Note: All submitted events must be approved before they appear in the calendar.
Free Pre-Season Event:
A Tribute to the 20th Anniversary of 9/11
Members of the Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs
Michele Fowlin & Theodore Thorpe III, artistic directors
Saturday, September 11, 8:30am
The REACH Plaza at the Kennedy Center
To mark the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, members of the Washington Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choirs sing in a powerful tribute event at The REACH—just across the Potomac River from the Pentagon.
2021/22 Season Opener:
Matthew Whitaker Quartet
With special guests Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir
Michele Fowlin, artistic director
Friday, October 15, 8pm
Lincoln Theatre
A former child prodigy, profiled on 60 Minutes and The Today Show, 20-year-old jazz pianist-organist Matthew Whitaker has wowed audiences from L.A.’s Playboy Jazz Festival—where he “inspired spontaneous dancing and a standing ovation” (L.A. Times)—to the Apollo Theatre and a (pre-COVID) 2020 Washington Performing Arts performance. He brings his irresistible virtuosity back to D.C. this fall, with a special guest appearance by our own Children of the Gospel Choir.
Tomorrow I May Be Far Away
Lara Downes with
Rita Dove, poet
Thalea String Quartet
Wednesday, November 3, 8pm
Sixth & I
Hailed for her “luscious, moody, and dreamy” playing by the New York Times, pianist Lara Downes is equally celebrated as a musical innovator and cultural investigator—as heard most recently and widely on her NPR interview series, Amplify with Lara Downes. In this performance, she presents a kaleidoscopic evening of music and poetry inspired by myriad stories of migration and transformation, joined in special-guest appearances by Pulitzer-winning poet Rita Dove and by the vibrant and innovative Thalea Quartet, Graduate String Quartet in residence at the University of Maryland School of Music. The program includes works by William Grant Still, Duke Ellington, Florence Price, Nina Simone, Alvin Singleton, Carlos Simon, and Quinn Mason.
Hayes Piano Artist
Tiffany Poon
Sunday, December 12, 2pm
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
The phrase “something old, something new” comes to mind when considering the career to date of 24-year-old Hong Kong–born pianist Tiffany Poon. Steeped in classical tradition as a onetime student of Emanuel Ax and Joseph Kalichstein, she is also devoted to demystifying and building new audiences for classical music via her YouTube channel, where nearly 300,000 subscribers follow her concert videos, vlog entries, and “Classical Chats.” She devotes her Hayes Series recital to works by Clara and Robert Schumann.
