by the Greater Washington Viola da Gamba Society.

Tickets available: THE SAIYUKI TRIO with RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012 at 8:00 pm @Atlas Performing Arts Center

Rudresh Mahanthappa, alto saxophone; Nguyen Le, electric guitar & laptop; Mieko Miyazaki, koto & vocals; Prabhu Edouard, tablas & vocals

The Library is proud to present the Saiyuki Trio as part of the 700-artist, three week Intersections: A New American Arts Festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center http://intersectionsdc.org/. "Sound magic" from a trio whose name means "Journey to the West." French jazz guitarist Nguyen Le studied visual arts and philosophy before working with artists like Ornette Coleman, Ray Charles, and Mauricio Kagel. Influences from Jimi Hendrix to the traditional music of Viet Nam meld harmonies from East and West to paint "an Asia without borders."

Part of Intersections: A New American Arts Festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center

Presented under the auspices of the Maison Francaise, Embassy of France, and the French American Cultural Foundation.

Tickets available Wednesday, January 11 at 10:00 am: Carolina Chocolate Drops, Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 2:00 PM @Coolidge Auditorium.

"The Carolina Chocolate Drops may be reclaiming the black string band tradition, but more importantly, they’re just making great music." -- Newsweek

Winners of a 2010 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album, the Chocolate Drops are "sophisticated musicians… Channeling a dark history through a beautiful medium" (Robin Wheeler). With voice, banjo, fiddle, and guitar, plus jugs and bones, they have rediscovered and renewed traditions from 150 years of American musical history -- jigs, reels, ballads, blues and worksongs from the pre-Civil War South to Tom Waits and Blue Cantrell, with North Carolina’s Piedmont region as the starting point.

Presented by the Music Division and the American Folklife Center

Tickets available: KREISLERIANA with the Cygnus Ensemble, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012 at 8:00 pm @Coolidge Auditorium

With guest artists Miranda Cuckson, violin; Daniel Panner, viola; and Blair McMillen, piano. From the Library's Fritz Kreisler Collection, seldom-heard chamber music by the Austrian master, presented with a new Library commission by Harold Meltzer, co-founder of the Sequitur ensemble. The poignant 1919 String Quartet, Kreisler said, "is my gift to Vienna." Alongside it, Meltzer's Kreisleriana, for violin and piano, and his "haunting, continually inventive" sextet Brion, which made several "best of 2010" lists. Plus a guest artist, Kreisler's incomparable Guarneri del Gesu violin.

KREISLER: violin and piano pieces
MELTZER: Kreisleriana (World Premiere -- Library of Congress McKim Fund commission)
MELTZER: Brion (Washington Premiere)
KREISLER: String Quartet in A minor

Pre-concert presentation -- 6:15 pm -- Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required) Harold Meltzer talks about his new work with Cygnus founder William Anderson.

Tickets available December 21st at 10:00am for Bachfest: PAOLO PANDOLFO, viola da gamba. SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012 at 2:00 pm @Coolidge Auditorium

If you missed Paolo Pandolfo's mesmerizing Coolidge concert last February, you'll want to clear your calendar for his return, in a solo recital of J. S. Bach's viola da gamba suites and "marvelously intricate, inventive and playful" works by Carl Friedrich Abel. You'll admire Pandolfo's extraordinary range of colors on his 17th century Nicolas Bertrand instrument, and the Library's handsome 1708 viola da gamba, made by Pieter Rombouts.

Stand-by tickets available for Country Music Association Song Writers Series, November 16, 2011 @Coolidge Auditorium

DID YOU KNOW? Tickets may be officially sold out for the Country Music Association's Song Writers Series concert on Wednesday 11/16. But seats may still be available! Come to the Jefferson building at 6PM on Wednesday and pick up a SPACE AVAILABLE PASS. We've been able to seat every pass for the past three seasons, with no turn-aways. Give it a try; you don't want to miss this show!

SOLD OUT: Borromeo String Quartet with Seymour Lipkin, piano. Stradivari Memorial Concert Saturday, December 17, 2011 at 8:00 pm @Coolidge Auditorium

Patrons who were unable to obtain tickets for this sold-out event are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

The critically acclaimed Borromeo String Quartet continues to redefine the quartet medium "through the perfection of its ensemble and intonation, through its poise and its passion"
(Gramophone). Celebrating the birthday of Antonio Stradivari, they will play the Strads given to the Library by Gertrude Clarke Whittall in 1935.

SCHULLER: String Quartet no. 4
BEETHOVEN: Sonata no. 7 for violin and piano in C minor, op. 30
SCHUBERT: Quartet in D minor, D. 810 ("Death and the Maiden")
Pre-concert presentation 6:15 pm @Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Violinist Nicholas Kitchen talks with composer Gunther Schuller

Tickets available: Gretchen Parlato and the Gerald Clayton Trio, Friday December 2, 2011 at 8:00 pm @Atlas Performing Arts Center

A great double header with two of the fastest-rising stars on the jazz scene today. Parlato has an instrumentalist’s approach, and a subtle, spare delivery informed by her intimate grasp of jazz, R&B and world music. Scion of a famous jazz tribe, Clayton has been dubbed a modernist Oscar Peterson; he and his colleagues are masters of "some of jazz’s current obsessions, neogospel harmony, aerodynamic rhythm, the exaltation of the vamp – even when they’re refurbishing a standard." (Nate Chinen).

Pre-concert interview -- 6:15 pm -- Atlas Lobby (no tickets required) Larry Appelbaum talks with Gretchen Parlato and Gerald Clayton.

Tickets STILL available: Liszt 200th Birthday Liederabend with MARTIN BRUNS, baritone and CHRISTOPH HAMMER, fortepiano. Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 8:00 pm @Coolidge Auditorium

Tickets will be available at the door for this Liszt Bicentennial event. Swiss baritone Martin Bruns and period keyboard expert Christoph Hammer draw on the Library's rich manuscript resources for a recital evoking the intimacy of a Hausmusik evening of Liszt's day. Texts by Goethe, Hugo, Heine and Petrarch underline the composer's love of literature, with his dazzling keyboard transcriptions -- of his own and others' works -- presented alongside their originals, including songs by Beethoven and Richard Wagner.

Pre-concert presentation 6:15-7:30 pm @Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Exhibit and Talk: Treasures from the Library's Liszt Holdings - Music Division curator Raymond White introduces a display of manuscripts, letters, photographs and memorabilia drawn from the Heineman, Moldenhauer, Rosenthal and other collections.

Tickets still available: MARTIN BRUNS, baritone and CHRISTOPH HAMMER, fortepiano: Liszt 200th Birthday Liederabend! SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2011 at 8:00 pm @Coolidge Auditorium

Swiss baritone Martin Bruns and period keyboard expert Christoph Hammer draw on the Library’s rich manuscript resources for a recital evoking the intimacy of a Hausmusik evening of Liszt’s day. Texts by Goethe, Hugo, Heine and Petrarch underline the composer's love of literature, with his dazzling keyboard transcriptions – of his own and others’ works – presented alongside their originals, including songs by Beethoven and Richard Wagner.

Pre-concert presentation - 6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Exhibit and Talk: Treasures from the Library’s Liszt Holdings - Music Division curator Raymond White introduces a display of manuscripts, letters, photographs and memorabilia drawn from the Heineman, Moldenhauer, Rosenthal and other collections.

