Time flies when you’re having fun. Wolf Trap has been the summer home of the National Symphony Orchestra for 54 years. From Star Wars to Disney, Gershwin to Carmina Burana, there’s plenty of fun for everyone this summer.
Thursday 7/17 Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert, Steven Reineke, conducts
Experience Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back like never before as the NSO brings John Williams’ iconic, Oscar-nominated score to life in a powerful multimedia event at Wolf Trap. See the full feature film projected on large screen throughout the Filene center accompanied by a live symphony orchestra.
As a special treat for ticketholders, National Air and Space Museum curator Margaret A. Weitekamp will give a preshow talk on the Farmhouse Lawn for a preshow talk about Star Wars’ wide-ranging influence on culture, business and imagination.
WETA Classical is media sponsor of the two following concerts:
Friday, 7/18 Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays Gershwin
*Before the performance, join pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, conductor Katharina Wincor, and WETA Classical Host Nicole Lacroix on the Farmhouse Lawn (to the left of the main gate) at 7 PM for a pre-performance discussion about the Gershwin Piano Concerto in F and what to listen for in this lively program that includes two of the best examples of storytelling in music.
“How can you not have fun with this piece?” asks pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet about George Gershwin’s jazzy Concerto in F. “It exudes utter joy and leaves every member of the audience and orchestra with a smile on their face.” The young Austrian conductor Katharina Wincor opens the program with Paul Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice (can you hear this piece without thinking of Mickey Mouse in Fantasia?) The second half of the program is devoted to Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, an orchestra and audience favorite with its enchanting melodies and brilliant orchestration.
Fri 7/25 Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, Tianyi Lu, conductor
Wolf Trap Opera Soloists, the Choral Arts Society of Washington and the Children’s Chorus of Washington join the NSO for Carl Orff’s masterpiece. But that’s not all: Chinese-born New Zealand conductor Tianyi Lu opens the program with Johann Strauss’ Overture to Die Fledermaus as well as selections from Bizet’s Carmen.
Saturday 7/26 Disney ‘80’s-90’s Celebration in Concert, NSO Sarah Hicks, conductor
Highlighting unforgettable songs and clips from iconic Disney and Pixar films of the 80’s and 90’s—like The Little Mermaid, Toy Story, A Goofy Movie, and more—special guest singers from stage and screen join the NSO at Wolf Trap including Lissa de Guzman, Susan Egan, Bradley Gibson, Adam J. Levy, Nasia Thomas and Bill Farmer.
Looking ahead to August, Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara join the National Symphony Orchestra August 1st for an evening of Broadway favorites by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sondheim, Cole Porter, Joni Mitchell and more.
And on August 2nd, explore the time-space continuum with the movie, Back to the Future in Concert.
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