At this point in December, holiday concerts and Handel's Messiah have completely hijacked the classical music schedule. Here are a few other events, not all of which avoid the spirit of the season. After this post, the Classical Music Agenda will take its end-of-the-year hiatus, to return in the New Year. >> On Tuesday, the final concert sponsored by Washington Performing Arts Society this calendar year features young violist Jennifer Stumm and Finghin Collins at......

On Tuesday Metro introduced those two redesigned railcars we mentioned last week, which have a variety of new features including non-carpeted flooring, bench seating and those odd looking leaning pads designed to give standing passengers a back rest. Rail cars #6104 and #6105 also feature and more overhead stainless steel grab straps, which are apparently designed to be more accessible to shorter customers, and fewer windscreens. The overall effect of the design is intended to......

It looks like I.M.P., the Montgomery County-based company that runs the 9:30 Club and Merriweather Post Pavilion, hasn't given up on opening a Silver Spring music hall. In September, we wrote that concert producer and venue owner Live Nation had signed a non-binding letter of intent to put a Fillmore music hall in the old J.C. Penney store at Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road in Silver Spring, across from the AFI Silver Theater. Both the......

It's always interesting to compare collegiate news coverage with larger news outlets whenever a story breaks out of a campus publication. In the case of today's news about the apprehension of one suspect in the recent spate of hate graffiti on the George Washington University campus, the differences are pretty tangible. Both the Examiner and the Washington Post have stories up about the arrest by University Police of an unnamed student for his or her......

Sen. McConnell, On Tuesday the Senate is set to take up legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. And though the measure passed the House and enjoys wide support in the Senate and among the American people, you've threatened to use procedural road-blocks to prevent it from coming to a vote. Please don't. Sen. McConnell, in opposing a measure that would grant the District's 600,000 residents a......

Though the initial shock of seeing Eastern Market almost consumed by flames has passed, members of the community have ramped up fundraising efforts to ensure that the rebuilding begins as quickly as possible and the displaced vendors are cared for. On Tuesday, May 8, a number of bars will direct a percentage of their proceeds to the Capitol Hill Community Foundation, which is serving as focal point for Eastern Market-related fundraising efforts. So far,......

Last year's celebration of the 100th birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich, on September 25, fizzled out somewhat here in Washington. This week, dedicated listeners had the chance to take their fill of the Russian composer's music. After a thundering concert performance of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by the Kirov Opera on Sunday, it was the Emerson Quartet who brought the early half of their complete cycle of Shostakovich's fifteen string quartets, played to great acclaim in......

On Tuesday, the American -ists will be celebrating democracy and hitting the polls, letting politicians know what they really think. It just made us wonder: if it were up to the -ist-a-verse, what would we be voting for? Londonist votes for better skincare, alternative spaces for art, cute little birds and the men who keep them, and concrete. Lots of concrete. Shanghaiist votes for one of the Bee Gees and Air Supply (it's a double-ticket),......

The weather's turning cooler, and runners everywhere know what that means: it's time to finish breaking in shoes, finalize hydration strategies and push through the last awful burst of training before the season hits its peak. For some D.C. runners, there's one more item on that to-do list: start shopping for a new dress. For some reason this town's array of transvestite track & field options keeps expanding. Sad to say, but the first of......

On Tuesday, American composer Steve Reich turned 70, as mentioned in last week's Classical Music Agenda. While New Yorkers are enjoying a month-long festival of performances of Reich's music, here in Washington there was only one opportunity, a concert Saturday night by the recently formed Great Noise Ensemble at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Silver Spring. The Great Noise Ensemble may have the distinction of being the first new music ensemble formed through a listing......

If there are far more possible concerts in a week than I could possibly mention, it must be October. The good news is that there are more free concerts to tell you about, and the bad news is that there are so many concerts for me to attend that I could be spending every night listening to music. Wait, that sounds like more good news. CONTEMPORARY MUSIC: >> In last week's agenda, I had Shostakovich's......

Many DCists' tango knowledge draws exclusively from sexy Antonio Banderas dance scenes, Scent of a Woman, or that Shakira video in constant rotation at Gold's Gym. But there's an entire world of tango out there, and the district is showcasing the sultry dance this week during the Washington DC Tango Festival. Tonight and Wednesday, tango goes to the movies, as the Argentinian embassy screens Tango Maestro — The Life and Music of Astor Piazzolla this......

