Classical Music Agenda
The news this week in classical music is the major concerts being offered by the area's symphony orchestras, as well as a large number of concerts that you can hear for free.
BIG GUNS:
Yuja Wang, pianist
>> Don't count out collegiate orchestras — check out the program offered by the University of Maryland Symphony and Choirs at the Clarice Smith Center on Saturday (February 21, 8 p.m.): Elliott Carter's Holiday Overture, Lili Boulanger's De Profundis, Richard Strauss's Death and Transfiguration, and Anton Bruckner's Te Deum. Plus the proceeds from ticket sales go to the university's undergraduate scholarship fund, to help future generations of musicians. Tickets: $30 (students, $7).
>> Finally, Marin Alsop will conduct the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Thursday (February 19, 8 p.m.) in the Music Center at Strathmore. The program combines two symphonies, Mozart's no. 29 and the Saint-Saëns Organ-Symphony, with The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives as introduction.
MAKE IT FREE:
>> On Tuesday (February 17, 7:30 p.m.) pianist Rita Medjimorec and cellist Florian Kitt will present a free concert hosted by the Austrian Cultural Forum at the Embassy of Austria. You must RSVP to be able to attend, either by phone (202-895-6776) or online.
>> Trio con Brio Copenhagen will team up with violist James Dunham for a free concert at the Library of Congress on Wednesday (February 18, 8 p.m.), with a program of music by Beethoven and Mendelssohn. At 6:15 p.m. the world's leading Mendelssohn scholar, R. Larry Todd, who teaches at Duke University, will give a pre-concert lecture in the Whittall Pavilion.
>> It's not a concert, but the following evening (February 19, 7 p.m.) Prof. R. Larry Todd will give a free lecture on the Mendelssohn Bicentenary at the Library of Congress.
>> Also on Thursday (February 19, 7:30 p.m.) musicians from the Marlboro Music Festival, including cellist Peter Stumpf and violinist Augustin Hadelich, will present a free concert at the Freer Gallery of Art, with music by Haydn, Brahms, and Kodály.
>> The Clarice Smith Center hosts a free concert by bassoonist Sue Heineman and clarinetist Paul Cigan on Sunday (February 22, 2 p.m.).
>> Also on Sunday (February 22, 3 p.m.), pianist Jade Simmons will give a free recital at the National Academy of Sciences (2101 Constitution Ave. NW).
>> Over at the Phillips Collection on Sunday (February 22, 4 p.m.) there will be a concert, free with the cost of admission to the museum, by the New York Empire Trio.
>> Later on Sunday (February 22, 6:30 p.m.) the Mendelssohn Piano Trio continues the Mendelssohn celebration with an all-Mendelssohn concert at the National Gallery of Art
>> For more concert information go to Ionarts.