Get ready, North Bethesda residents, a new music venue is slated to open in your parts soon.
The Strathmore Hall Foundation, in a partnership with Federal Realty Investment Trust will open the new venue, named AMP, this fall, with music programming slated to begin sometime in early 2015. According a release, the new 250-seat venue is currently under construction in the newly constructed Pike & Rose—a mixed-use development in North Bethesda. The release also states the Neighborhood Restaurant Group—the group behind popular area bars and restaurants like Birch & Barley, Churchkey, Bluejacket, Red Apron, and more—will take care of food and catering services for the venue, which will be available for to rent for special events beginning this fall.
The name AMP was “chosen to reflect the ‘amplification’ of cultural, educational, and musical programming that will be infused into the North Bethesda and Montgomery County community,” which roughly translates to “this won’t be as stuffy and fancy a venue as the Strathmore Mansion, but will still probably be fancy-ish.” Probably somewhere in between The Hamilton and Rock & Roll Hotel, if I had to guess. The logo, the release states, is “based on creativity, movement and sound and is reminiscent of sound waves, pulsating energy and the authenticity of the live music experience.”
As for the programming for the cabaret-style seating venue, it will be curated by Strathmore and will be diverse, “with intimate jazz, rock, folk, and contemporary performances, as well as a variety of well-established, trend-setting touring acts.” There ya go.
“AMP will allow Strathmore to move into the next chapter of its growth by reaching out to a whole new audience with intimate artistic offerings in a more casual and accessible setting,” Eliot Pfanstiehl, Founder and CEO of Strathmore, said in a release. “Our partnership with a dynamic culinary tastemaker like Neighborhood Restaurant Group complements our vision of bringing a completely unique entertainment experience to an area that has said, loudly, that it is craving this type of venue. We want patrons to be excited by every facet of AMP. Strathmore’s programming acumen and our exceptional catering partner helps complete that picture.”