Tickets still available: Daniel Hope: East Meets West. Friday, October 28, 2011 at 8:00 pm @Coolidge Auditorium

Daniel Hope, violin / Gaurav Mazumdar, sitar
Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano / Vishal Nagar, tabla

Faraway places, fantasies and a musical journey beginning and ending in India. East Meets West conjures a sound world spiced with imagination – with a nod to the famous Yehudi Menuhin-Ravi Shankar collaboration – and restores to life the luthéal, a nearly extinct piano attachment whose cimbalom-like timbres inspired Maurice Ravel.

Tickets are still available from Ticketmaster at the link above, and will be available at the door the night of the concert.

Tickets available at the door: Louis Lortie, Piano. Franz Liszt 200th Anniversary Event Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 8:00 pm at the Coolidge Auditorium

The monumental Années de pèlerinage suites are a vivid sketchbook, a reflective autobiographical narrative, a journey of spiritual introspection. Critic Zachary Woolfe has called them “profound explorations of memory.” Canadian pianist Louis Lortie has given masterly performances of these works in many of the world’s great music centers, including Carnegie Hall, the Weimar Festival and the Vienna Konzerthaus.

LISZT: Années de pèlerinage [Years of pilgrimage]: Deuxième Année and Troisième Année (complete)

Pre-concert presentation - 6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)

Panel discussion, On the Nature of Celebrity: Franz Liszt, Niccolò Paganini, Lady Gaga - Denise Gallo, Head, Acquisitions and Processing, Music Division; Mathieu Deflem, Department of Sociology, University of South Carolina; Robert Aubrey Davis, WETA

A post-concert discussion with the artist will follow the performance

Symposium: Dvorak and the New World

The Library of Congress in collaboration with the Embassy of the Czech Republic welcomes you to a special Symposium: Dvorak and the New World, with musicologist Michael Beckerman and Eva Velicka, Director of the Dvorak Museum in Prague on October 1, 2011 in the Whittall Pavilion of the Library of Congress. Attendees will also have the opportunity to look at facsimiles of Dvorak's American works and other documents. The event will be followed by a lecture-recital Dvorak and Black Music in the Coolidge Auditorium featuring tenor Reginald Bouknight singing arrangements of Henry "Harry" T. Burleigh spirituals, with opening remarks by Dr. Beckerman. RSVPs are requested only for the Symposium portion of the program. Please see details below.

PROGRAM:

DVORAK AND THE NEW WORLD
OCTOBER 1, 2011

Part I. Symposium and Facsimile Display, 1:00-3:30 pm
Location: Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, Whittall Pavilion

“Dvorak’s New World Between Celebration and Investigation”
Michael Beckerman
Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Music, New York University

“Manuscripts as Storytellers”
Eva Velicka
Director, Dvorak Museum, Prague

Dvorak Facsimiles on Display
in the Foyer of the Coolidge Auditorium

PLEASE RSVP for the Symposium by e-mailing reservations@mutualinspirations.org
and put "Symposium" in the subject line.

Part II. Lecture-Recital: Dvorak and Black Music, 3:30-4:30 pm
Location: Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium

Opening Remarks by Michael Beckerman
Performed by Reginald Bouknight (tenor)
and accompanied by Lynee Gray (piano)

Arrangements by Henry “Harry” T. Burleigh
Everytime I Feel the Spirit
Deep River
Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel
Steal Away
Joshua Fit De Battle Ob Jericho
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Goin’ Home
(from Largo of the New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorak,
Words and Adaptation by William Arms Fisher)

No reservations are needed for the facsimiles (on display at 3 pm)
or the lecture-recital (3:30-4:30 pm).

2011-2012 Concert Brochure is in the mail!

Be sure to check out the centerfold calendar - rip it out and put it on your fridge for easy concert-going scheduling! Please note that Tickets for BABALU!, the 2011-2012 season opener in the Coolidge Auditorium, sold out fast. But if you would still like to see this star-studded tribute to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, YOU MAY STILL HAVE A CHANCE. Patrons who were unable to obtain tickets from Ticketmaster are encouraged to try for stand-by passes the evening of the concert, Saturday, October 15, 2011. Space-Available Passes will be distributed at 6:00 pm - we suggest you start lining up at least an hour early.

Special notice in the event of a government shutdown

In the event of a federal agency government shutdown the Library of Congress buildings will be closed to the public, and all concerts and other public programs at the Library will be suspended until further notice.

In the event of an extended shutdown, these events will be canceled:

SAT April 09 - Army Band, music of Aaron Copland
MON April 11 - Martial Solal

If the Library is closed on Monday, Maison Francaise at the Embassy of France will present Martial Solal in a separate event in its auditorium on April 11. NO tickets for the Library's canceled concert can be honored at the Embassy.
Visit the Maison Francaise website for http://www.la-maison-francaise.org/ for details.

We regret the cancellations and thank you for your continued patronage.

Visit the Library's concert page http://www.loc.gov for updates.

Tickets available: eighth blackbird, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, MAY 20, 2011 at 8:00 pm

"brainy, hip, fearsomely talented"
This vibrant and enormously influential ensemble has uncompromisingly kept new music "alive, kicking, and approachable."

MAZZOLI: Still Life with Avalanche
HUREL: a mesure
HARTKE: NETSUKE (2010) - Six Miniatures for Violin and Piano (World premiere Ã¢ÂÂ McKim commission)
GLASS: Music in Similar Motion
ADES: Catch for clarinet, piano, violin & cello, op. 4
HARTKE: Meanwhile
6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Stephen Hartke talks about his new piece.

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

Tickets available: Sue Mathys, On LOCation, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Saturday, May 7, 2011 @8:00pm

Sue Mathys "fiery temperament"
Uniting Broadway with the Art of Chanson
John Bell, music director / piano

Sue Mathys has gained critical and popular success in Europe and in the United States as an actor, concert singer and recording artist for the wide spectrum of her repertory, including leading roles in such musicals as Sunset Boulevard, Gypsy, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, Candide and as Maria Callas in Master Class. www.suemathys.com

Note that this performance is at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. Part of "On LOCation: Concerts at the Atlas Performing Arts Center."

Tickets available: Brooklyn Rider violinist Colin Jacobsen and pianist Bruce Levingston, Coolidge Auditorium, Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 8:00pm

Colin Jacobsen, violin "electrifying vitality"
Bruce Levingston, piano "transcendent virtuosity"
Two leading exponents of contemporary American music give the world premiere of works by Grawemeyer Award-winning composer Sebastian Currier, David Bruce, and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky.

JANACEK: Sonata for violin and piano
BIBER: Passacaglia
BRUCE: Passacaglia (World premiere)
CURRIER: Xenakis Remix (Libary of Congress McKim co-commission)
DVORAK: Four Romantic Pieces
YANOV-YANOVSKY: Passacaglia (World premiere)
BOLCOM: New York Lights
PIAZZOLLA: The Grand Tango

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Sebastian Currier talks about his new work and his career.

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

Tickets available: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Coolidge Auditorium, Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 8:00pm

"a jewel in this nation's musical crown"

David Finkel and Wu Han, artistic directors
with Thomas Hampson, baritone and Andreas Diaz, cello
Gil Kalish, piano / Daniel Druckman, Haruka Fujii, Ayano Kataoka, and Jeffrey Milarsky, percussion

An extraordinary program featuring George Crumb's song cycle fusing elements of cowboy and African American songs with music of Debussy and Ives; and Tan Dun's powerful score, commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

CRUMB: Selections from American Songbooks for voice, amplified piano, and percussion
TAN DUN: Elegy: Snow in June for cello and percussion

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Conversation with George Crumb and David Starobin, Bridge Records

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

CANCELED: March 26th concert with Tanya Tomkins

Due to illness, Tanya Tomkins will NOT be performing Bach's cello suites in the Coolidge Auditorium this Saturday. The performances and lecture are all canceled.

