Front Row Washington

Mondays at 9:00 pm on Classical WETA 90.9 FM

Tune in on Mondays at 9:00 pm for classical performances by top local musicians and ensembles, recorded at venues throughout the Washington area.

This month we celebrate the National Gallery of Art and their concert series that began in World War 2. Now in their 78th season, they have presented more than 3,000 free concerts featuring some of the most prominent names in classical music in the United States and abroad.

Upcoming Broadcasts

Piano Duo ZOFO plays Ravel and Dukas

Presented by Music at Dumbarton Oaks

Monday, November 30, 2020 - 9:00pm

In this program, we'll enjoy the second half of ZOFO's February 2020 concert at Dumbarton Oaks.

Since joining forces as a professional duo in 2009, internationally acclaimed solo pianists Eva-Maria Zimmerman and Keisuke Nakagoshi - ZOFO - have electrified audiences from Carnegie Hall to Tokyo Japan with their dazzling artistry and outside-the-box thematic programming for piano-four-hands. This GRAMMY-nominated, prize-winning Steinway Artist Ensemble - one of only a handful of duos worldwide devoted exclusively to piano duets - is blazing a bold new path for four-hands groups by focusing on 20th and 21st century repertoire and by commissioning new works from noted composers each year.

ZOFO is shorthand for 20-finger orchestra (ZO=20 and FO=finger orchestra).

Featured performances:

Maurice Ravel - Mother Goose, ballet version arr. by ZOFO
Paul Dukas - The Sorcerers Apprentice, arr. by Leon Roques

Harlem Quartet performs Webern, Beethoven, and Ellington

Presented by Dumbarton Concerts

Monday, December 7, 2020 - 9:00pm

The Grammy award-winning Harlem Quartet has three distinctive characteristics: diverse programming that combines music from the standard string quartet canon with jazz, Latin, and contemporary works; a collaborative approach to performance that is continually broadening the ensemble’s repertoire and audience reach through artistic partnerships with other musicians from the classical and jazz worlds; and an ongoing commitment to residency activity and other forms of educational outreach.

Goldstein-Peled-FitersteinTrio performs Beethoven and Wagner

Presented by Dumbarton Concerts

Monday, December 14, 2020 - 9:00pm

Bound by their Israeli roots, pianist Alon Goldstein, cellist Amit Peled, and clarinetist Alex Fiterstein formed the Goldstein-Peled-Fiterstein Trio in 2005. Today, the ensemble’s performances reflect both the special gifts and originality of the three artists as soloists as well as their marvelous sense of ensemble and love of chamber music.

Performances in recent and upcoming seasons include appearances at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan, Peoples’ Symphony Concerts in New York, the University of Chicago, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Schubert Club International Artist Series in St. Paul, Pro Musica Joplin, the Saint Cloud Chamber Music Society, and at the Rose Theatre in Lincoln Center. The New York Times praised the ensemble for displaying “the kind of spotless technique that keeps the attention focused on the score rather than the vagaries of the performance.”

American Brass Quintet performs Ewazen, Meyer, Higdon, and more

Presented by Waterford Concert Series

Monday, December 21, 2020 - 9:00pm

The American Brass Quintet is internationally recognized as one of the premier chamber music ensembles of our time, celebrated for peerless leadership in the brass world. As 2013 recipient of Chamber Music America’s highest honor, the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award for significant and lasting contributions to the field, ABQ's rich history includes performances in Asia, Australia, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and all fifty of the United States; a discography of nearly sixty recordings; and the premieres of over one hundred fifty contemporary brass works.

Bridget Kibbey and Alexi Kenney play music for Harp and Violin

Presented by the Phillips Collection

Monday, December 28, 2020 - 9:00pm

We finish the year with harp virtuoso Bridget Kibbey and violin virtuoso Alexi Kenney from the Phillips Collection. Kibbey is one the most praised musicians of her generation and has won numerous awards, including an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Kenney stands on equal footing with numerous awards and has also received an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Recent Broadcasts

NSO musician spotlight!

Presented by Washington Conservatory and Episcopal High School

Monday, November 23, 2020 - 9:00pm

We shine a light on NSO musicians from two different concerts. First, we'll enjoy a performance of NSO Principal Horn Abel Pereira, NSO Concertmaster Nurit Bar-Josef, and pianist Audrey Andrist at the Washington Conservatory. Then we move to Episcopal High School for a concert of Cellists from the NSO.

Cellists: David Hardy, James Lee, Eugena Chang, Steven Honigberg, Rachel Young, Loewi Lin, David Teie, Mark Evans, Britton Riley.

INSCAPE celebrates Paul Hindemith

Presented by the National Gallery of Art

Monday, November 16, 2020 - 9:00pm

Founded in 2004 by Artistic Director Richard Scerbo, INSCAPE Chamber Orchestra is pushing the boundaries of classical music in riveting performances that reach across genres and generations, and transcend the confines of the traditional classical concert experience. With its flexible roster and unique brand of programming, this critically acclaimed, GRAMMY-nominated group of high energy master musicians has quickly established itself as one of the premier performing ensembles in the Washington, DC region and beyond.

Inscape has worked joyously and often with emerging American composers and has a commitment to presenting concerts featuring the music of our time. Since its inception, Inscape has commissioned and premiered over twenty new works. Inscape members regularly perform with the National, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Virginia, Richmond, and Delaware symphonies, the Washington Opera Orchestra, and are members of the premiere Washington service bands. Former Inscape performers are members of orchestras across the United States and abroad. Inscape’s roots can be traced to the University of Maryland School of Music when Scerbo and other music students collaborated at the Clarice Smith Center as the Philharmonia Ensemble.

Inscape regularly performs as the Ensemble-in-Residence at The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Bethesda, Maryland, as well as at the National Gallery of Art, Strathmore Music Center, Kennedy Center and other local and national venues.

Alexander Kobrin plays Beethoven

Presented by Downtown Piano Works

Monday, November 9, 2020 - 9:00pm

Called the “Van Cliburn of today” by the BBC, pianist Alexander Kobrin has placed himself at the forefront of today's performing musicians. His prize-winning performances have been praised for their brilliant technique, musicality, and emotional engagement with the audience. In 2005, Mr. Kobrin was awarded the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal at the Twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, TX. His numerous successes in competitions also include top prizes at the Busoni International Piano Competition (First Prize), Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (Top Prize), Scottish International Piano Competition in Glasgow (First Prize)

Mr. Kobrin has performed with many of the world’s great orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Verdi, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Moscow Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Berliner Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Swedish Radio Symphony, Birmingham Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with such conductors as Mikhail Pletnev, Mikhail Jurovsky, Mark Elder, Vassiliy Sinaisky, James Conlon, Claus Peter Flor, Alexander Lazarev, Vassiliy Petrenko and Yuri Bashmet.