Results tagged “libraryofcongress”

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.

It's two days from now, September 26. Do you know where John Irving is?

Since its formation in 1999, the Quatuor Ébène has taken the classical music world by storm, winning top prizes at the ARD Competition in Munich and other prestigious awards. Last night, this young string quartet -- who came together as students at the conservatory in Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburb to the west of Paris -- gave what will likely be the high point during this season of free concerts at the Library of Congress. The excellence of their performance makes me doubly regret having missed their previous appearances in Washington, last year at La Maison Française and in 2006 at the Corcoran, as well as a jazz concert in 2006, with a duo of saxophone and accordion, at the Library of Congress.

The last time Stevie Wonder played in town, his venue was the Lincoln Memorial. Before that, it was the Verizon Center. But last night, the room was considerably smaller, and the music exponentially more unique. At the Library of Congress's Coolidge Auditorium, the overachieving 58-year-old pop/R&B legend, Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer, Kennedy Center Honoree, and 25-time Grammy-winner led a reduced orchestra in the world-premiere performance of Sketches of a Life, a classical suite that's been in the works for more than half of his.

As you know, we at DCist are already huge fans of Flickr, the photo sharing site, and were excited to hear earlier this year when they launched a new pilot project called The Commons. Flickr paired with museums and organizations that held public photographic archives, like the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian. Each of them have their own Flickr stream and periodically update from their treasure chest of history.

The National Book Festival, which has become a flagship event for area bibliophiles, just announced its 2008 author line-up.

To return The Library of Congress to its 19th century glory, Congress appropriated funds to restore and renovate the Thomas Jefferson Building starting in 1985.

Did you know that there was a Library of Congress Police Force? Neither did we, but turns out they won't actually exist for much longer anyway. The Post says a merger between the LOC force and the U.S. Capitol Police has finally been approved after years of trying to hammer out an agreement between the two law enforcement agencies.

We have something a little different for you in Photo of the Day today. A few readers pointed out to us yesterday that the Library of Congress now has their very own Flickr page, and they've been uploading all kinds of fantastic images from their archives as a way to share them easily with the public.

With the opening of its ongoing Exploring the Early Americas exhibit today, the Library of Congress marks the beginning of a transformation that by the Summer of 2008 will “merge cutting-edge technology with the knowledge and inspiration embodied in the Library’s unparalleled collections and curators.” The exhibit features some of the 3,000 items representing the "beginning" of America (that is, the beginning of European documented America), that Jay I. Kislak has been collecting for more...

We were taken aback by this beautiful photo by Samer Farha in the DCist Flickr pool this morning. After only a quick glance at the tag "Library of Congress," I was trying to place this building somewhere in the city, but then realized this is a shot of the gorgeous architecture of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, out in Culpeper, Va. Tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains, both American and international film, television, and...

MONDAY >> The Library of Congress Mary Pickford Theatre in the James Madison Building kicks off 5 weeks worth of free Monday night rock and pop films with a rare showing of the 1966 documentary, The Big T.N.T. Show. David "Man from Uncle" McCallum hosts Ray Charles, Petula Clark, the Lovin' Spoonful, Bo Diddley, Joan Baez, the Ronettes, Roger Miller, the Byrds, Donovan, the Seeds, the Modern Folk Quartet, and Ike and Tina Turner taped...

If you are looking for a musical way to celebrate Veterans Day, the Washington Chorus will perform its annual Tribute and Reflection concert this afternoon (November 11, 3 p.m.), in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall (tickets: $15 to $55). Their program includes Joseph Haydn's martial Mass in Time of War. Although there are not that many classical music concerts in the early part of the week, the schedule for next weekend is about as full...

It was a good weekend for historically informed performance: after a stunning concert of the Bachs by Café Zimmermann at the Library of Congress, it was out to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on Sunday night for a recital by the British duo of Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr. In charming prefatory remarks, Manze labeled the selection of one Schubert and three Mozart sonatas as "some of our favorites." A look back over their...

Authors Matthew Gilmore and Andrew Brodie Smith dug through a wealth of treasures at the Library of Congress and in the D.C. public libraries to produce Historic Photos of Washington, D.C.. Gilmore and Smith will be at Candida's World of Books tonight to sign their weighty book. Though certainly an attractive book for anyone with a coffee table, Historic Photos is also a gem for local history buffs, with nearly 200 photos that span...

The Washington Post reports that a recent survey of materials at the Library of Congress shows that 13 percent of the institution's collection is unaccounted for. And here we thought the D.C. Public Library system had problems. The results of the review, which will be presented before a congressional hearing today, showed that 17 percent of materials requested through the library's retrieval system could not be found. Four percent was subsequently located on nearby shelves...

On Monday night, the Library of Congress series of free concerts hosted the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, on their latest North American tour. The score of musicians from Prague, playing without a conductor, got a rough start on the opening work, Antonio Rosetti's Sinfonia in G Minor. Still, it was a welcome discovery from the ensemble's homeland (it turns out that Rosetti was born in Bohemia as Franz Anton Rössler), with fast and sinuous outer...

In England, being named poet laureate is a lot like being named to the U.S. Supreme Court: once there, you're there for life. More importantly, you're expected to be the living, breathing embodiment of a tradition, of an institution constructed entirely of words, texts, precedent. And, though you aren't expected to wear robes when performing your job, you are expected to pen occasional verses on the birth of a royal or on the opening of...

Once again, we would like to take a brief moment to thank this week's advertisers on DCist. Bookfest 2007 at the Library of Congress, starting tomorrow! Book parties are the new...book party. Zipcar, because they're just so darn convenient. Fierce People, a movie with more dysfunctional people than we know what to do with. Who Hates Whom, the new book from Bob Harris. Thunderstruck, the bestseller now in paperback. Busted Tees, which has a $12...

Drum roll please...here's a list of advertisers this week on DCist. Bookfest 2007 at the Library of Congress, which starts in 8 days! Books and Laura Bush! It's party time. Zipcar, because those highways are there for you to use them! War on PBS, because when you put Ken Burns and the word war together, you get a multi-show series on PBS. Look Me In the Eye, in bookstores on September 25th. Busted Tees, which...

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Repertory: The Great Punch-Out: A Hard Hitting Week of Boxing at the Pickford Theater Those of you with an interest in the pugilistic arts may want to camp out at the Library of Congress next week. The library is doing a series of boxing features, shorts, and classic fights that lasts all week long. There's a...

Written by DCist contributor Morgan Hargrave It is entirely possible that the only people who visit the National Building Museum are intrepid tourists who have strayed from the Mall, or perhaps those only there to count the ridiculous number of columns in the Great Hall. It would be a shame if this were actually true, since the NBM has plenty to offer. Of particular note for tourists and locals alike is an exhibit, Washington: Symbol...

Got a second? Good! Because we want to thank the advertisers on DCist this week: CNN.com, who has a surprising amount of video on their site (including one of a couple with sextuplets). Zipcar, because even non-car owners sometimes need a car. Bookfest 2007 at the Library of Congress, which starts in a little more than 14 days from now. How did we know? They have a nifty countdown on their site! ALO, coming to...

>> Don't miss our full preview and interview with Bonde do Role, playing tonight at the Black Cat with Plastic Little and local experimental audio/visual artist Edie Sedgwick. $10, 8 p.m. >> >> DC9's got The Daybreak Line and The Beanstalk Library, who we recently profiled in a Three Stars piece, and Athens, GA's The Winter Sounds. $8, 9:30 p.m. >> I have vivid memories of watching the significantly creepy 1960 TV version of...

In our continuing effort to pay for things around the office, we'd like to take a moment to thank the advertisers on DCist this week: Zipcar, providing multiple, easy locations to get a car. Bookfest 2007 at the Library of Congress, did you know First Lady Laura Bush is one of the hosts? Morrissey, who is coming to DAR Constitution Hall on November 2. Did you get your tickets? Busted Tees because everyone needs some...

>> 9:30 Club has Editors, Ra Ra Riot, and Biffy Clyro. $15 tickets still available, and don't miss our full preview of Ra Ra Riot by clicking here.

Servers aren't cheap, so we'd like to take a moment to thank the advertisers on DCist this week:

>> Continuing their trend of showing only the weirdest awesome movies for free in this city, the Library of Congress' Mary Pickford Theater will actually screen an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 tonight as part of their Screening Shakespeare series. Really. It's the episode of MST3K where the crew is forced to watch a laughably bad German made-for-TV adaptation of Hamlet -- as the press release rightly notes, "is that Ricardo Montalban as...

>> Send off Three Starsand Unbuckled vets The Vita Ruins as they set off on a mini east coast tour tonight at Iota, with New York's Jaguar Club and Faster Faster Harder Harder. 8:30 p.m., $10