Library of Congress Announces Fall 2022 Concert Series
Performances Return to the Historic Coolidge Auditorium Beginning Oct. 14
Concerts from the Library of Congress will return to the historic Coolidge Auditorium for the 2022-2023 season. The fall series begins Oct. 14 with multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer Magda Giannikou and her global pop ensemble Banda Magda. The following day, the Apollon Musagète Quartet performs the Shostakovich piano quintet with pianist Garrick Ohlsson.
All events are presented live in the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium, free of charge to the public. Patrons can register to attend events on the Concerts from the Library of Congress website. Videos of select performances will be made available on loc.gov/concerts. Masks are optional in Library buildings and the Coolidge Auditorium.
“We are delighted to share the experience of extraordinary music-making in an extraordinary space,” said Susan H. Vita, chief of the Library’s Music Division. “Since 1925, the superb acoustics of our Coolidge Auditorium have made it a haven for legendary artists. This fall, concertgoers can sample several solo and duo recitals chosen to emphasize its remarkable clarity and intimacy, from violinist Rachel Podger to lutenist Thomas Dunford and harpsichordist Benjamin Alard.”
A special pre-season panel and performance on Sept. 28 spotlights the Library’s Hazel Scott collection and provides a sneak-peek of the new ballet, “Sounds of Hazel,” honoring the legacy of a path breaking artist.
On Nov. 14, Flutist Emmanuel Pahud and pianist Alessio Bax introduce the new Elinor D. Sosne Fund, created to support events with a flute focus – and to spotlight the nearly 1,700 flutes and other wind instruments in the Library’s Dayton C. Miller Collection.
Fall 2022 Programs
Wednesday, Sept. 28, 7 p.m.: Celebrating Hazel Scott
This special pre-season event salutes a prodigiously talented jazz and classical pianist, a pioneering stage and screen star whose 1950 television show made a rare statement for an artist of color at the time. The Library partners with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Washington Performing Arts to offer an excerpt from a new ballet, “Sounds of Hazel.” Scott’s biographer, Karen Chilton, moderates a discussion with Virginia Johnson, artistic director at the Dance Theatre of Harlem; Scott’s son, Adam Clayton Powell III; and Janet McKinney, archivist in the Library’s Music Division. The Janelle Gill Trio will evoke a hint of Scott’s performances at New York’s Café Society. Treasures from the Library’s Hazel Scott Collection will be on view in the Whittall Pavilion from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. Free tickets are available here.
Friday, Oct. 14, 8 p.m.: Banda Magda
Magdalini Giannikou, accordion / voice
Ignacio Hernandez, guitar
Bob Lanzetti, guitar
Matt Aronoff, bass
Engin Gunaydin, drums
Maria Im, violin
Sam Quiggins, cello
Led by multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and educator Magda Giannikou, Banda Magda opens the 2022-2023 season with music from its new project, “Seasons,” a tetralogy of albums dedicated to the cyclical and shifting beauty of the natural world. Free tickets are available here.
Saturday, Oct. 15, 8 p.m.: Apollon Musagète Quartet with Garrick Ohlsson
Paweł Zalejski and Bartosz Zachłod, violin
Piotr Szumieł, viola
Piotr Skweres, cello
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Apollon Musagète’s inclusion of a lesser-known Schubert quartet alongside a late quartet by Penderecki is eye-opening, and with the addition of the Shostakovich quintet three composers not often mentioned in the same breath are musically linked. Part of the Library’s celebration marking the 225th anniversary of Schubert’s birth. Free tickets are available here.
Saturday, Oct. 29, 8 p.m.: Founder’s Day Concert
Curtis on Tour: Eric Owens, bass-baritone, and singers from the Curtis Opera Theatre
Sarah Fleiss, soprano
Lucy Baker, mezzo-soprano
Joseph Tancredi, tenor
Eric Owens, bass-baritone
Miloš Repický, piano
Ting Ting Wong, piano
Acclaimed in major opera houses worldwide, bass-baritone Eric Owens brings a charming salon evening to the Library, joined by a quintet of young artists from the Curtis Institute. This concert in partnership with the Nina von Maltzahn Global Touring Initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music. A preconcert lecture at 6:30 p.m. by Mark A. Pottinger of Manhattan College reconstructs the listening soundscape that informed the design of the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium. A conversation with the artists will follow the concert. Free tickets are available here. *Part of the Library’s celebration marking the 225th anniversary of Schubert’s birth.
