Classical Month in Washington: May

Classical Month in Washington is a monthly feature that appears on the first of the month. If there are concerts you would like to see included on our schedule, send your suggestions by e-mail (praecentor at yahoo dot com). Happy listening!

Sunday, May 1, 2 pm
Kennedy Center Chamber Players (Fauré, Françaix, Brahms)
Kennedy Center (Terrace Theater)
See the review by Grace Jean (Washington Post, May 3)

Sunday, May 1, 3 pm
Washington Bach Consort, The Joy of Bach! (Third Orchestral Suite, Cantata No. 51, and Ascension Oratorio)
Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall, Alexandria, Virginia

Sunday, May 1, 4 pm
Ecumenical Evensong in thanksgiving for the life and witness of Pope John Paul II and in celebration of the election and enthronement of His Holiness Benedict XVI
Choir of Men and Girls from Washington National Cathedral and Choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Gorecki, Totus tuus)
Washington National Cathedral

Sunday, May 1, 5 pm
Andre Ponochevny, piano
Phillips Collection

Sunday, May 1, 6:30 pm
Dean Shostak, glass armonica, with Kelly Kennedy, soprano
National Gallery of Art
See the review by Gail Wein (Washington Post, May 3)

Sunday, May 1, 7:30 pm
Yundi Li (winner of the Chopin Competition at age 17), piano (Mozart, Chopin, Liszt)
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Md.), Shriver Hall
See the review by Tim Smith (Baltimore Sun, May 4)

Monday, May 2, 7:30 pm
Gidon Kremer, violin, with the Kremerata Baltica Soloists (Shostakovich, Alexander Wustin)
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Md.), Shriver Hall
See the review by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, May 4)

Tuesday, May 3, 12:10 pm
Washington Bach Consort, with Eric Plutz, organ [FREE]
Noontime Cantata (Was frag ich nach der Welt, BWV 94)
Church of the Epiphany (13th and G Streets NW)
See the review by Jens F. Laurson (Ionarts, May 5)

Tuesday, May 3, 7:30 pm
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (Vocal Arts Society) [CANCELLED]
Kennedy Center

Wednesday, May 4, 7:30 pm; Friday, May 6, 8:15 pm; Sunday, May 8, 3 pm
Offenbach, The Tales of Hoffmann
Baltimore Opera
See the review by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, May 2)

Wednesday, May 4, 7:30 pm
Elena Bashkirova, piano [FREE]
National Museum of Women in the Arts (1250 New York Avenue NW), requires a reservation (call 202-783-7370 or e-mail to reservations@nmwa.org)
See the review by Andrew Lindemann Malone (Washington Post, May 6)

Wednesday, May 4, 7:30 pm
Jerusalem String Quartet (Haydn, Shostakovich, Dvořák)
Kennedy Center (Terrace Theater)
See the review by Jens F. Laurson (Ionarts, May 6)

Thursday, May 5, 7 pm; Friday, May 6, 8 pm; Saturday, May 7, 8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra, with Mstislav Rostropovich and violinist Mayu Kishima (all-Tchaikovsky program)
Kennedy Center (Concert Hall)
See the review by Grace Jean (Washington Post, May 6)

Thursday, May 5, 8 pm
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, with Henning Kraggerud, violin (Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5)
Strathmore Hall

Friday, May 6, 7:30 pm (and various dates through May 31)
Puccini, Tosca (Washington National Opera)
Kennedy Center (Opera House)

Friday, May 6, 8 pm; Saturday, May 7, 8 pm
Palestrina Choir William Byrd Festival: Secular Vocal Works and Keyboard Works (with Vera Kochanowsky, virginal)
Friday: St. Alban's Episcopal Church (Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues NW)
Saturday: Grace Episcopal Church (3601 Russell Road, Alexandria, Va.)