Finding D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams these days is starting to seem more and more like a game of "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" Today the Post reports on Williams' two-week worldwide tour, writing: On Friday, it was London. On Saturday, Istanbul. On Tuesday, he was in Paris. And today? If it's Thursday, it must be Johannesburg. For the moment, that's where Williams plans to stay. The South African city is the final stop......

We asked, and you delivered. On Tuesday, we noted that Thursday was National Dump the Pump Day, and we asked that Washington area residents think about stepping out of their cars and onto Metro. According to NBC 4, that's exactly what people did, so much so that the 774,255 riders placed that day at seventh on the ranking of highest ridership days. Wednesday was busy too, and its 764,511 riders came in at twelfth. We're......

On Tuesday I described the hellish experience of traveling on the crowded Metro in Caracas, Venezuela. Two days later and rich with insight into transit systems from the world beyond Washington, I've found the following in my commuting through Caracas: The Mad Dash Exists Outside Washington: You know that blind mad dash we all tend to make when we transfer in a multi-level station? That desperate run from the Red Line to the Orange Line......

There is little doubt about the major event in classical music this week in Washington. On Tuesday (April 4, 8 p.m.) renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma will play a recital in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Not only that, but he will be playing three of the solo cello suites by J. S. Bach, works with which he is widely identified, to the point that when he appeared on The West Wing, he was playing one......

Three Stars February is rounding the finish line, just in time for you to take all that local music yearning to Unbuckled tonight. On Tuesday we visited with The Hint, yesterday The Apparitions, and today we finish with Shortstack. See you all tonight at DC9! Shortstack play music they love. They are not a political band. They do not play art rock, or at least what you would expect to hear if provided the term.......

This review written by DCist Contributor Jim Smalley. Photos by Katie L. Thompson. On Tuesday night, DCist took the opportunity to catch two D.C. hardcore punk bands on the backstage at Black Cat. What ensued was one of the most intense live performances you will find in the District. Opener The A.K.s feature not one, but two throat-shredding vocalists, Alexi Petersen and Noah Foster who equally share airtime. Behind them stand Justin Parker on guitar,......

This DCist loves opera, but we understand that it is not for everyone and that the cost can be prohibitive. If your mood turns operatic, however, it's a good month for you. This is the final week for Gershwin's Porgy and Bess with Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, with sold-out performances on Tuesday (November 15, 7:30 p.m.), Friday (November 18, 7:30 p.m.), and Saturday (November 19, 7 p.m.). If you still want to......

By DCist Food and Wine Writer Michael Mugmon. Like Hall & Oates, DCist is so close, yet so far away. On Tuesday afternoon, we stopped by our local Subway sandwich shop at 20th and M Streets NW for a footlong meatball sub. When we asked for the two Sub Club stamps we thought we'd earned (one stamp for each six odd inches of grunt), the cashier brusquely informed us that the venerable Sub Club program......

This is the final installment of this go-round of Three Stars. On Tuesday we featured Alcian Blue, and yesterday we reviewed the album Proof, by Laura Tsaggaris. Today we tackle Meredith Bragg and the Terminals. Three Stars will return in November. Meredith Bragg and the Terminals When the first breaths of autumn blow into the city, darkening its leaves and skies, DCist reaches for a certain subset of our album collection, records reserved for cool,......

This will be a much-needed weekend of rest for D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams. Beyond the usual daily toil of making sure the city doesn't descend into a state of uncontrollable anarchy, Mayor Williams took to the streets this week to engage in a little old-fashioned manual labor. On Tuesday Williams donned protective attire and sprayed away graffiti in Dupont Circle, part of his response to the millionth call the Mayor's Citywide Call Center has received......

This DCist went to listen to some of the Rostropovich Cello Competition qualifying round this past week, which we recommended to you in our last Classical Music Agenda. Although that was good listening, it's still August, and there is not that much to hear as far as classical music in Washington, but we have drummed up a few things you might want to consider. MILITARY MUSIC: >> Washington enjoys the regular performances of several choral......

General Tommy Franks, former commander of U.S. Central Command, will be promoting his new book, "American Soldier," in the District next week. On Monday, he'll give a talk and booksigning at a National Press Club luncheon at 12:30 p.m. Admission is $16 for NPC members and $35 for nonmenbers, call 202-662-7501 for reservations. On Tuesday, Franks will hold a book signing at 1:00 p.m. at the downtown Barnes & Noble at 555 12th St. NW.......