Thursday, Nov. 3, 8 p.m.: Jamal Aliyev, cello and Fazil Say, piano
Following a memorable 2017 solo debut at the BBC Proms, Jamal Aliyev’s musicality and sumptuous tone have made him one of the most sought-after cellists of his generation. Join for a preconcert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Free tickets are available here. Presented as part of LIVE! at the Library. *Part of the Library’s celebration marking the 225th anniversary of Schubert’s birth.
Tuesday, Nov. 8, 8 p.m.: Rachel Podger, violin
In this compendium of significant 17th- and 18th-century works, Podger offers the listener a rare experience: to hear the great Bach D-minor toccata and fugue for organ on the violin. Violin aficionados will enjoy hearing Podger play the 1654 Nicolò Amati from the Library’s musical instrument collection. Join for a preconcert conversation with the artist at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Free tickets are available here.
Wednesday, Nov. 9, 8 p.m.: Smetana Trio
Jan Talich, violin
Jan Pálenícek, cello
Jitka Cechová, piano
Founded in 1934, the Smetana Trio is considered one of today’s leading Czech chamber ensembles, one with an illustrious history. Join for a preconcert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Free tickets are available here.
Monday, Nov. 14, 8 p.m.: Emmanuel Pahud, flute and Alessio Bax, piano
The eminent flutist Emmanuel Pahud performs with pianist Alessio Bax, a frequent chamber music partner, to inaugurate the Elinor D. Sosne Fund, a new endowment created to support the Library’s Dayton C. Miller Collection. Join for a preconcert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Free tickets are available here
Saturday, Nov. 19, 8 p.m.: Margaret Leng Tan, piano
The incomparable Margaret Leng Tan, champion of the American avant-garde and renowned advocate of the music of John Cage and works for toy piano, offers a program of works new to the Coolidge stage. Join for a preconcert lecture by Steven Burns, Trego Family Faculty Fellow at the University of Colorado, Boulder at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. A conversation with the artist will follow her performance. Free tickets are available here.
Thursday, Dec. 1, 12 p.m.: Benjamin Alard: The Clavichord Experience
The versatile keyboardist Benjamin Alard will put his flexibility on display in a rare encounter with Wanda Landowska’s Challis clavichord. This intimate performance will include works that take advantage of the clavichord’s special qualities of touch and sound. Free tickets are available here.
Friday, Dec. 2, 8 p.m.: Benjamin Alard, harpsichord
Benjamin Alard offers a second concert, this time on the harpsichord. Alard is currently recording the entirety of Bach’s music for solo organ and harpsichord (with an occasional appearance of the clavichord), and recently released the sixth volume of this ambitious project. Join for a preconcert lecture by David Plylar, of the Library’s Music Division, at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Free tickets are available here.
Saturday, Dec. 3, 2 p.m.: Thomas Dunford, lute
Lutenist Thomas Dunford is a passionate advocate for the sound of the solo lute, and his powerful but intimate program features music by composers from England to Italy, across the span of centuries, in a survey of remarkable lute literature. Join for a preconcert conversation with the artist at 12:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Free tickets are available here.
Friday, Dec. 9, 8 p.m.: Gonzalo Rubalcaba, piano and Aymée Nuviola, voice
Grammy Award-winning Cuban pianist and composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Cuban singer Aymeé Nuviola—known as “La Sonera del Mundo”—present their album “Viento y Tiempo.” Presented in cooperation with the Revada Foundation of the Logan family. Free tickets are available here.
Saturday, Dec. 17, 8 p.m.: Stradivari Anniversary Concert
Aizuri Quartet
Emma Frucht, violin
Miho Saegusa, violin
Ayane Kozasa, viola
Karen Ouzounin, cello
Winners of the coveted Cleveland Quartet Award, the Aizuri Quartet delights with a bold program featuring a soulful, beautiful and surprising collection of songs from diverse time periods, traditions and styles, written and arranged for string quartet. The quartet draws its name from aizuri-e, a style of predominantly blue Japanese wood-block printing notable for its vibrancy and striking detail. Join for a preconcert conversation with the artists at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Free tickets are available here
Highlights for the spring leg of the season include the world premiere performances of two works commissioned by the Library. Trio Takt will perform Marcos Balter’s Irving Fine Fund commission for horn, violin and piano, co-commissioned by the VIVO Music Festival and Ensemble Intercontemporain. The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will premiere a commission from Danny Elfman celebrating the legacy of the conductor Andre Kostelanetz and the Library’s Andre Kostelanetz Collection; the Library is the lead commissioner, with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Irish National Orchestra as partners.
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Media Contact: Leah Knobel, lknobel@loc.gov
Public Contact: Anne McLean, amcl@loc.gov
PR 22-077
2022-09-12
ISSN 0731-3527