CONCERTS FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
2015-2016 Season Overview
www.loc.gov/concerts
Season Announcement Press Release
Season Overview & At-A-Glance Calendar
Our 2015-2016 season celebrates 90 years of historic concerts and legendary performers: a splendid artistic legacy of more than 2,700 events, presented at the Nation’s Library since 1925. We cordially invite you to celebrate with us as we honor our history with a spectacular lineup of 90+ events.
We have some exciting news about our new ticket distribution system: beginning this season, our tickets will be distributed through Eventbrite, eliminating ticket processing and service charges. Tickets may be accessed via loc.gov/concerts and the free Eventbrite mobile app for iOS or Android devices (Eventbrite.com). Tickets are not required to attend pre-concert presentations. Registrations for weekday daytime programs are encouraged, but not required.
GUIDE TO USING EVENTBRITE
Fall 2015 Tickets Available September 2, 2015 at 10 am ET
Spring 2016 Tickets Available January 6, 2016 at 10 am ET
MARTHA GRAHAM AT THE LIBRARY | The centerpiece of our season is a week-long festival: Martha Graham at the Library, presenting three of the five historic ballets commissioned from Graham by the Coolidge Foundation. Experience the iconic Appalachian Spring (music by Aaron Copland) performed on the stage where it was premiered, as well as Cave of the Heart (music by Samuel Barber), and the Saraband from Dark Meadow (music by Carlos Chávez). A new Library of Congress choreography commission from Swedish dance sensation Pontus Lidberg, set to music by Irving Fine, will be premiered by the company on April 1 and 2. Check out the festival’s package of intriguing educational events–lectures, panels and films–to enhance your encounters with these landmark works.
COMMISSIONS & NEW MUSIC | New music is a major emphasis in 2015-2016, starting with an exciting season-opener featuring cutting-edge works from piano-and-percussion quartet yarn|wire. We also present the Washington debut of the incomparable Ensemble Intercontemporain. In celebration of the Library’s storied history as a commissioner of new works (now totaling more than 600) this milestone season features the premieres of nine new commissions. These include new compositions by Michael Hersch (performed by members of the ATOS Trio), Paul Lansky (by WindSync), Hannah Lash (by Ensemble Intercontemporain), Matthias Pintscher (by Ensemble Intercontemporain), Gabriela Lena Frank (by the Handel and Haydn Society), Brian Ferneyhough (by the Talea Ensemble), Maria Schneider (by the Maria Schneider Orchestra), Frederic Rzewski (by Jennifer Koh and Benjamin Hochman), and the new dance commission from choreographer Pontus Lidberg for the Martha Graham Dance Company.
GLORIOUS VOICES | Aficionados of great vocal music, mark your calendars! Our special Founder’s Day weekend offers The Soul’s Messenger, performed by Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble, followed by the 15-voice a cappella group Pomerium, directed by Alexander Blachly. Hear Swedish megastar Anne Sofie von Otter in a rare intimate evening of Renaissance and Baroque songs, with delicate theorbo, harpsichord and portative organ accompaniment from Thomas Dunford and Jonathan Cohen. Tenor Nicholas Phan and pianist Myra Huang offer cycles by Robert Schumann and Benjamin Britten, paired with groups of songs by Ned Rorem and Paul Bowles. Led by Ted Sperling, our Marvin Hamlisch tribute spotlights star performers from Broadway: Capathia Jenkins and Lindsay Mendez.
KEYBOARD MASTERS & EARLY MUSIC | Harpsichordist Andreas Staier presents one of his signature thematic projects in March: a program contemplating the concept of melancholy, exploring music from 17th-century France and Germany. Pianist Yefim Bronfman will perform signature works in May–the “War Sonatas” of Sergei Prokofiev. Three world-class period-instrument ensembles are on offer: British soprano Joanne Lunn joins the remarkable Bach Collegium Japan with Masaaki Suzuki. Conducted by Harry Christophers, the Handel and Haydn Society’s concert salutes the 200th anniversary of its founding. Soprano Amanda Forsythe ignites a blaze for Apollo’s Fire in arias by Handel and Vivaldi.
JAZZ | Concerts from the Library of Congress has joined forces with the Reva and David Logan Foundation to present three jazz residencies. Bandleader and composer Maria Schneider, South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim, and jazz scholar and critic Dan Morgenstern will delve into the Library’s jazz collections and present their findings in performances and public interviews. Also in jazz, Afro-Cuban drumming phenomenon Pedrito Martinez will close the season with a rousing performance by The Pedrito Martinez Group.
CHAMBER MUSIC | Don’t miss the Bartók marathon with the Borromeo String Quartet, a special event for this season’s Stradivari anniversary, plus these memorable quartets: Pavel Haas, Michelangelo, Juilliard–celebrating its 70th anniversary–and Del Sol. Cellist Alban Gerhardt partners with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, and horn player Eric Ruske performs with violinist Jennifer Frautschi and pianist Gloria Chen.
COUNTERPOINTS | By popular demand, we’ve grown our Counterpoints offerings: lectures, conversations with artists, film screenings, workshops, #Declassifieds and more! The roster takes in presentations by distinguished speakers on topics like Berlioz and Debussy; in-depth explorations of Rhapsody in Blue and the Mendelssohn Octet; a Technofiles panel on “The Printed Instrument” and great film series offerings: music films from 50 years ago, Sci-Fi scores, and documentaries about Pierre Boulez, Martha Graham and Isamu Noguchi.
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