Saturday, May 7, 11 am and 1 pm
NSO Kinderkonzert: Got Rhythm?
Kennedy Center (Theater Lab)

Saturday, May 7, 7:30 pm
Left Bank Concert Society (Berio, Knussen, Ligeti, Bartók)
Kennedy Center (Terrace Theater)

Saturday, May 7, 7:30 pm
Eric Beach (Yale Gordon Concerto Competition Winner, 2004), marimba [FREE]
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Md.), Shriver Hall

Saturday, May 7, 8 pm
Le Baroque Français (Cantate Chamber Singers, program includes Charpentier, Rameau, De la Lande, Mondonville)
St. John's Norwood Parish (Chevy Chase, Md.)

Sunday, May 8, 3 pm
Tippett: A Child of Our Time (The Washington Chorus, with Elizabeth Bishop, mezzo-soprano, and Gordon Hawkins, bass)
Kennedy Center (Concert Hall)
For a preview, see Tim Page, 'A Child of Our Time' Indeed (Washington Post, May 4)

Sunday, May 8, 3 pm
National Championship of High School A Cappella
Lisner Auditorium

Sunday, May 8, 3 pm
Metropolitan Chorus (Morten Lauridensen's Lux Aeterna, arrangements of spirituals by Moses Hogan, and Missa Miamiensis by James Buonemani)
Mount Olivet United Methodist Church (1500 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, Va.)

Sunday, May 8, 3 pm
Chantry, Music for God's Mother (Guerrero, Gombert, and Victoria)
St. Patrick's Church (619 10th Street NW)

Sunday, May 8, 5 pm
Elisabeth Adkins, violin, and Ed Newman, piano [FREE, with admission to museum]
Phillips Collection

Sunday, May 8, 6:30 pm
The Baltimore Consort (17th-century music from the Netherlands) [FREE]
National Gallery of Art

Sunday, May 8, 8 pm; Monday, May 9, 8 pm
Musica Alta Ripa, from Germany (all-Telemann concert)
Dumbarton Oaks Friends of Music Series (by subscription only)

Tuesday, May 10, 5 pm
Guarneri String Quartet, open rehearsal [FREE]
Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (College Park, Md.)

Tuesday, May 10, 6:30 pm
Per Tengstrand, piano (with a buffet reception of Swedish food)
Residence of the Ambassador of Sweden (through CGA)

Tuesday, May 10, 8 pm
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with Daniel Barenboim (WPAS)
Kennedy Center

Thursday, May 12, 7 pm; Friday, May 13, 1:30 pm; Saturday, May 14, 8 pm
National Symphony Orchestra, with guest conductor Roger Norrington (Bruckner's Symphony No. 4)
Kennedy Center

Thursday, May 12, 7:30 pm; Friday, May 13, 7:30 pm
Annlynn Miller (cello) and Ulrich Schmid (piano)
Complete works for piano and cello by Beethoven: op. 5, Nos. 1 and 2 (May 12); op. 102, Nos. 1 and 2, and op. 69 (May 13)
Strathmore Hall (Mansion)

Thursday, May 12, 8 pm
Emerson String Quartet (WPAS)
Mendelssohn, Quartet in E-flat Major, op. 12; Joan Tower, Incandescent; Beethoven, Quartet in C-sharp Minor, op. 131
Strathmore Hall

Thursday, May 12, 8 pm
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [FREE]
Library of Congress

Friday, May 13, 8 pm
Peabody Trio (concluding concert in complete cycle of Beethoven trios)
Corcoran Gallery of Art

Saturday, May 14, 3 pm
Sacchini, Œdipe à Colone (Opera Lafayette)
Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

Friday, May 13, 8 pm; Saturday, May 14, 8 pm
Kevin Kenner, piano
Embassy of the Republic of Poland (2460 16th Street NW)

Saturday, May 14, 7 pm (and various dates until June 4)
Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila (Washington National Opera)
Kennedy Center Opera House

Saturday, May 14, 7 pm; Sunday, May 15, 2 pm
Imant Raminsh's new children's opera The Nightingale (Children's Chorus of Washington)
Lisner Auditorium

Saturday, May 14, 8 pm
Ave Maria: Music in Honor of the Virgin Mary (Woodley Ensemble)
St. Columba's Episcopal Church (4201 Albemarle Street NW)

