The repairs in the Coolidge Auditorium are ongoing, and we are thankful for the flexibility of our artists and audiences as we strive to present all that we can in alternative venues. After the success of our two February events that took place at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Concerts from the Library of Congress is pleased to remind you of two additional events taking place there on March 20th and March 21st: Ars Nova Copenhagen and Stephen Hough, respectively. At the close of the month, on March 31, Immanuel Wilkins will be presented in the Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage.
All events are free and open to the public, but you do need to register to attend and we recommend arriving by 7:30pm, as space may be limited and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please be sure to double-check the venue on your registration before you come! While St. Mark’s (301 A Street, SE; Washington, DC 20003) is close to the Library, Arena Stage is farther away, part of the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 6th St SW, Washington, DC 20024). As of today, audience members in any theater at Arena Stage are required to be masked, so please bring one with you.
Thank you again for all of your support during this unexpected interruption of our normal concert events—we look forward to seeing you at these and other upcoming events, and hope that later in the spring we will be able to celebrate a homecoming in the Coolidge Auditorium!
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Monday, March 20, 2023, 8pm
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
301 A Street, SE; Washington, DC 20003
Ars Nova Copenhagen
Download the program for Ars Nova Copenhagen here!
With “My end is my beginning,” the gorgeous voices of Ars Nova Copenhagen link the worlds of Machaut and Gibbons to those of the 20th-century and beyond. Known for their performances of early and new music, the ensemble led by Paul Hillier is equally at home voicing the Cries of London and Copenhagen. The second half of their concert is devoted to a recent work by Caroline Shaw, How to fold the wind, the title of which suggests some delicate origami in its construction.
There will be no preconcert talk for this event.
Program:
“My End Is My Beginning”
PELLE GUDMUNDSEN-HOLMGREEN, Three Stages (The Cries of Copenhagen)
GUILLAUME DE MACHAUT, Ma fin est ma commencement
GAVIN BRYARS, And so ended Kant’s travelling in this world
ORLANDO GIBBONS / HILLIER, The Cries of London
ORLANDO GIBBONS, What is our life?
PER NØRGÅRD, Wie ein Kind
CAROLINE SHAW, How to fold the wind
Click here for more information and to register.
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Tuesday, March 21, 2023, 8pm
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
301 A Street, SE; Washington, DC 20003
Sir Stephen Hough, piano
Download the program for Stephen Hough here!
Sir Stephen Hough brings his trademark eloquence and precision to a recital filled with music by composers close to his heart. From the mysterious and mystical realms of Mompou and Scriabin to the evocative imagery of Debussy and Hough’s own Partita, Hough leaves a stamp on all of this repertoire. His recital closes with a suite of pieces selected from the second volume of Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage—the famous Petrarch sonnets as well as the astounding “Dante Sonata.” The Library has several works by Mompou in its collections, and an original song manuscript that is a darker revision of one of Liszt’s most beloved songs and piano transcriptions, the Sonetto 104 del Petrarca.
There will be no preconcert talk for this event.
Program:
FEDERICO MOMPOU, Cants mágìcs
CLAUDE DEBUSSY, Estampes
ALEXANDER SCRIABIN, Sonata no. 5, op. 53
STEPHEN HOUGH, Partita
FRANZ LISZT, Selections from Années de pèlerinage, Deuxième Année – Italie, S. 161
Sonetto 47 del Petrarca
Sonetto 104 del Petrarca
Sonetto 123 del Petrarca
Après une lecture du Dante. Fantasia quasi Sonata
Click here for more information and to register.
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Friday, March 31, 2023, 8pm
Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage
1101 6th St SW, Washington, DC 20024
Immanuel Wilkins Quartet
Saxophonist, composer and arranger, Blue Note artist and Downbeat Rising Star, Immanuel Wilkins is a vital voice in a new generation of jazz thinkers. “His sound is most often silky and lush…with a gorgeous tone and phrasing… but he can shift into a grittier gospel feel or an airier whisper as the art requires.” (Pop Matters.com). “My work is the intersection between spiritual practice and Black aesthetics,” Wilkins says, referencing John Coltrane and the music of the Baptist and Pentecostal churches of his Philadelphia childhood. Last fall, he toured major jazz havens in Europe, hitting festivals in Stockholm, Berlin and Madrid and venues like Hamburg’s Elb Philharmonie. In March, after a residency at New York’s The Stone, performing with Bill Frisell, Susie Ibarra and other colleagues, Wilkins makes a stop at the Library as part of a nationwide swing across the heartland with his longtime quartet: Micah Thomas on piano, Rick Rosato on bass, and Kweku Sumbry on drums.
As of today, audience members in any theater at Arena Stage are required to wear a mask, so please bring one with you.
There will be no preconcert talk for this event.
Click here for more information and to register.