Front Row Washington
Our local and critically acclaimed summer training program, the National Orchestral Institute, is led by David Neely in this performance from the 2023 summer festival at the University of Maryland.
The University of Maryland’s National Orchestral Institute + Festival brings together aspiring orchestral musicians from across the country for a month of dynamic music-making and professional exploration. Chosen through a rigorous, cross-country audition process, these young artists present passionate and awe-inspiring performances of adventuresome repertoire at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and in the College Park, MD community. In 2019, conductor David Alan Miller and the NOI+F Philharmonic received a Grammy nomination in the “Best Orchestral Performance” category for their Naxos recording “Ruggles, Stucky, Harbison.”
Classical Breakdown
We'll enjoy Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" at the end, but first we look at his influential and controversial time in the United States, itself a journey that began decades prior. Join us to learn how he was discovered, his musical styles, and some pretty funny stories!
Opera Matinee
The Metroplitan Opera presents Mozart's stirring Requiem from February 2023, and the finale of Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 9 from March 2022, featuring an all-star roster of singers, led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Choral Showcase
Poetry Into Song was the title of a concert given by Washington Master Chorale under Thomas Colohan on Sunday, March 5, 2023 at Washington’s National Presbyterian Church. The highlight, a new work by David Conte called The Unknown Sea based on the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop, was commissioned by one of the Chorale’s founders, Diane Kresh, in honor of their 10th anniversary. Rounding out the program was Dona Nobis Pacem by Ralph Vaughan Williams, a fervent plea for peace composed in 1936 during the period “between the wars,” with passages drawn from the Biblical prophets and the poetry of Walt Whitman. This live concert recording of the Washington Master Chorale will be presented to you Sunday, February 25, on WETA Classical’s Choral Showcase.
From the Top
We meet young musicians from Minnesota, including a 14-year-old pianist playing a Chopin Scherzo, a classical cellist who also plays rock covers, and a trumpeter who gives insight into the physicality of playing his instrument. We also hear from a guitar quartet playing a lively Brazilian piece, a teen oboist playing a new work by composer Reena Esmail, and a violinist who imagines herself in Brahms’ world when she performs.
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