The nation's capital boasts a vibrant performing arts community, as we all know. We are spoiled to have world-class ensembles take residence in our back yard, and today's leading classical stars performing in town week after week. The 2024-2025 concert season is no different, with a plethora of incredible programs lined up. The hardest thing will be choosing which concerts to hear! Our hosts share some concerts they're looking forward to hearing in person this Fall.
Nicole Lacroix looks forward to orchestra concerts
This season, there’s an embarrassment of choice regarding orchestral performances. Ideally, one could see “everything everywhere all at once” but since that’s only possible in the movies, here are a few not-to-miss concerts this fall (some happening the same night!)
September 14, the National Symphony Orchestra presents Echoes of America featuring music of Carlos Simon, Aaron Copland and Jessie Montgomery. Carlos Simon’s Here I Stand:Paul Robeson is a new commission honoring the Black singer, actor, athlete, scholar and fearless supporter of racial equality. Bass-baritone Morris Robinson and The Washington Chorus join the NSO for this symphonic exploration of the ideals we strive for as a country and community, united by hope. (Kennedy-center.org)
Also on September 14, the National Philharmonic presents the Rachmaninoff Festival at the Music Center at Strathmore with 3 guest pianists playing the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Oleg Volkov); the Piano Concerto No.1 (Daniil Trifonov) and the Piano Concerto No.3 (Sergei Babayan). (NationalPhilharmonic.org)
September 28, also at the Music Center at Strathmore, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and music director Jonathan Heyward perform Dvorak’s Symphony No.8, and Samuel Barber’s Violin concerto with soloist James Ehnes. They’ll also introduce their new composer in residence, James Lee III with his Visions of Cahokia, depicting the Cahokia Mounds Historic Site and celebrating indigenous Mississippian culture.(BSOmusic.org)
I wonder what Anton Bruckner would have thought of the varied program which kicks off the Annapolis Symphony’s 63rd season, October 4-6. Tania León’s exhilarating Pasajes, is followed by Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.23, the second movement of Bruckner’s Symphony No.3 and William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony. Annapolis residents can enjoy this concert at Maryland Hall October 4th and 5th, and at Strathmore on the 6th.(annapolissymphony.org)
October 17-19 Gianandrea Noseda conducts the National Symphony Orchestra in selections from Richard Strauss’ Capriccio, featuring Renée Fleming. The program concludes with Brahms’ first symphony. (Kennedy-center.org)
And just in time for Thanksgiving, November 24th at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington Performing Arts presents the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with the “it” young conductor Klaus Mäkelä. At only 28, Mäkelä is artistic partner and chief conductor-designate of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as well as music director-designate of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is currently chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic and music director of the Paris Orchestra. The program (I imagine tickets will go fast) features a work by Ellen Reid, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2 with Lisa Batiashvili and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No.2.
Again, these are just some of the wonderful orchestral concert experiences on offer this fall. Traditional favorites like Mozart, Brahms, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff are accompanied by new voices to give us a broad and rich musical experience. And if you’re a Bruckner fan, this year marks his 200th birthday. Happy listening!
John Banther looks forward to opera and vocal recitals
September 13-15: Tale of Two Cities by the Folger Consort
The two cities in question are Florence and Venice, exciting locations for the development of music in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Folger Consort brings music from this historical past to life, from Claudio Monteverdi to Francesca Caccini.
Starting on October 5: THE CRADLE WILL ROCK by IN Series
This famous 1937 play in music, The Cradle Will Rock, which celebrates the labor movement comes to the Goldman Theater DCJCC with a cast comprised of the area’s best young vocalists.
October 26: Washington National Opera - Gods & Mortals: A Celebration of Wagner
Ever want to experience a Wagner opera with some of the best singers today, but worry about the length of his epic tomes? Then this concert is for you (and me!), with leading soprano Christine Goerke, it’s an evening of selections from Tannhauser, the Ring Cycle, The Flying Dutchman, Lohengrin, Parsifal, and more!
