Classical Music Agenda by DCist contributor
Charles T. Downey of Ionarts

If you have not done your civic duty and Taken
a Friend to the Orchestra yet this month,
Washington is not the place to try to make that happen
in late May. We don’t have much to suggest for your
classical listening pleasure this week, but you can
keep yourself informed by following our Classical
Week in Washington column at Ionarts.

FREE CONCERTS:
>> This week, the Kennedy
Center is hosting the next installment of its very
interesting Conservatory
Project. Every day through Sunday, at 6 pm in the
Terrace Theater, you can hear free
recitals of chamber music by the best and
brightest young musicians from the leading American
conservatories and schools of music. No reservations
or tickets are required: you just show up and listen.
Schools that will be featured this week are the San
Francisco Conservatory of Music (Thursday), Berklee
College of Music (Friday), the Shepard
School of Music at Rice University (Saturday), and
Peabody
Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University
(Sunday).

>> Only one of the many free concert series in the
city has an event this Sunday (May 29). At 5 pm, Steve
Silverman and the Baroque ensemble Arco Voce will play
at the Phillips
Collection. Admission to the concert is free when
you buy a ticket to see the museum on Sunday. That is
also the last day to see the Modigliani exhibit at the
Phillips, as Judy Coleman reminded
us recently, so you could kill two cultural birds with
one stone.

>> Of course, attending that concert would put you
seriously behind in beer consumption for the biggest
free concert of them all. This Sunday evening (May 29
from 8 to 9:30 pm), the National Symphony Orchestra
will play its annual Memorial
Day Concert at The Capitol. Appearing on the stage
of the Capitol’s West Lawn will be, among others, Gary
Sinise, Joe Mantegna, Vanessa Williams, Colin Powell,
Charles Durning, and Harolyn Blackwell. Erich Kunzel
is the orchestra’s guest conductor. If the weather is
good, crowds are expected to near 300,000 so be
prepared for insanity. If you don’t like big crowds,
the concert will be broadcast live on PBS and NPR
(check local listings).