Music and the Brain lecture: Music, Body, Mind: Music Therapy in Oncology and Rehabilitation, Whittall Pavilion, Thursday, March 3, 2011 @6:15

Titled Music, Body, Mind: Music Therapy in Oncology and Rehabilitation, Dr. Lane's presentation is part of several recent programs in the two-year Music and the Brain series that have focussed on issues relating to music and health. She will discuss and demonstrate music therapy protocols used in major teaching hospitals, as well as techniques for oncology patients that are universally helpful in pain management, in treating depression and anxiety, and in ameliorating the neurologic deficits of stroke. Examples of the role of music therapy in preventative medicine and wellness will be shared along with research and practical suggestions for personal and professional use.

Dr. Lane, an expert in the area of music therapy and oncology, is associate director of the Seidman Cancer Center and director of Music Therapy at University Hospitals of Cleveland, Seidman Cancer Center, and Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. The lecture is supported by the Dana Foundation and presented in association with the American Music Therapy Association.

The lecture will take place Thursday, March 3, at 6:15 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion, Thomas Jefferson Building. All public programs at the Library of Congress are presented free of charge; no tickets are required, and seating is first-come, first served.

Tickets available: Martial Solal, piano, Coolidge Auditorium, Monday April 11, 2011 at 8:00pm

A very rare U.S. appearance by the 83-year-old French jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of music for landmark films by Godard, Welles, Cocteau, and others.

This concert is organized in cooperation with the Maison Francaise of the Embassy of France.

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

Tickets available: London Conchord Ensemble, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, April 8, 2011 at 8:00pm

An opportunity to hear in one concert two quintets sharing the same key and instrumentation: one by Mozart, composed at the height of his powers, and the other a dozen years later by a rising young composer in Bonn.

MOZART: Quintet in E-flat Major for Piano and Winds, K. 452
POULENC: Sonata for Flute and Piano (Coolidge commission)
BRIDGE: Divertimenti for flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon (Coolidge commission)
BEETHOVEN: Quintet in E-flat Major for Piano and Winds, op. 16
6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: "The Incredible Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge and Her Impact on the American Dance" - Elizabeth Aldrich, Music Division

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

Tickets available: Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord, Coolidge Auditorium, Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 8:00pm

One of the world's foremost early music specialists, founder and for three decades conductor of the English Concert, is heard in a unique concert playing two instruments, one of which is Wanda Landowska's Pleyel, part of the Library's instrument collections. In addition to works by William Byrd, John Bull, and Giles Farnaby, the program includes:

HANDEL: Chaconne in G Major, HWV 435
FROBERGER: Lamento sopra la dolorosa . . .Ferdinando IV
BACH: French Suite no. 5 in G Major, BWV 816
COUPERIN: Passacaille
RAMEAU: Musette en rondeau
SCARLATTI: 3 Sonatas in D Major, K. 490- 492

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

Tickets available: Tanya Tomkins, Baroque cello, Coolidge Auditorium, Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 11:00 am and 5:30 pm

Tanya Tomkins, Baroque cello
"lucid intelligence, powerful feeling, and lively rhythmic drive"

A traversal of Bach's technically demanding works for unaccompanied cello, the last Suite on a rare 6-stringed instrument. (Please note: Tickets required for each concert).

11:00am Program:
Suite no. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007
Suite no. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010
Suite no. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011

5:30pm Program:
Suite no. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008
Suite no. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009
Suite no. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012

3:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: "The Many Rooms of Bach's Suite" Daniel Boomhower, Music Division

Monday Noontime Lecture: Lisa Shiota with the Trifecta Winds, Whittall Pavilion, January 31, 2011 @12:00 noon

The Music Division of the Library of Congress presents

MONDAY NOONTIME LECTURES
LISA SHIOTA, Music Division with the Trifecta Winds
Walter Piston’s 3 Pieces for Flute, Clarinet, and Bassoon

January 31, 2011
12:00 NOON
Whittall Pavilion, Thomas Jefferson Building
No tickets required

contact Solomon HaileSelassie in Concerts, 202 707-5347 or shai@loc.gov

Tickets available: Antares with Marianna Mihai-Zoeter, soprano, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, March 11, 2010 at 8:00pm

Antares "radiant with otherworldly majesty"
with Marianna Mihai-Zoeter, soprano "touching and magnetic"

An acclaimed interpreter of Messiaen's magnum opus is joined by the Romanian soprano in Schubert's famous setting of Muller's love poem.

HARBISON: Fantasy Duo for violin and piano (McKim commission)
SCHUBERT: Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, D. 965
MALLONEE: Shadow Rings (Washington premiere)
MESSIAEN: Quatuor pour la fin du temps
6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: "Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time" - James Wintle, Music Division.

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

Tickets available: Wordless Music Orchestra with Tyondai Braxton, Coolidge Auditorium, Thursday, March 10, 2010 at 8:00pm

From the influential New York club, Le Poisson Rouge, and other hip venues, this genre-bending group melds instumental rock, electronica and classical music in a program of works of Louis Andriessen, Tyondai Braxton (guitarist-singer of the post-rock band, Battles), John Adams, and Caleb Burhans.

ADAMS: Road Movies for violin and piano (McKim commission)
BURHANS: In a Distant Place
ANDRIESSEN: Workers' Union
BRAXTON: selections from Central Market and new compositions

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Conversation with Ronen Givony, Wordless Music founder and artistic director, and composer Tyondai Braxton.

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

Tickets available: Schumann Trio, Coolidge Auditorium, Thursday, March 3, 2010 @8:00pm

Conceived in 2008 by Anthony McGill, co-principal clarinet of the Met Orchestra; Michael Tree, co-founder of the famed Guarneri Quartet; and Russian-born pianist Anna Polonsky, to explore the rich repertoire for clarinet, piano, and viola or violin.

MOZART: Trio in E-flat Major, K. 498 ("Kegelstatt")
BRUCH: from Eight Pieces, op. 8
SHENG: Three Fantasies for Violin and Piano (McKim commission)
BRAHMS: Clarinet Trio in A minor, op. 114
6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Dr. Deforia Lane, University Hospitals of Cleveland
(Presented in cooperation with the American Music Therapy Association)

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

Tickets available: Brad Mehldau, piano, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, Tuesday, March 1, 2010 at 8:00pm

Brad Mehldau "sensuous, cerebral, and incandescent"
The five-time Grammy-award winning pianist-composer is the first jazz artist to hold the 2010-2011 Richard and Barbara Debs Composerâ's Chair at Carnegie Hall - in a rare solo appearance on the Coolidge stage.

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

Tickets available: Paolo Pandolfo, viola da gamba & Thomas Boysen, theorbo/Baroque guitar, Coolidge Auditorium, Saturday, February 26, 2011 @2:00pm

Paolo Pandolfo, viola da gamba
“piquant sensitivity and noble nuance”
Thomas Boysen, theorbo/Baroque guitar
“a wide spectrum of expressive possibilities”
La Viole Luthée
Hear this virtuosic duo in a dazzling program of Renaissance improvisations and celebrated works by Sainte-Colombe and Marin Marais.