November 13-23: Washington National Opera - Macbeth
It’s been 17 years since we’ve heard this masterpiece examining power, corruption, and liberation presented by the Washington National Opera. Led by star singers like Étienne Dupuis and Ewa Płonka, this will be a much-talked-about and anticipated performance in the Washington area!
October 19: The Thirteen at Dumbarton Concerts
Though not an opera or vocal recital, I'm very much looking forward to this program. The world-renowned choir and orchestra, The Thirteen, open the 47th season at Dumbarton Concerts with a program of motets, all by Johann Sebastian Bach. There are few opportunities to hear these works by Bach by an ensemble like this using period instruments, this will be a concert that leaves you feeling truly uplifted!
Bill Bukowski looks forward to choral programs
While there’s never a shortage of concerts happening around DC in the fall, this year there are a few choral offerings that stand out. To begin with, you know you’ll be in for a treat when The Washington Bach Consort presents their dramatic reading of the St. Matthew Passion. This comes ‘round only once every three years, so don’t miss it, with a terrific lineup of soloists on Saturday, September 21 at St. Mark’s Capitol Hill, and Sunday, September 22 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
The following Sunday, September 29, The Washington National Cathedral Choir and Orchestra delivers Mozart’s Requiem along with two works by Arvo Pärt you rarely get to hear: The Deer’s Cry, and the Berliner Messe. Livestream tickets will also be available.
On Sunday, October 20, Stephen Fox conducts The Cathedral Choral Society in one of the best-loved pieces by Johannes Brahms, A German Requiem.
There’s another Requiem performance on Saturday November 23 when Victoria Gau and Cantate – celebrating their 40th Anniversary season – join the National Philharmonic for Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem.
And as the days get shorter and cooler, how about a little warm-up when the Alexandria Symphony, the Arlington Chorale, and the Sympatico Children’s’ Chorus present Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, along with a world-premiere performance of a new work by Jocelyn Hagen, commissioned by the Arlington Chorale.
James Jacobs looks forward to chamber concerts
As I assess this fall’s chamber music offerings in the DMV I’m struck by the coincidences in programming; certain pieces and themes seem to be having a moment in the cosmos for some reason.
Both the Castalian String Quartet and the Danish String Quartet are pairing Haydn’s Quartet in G minor, op. 20 no.3 with Franz Schubert’s epic Quartet in G Major, D 887 - the former at The Clarice on November 10, the latter at the Library of Congress on November 20. How strange is that? The Castalians frame the two pieces around a set of fantasy pieces by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who’s having his own moment – his set of Five Negro Melodies will open the Neave Trio’s program on September 12 at Strathmore Mansion (followed by works by Brahms and Clara Schumann), while his set of Four Novellettes is part of the wide-ranging program to be performed by the Sphinx Virtuosi at Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre on October 19; this exciting ensemble of 18 Black and Latinx string players will feature guest percussionist Britton-René Collins.
And speaking of string ensembles, you’ll have two opportunities to hear Felix Mendelssohn’s vibrant Octet this fall: the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble on the Chamber Music Maryland series on October 5 along with works by Shostakovich and Schulhoff, and on November 16 at the Library of Congress the combined forces of the Belcea Quartet and Quatuor Ébène will pair the Mendelssohn with another work written by a teenager, George Enescu’s Octet op. 7. And there’s also another exciting young percussionist: Michael Yeung performs a fascinating program at the Terrace Theater on November 14 with special guest violinist Chee-Yun. Other concerts that should be on your radar include the groundbreaking pianist Sarah Cahill at the Strathmore Mansion on Halloween night, and speaking of the seriously spooky, you’ll want to hear George Crumb’s Black Angels as played on the Library of Congress’s collection of Stradivarius instruments by the Pacifica Quartet on December 18, which will also include works by Ives, Barber and Dvořák (who’s also well represented this fall…the cosmos keeps churning…)
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