Sunday, May 15, 3 pm
On Stage with Washington National Opera (Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists from Washington National Opera), excerpts from Shakespeare operas
Renwick Gallery Grand Salon (Free, but reservations required; call 202-448-3490)

Sunday, May 15, 3 pm
In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Songs from the Camps (Master Chorale of Washington)
Kennedy Center

Sunday, May 15, 4 pm
Beethoven, Missa Solemnis (Cathedral Choral Society)
Washington National Cathedral

Sunday, May 15, 5 pm
Yuliya Gorenman, piano
Phillips Collection

Sunday, May 15, 6:30 pm
Saint Petersburg String Quartet (music by Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, and Smetana)
National Gallery of Art

Tuesday, May 17, 7:30 pm
Christine Brandes, soprano, with the Cellists of the National Symphony Orchestra (Bach, Henze, Stravinsky, Pärt, Villa-Lobos, Saariho, Françaix)
Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater

Tuesday, May 17, 8 pm
New York Festival of Song: Lost Tribes of Vaudeville (Michael Barrett and Steven Blier, directors)
Library of Congress (Coolidge Auditorium)

Thursday, May 19, 8 pm; Friday, May 20, 8 pm; Saturday, May 21, 8 pm
Hungarian Operetta Evening (Krisztina Dávid, soprano; Marko Kathol, tenor; George Peachey, piano; Peter Sirotin, violin)
Embassy of the Republic of Hungary (3910 Shoemaker Street NW)

Thursday, May 19, 8 pm
Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem (Choral Arts Society)
Kennedy Center, Concert Hall

Friday, May 20, 3 pm; Saturday, May 21, 3 pm; Sunday, May 22, 3 pm
Aavaat Choir (Inuit choir from Greenland)
National Museum of the American Indian

Friday, May 20, 8 pm
Rolf Schulte (violin), James Winn (piano), and Jerry Grossman (cello)
Library of Congress (Coolidge Auditorium)

Saturday, May 21, 8 pm
National Philharmonic: Ravishing Rhythm (with Children's Chorus of Washington: Orff's Carmina Burana, Zhou, and Larsen)
Music Center at Strathmore

Saturday, May 21, 8:15 pm; Sunday, May 22, 3 pm
Palestrina Choir William Byrd Festival: Mass for Four Voices and the Propers for Corpus Christi
Saturday: St. Rita's Catholic Church (3815 Russell Road, Alexandria, Va.)
Sunday: Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle (1725 Rhode Island Avenue NW)

Saturday, May 21, 8 pm; Sunday, May 22, 2 pm
Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia: Fatal Song, or the Great Opera Murders
Theatre One, Gunston Arts Center (Arlington, Va.)

Saturday, May 21, and Sunday, May 22 (various times)
Instrument Demonstration and Early American Musical Instrument Performances
National Gallery of Art (West Building, West Garden Court)

Sunday, May 22, 5 pm
Wendy Law and Ying-Chien Lin, cello, piano [FREE, with admission to museum]
Phillips Collection

Sunday, May 22, 6 pm
Conservatory Project: Juilliard School
Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater

Monday, May 23, 6 pm
Conservatory Project: Northwestern University School of Music
Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater

Tuesday, May 24, 6 pm
Conservatory Project: Eastman School of Music
Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater

Wednesday, May 25, 6 pm
Conservatory Project: The Curtis Institute of Music
Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater

Thursday, May 26, 6 pm
Conservatory Project: San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater

Friday, May 27, 6 pm
Conservatory Project: Berklee College of Music
Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater

Friday, May 27, 8 pm
Aage Kvalbein, cello, and Shuann Chai, piano
Norwegian Ambassador's Residence (2720 34th Street NW)

Saturday, May 28, 6 pm
Conservatory Project: Shepard School of Music at Rice University
Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater

Sunday, May 29, 5 pm
Steve Silverman and Arco Voce, Baroque ensemble [FREE, with admission to museum]
Phillips Collection

Sunday, May 29, 6 pm
Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University
Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater