The National Gallery of Art presents its 71st season of the longest-running free Sunday concert series in the nation's capital beginning this month. Highlights include the John Cage Centennial Festival Washington, DC; a festival honoring Czech music (Mutual Inspirations Festival); a celebration of Italian cinema and music; and four concerts in conjunction with Gallery exhibitions. The Gallery also honors the holiday season with two concerts and continues the tradition of holiday caroling in the West Building Rotunda.
On September 9, the Gallery hosts the closing concert of the John Cage Centennial Festival Washington DC, featuring the National Gallery of Art New Music Ensemble performing works by Cage and composers who were influenced by him. This month, the Gallery also collaborates with the Embassy of the Czech Republic for the Mutual Inspirations Festival, focusing on the films of Miloš Forman and related music. On September 26, violinist Barbora Kolarova and curator Andrea Rusova, both from Prague, explore mid-20th-century music and art from the Czech New Wave. On September 30, the Catholic University Orchestra and Chorus perform Mozart's Requiem and Rimsky-Korsakov's one-act opera Mozart and Salieri with tenor Matthew Smith and baritone Eugene Galvin.
In October, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington and the Italian Embassy, the Gallery presents films from Italy and concerts of Italian music. On October 14, pianist Thomas Mastroianni, violinist Ricardo Cyncynates, and soprano Alessandra Marc present Italian masterworks from the 18th and 19th centuries, and on October 21, the renowned chamber orchestra I Musici di Roma plays music by Bossi, Rota, and other Italian composers.
The Gallery presents several concerts in honor of exhibitions this season. On October 7 guitarist Mak Grgic and organist Stephen Ackert perform music in honor of Imperial Augsburg: Renaissance Prints and Drawings, 1475–1540. On October 28, in honor of Masterpieces of American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection, 1700–1830, pianist Tanya Vegvary Plescia plays music by Mozart and American composers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In honor of Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective, the Washington Saxophone Quartet plays music by Paquito D'Rivera and other composers on November 18 in remembrance of Lichtenstein's fondness for the saxophone.
To view the press release and order press images, visit http://www.nga.gov/press/2012/concerts_2012_2013.shtm
For more information, contact:
Miriam Grotte | Program Assistant
National Gallery of Art | Office of Press and Public Information
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