The spring season is blossoming with orchestral music around the nation’s capital.
It’s the perfect time to enjoy the National Philharmonic in Maryland and Virginia.
“People are coming back to the concerts,” National Philharmonic Music Director & Conductor Piotr Gajewski told WTOP. “In the last three concerts that we gave, one was a complete sell-out at Strathmore, every ticket; one was almost a full sell-out; and the one that we just did just a few weeks ago also [had] huge audiences. It’s time to come hear concerts, everything is good and safe with great music and it’s great to hear it live again.”
This Saturday, April 15 brings “Beethoven’s 7th” at Strathmore in North Bethesda. The night begins with Valerie Coleman’s “Umoja, Anthem for Unity for Orchestra” and violinist Melissa White (Jordan Peele’s “Us”) performing Florence Price’s “Violin Concerto No. 2.” The second half features “Fate Now Conquers” by Carlos Simon, who was commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra to write a response to Beethoven’s legendary “7th Symphony.”
“It’s got a really famous second movement and, interestingly enough, that’s the first piece I ever conducted standing in front of an orchestra when I was 17 years old, so it’s got a good place in my heart,” Gajewski said. “It’s one of those pieces that you’ve heard it somewhere and you don’t know where, but it’s in the pop culture. It was under several movies like ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’ and ‘The King’s Speech,’ so you recognize it as soon as you hear it.”
On April 27, the philharmonic will perform “When I Fall in Love: The Music of Nat King Cole” at Capital One Hall in Tysons, Virginia. Principal Pops Conductor Luke Frazier will welcome Tony nominee Christopher Jackson (“In the Heights, “Hamilton”), Aisha Jackson (“Frozen,” “Paradise Square”) and piano duo Steven Mann and Ray Wong.
Next month, the National Philharmonic brings the special multimedia presentation “Cosmic Cycles” to both Capital One Hall in Tysons on May 11 and Strathmore on May 13. It’s the group’s second collaboration with NASA after performing Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” set to stunning telescope images last year.
“They have all this fabulous new material from the new Webb Telescope,” Gajewski said. “They put together seven short movies between five and 10 minutes. We commissioned a composer, Henry Dehlinger, a Virginia composer, to compose a symphony in seven movements. Each movement focuses on a different part of space: it starts out on the sun, then the Earth, then the moon, then different planets, then different NASA travelers or probes.”
Finally, June 4 brings the world premiere of Adolphus Hailstork’s “5th Symphony.” It’s followed by Carl Orf’s “Carmina Burana,” best known for its famous movements “Oh Fortuna” and “Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi,” with guest soloists soprano Danielle Talamantes, tenor Robert Baker and baritone Brandon Hendrickson.
“‘Carmina Burana’ hopefully doesn’t need a huge introduction, other than Handel’s ‘Messiah’ it’s probably the most-known choral piece as a backdrop of many commercials and movies,” Gajewski said. “Adolphus Hailstork is an American composer, who’s getting up in age, he’s 81, but he’s enjoying tremendous success. … Last season we premiered a work of his entitled ‘A Knee on the Neck,’ which will be broadcast on TV locally [on WETA].”
Listen to our full conversation here.
