John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
12/14/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/14/2022 14:25
The Kennedy Center Announces The Fortas Chamber Music Concerts for January and February
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts
January and February Programming
String Sextets from Brahms and Ngwenyama | January 25, 2023
Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw | January 30, 2023
Sphinx Symphony Orchestra | January 31, 2023
Calidore String Quartet | February 15, 2023
Dover Quartet | February 27, 2023 (Rescheduled)
WASHINGTON-The Fortas Chamber Music Concert Series continues its 2022-2023 season at the Kennedy Center with five programs in January and February. Concerts include String Sextets from Brahms and Ngwenyama (January 25), Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw (January 30), the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra (January 31), Calidore String Quartet (February 15), and the Dover Quartet (February 27).
On January 25, performing the D.C. premiere of Nokuthula Ngwenyama's Sexagesimal Celebration, along with Brahms' String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major and String Sextet No. 2 in G major, will be violinists Jaime Laredo and Bella Hristova, violists Nokuthula Ngwenyama and Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, and cellists Keith Robinson and Sharon Laredo Robinson. This concert is the second of a three-concert arc highlighting Ngwenyama's compositions.
Vocalist, violinist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Caroline Shaw, will perform her new song cycle alongside four-person percussion ensemble, Sō Percussion, on January 30. The program will also consist of a Kennedy Center co-commissioned piece by Julia Wolfe and music by Steve Reich.
Conducted by Tito Muñoz and Eugene Rogers, the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra- comprised of Black and Latinx musicians and part of The Sphinx Organization-will perform Motherboxx Connection, a Sphinx-commissioned work by Kennedy Center Artist-in-Residence Carlos Simon, and Seven Last Words of the Unarmed by Joel Thompson. Included in the January 31 program are performances by EXIGENCE Vocal Ensemble, soprano Aundi Marie Moore, and members of The Washington Chorus, along with pieces by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Valerie Coleman, Michael Abels, and Carlos Cordero. The concert is co-presented by Washington Performing Arts.
The Calidore String Quartet will return to the Kennedy Center on February 15 to perform the Washington, D.C. premiere of Anne Clyne's Breathing Statues, a Kennedy Center and Music Accord co-commission. Additionally, the performance will include Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16 in F major, George Walker's Lyric for Strings, and Leoš Janáček's String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters."
The Dover Quartet performance, originally scheduled for November 2, will take place on February 27. The program for this concert remains the same as originally planned: the ensemble will perform the Washington, D.C. premiere of Mason Bates' Suite for String Quartet, a Kennedy Center and Bravo! Vail co-commission, which was composed specifically for the Dover Quartet. Also on the program are quartets by Joseph Haydn and Antonín Dvořák. The Dover Quartet will also perform with the Shriver Hall Concert Series in Baltimore, Maryland on February 26. For more information about that performance, click here.
About Fortas Chamber Music Concerts
The 2022-2023 season marks the 40th season of the Kennedy Center's chamber music series, established in the 1981-1982 season by Marta Istomin, who, at the time, was the Kennedy Center's Artistic Director. The Fortas Chamber Music Concerts, established as part of the Terrace Concerts during the 1983-1984 season, began a vibrant new life in the 1999-2000 season when-in addition to the generous contributions of loyal supporters of the Fortas Fund-income from a major gift to the Fortas Fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas, became available to support the artistic programming. The Fortas Chamber Music Concerts series is named for the former Supreme Court Justice, who was instrumental in the creation of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and later, the Terrace Theater. The Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees established the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund in 1982 for the support of concerts in the Terrace Theater, and for the further development of the musical programs he envisioned.
Violinist Jennifer Koh was appointed Artistic Director of Fortas Chamber Music Concerts in December 2022, replacing Joseph "Yossi" Kalichstein, who passed away in March 2022. Koh's term extends into spring 2026; her first full season of programming will be the 2024-2025 season.
Through its history the series has featured frequent appearances by artists such as the Guarneri, Emerson, Juilliard, Takács, and Alban Berg Quartets; early music ensembles Anonymous 4, Trio Medieval, and the Waverly Consort; performances by Eugene Istomin, Emanuel Ax, Edgar Meyer, Susan Graham, Isaac Stern, and Yo-Yo Ma; as well as many other distinguished artists and ensembles that actively perform and commission new works.
TICKET INFORMATION
For more information about the Kennedy Center's Fortas Chamber Music Concerts and to purchase tickets, please visit here.
FUNDING CREDITS
Major support provided by the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas
PROGRAM DETAILS
String Sextets from Brahms and Ngwenyama
January 25, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Jamie Laredo, violin
Bella Hristova, violin
Nokuthula Ngwenyama, viola
Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola
Keith Robinson, cello
Sharon Laredo Robinson, cello
NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA Sexagesimal Celebration (D.C. Premiere)
JOHANNES BRAHMS String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 18
String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36
Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw
January 30, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Eric Cha-Beach, percussion
Josh Quillen, percussion
Adam Sliwinski, percussion
Jason Treuting, percussion
Caroline Shaw, vocalist
STEVE REICHMusic for Pieces of Wood
JULIA WOLFEForbidden Love
Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and LA Philharmonic Co-Commission
CAROLINE SHAW New Song Cycle
Sphinx Symphony Orchestra
A Co-Presentation of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts & Washington Performing Arts, in cooperation with The Washington Chorus
January 31, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Sphinx Symphony Orchestra
Tito Muñoz, conductor
Eugene Rogers, conductor
EXIGENCE Vocal Ensemble
Eugene Rogers, Music Director
Aundi Marie Moore, soprano
Members of The Washington Chorus
Eugene Rogers, Artistic Director
CAROLS SIMON Motherboxx Connection
Sphinx Commission
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Ballade for Orchestra
VALERIE COLEMAN Seven O'Clock Shout
MICHAEL ABELS Delights and Dances
CARLOS CORDERO/JULIE FLANDERSHolding Our Breath
TRADITIONAL Fix Me, Jesus
ARR. AUGUSTUS HILL Aundi Marie Moore, soprano
JOEL THOMPSON Seven Last Words of the Unarmed
JOHN LEGEND/COMMON "Glory" from Selma
ARR. EUGENE ROGERS
Calidore String Quartet
February 15, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Jeffrey Myers, violin
Ryan Meehan, violin
Jeremy Berry, viola
Estelle Choi, cello
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135
ANNA CLYNE Breathing Statues (D.C. premiere)
Kennedy Center and Music Accord Co-Commission
GEORGE WALKER Lyric for Strings
LEOŠ JANÁČEK String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters"
The Dover Quartet
February 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Joel Link, violin
Bryan Lee, violin
Hezekiah Leung, viola
Camden Shaw, cello
JOSEPH HAYDN Quartet in C major, Hob. III: 77, Op. 76, No. 3 ("Emperor")
MASON BATES Suite for String Quartet (D.C. premiere)
Kennedy Center and Bravo! Vail Co-Commission
ANTONĺN DVOŘÁK String Quintet No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 51
UPCOMING CONCERTS
A Far Cry | March 5, 2023
Benjamin Grosvenor | March 14, 2023
Isidore String Quartet | April 27, 2023
Evgeny Kissin & Renée Fleming | May 10, 2023
Juilliard String Quartet | May 17, 2023
PRESS CONTACTS
Paige Wearmouth
(202) 416-8265
Jen Luzzo
(201) 416-8095