Release Date: February 7, 2012
Spring Concerts in the 70th Annual Concert Season Include Cherry Blossom Music Festival, Celebrations of Miró and Picasso Exhibitions, Voice Recitals, Washington Premieres, and more—at the National Gallery of Art
Cuarteto Quiroga performs music for string quartet by Gerhard and Schoenberg on Sunday, May 20, at the National Gallery of Art in honor of Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape.
Washington, DC—The National Gallery of Art continues its 70th season of the longest-running free Sunday concert series in the nation's capital through July 1, 2012. The spring season's offerings celebrate the exhibition Colorful Realm: Japanese Bird-and-Flower Paintings by Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800), with the National Gallery of Art Cherry Blossom Music Festival, and also highlight new exhibitions of work by Picasso, Miró, and Bellows.
Concerts at the National Gallery of Art are open to the public, free of charge, on a first-come, first-seated basis. Seating begins 30 minutes before the concert begins. The entrance to the West Building is located at Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW, and the East Building entrance is Fourth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Sunday concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. in the West Building's West Garden Court, unless otherwise indicated. For weekday midday performances, the seating begins at 12:00 p.m. and the concerts start at 12:10 p.m. Monthly listings of concert programs may be obtained by calling (202) 842-6941 or by visiting the Gallery's website at http://www.nga.gov/music.
National Gallery of Art Cherry Blossom Music Festival
Between March 31 and April 29, 2012, the National Gallery of Art will present ten concerts featuring Japanese performers and composers in honor of the exhibition Colorful Realm: Japanese Bird-and-Flower Paintings by Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800), and in concert with other institutions that are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the gift of cherry trees from the people of Japan to this nation's capital. The series will begin on Saturday, March 31, at 4:00 p.m., with an outdoor performance by Taikoza, a Taiko drumming ensemble formed in New York City by members of Ondekoza, a group that began the renaissance of Taiko in Japan in the 1960s.
The festival concerts continue on Sunday, April 1, at 6:30 p.m., when Mariko Anraku, principal harpist of Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, performs in a duo with Mayumi Miyata, one of Japan's notable shō players. This program will include a major work by the prominent Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa, Utsuroi. The concert by the Jack String Quartet on April 11 will include the United States premiere of Hosokawa's new string quartet, titled Blossoming. Following the Japanese-American pattern set for the whole festival, the Jack Quartet will also play a string quartet by Charles Ives.
Other highlights of the festival include the United States premiere of a new violin concerto by Korine Fujiwara, performed on April 22 by the National Gallery of Art Orchestra and violinist Charles Wetherbee. The guest conductor on that occasion will be Chosei Komatsu, former principal conductor of Japan's Central Aichi Symphony and Tokyo Philharmonic orchestras. On April 13 flutist Yoko Owada will bring improvisations and compositions by Japanese composers to the West Building Lecture Hall, located adjacent to the exhibition site, and on April 15 Billy Fox and the Kitsune Ensemble will perform Fox's Anagowa for Japanese flute and percussion. The festival concludes with a concert by the Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo, with pianist Yo Kosuge, performing music of Mozart and Beethoven under the baton of Thierry Fisher.
A unique aspect of the festival is the presence among its performers of four young musicians who are recent winners of competitions, either in Japan or in the U.S. Violinist Ayano Ninomiya, who performs on April 4, won the 2003 Astral Artistic Services Auditions; pianist Claire Huangci, winner of the grand prize at the 2006 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, plays on April 18; and the joint first-prize winners of the 2002 Washington International Competition, pianists Robert Henry and Yoshikazu Nagai, share the stage in a joint recital on April 25.
Concerts in Honor of Exhibitions
On February 5 Asteria, a duo consisting of soprano Sylvia Rhyne and lutenist Eric Redlinger, sings and plays love songs from the Renaissance in honor of Antico: The Golden Age of Renaissance Bronzes. On February 19 the newly formed resident ensemble from the Phillips Collection, the Phillips Camerata, makes its National Gallery of Art debut with chamber music written between 1890 and 1921, celebrating Picasso's Drawings, 1890–1921: Reinventing Tradition. French duo-pianists Pascal and Ami Rogé continue the Gallery's musical celebration of the reopening of the 19th-century French galleries with an all-Debussy recital on March 4. Four concerts planned in honor of Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape include: soprano Charlotte de Rothschild and harpist Danielle Perrett performing songs by Catalan and French composers on May 13; Cuarteto Quiroga playing string quartets by Gerhard and Schoenberg on May 20; Catalan jazz pianist Ignasi Terraza and his trio playing improvisations inspired by Miró paintings on June 17; and the New York Opera Society and a guitarist performing music by Catalan composers on July 1.
Ciné-concerts
Gaining in popularity and frequency at the Gallery, ciné-concerts will be well represented this spring. On May 6, the opening day of Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape, the National Gallery Orchestra, under guest conductor Gillian Anderson, accompanies several silent films from Catalonia, introducing new film scores by Catalan composers. On May 16 pianist Lincoln Mayorga will introduce A Suitcase Full of Chocolates, a film based on the life of his teacher, Sofia Cosma, and will play music by Chopin and Rachmaninoff. On June 24 pianist Leslie Amper will accompany a silent film from the era of George Bellows and his wife Emma (who played the piano for silent films), in honor of George Bellows.
Voice Recitals
Three star sopranos will be featured in recital at the Gallery: Carmen Balthrop on March 11 and Jessica Jones on March 25, both singing music especially chosen for Women's History Month; and Rosa Lamoreaux, joining barItōne William Sharp on June 10 to sing music by Samuel Barber and some of his composer friends.
Washington Premieres
In addition to the new music by Japanese composers to be presented during the Cherry Blossom Music Festival, the Gallery will be the scene of first Washington performances of music by Miroslav Tadic and Alan Thomas (Cavatina Duo on February 12), Robert Greenleaf (March 11), and Roger Reynolds (Jack String Quartet, in a return performance on June 3).
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