The following is a guest post from Anne McLean, Senior Producer for Concerts and Special Events.
The Music Division launches a terrific 2017-2018 Concerts from the Library of Congress season with a great pair of exciting events. We have two back-to-back season openers: Ensemble Signal, presenting music of Steve Reich, on Wednesday, October 18; and the scintillating Los Angeles-based Latin band La Santa Cecilia, on Thursday, October 19. We hope you can join us for these two very enjoyable evenings, both at 8 pm in the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium.
Ensemble Signal’s October 18th concert is offered as a collaboration of the Library of Congress and Washington Performing Arts. We are delighted to be co-presenting this event with WPA, which shares the Library’s enthusiastic commitment to new music.
Pioneering minimalist Steve Reich has won worldwide recognition as one of the most influential composers of the past half-century. He will be with us for the concert, performing his Clapping Music with Ensemble Signal’s conductor Brad Lubman. Following it you’ll hear Reich’s Quartet, Pulse, Double Sextet, and the East Coast premiere of his Runner. This work was co-commissioned by an impressive group of contemporary music supporters: Washington Performing Arts; Royal Opera House Covent Garden; Ensemble Signal; Cal Performances, University of California, Berkeley; and Ensemble Modern, with the support of the Library’s Dina Koston and Roger Shapiro Fund. A post-concert conversation with the composer, Brad Lubman, and Jenny Bilfield, President and CEO of Washington Performing Arts, will wrap up the concert.
If you have to miss this evening, we hope you’ll join us on the live stream for this event, hosted on the Library’s YouTube channel.
And why not come back on October 19th to hear La Santa Cecilia? NPR’s Felix Contreras calls La Santa Cecilia “a major musical presence.” This wonderfully energizing, Grammy Award- winning band has an irresistible and very danceable music mix, from traditional Mexican styles—boleros and rancheras, cumbias, corridos, and mambos—to original songs written by band members, music of Carlos Santana, Ramón Ayala, and Los Alegres de Terán, plus dashes of jazz, rock and roll and klezmer. Lead singer “La Marisoul” Hernandez and her brilliant colleagues conjure a joyous dance hall feeling—don’t miss this one!
Both these concerts are sold out, but RUSH passes will be available on the day of the event starting at 6 pm. We cordially encourage walkup patrons!