SAINTE-COLOMBE: Prelude, Chaconne in D minor
(from the Panmure Manuscript)
MARAIS: Musette, La Georgienne dite La Maupertuy*, Plainte, La Guitarre
(Pièces de Viole, Bk III/*IV)
MARAIS: Le Tombeau de Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (Pièces de Viol, Bk II)
SAINTE-COLOMBE: Prélude, Chansonette, Chaconne in C Major (from the Panmure Manuscript)

During the concert Paolo Pandolfo and curator Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford will unveil one of the Library's newly-restored Wilkins viols from the H. Blakiston Wilkins Early Stringed Instrument Collection.

Tickets available: Eddie Daniels, clarinet & Roger Kellaway, piano, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, February 25, 2011 @8:00pm

Eddie Daniels, clarinet “clarity, depth, and impact”
Roger Kellaway, piano “understated brilliance”
“A duet of one” – two jazz masters with classical leanings and an impressive command of the American Songbook.

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Jazz and the American Songbook” – Larry Appelbaum in a conversation with Eddie Daniels and Roger Kellaway.

Tickets available: Quatuor Debussy with Katherine Chi, piano, Coolidge Auditorium, Tuesday, February 22, 2011 @8:00pm

Quatuor Debussy “luminous performance”
with Katherine Chi, piano “remarkably compelling”
This excellent Lyon-based quartet performs an unusual program capped by a French work “of bold originality and dark beauty,” featuring one of Canada’s fastest rising stars.

GLASS: String Quartet no. 2 (“Company”)
PUCCINI: Crisantemi
MILHAUD: String Quartet no. 9, op. 140
FRANCK: Piano Quintet in F minor
This concert is organized in cooperation with the Maison Française of the Embassy of France.

Tickets available: Utrecht String Quartet, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, February 11, 2011 at 8:00pm

Praised for its benchmark recordings of Tchaikovsky, this dynamic and versatile quartet from the Netherlands makes its first U.S. appearance in the Library of Congress.

AUERBACH: String Quartet no. 1 (Washington premiere)
SCHUBERT: String Quartet in B-flat Major, D112
MEIJERING: “Mein junges Leben hat (k)ein End” (after Sweelinck)
(U.S. premiere)
TCHAIKOVSKY: String Quartet no. 2 in F Major, op. 22
6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Organist/harpsichordist Stephen Ackert, National Gallery of Art, discusses and demonstrates aspects of Sweelinck’s “Mein junges Leben hat ein End” in its original keyboard version.

Tickets available: Salzburg Hyperion Ensemble, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, February 4, 2011 at 8:00pm

Firmian Lermer, artistic leader and viola
Werner Neugebauer and Gregor Sigl, violins / Peter Langgartner, viola /
Erich Oskar HÃ¼tter and Detlef Mielke, cellos

This ensemble of musicians from prestigious European orchestras and chamber music societies offer well-known and seldom heard chamber music, including the original sextet version of VerklÃ¤rte Nacht.

R. STRAUSS: Sextet from the opera Capriccio, op. 85
SCHOENBERG: VerklÃ¤rte Nacht, op. 4
BRAHMS: Sextet no. 2 in G Major, op. 36
6:15 pm â Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: "Manuscript Sources of VerklÃ¤rte Nacht" â Wayne Shirley, senior specialist (emeritus), Music Division

Music & Peforming Arts Tour: December 30, 2010, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM @Whittall Pavilion, Ground floor Thomas Jefferson building

Music and Performing Arts at the Library of Congress
December 30, 2010, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Whittall Pavilion Ground floor Thomas Jefferson building

The Library's Visitor Services Office offers a new specially designed docent-led tour that gives visitors an overview of the Music Division-its history, the personalities who shaped its development and expansion, and the treasures in its collections.

The tour begins in the Whittall Pavilion (Jefferson Building Ground Floor) where participants hear an overview of the division and its history, and view the Library's collection of Stradivarius string instruments and Tourte bows. The tour continues in the Coolidge Auditorium, the venue of world-famous premiere performances of compositions commissioned by the Library of Congress. In the lobby of the Coolidge, the Music Division often displays materials from the collections that are related to the evening's concert-often a first edition of the music, or a music manuscript in the composer's hand. Finally, an overview of two special exhibitions: Here to Stay: The Legacy of George and Ira Gershwin holds George's piano and Ira's typewriter, self-portraits, and many other artifacts documenting the brothers' successful collaboration, and the newly reopened Bob Hope Gallery with the exhibition: Hope for America: Performers, Politics, and Pop Culture.

Those wishing to participate should come to the Jefferson Building Ground Floor Information Desk 15 minutes prior to the tour time to check in. The tour lasts 60 minutes and can accommodate 50 people.

Additional tours will be scheduled in the New Year. For information, please contact vso@loc.gov

Request ADA accommodations five days in advance at 202 707 6362 or ADA@loc.gov

Free tickets at the door! Country Music Association Songwriters Series, Coolidge Auditorium, Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 8:00pm

FREE TICKETS will be available at the door for the Country Music Association Songwriters Series featuring platinum-selling country vocal quartet LITTLE BIG TOWN! Line forms at 5pm on Sat 12/4/10 in the Coolidge Auditorium in the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress. Tickets will be distributed at 6pm.

âThe Dean of Country Writersâ Bob DiPiero hosts an intimate evening of country in the Coolidge, with fellow songwriters Brett James, Lori McKenna, and Little Big Town.

Advance tickets are still available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster.

Tickets available: SYBARITE5 - Stradivari Anniversary, Coolidge Audtorium, Saturday, December 18, 2010 @8:00 pm

Five terrific American string players juxtapose Classical, Romantic, and contemporary works and their own re-imagined arrangements of Radiohead in a program that thrusts chamber music into the future.

DVORAK: String Quintet in G Major, op. 77
DAN VISCONTI: Black Bend
MOZART: Divertimento in F Majo, K. 138
PIAZZOLLA: Three Tangos
Selections from the Radiohead Remixed Project
6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: "The Future of Music" - Tod Machover, composer; Director, MIT Media Lab

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

Tickets available: Country Music Association Songwriters Series, Coolidge Auditorium, Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 8:00pm

Bob DiPiero hosts an intimate evening of country in the Coolidge, with fellow songwriters Brett James and Lori McKenna, and, just announced, Little Big Town.

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

Tickets available: LIONEL LOUEKE TRIO, on LOCation, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Friday, December 3, 2010 @8:00pm

West African harmonies and jazz rhythms are seamlessly blended by guitarist/singer/composer Lionel Loueke with Massimo Biolcati on bass and Ferenc Nemeth on drums.

Note that this performance is at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. 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 Lionel Loueke.

Tickets available: WADADA LEO SMITH'S GOLDEN QUARTET, Coolidge Audtorium, Saturday, November 20, @8:00 pm

A not-to-be-missed all-star quartet: trumpeter/composer Smith, pianist Vijay Iyer, bassist John Lindberg, and drummer Pheeroan akLaff.

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Host of WPFW’s "Sound of Surprise" Larry Appelbaum, Music Division, interviews Wadada Leo Smith.

