eighth blackbird

After our recommendation of the National Symphony Orchestra's performance of David Del Tredici's Final Alice last week, it looks like another week of contemporary music awaits. If you think classical music is only about the reiteration of older music, think again.

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW:
>> The modern music ensemble known as eighth blackbird will perform a program called The Only Moving Thing on Tuesday (May 13, 7:30 p.m.) in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. This adventurous concert combines Steve Reich's Double Sextet (for six musicians playing simultaneously with a recording of themselves) with a staged collaborative work by David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe of Bang on a Can fame. Both works were premiered by the ensemble this past March (reviewed by the Post). Tickets: $38.

>> Another living composer, Thomas Adès, comes to the area this week to conduct the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, on Saturday night in the Music Center at Strathmore (May 17, 8 p.m.). Adès, a distinguished pianist and conductor, will lead the BSO in performances of two Beethoven symphonies, nos. 1 and 4. Those works bookend the first local performance of the new violin concerto by Adès, to be performed by Anthony Marwood, for whom it was composed. If you cannot make it on Saturday, you could also go up to Baltimore for performances on Thursday or Friday instead (May 15 and 16, 8 p.m.), in Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

>> The Choral Arts Society of Washington will finally bring one of the most successful modern masterpieces to the area, when they perform the oratorio El Niño. Norman Scribner conducts this work by American composer John Adams, a retelling of the Nativity of Christ, on Sunday evening (May 18, 7:30 p.m.) in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets: $15 to $65.

>> On Wednesday night (May 14, 8 p.m.), the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra will give a concert at Strathmore. The 20th-century repertoire includes Schoenberg's transcendent Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night, op. 4) and Shostakovich's first piano concerto, with Olga Kern as soloist. Tickets: $40 to $75.

>> The Kennedy Center Chamber Players will give a concert on Sunday (May 18, 7:30 p.m.) in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. The program includes a recent work by Washington-born Stephen Jaffe, Sonata in Four Parts, as well as older music by Beethoven and Schumann. Tickets: $35.

>> By comparison, Richard Strauss's Elektra, from 1909, may seem old-fashioned, but this story of a daughter seeking bloodthirsty revenge for her father's murder can still shock. Performances this week from the Washington National Opera are scheduled for May 13, 15, and 18: look for my review tomorrow.

FREE, STILL MODERN:
>> The Parker and Borromeo String Quartets will get together to play a free concert on Friday night (May 16, 8 p.m.) at the Library of Congress. The modern repertoire includes Kurtág’s Six Moments Musicaux, op. 44, and Bartók's sixth string quartet. They will also give a master class on Saturday (May 17, 10 a.m.), open to the public, followed by another free concert (May 17, 2 p.m.), which will include Zwilich's Romance for violin and piano.

>> Pianist Alon Goldstein will give a free concert on Sunday (May 18, 4 p.m.) at the Phillips Collection. As always, admission to the museum is not free.

>> The Great Noise Ensemble, a local contemporary music group, will give a free concert on Sunday (May 18, 6:30 p.m.) at the National Gallery of Art.

>> For more concert information, go to Ionarts.