TAFTO 2008

Every April, the indefatigable Drew McManus of Adaptistration hosts Take a Friend to the Orchestra Month, during which everyone who loves going to the symphony is encouraged to take someone new to the experience along for the ride. So far this year, among the guest contributors who have written about how to do that are conductor Carlos Kalmar, double bassist Matt Heller, violinist Laurie Niles, and blogger Ben Smith. A contribution from Yours Truly was published today (click on the image below to read it), and more will follow.

So, dear readers, get out there and take someone along to a concert. We are a few days into the festivities, but here are some ideas of concerts for you and your friend to attend. As usual, the eye marks a concert we think will be particularly good.

National Symphony Orchestra (April 12) Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor) Julian Rachlin (violin) Music by Shostakovich, Mussorgsky Kennedy Center Concert Hall [Review] Irish Chamber Orchestra (April 13) Music by Gerald Barry, Mendelssohn, Sibelius Clarice Smith Center Russian Chamber Orchestra (April 13) Music by Debussy, Bloch, others Mousetrap Concert Series (Washington Grove, Md.) Europa Galante (April 16) Fabio Biondi, violin Music by Vivaldi, Leclair, and Purcell Historically informed performance Library of Congress [FREE] Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (April 17 to 19) Music by Corigliano and Beethoven Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, Md.)

Camerata Pacifica (April 24) Small chamber orchestra (Ian Wilson's first violin concerto) Library of Congress [FREE] Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (April 24 to 27) Yan Pascal Tortelier (conductor), Yuja Wang (piano) Music by Berlioz, Prokofiev Strathmore (Thu); Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Fri-Sun) National Symphony Orchestra (April 24 to 26) Hugh Wolff (conductor), Stephen Hough (piano) Music by Debussy, Dutilleux, Saint-Saëns Kennedy Center Concert Hall Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (April 26) Music by Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven George Mason University Center for the Arts Orchestre National de France (April 28) Kurt Masur (conductor), David Fray (piano) Music by Beethoven, Bruckner Kennedy Center Concert Hall