Tickets available: DORIC STRING QUARTET, Coolidge Audtorium, Friday, November 19, 2010 @8:00 pm

"spirit, wit, sophistication"

Prize winners in the Osaka and the Borciani competitions, this London-based ensemble makes its first American appearance at the Frick Collection and the Library of Congress.

HAYDN: String Quartet in A Major, op. 20, no. 6
KORNGOLD: String Quartet no. 3 in D Major, op. 34
SCHUMANN: String Quartet no. 2 in F Major, op. 41, no. 2

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: "Vienna to Hollywood: The Korngold Collection" - Loras Schissel, Music Division

Tickets available: Gautier Capucon and Gabriela Montero, Coolidge Auditorium, Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 8:00pm

Tickets are now available for what promises to be an intensely romantic evening of music. Cellist Gautier Capucon and pianist Gabriela Montero make up an exciting and photogenic musical partnership. Born under the aegis of the legendary Argentine pianist Martha Argerich, the Venezuelan protegee and the brilliant young French cellist are two of the most charismatic young performers today.

Tickets are available for a nominal service charge from Ticketmaster. Patrons who are unable to obtain tickets are encouraged to try for stand-by tickets on the evening of the concert starting at 6:30 pm.

RACHMANINOV: Sonata for cello and piano in G minor, op. 19
RACHMANINOV: Vocalise (arr. Capucon / Montero)
RACHMANINOV: Var. 18 from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, op. 43 (arr. Capucon / Montero)
PROKOFIEV: Sonata for cello and piano in C Major, op. 119

Tickets available: HELSINKI BAROQUE - FOUNDER'S DAY CONCERT, Coolidge Audtorium, Saturday, October 30, 2010 @8:00 pm

"considerable prowess and musicianship"

Aapo Hakkinen, Artistic Director and harpsichord
Teppo Lampela, countertenor
Minna Kangas and Tuomo Suni, violin
Mikko Perkola and Varpu Haavisto, viola da gamba

The accomplished Finnish period instrument group makes its American debut with Bach and works from the Duben Collection of 17th and 18th century music.

FORSTER: Laudate Dominum
BUXTEHUDE: Jubilate Domino, BuxWV 64
BACH: Sonata for G Major for viola da gamba, BWV 1027
TUNDER: Salve mi Jesu
BACH: Wie starb die Heldin so vergnugt, BWV 198
BACH: Italian Concerto, BWV 971
MEDER: Ach Herr, strafe mich nicht
KIRCHOFF: Suite a 4
BUXTEHUDE: Jesu, meine Freud und Lust, BuxWV 59

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion: Pre-concert presentation (no tickets required):
Gustav Duben's Music Library: A European Treasure - Dr. Kerala Johnson Snyder, Professor Emerita of Musicology, Eastman School of Music, and co-editor of the Duben Collection Database Catalogue

Tickets available: THOMAS HAMPSON, Coolidge Audtorium, Thursday, October 28, 2010 @8:00 pm

"a marvel of dramatic intensity"
with Craig Rutenberg, piano
A passionate advocate of American song and special advisor to the Library of
Congress for the Legacy of the Performing Arts celebrates Barber's 100th and
Mahler's 150th birth anniversaries.

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion: Pre-concert presentation (no tickets required)
Barbara B. Heyman, author of Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music

Tickets available: TALICH QUARTET, Coolidge Auditorium, Thursday, October 21, 2010 @8:00 pm

"transparency, assurance, and lightness of touch"

Masterworks performed by the second incarnation of one of the world's finest quartets - the epitome of the illustrious Czech tradition of string playing. BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in B-flat Major, op. 18, no. 6 ("La Malinconia") JANACEK: String Quartet no. 1 ("Kreutzer Sonata") DVORAK: String Quartet in G Major, op. 106

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion: Pre-concert presentation (no tickets required):
Sam McGee's Railroad Blues and Other Versions of the Republic - Greil Marcus, cultural critic and popular music scholar Co-sponsored by the Library of Congress American Folklife Center

Tickets available: THE ENGLISH CONCERT, Coolidge Audtorium, Thursday, October 14, 2010 @8:00 pm

Harry Bicket, Artistic Director and harpsichord
"razor-edge ensemble sense and faultless intonation"
with Alice Coote, mezzo-soprano / Nadja Zwiener, violin /
Jonathan Manson, cello

One of the world's finest period instrument orchestras comes to the Library with a singer praised for her "commanding, sensual, leonine presence" and "a voice of copper silk" in vocal and instrumental works by Dowland, Handel, Monteverdi, and Vivaldi.

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion: Pre-concert presentation (no tickets required):
Early Music at the Library: 85 Years of Performance Practice History - Harry Bicket with Anne McLean (moderator), Norman Middleton, and James Wintle, Music Division

Tickets available: ARCANTO QUARTET, Coolidge Audtorium, Wednesday, October 13, 2010 @8:00 pm

"performances of poise, animation, and joy"

In its first North American tour, this quartet of notable soloists makes its Washington, DC, debut highlighted by Bartok's Fifth Quartet, commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge.

MOZART: String Quartet in D minor, K. 421
RAVEL: String Quartet in F Major
BARTOK: String Quartet no. 5 (Coolidge commission)

Tickets available: ENSEMBLE 415, Coolidge Audtorium, Friday, October 8, 2010 @8:00 pm

Chiara Banchini, Artistic Director
"virtuosity tinged with tenderness and introspection"
Eva Borhi, violin / Peter Barczi, violin and viola / Patricia Gagnon, viola
Gaetano Nasillo, cello / Michele Barchi, harpsichord

Banchini's stellar ensemble, which has nurtured a generation of preeminent early music performers, offers music of the Italian and German Baroque on period instruments.

ALBINONI: Sinfonia a 5 in C Major, op. 2, no. 2
MUFFAT: Sonata no. 2 in G minor, from Armonico Tributo
BACH: Violin Concerto in G minor, BWV 1056r
VIVALDI: Trio Sonata in D minor, op. 1, no. 12 ("La Follia")
ALBICASTRO: Concerto a 4, op. 7, no. 2
SAMMARTINI: Quintet no. 3 in G Major

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion: Pre-concert presentation (no tickets required):
Priest, Freedom Fighter, Dilettante: Three Composers (and the Agent Who Made Them Stars) - John Moran, Peabody Institute This concert is co-sponsored by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and organized in cooperation with the Maison Francaise of the Embassy of France.

2010-2011 Concert Season Preview

The Library of Congress celebrates its 85 years of history as a concert presenter with a stellar 36-event season presenting new American music at the intersection of many genres - classical music, jazz, country, folk and pop.

Honoring a longstanding commitment to American creativity and strong support for American composers, the series offers a new music mini-festival, with world premiere performances of Library of Congress commissions by Sebastian Currier and Stephen Hartke. Twelve of the nation's distinguished composers, established and emerging, come to the Library for premieres, performances, and preconcert conversations. The season lineup also offers impressive period instrument ensembles and artists: Ensemble 415, The English concert, Trevor Pinnock and Paolo Pandolfo.

Concerts are presented in the Library's historic Coolidge Auditorium, located in the Thomas Jefferson Building, 1st and Independence, S.E., unless otherwise noted. All events are free of charge to the public, but tickets are required, available through TicketMaster for a nominal service charge, and from the Atlas Performing Arts Center box office for onLOCation at the Atlas events. For updated concert listings, and details about repertoire and pre-concert presentations, please visit the concert website at www.loc.gov/concerts and subscribe to the concert series listserv.

Tickets STILL available: Uri Caine Trio, on LOCation, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Saturday, May 22, 2010 @8:00pm

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. Note that this performance is at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. 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.

John Adams reading, Whitall Pavillion, May 14th, 2010 @12 noon

The composer reads from his autobiography, HALLELUJAH
JUNCTION: COMPOSING AN AMERICAN LIFE in a special May 14 noontime event. The reading will be followed by a conversation and brief question-and-answer session, hosted by Music Division curator Loras John Schissel.

Composer, conductor and creative thinker--John Adams occupies a unique position in the world of classical music. The Los Angeles Times describes him as "the voice of America," whose music--opera, chamber, and symphonic--stands out in contemporary classical composition for its depth of expression, brilliance of sound, and the profoundly humanist nature of its subjects.

Free and open to the public!

Friday, May 14, 2010
12:00 p.m.
Whittall Pavilion
Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress

For additional information contact Solomon Haile Selassie 202 707 5347
Request ADA accommodation 5 days in advance, 202-707-6362 or ada@loc.gov

Tickets still available! DAFNIS PRIETO SI O SI QUARTET. Atlas Performing Arts Center, Saturday, April 24th, 2010 @8:00 pm

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. With guest artist Christian Howes, violin.

Pre-concert presentation:
6:15 pm - Atlas Center for the Performing Arts (no tickets required) Host of WPFW's "Sound of Surprise" Larry Appelbaum, Music Division, interviews Dafnis Prieto.

Please note that this performance will be held at the
Atlas Performing Arts Center - Lang Theatre
1333 H Street, NE, Washington DC.
Box Office: 202.399.7993

Stand-by tickets will be available at the doors at 6pm!

Free Concert: MAHAN ESFAHANI, Coolidge Auditorium, Saturday, May 29, 2010 @2:00 pm

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.

Jazz Film Series: Han Bennink: Hazentijd, The Pickford Theater, Mon. April 26th @7:00pm

This stylized recent documentary depicts Dutch drummer and visual artist Han Bennink's creative journey from art student and free-lance percussionist backing touring Americans like Johnny Griffin and Eric Dolphy, to the uncompromising improvisor he is today. His visual work, which he creates alone, silently and surrounded by nature, is shown as a counterpoint to his cosmopolitan and often noisy musical life. Bennink is seen captured in performance with Griffin, the ICP Orchestra, jamming with Ethiopian musicians and leading workshops with students and children.

Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets required. All programs are free, but seating is limited to 60 seats, and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Jazz Film Series: 'ROUND MIDNIGHT, The Pickford Theater, Mon. April 19th @7:00pm

'ROUND MIDNIGHT (1986) directed by Bertrand Tavernier (132 mins 35 mm)
A French-American feature, dedicated to Bud Powell and Lester Young, which pays tribute to the black musicians who lived and performed in Paris in the late 1950s. Set at the Blue Note club in Saint-Germain-des-Pres and the Louisiane Hotel, the film stars Dexter Gordon in his Oscar nominated role as saxophonist Dale Turner. On screen appearances and performances by Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Billy Higgins, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, John McLaughlin and Wayne Shorter.

Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets required. All programs are free, but seating is limited to 60 seats, and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Tickets available: ENSEMBLE CAPRICE, Coolidge Audtorium, Friday, May 28, 2010 @8:00 pm

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.

Tickets still available: Alexander String Quartet and Afiara String Quartet, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, April 16, 2010 @8:00pm

San Francisco's Alexander and Canada's Afiara quartets join forces in Martinu'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

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Lecture and Performance: The Alexander String Quartet with Robert Greenberg, Coolidge Auditorium, Saturday, April 24, 2010 @2:00PM

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.

Tickets available: Uri Caine Trio, on LOCation, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Saturday, May 22, 2010 @8:00pm

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. Note that this performance is at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002 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.

Jazz Film Series: DECONSTRUCTING DAD: THE MUSIC, MACHINES AND MYSTERY OF RAYMOND SCOTT (2009), The Pickford Theater, Mon. April 12th @7:00pm

DECONSTRUCTING DAD: THE MUSIC, MACHINES AND MYSTERY OF RAYMOND SCOTT (2009) directed by Stanley Warnow (100 mins DVD)

This feature length documentary explores the life and work of composer, bandleader, inventor and electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott (1908-94), presented from the unique perspective of Stan Warnow, his filmmaker son. The film interweaves Warner Brothers cartoon excerpts (Scott has been called "the man who made cartoons swing"), rare home movies, and interviews with noted Scott fans John Williams, Don Byron, Mark Mothersbaugh, DJ Spooky and Herb Deutsch, co-inventor of the Moog Synthesizer.

Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets required. All programs are free, but seating is limited to 60 seats. Reservations may be made by phone, beginning one week before any given show. Call (202) 707-5677 during business hours (Monday-Friday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm). Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before show time, after which standbys will be admitted to unclaimed seats. Programs subject to change without notice.

"Concerts from the Library of Congress" Radio Series Airs on WETA 90.9 FM

The "Concerts from the Library of Congress" radio series continues in April with new programming on Classical WETA 90.9 FM. Hosted by veteran broadcaster and conductor Bill McGlaughlin, the 13-part series features chamber music performances recorded live in the Library's Coolidge Auditorium over the past 18 months.

Kicking off the series on Saturday, April 3, at 9 p.m. will be a vintage performance by Leonard Bernstein and the Juilliard Quartet.

Listeners can download podcasts of performances, read program notes and visit the treasure vaults of the Library's Music Division in a special online series of companion packages created for each program. Original manuscripts and sketches by J. S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Copland, Gershwin and many others, as well as letters, photographs and memorabilia will be accessible via the Library's website at www.loc.gov/radioconcerts/.

Tickets available: Woodley Ensemble, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, May 14, 2010 @8:00pm

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 doppelcorige Gesange, 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")

Jazz Film Series: My Name is Albert Ayler. The Pickford Theater, Mon. April 5th @7:00pm

The prophetic free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler, who today is seen as one of the most important innovators in jazz, was obsessed with his radical music and by the thought that people one day would understand it. As he said in his own words, "If people don'Ât like it now, they will." In 1962 he recorded his first album in Sweden. Eight years later he was found dead in New York's East River, aged 34. Kasper Collin's documentary follows the trail of Ayler from his native town of Cleveland by way of Sweden to New York, meeting family, friends and close colleagues. Albert Ayler and his brother Donald guide with voice and music in what JazzTimes called "One of the most starkly beautiful and moving documentaries ever made about a jazz musician."

Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets required. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made one week before any given screening by calling (202) 707-5677 between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before show time, after which standbys will be admitted. Programs subject to change without notice.

Juilliard String Quartet Workshop: Coaching and Conversation. Coolidge Auditorium, Saturday, April 10 10:30-12:30

The Juilliard coaches the Afiara Quartet, graduate resident quartet at the Juilliard School. Joining them will be Juilliard's Dean of Chamber Music, Barli 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.

Tickets available: SIMON SHAHEEN & members of QANTARA, on LOCation, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Saturday, May 8, 2010 @8:00pm

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. Note that this performance is at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002

Part of "On LOCation: Concerts at the Atlas Performing Arts Center"

Tickets available: Jack Quartet, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, April 30, 2010 at 8:00pm

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."

