By DCist Contributor Jamie McCrary
The Friday Morning Music Club (FMMC) has become a misnomer. The organization, which performs and presents classical music throughout the D.C. area, engages the community every day of the week.
The group got its start way back in 1886, when fifteen women with a serious interest in music came together, meeting at each others’ houses one Friday morning each month to study and give private concerts. Overtime, the organization increased in visibility and membership, becoming one of five organizations to provide seed money for the National Symphony Orchestra in 1931, and FMMC expanded into producing public events in 1974.
FMMC has a stacked 2017-18 season, featuring chamber and orchestra concerts, performances by their chorale and composer’s group, and international competitions for its youngest members. All performances are free-of-charge, reinforcing their mission to provide “free, high-quality classical music to the DC community.”
The Chamber/Solo Music program, FMMC’s signature and longest-standing performance series, kicks off its Friday noontime concerts this week. The series runs through May, offering attendees a mix of solo, trio and quartet music.
“I sincerely hope classical music lovers can take full advantage of our offerings,” said Jeongseon Choi, FMMC member and director of the Chamber/Solo Music program.
Friday’s opening concert, held at the Calvary Baptist Church in Gallery Place/Penn Quarter, features J.S. Bach’s Italian Concerto, selected songs by Fauré, and Copland’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano. A celebratory reception follows the performance.
“We try to create a well-balanced program for each concert,” Choi said. “We want listeners to experience a variety of composers and instruments.”
Ensembles also perform on Tuesdays and Thursdays at other locations in the District, suburban Maryland, and Virginia. Venues include Dumbarton House in Georgetown, Old Town Hall in Fairfax, the Lyceum in Alexandria, and Friendship Heights Community Center in Chevy Chase, among many others.
Choi’s favorite performance series is FMMC’s monthly Strathmore concerts. Held the first Thursday of every month at 11 a.m., the historic mansion offers an intimate 100-seat recital hall, exhibition space, an outdoor concert pavilion, and sculpture gardens.
“It is such a beautiful venue,” Choi said, “with a Steinway Grand piano a musician could only dream of playing.”
In the future, Choi hopes to add an all-piano solo series based on Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, a cornerstone of classical piano repertoire. She’s also planning to program all of Mozart’s violin and piano sonatas.
Choi’s ambitions connect to a larger initiative at FMMC. The Club wants to diversify its audience and performers through its programming.
“We hope to accommodate not only classical music lovers, but less-experienced audiences, too,” she said. “We’d also love to have younger performers, both out-of-towners and people who just moved here.”
FMMC has quite a bit of programming coming up in the near term. FMMC’s Chorale, a mixed chorus under the direction of Mr. Paul Leavitt, has its opening performance this weekend, performing Leavitt’s Requiem at the Church of the Reformation in Northeast. The Avanti Orchestra, FMMC’s 70-member string ensemble, will perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 6 at the Montgomery College-Takoma Park’s Cultural Arts Center. The performance features pianist Yi-Yang Chen, the 2017 Washington International Competition winner.
The Friday Morning Music Club has many goals this season, but one remains strongest: moving its audience. The organization aims to transport its listener, whether they’re seasoned music-lovers or attending for the first time.
“We hope people are touched by our performances,” Choi said. “We want to brighten people’s lives.”
Visit the Friday Morning Music Club‘s website for full schedule and ticket information.
