Brian Liu, Executive and Artistic Director of the Anna H. Wang Concert Series, writes a guest blog previewing the series’ new season, from Sphinx Virtuosi and Vienna Boys Choir to Canadian Brass and a special California residency.
Every season begins with the same question for me: what do we want you to feel when you walk out into the night after a concert? For the Anna H. Wang Concert Series, the answer never changes. We want you to leave with a little more hope than you brought.
That answer comes from Anna H. Wang herself. Born in China, she was orphaned at five and lived through the turbulence of war. She grew into a nurse, a leader, and a mother, and became a beacon of hope for countless others. Her love of music, born in hardship and sustained through grace, led her to urge young people to develop their talents and strive toward a higher purpose. Our series continues that mission in her memory, using music as a force for good, healing, and aspiration.
This season carries the banner America250: Sounds of Unity. It brings together virtuoso strings, a 500-year-old choir, and the world’s most celebrated brass quintet. It also takes us across the country to California, where our work with young musicians reaches a new milestone.
Opening with Sphinx Virtuosi and J’Nai Bridges
We open on October 24 at 7PM at Takoma Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church with the Sphinx Virtuosi, the premier professional orchestra of Black and Latinx classical musicians. Mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges joins them. Many of you know her from the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and the BBC Proms. Her fearless artistry moves easily between opera, oratorio, and contemporary repertoire. We are proud to co-present this evening with the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts.
The program reads like a conversation among American voices. Rachel McFarlane's American Dialogues and Roberto Sierra's Sinfonietta for Strings lead into Damien Geter's Declaration, with a libretto by Aaron Dworkin, featuring Ms. Bridges. After intermission, Jessie Montgomery's electric Banner meets Ravel's Blues from his Violin Sonata, in an arrangement by Mladen Miloradovic. The evening closes with Stravinsky's Concerto in D for string orchestra, known as the "Basle" Concerto.
The pre-concert talk is hosted by WETA's John Banther and will include a conversation with Damien Geter, so please come early. Hearing a composer describe his own work, just before you hear it performed, is one of the great pleasures of live music.
Beyond the concert hall, the series reaches into the community. The artists will perform school concerts at Takoma Park Middle School, Silver Spring International School, and Eastern Middle School, and lead masterclasses at the Levine School of Music, Washington Adventist University, and two Prince George's County schools to be announced. They will also appear at the Mexican Cultural Institute.
The Vienna Boys Choir in December
On December 12 at 7PM, the Vienna Boys Choir returns to Washington. It is hard to overstate what this ensemble represents. Emperor Maximilian I founded the choir in 1498, and it grew out of the Habsburg court tradition. For more than five centuries these young singers from Austria have served as cultural ambassadors, performing more than 300 concerts a year around the globe.
Their seasonal program of sacred and classical works arrives at just the right moment, when the days are short and many of us are searching for something timeless. There is nothing quite like the sound of young voices singing music that has been sung for generations. I can think of no better way to spend a December evening.
Canadian Brass to close the season
We finish on February 13 at 7PM with Canadian Brass. Two trumpets, a French horn, a trombone, and a tuba make up this quintet, which has been one of the world’s most recognized brass ensembles for more than 50 years. They pioneered the brass quintet as a concert format and have recorded more than 130 albums. They have also performed on every continent.
What I love most about a Canadian Brass concert is the joy. Their programs range from Bach to jazz to Broadway, and they play with wit and technical brilliance. They remind us that serious artistry and pure fun can share a stage. It is a festive, exhilarating way to close the season.
Beyond Takoma Park: our California engagements
Anna H. Wang believed deeply in music as a force for youth development, and our special engagements this season honor that belief. From January 27 to 29, 2027, we present Cliburn in Classroom: Rhythms & Roots at La Sierra University in Riverside, California, with The Cliburn and the Riverside Unified School District. This three-day residency celebrates Latin American musical heritage and marks the first time the program has left Texas.
On January 30 at 7PM, Aristo Sham, gold medalist of the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, performs at La Sierra University in a program of Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and Chopin, with a pre-concert talk by KUSC's Brian Lauritzen. This is our second year partnering with La Sierra, and we are committed to ensuring that great music belongs to everyone in the community.
Join us
Music has a way of gathering people who might never otherwise share a room. This season, we hope to gather you. Whether you join us in Takoma Park for an evening of Sphinx Virtuosi, Vienna Boys Choir, or Canadian Brass, or you follow our work in California, I promise an experience worthy of the woman whose name we carry.
I look forward to seeing you at the concerts, and I hope you’ll say hello.
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