As Washington Performing Arts Society President Neale Perl pointed out, Monday evening's recital at the Kennedy Center was cellist Yo-Yo Ma's 23rd appearance sponsored by the organization. WPAS returns again and again to someone like Ma, not only because one can be reasonably assured that he will deliver a fine recital but also because he can sell out a space like the Concert Hall, even though it is arguably too large for the sort of... more ›

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... more ›

The lesson learned at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday night was that, if you just keep clapping and cheering, Evgeny Kissin will keep playing the piano. At the end of a marvelous recital sponsored by Washington Performing Arts Society, Kissin returned to the stage for countless ovations. The wild yelling from the orchestra level and the balconies was enough to induce him to play eight encores. After about 45 minutes of nightcaps — from Liszt... more ›

They have a saying in Paris that describes the fast pace of life in that city: Métro, boulot, dodo, meaning that life consists only of an endless repetition of subway rides, work, and sleep. Life in Washington is harried, too, but sometimes you need to stop as you dash through the L'Enfant Plaza station at rush hour on a Friday in January. Who is playing the famous Chaconne from Bach's D minor partita so well... more ›

Last night, cellist and, since January, United Nations Peace Ambassador Yo-Yo Ma played a sold-out solo recital in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, sponsored by Washington Performing Arts Society. On the program were three of the unaccompanied cello suites of J. S. Bach, pieces with which Yo-Yo Ma is widely identified in the United States. (The last time we heard an all-Bach cello suite recital like this was from Mischa Maisky at the National Gallery... more ›

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... more ›

If you like your composers Russian, your theater traditional and your Shakespeare, well, everywhere, the Kennedy Center's 2006/2007 season has much to please. As part of "Shakespeare In Washington," the Bard shows up in lots of the Center's theatre, dance and orchestral offerings, from a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Coriolanus to the Kirov Ballet's Romeo and Juliet. The season also brings with it two new partnerships: Arlington's Synetic Theater, which just had a hand... more ›

Leonard Slatkin returned to the podium of the National Symphony Orchestra, which is now celebrating its 75th anniversary season, last night in the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall. DCist was there, along with a full audience that actually did not consist only of people over 50. Most of us were there, not only to welcome back Maestro Slatkin, but to hear the first of the superstar soloists appearing with the NSO during its big season, violinist... more ›

Now that we are almost in October, the fall season of classical music is heating up, and we have put together a list of highlights through December for you over at Ionarts. But, this week, you should give some thought to hearing some of the good music out there (we have a more complete listing at Ionarts). We reiterate our recommendation from last week: the first opera in the 50th anniversary season of the Washington... more ›

This year is the 75th anniversary season of the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as the 10th year of the Leonard Slatkin era. So, as we recommended to you people in last week's Classical Music Agenda, this DCist was in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall last night for the second of two performances by the NSO, kicking off the big season as part of the Kennedy Center Prelude Festival. (The Post and Ionarts were there... more ›

Well, Inauguration Week has come and gone. Even now, the last of our out-of-town guests are making their way out of our snowblanketed city, Ana Marie Cox is peacefully sleeping one off, and black bandanna-bedecked suburbanites are planning on returning to their regular jobs waiting tables at Denny’s. It was a week filled with pomp, protest, train derailments and the inexplicable vandalizing of Adams Morgan. Next time, maybe your friends at DCist will get credentialed.... more ›

The music director of the National Symphony, Leonard Slatkin, is turning 60 years old and the Kennedy Center community will be celebrating in style. The birthday celebration is doubling as the National Symphony Orchestra's Season Opening Ball. The event is being billed as the opening event of Washington's "autumn social calendar." Here's just a partial list of the musical luminaries planning on performing: Joshua Bell, Sir James Galway, Itzhak Perlman, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and everyone's favorite... more ›