“Space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.” President John F. Kennedy in his 1962 address at Rice University.
For 3 weeks, Earth to Space: Arts Breaking the Sky will fill the Center with musicians and astronauts, poets and researchers, visual artists and engineers, actors and environmentalists, architects and astronomers, dancers and scientists, filmmakers and space designers. (from the Kennedy Center website).
Back on earth, April 10-12, American conductor Karina Canellakis leads the NSO in a visionary program including the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and Scriabin’s mystical Poem of Ecstasy. Alban Gerhardt joins the NSO for Dvorak’s Cello Concerto.
Families will enjoy the NSO’s “live to picture” Matilda in concert hosted by Danny Devito and conducted by David Newman April 25 and 26.
On April 27th piano sensation Yunchan Lim, the youngest person to ever win the Van Cliburn competition, will play Bach’s Goldberg Variations in a recital at the Concert Hall, in a co-presentation with Washington Performing Arts.
Looking ahead to May 1st -3rd, Gianandrea Noseda leads the NSO in Shostakovich’s 4th Symphony composed in 1936 but not premiered until after Stalin’s death. Lisa Batiashvili plays the Schnittke Violin Concerto No.1, inspired by Shostakovich.
Over at the Terrace Theater, Fortas Chamber Music Concerts presents the legendary Takács String Quartet April 29. The Grammy Award®-winning ensemble is celebrating its 50th season. Their program includes quartets by Britten, Nokuthula Ngwenyama and Beethoven. For more information on the Earth to Space Festival and featured concerts, visit Kennedy-Center.org.
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