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

Tickets available: DAFNIS PRIETO SI O SI QUARTET, on LOCation, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Saturday, April 24, 2010 @8:00pm

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. Note that this performance is at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002

Pre-concert presentation:
6:15 pm - Atlas Center for the Performing Arts (no tickets required) Host of WPFW's "Sound of Surprise" Larry Appelbaum, Music Division, interviews Dafnis Prieto.

Tickets available: Alexander String Quartet and Afiara String Quartet, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, April 16, 2010 @8:00pm

Tickets available: Henschel Quartet, Coolidge Auditorium, Wednesday, April 14, 2010 @8:00pm

Dubbed "pop stars of chamber music" this young ensemble from Munich generates an audience response typically expected at a U2 concert. This will be 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

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Juilliard String Quartet, Coolidge Audtorium, Friday, April 9 @8:00pm

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

SCHUBERT: Quartet in A minor, D. 804 ("Rosamunde")
BARTOK: Quartet no. 2
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")

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets STILL available for Concerto Soave, Coolidge Auditorium, Thursday, Feburary 25th @8:00pm

Next Thursday in the Coolidge Auditorium, Concerto Soave presents Handel in Italy: An evening of music that would have been performed in the sumptuous gardens of Rome's Palazzo Ruspoli: 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. Visit In the Muse, the Performing Arts Blog, for links to audio and video clips of Concerto Soave in performance: http://blogs.loc.gov/music/2010/02/concerto-soave/

External links are provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Voces Intimae, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, March 26, 2010 at 8:00pm

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

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: JEAN-GUIHEN QUEYRAS, cello, and ALEXANDRE THARAUD, piano , Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, March 12 @8:00pm

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)

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Vienna Piano Trio, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, March 5, 2010 @8:00pm

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

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

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Shepherd School of Music, Coolidge Auditorium, Thursday, March 4, 2010 @8:00pm

The culmination of a collaborative project between the Music Division and the Shepherd School of Music involving three gifted performers-on piano, violin, and cello-as well as a scholar, and featuring a McKim commission. Part of "Insights: Exploring the Collections"

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Altenberg Trio, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday, February 26, 2010 at 8:00pm

Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 (no tickets required): "Why Do Listeners Enjoy Music That Makes Them Weep?" -- David Huron, Ph.D. (Part of "Music and the Brain II")

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Concerto Soave, Coolidge Auditorium, Thursday, February 25, 2010 @8:00 pm

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.

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

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Tapestry and Friends, Coolidge Audtorium, Friday, February 19, 2010 @8:00 pm

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."

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Ensemble Sequentia, Coolidge Audtorium, Thursday, January 28, 2010 @8:00 pm

Ensemble Sequentia performs 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," Hjalmar W. Hannesson, Ambassador of Iceland; Alexander Stein, Ph.D.; Donald Crosby; and Taru Spiegel, Ph.D. (Part of "Music and the Brain II")

Tickets available: Pressler and Friends, Coolidge Audtorium, Thursday, Jan 21, 2010 @8:00pm

Since the farewell concerts of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio which he co-founded, inimitable pianist and master pedagogue Menahem Pressler 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 Dvorak's op. 87.

Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 (no tickets required):"Music, Memories, and the Brain," Petr Janata, Ph.D. (Part of "Music and the Brain II")

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Ernest Bloch Commemoration in Coolidge Auditorium TONIGHT, Thursday Dec 10 @6:15 pm

Tonight in the Coolidge Auditorium at 6:15, join us for this pre-concert presentation: In observance of the 50th anniversary of Ernest Bloch's death, Roberto Diaz and pianist Andrew Tyson perform the composer's "Suite for Viola and Piano", commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. No tickets required.

Film program: Standing in the Shadows of Motown, The Pickford Theater, Mon. Dec. 14th @7:00pm

STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN (2002) directed by Paul Justman (116 minutes)

An encore screening of the critically acclaimed film about the Funk Brothers, Motown’s famed house band, eight years to the day after its world premiere at the Library of Congress on December 14, 2001. Their unforgettable story is told through archival footage, interviews, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers.

Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets required. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made one week before any given screening by calling (202) 707-5677 between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before show time, after which standbys will be admitted. Programs subject to change without notice.

Film program: MOTOWN 25 - YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER, Pickford Theater, Mon. Dec. 7 @7:00pm

Monday means Motown at the Pickford Theater. Next week:

MOTOWN 25 - YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER
(1983) directed by Don Mischer (130 minutes)

Hosted by Richard Pryor, this first television anniversary celebration includes Michael Jackson's moon-walking version of "Billie Jean" and a Jackson Five reunion; Marvin Gaye's final television appearance; Stevie Wonder; the original Four Tops and the Temptations in a "battle of the bands;" Linda Ronstadt; Smokey Robinson; the Miracles (including Claudette), and the controversial performance by the Supremes.

Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets required. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made one week before any given screening by calling (202) 707-5677 between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before show time, after which standbys will be admitted. Programs subject to change without notice.

Film program: documentaries featuring The Supremes and the Four Tops in the Pickford Theater, Monday November 23rd @7:00pm

Mondays means Motown in November with the Film Series MOTOWN IN THE FALL

Monday November 23 @7:00pm

THE SUPREMES: REFLECTIONS (2006) (60 minutes) Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard (and her replacement Cindy Birdsong), the original "Dreamgirls" who won over the harshest critics with their looks, their charm and their huge series of hits, are seen in classic appearances in the Ed Sullivan Show and Hullaballo, and in rare footage not seen since it was first aired more than 40 years ago.

THE FOUR TOPS - REACH OUT (2008) (80 minutes) Remaining original member Abdul "Duke" Fakir surveys the dynamic group's forty-year history from its earliest days as The Four Ames to its post-Motown career. Duke discusses the Four Tops' relationship to each other and to their beloved production team Holland-Dozier-Holland.

Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets required. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made one week before any given screening by calling (202) 707-5677 between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before show time, after which standbys will be admitted. Programs subject to change without notice.

Tickets still available: KAYHAN KALHOR & BROOKLYN RIDER. Coolidge Auditorium, Saturday November 14 @8:00pm

Strikingly original music by Kayhan Kalhor, Iran's renowned master kemancheh player/composer, and Brooklyn Rider, an adventurous young quartet--collaborators in Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Project.

Pre-concert lecture, 6:15 (no tickets required): States of Mind: Music in Islamic Sufi Rituals, Taoufiq ben Amor, Ph.D., Gordon Gray Lecturer in Arabic Studies, Columbia University.

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Composer Film Portraits: Karlheinz Stockhausen: Helicopter String Quartet @Pickford Theater Thursday November 19 7:00pm

Karlheinz Stockhausen: Helicopter String Quartet (1995) (77 minutes)
In the Ocean (2001) (54 minutes)

The Dutch documentary filmmaker Frank Scheffer is internationally recognized as a master of sound and image. His films paint not only compelling portraits of major musical thinkers but also a view of the history of modernism in 20th-century music.

At the Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd floor Madison Building
Reservation required; please call 202-707-5677.

Film program: The Temptations --- Get Ready! Pickford Theater, Monday November 16 @7:00pm

Mondays means Motown in November with the Film Series MOTOWN IN THE FALL

THE TEMPTATIONS -- GET READY! (2006) (70 minutes)
In this documentary, remaining original member Otis Williams discusses the history of the group featuring sixteen classic Temptations numbers recorded in different venues and television shows, including "The Way You Do the Things You Do," "My Girl," "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," "I Wish It Would Rain," "Ball of Confusion," and "I Can't Get Next to You."

Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets required. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made one week before any given screening by calling (202) 707-5677 between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before show time, after which standbys will be admitted. Programs subject to change without notice.

Motown in the Fall: a film series at the Mary Pickford Theater

In celebration of the legendary company's fiftieth birthday, Monday nights mean Motown at the Mary Pickford Theater. The series opens on Monday November 16th with THE TEMPTATIONS -- GET READY! (2006).

At the Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets required. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made one week before any given screening by calling (202) 707-5677 between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before show time, after which standbys will be admitted. Programs subject to change without notice.

Tickets available: Parker String Quartet, Coolidge Audtorium, Friday December 18 @8:00pm

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

Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 (no tickets required): 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.

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Diaz Trio with Rodrigo Ojeda, piano, Coolidge Audtorium, Thursday December 10 @8:00pm

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.

6:15 pm Pre-concert presentation (no tickets required):
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.

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: St. Lawrence String Quartet, Coolidge Auditorium, Friday December 4 @8:00

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, John Adams and Ezequiel Vinao, and rounds off the program with Haydn's String Quartet Op. 54 no.2

Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 (no tickets required): "Making Music Changes Brains," Gottfried Schlaug, M.D., Ph.D

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Music and The Brain lecture scheduled for October 16th is CANCELLED

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.

Tickets available: Haydn Trio Eisenstadt, Coolidge Audtorium, Friday November 20 @8:00

One of Austria's leading ensembles will be joined by two eminent Glasgow-born singers, Lorna Anderson and Jamie MacDougall, to celebrate Haydn and the Scottish poet Robert Burns. At the Coolidge Audtorium on Friday, November 20. Concerts are free, but require tickets available from Ticketmaster. There is a small service charge associated with each ticket order and a limit of 2 tickets per person.

Pre-concert presentation at 6:15 (no tickets required): Rattling Roaring Willy!: the Scottish Songs of Joseph Haydn

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Music and the Brain lectures resume this month

Our popular free lecture series continues this month with Music and the Brain II. See our website for up-to-date venue details.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009 at 6:15pm
Beethoven's Deafness: A Medical Mystery
Dr. Charles J. Limb, Peabody Institute and School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University with Patrick J. Donnelly

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009 at 6:15pm
Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia
Dr. Richard E. Cytowic, MD, George Washington Medical Center
(Booksigning will follow the presentation)

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2009 at 6:15pm
Trance Formation: Music, Trance, Religious Experience, and the Brain
Dr. Robin Sylvan, Director of the Sacred Center, El Cerrito, California

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009 at 6:15pm
Dangerous Music III: Suckers, Firestarters, & Cultural Anarchists, Oh My!
Jessica Krash, George Washington University and Norman Middleton, Music Division, Library of Congress

Tickets available: Regev-Huang-Weilerstein Trio, Coolidge Audtorium, Saturday, November 14 @8:00

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. At the Coolidge Audtorium on Saturday, November 14. Concerts are free, but require tickets available from Ticketmaster. There is a small service charge associated with each ticket order and a limit of 2 tickets per person.

Pre-concert lecture at 6:15 (no tickets required):
States of Mind: Music in Islamic Sufi Rituals

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Szymanowski Quartet, Coolidge Audtorium, Friday Nov. 6 @8:00

The Warsaw foursome, described as Ã¢ÂÂa phenomenon in the Polish chamber music scene,Ã¢ÂÂ has been honored with the Szymanowski Award by the Karol Szymanowski Foundation, the first ever string quartet to receive it.At the Coolidge Audtorium on Friday, November 6. Concerts are free, but require tickets available from Ticketmaster. There is a small service charge associated with each ticket order and a limit of 2 tickets per person.

Pre-concert lecture at 6:15 (no tickets required):
Dangerous Music III: Suckers, Firestarters, & Cultural Anarchists, Oh My!

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Zemlinsky Quartet, Coolidge Audtorium, Tuesday Nov. 3 @8:00

Steeped in the Czech string quartet tradition, this young ensemble received top prizes in the Banff, London, and Prague Spring international competitions. At the Coolidge Audtorium on Tuesday, November 3. Concerts are free, but require tickets available from Ticketmaster. There is a small service charge associated with each ticket order and a limit of 2 tickets per person.

Pre-concert lecture at 6:15 (no tickets required):
Trance Formation: Music, Trance, Religious Experience, and the Brain

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Founder's Day Concert with Guy Livingston, Coolidge Audtorium, Friday October 30 @8:00

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. At the Coolidge Audtorium on Friday, October 30. Concerts are free, but require tickets available from Ticketmaster. There is a small service charge associated with each ticket order and a limit of 2 tickets per person.

Pre-concert lecture at 6:15 (no tickets required):
Wednesday is Indigo Blue: Discovering Brain Synesthesia

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. (Part of "Music and the Brain II")

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Lunchtime Lecture: Country-rock Legend Chris Hillman in the Mumford Room, Friday Oct. 16th at noon

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.
Location: Mumford Room, 6th Floor, James Madison Building, 1st And Pennsvylvania Ave. SE

Tickets available: Eroica Quartet and Friends at the Coolidge Auditorium, Monday Oct. 19 @8:00

Come to the Library for 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. At the Coolidge Audtorium on Monday, October 19. Concerts are free, but require tickets available from Ticketmaster. There is a small service charge associated with each ticket order and a limit of 2 tickets per person.

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Carducci Quartet at the Coolidge Auditorium, Friday Oct. 16 @8:00

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. At the Coolidge Audtorium on Friday, October 16. Concerts are free, but require tickets available from Ticketmaster. There is a small service charge associated with each ticket order and a limit of 2 tickets per person.

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual.

Tickets available: Regev-Huang-Weilerstein Trio, Friday October 9

A trio of virtuoso soloists - violinist Frank Huang, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and pianist Ron Regev - come together for a concert with a Mendelssohn focus: the first public performance of the composer's original version of his D minor Trio. At the Coolidge Audtorium on Friday, October 9. Concerts are free, but require tickets available from Ticketmaster. There is a small service charge associated with each ticket order and a limit of 2 tickets per person.

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Library of Congress of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. The Library of Congress bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

Concerts from the Library of Congress archives: the Juilliard String Quartet

The 2009-2010 Concert Season kicks off on October 9th with the Regev-Huang-Weilerstein Trio. In the meantime, listen to this 2003 Library of Congress performance by the Juilliard String Quartet, which returns to the Library in April 2010. This and other highlights of past seasons can be revisited on the Performing Arts Encyclopedia: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/concerts/concerts-home.html

Music and the Brain lectures are now available on iTunes

The Library of Congress's popular Music and the Brain series takes a look at the rapidly expanding field of "neuromusic," new research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and music. What went on in Charlie Parker's medial prefrontal cortex as he started soloing on "Ornithology"? When you coo to your baby, are you stimulating a part of her brain that's hard-wired for music? Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and find out!

The Library of Congress announces the 2009-1020 Concert Season

The Art of the Quartet, Premieres of Commissions by Caleb Burhans, Simon Shaheen and Ezequiel Vinao, and on Location at the Atlas Highlight the Season. The Concerts from the Library of Congress series presents a definitive look at the intimate art of the string quartet as the centerpiece of its 84th concert season, which offers 32 concerts, three film series, and 25 lectures by notable scholars, scientists and other experts.