EVENT CATEGORIES
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ART
March 1 to July 5
Degas at the Opéra
An exuberant display of fecund imagination and keen observation, Edgar Degas’s renowned images of the Paris Opéra are among the most sophisticated and visually compelling works he ever created. Celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Opéra’s founding, “Degas at the Opéra” will present approximately 100 of the artist’s best-known and beloved works in a range of media, including paintings, pastels, drawings, prints and sculpture.
National Gallery of Art
March 4 to 29
Marrakech Portraits by Steve Alderton
Steve Alderton’s trip to Marrakech, taken about a year before his unexpected death last summer, inspired this series of portraits. While leaving a few pieces possibly unfinished or in the process of being altered, he left an opening for a dialogue as to when an artist feels their work to be complete. These paintings — some including vivid pastels, others layered in Warhol-like quadrants of color, and others quite still, half in shadow — share a haunted profundity.
Touchstone Gallery
March 6 to 26
True and False
This new group exhibition showcases vibrant and diverse multimedia installation works by three contemporary Korean artists who explore the blurring of truth in modern society. Tae Eun Kim, Su Hyun Nam and Ahree Song each place their work in the context of today’s fast-paced, complex world, where clear distinctions between fiction and reality are increasingly lacking. As absolute notions such as true and false or possible and impossible become ever more obscure, advanced technology continues to overcome humanity’s perceived limitations and our very ability to comprehend it.
Korean Cultural Center
Through March 8
Visual Memory: Home + Place
This mid-career survey of multimedia artists Scherezade García and Iliana Emilia García explores how each artist reflects upon constructed notions of human geography and history in a creative multidisciplinary approach. Generating a provocative and incisive rethinking about the possibilities of visual memory, they engage with timeless universal concerns about global migration, settlement and the spaces we occupy.
Art Museum of the Americas
Through March 15
Heroes & Losers: The Edification of Luis Lorenzana
Luis Lorenzana (b. 1979) is a self-taught Filipino artist whose background in politics has infused his work with a cynicism that belies his longing for a kinder, more equitable world. The exhibition thus touches on the themes of a desperate kind of selfless heroism — and the all-too familiar failure of a democratic political system. These are works that will have relevance to the current American landscape; indeed, to anywhere in the world.
American University Museum
Thorugh March 15
Landscape in an Eroded Field: Carol Barsha, Heather Theresa Clark, Artemis Herber
Depicting nature and the environment is one of the most ancient and elemental expressions of art. From cave painting to Dutch still lifes to social practice incorporating life forms, artists have always been attentive and responsive to the world around them. This exhibition spans landscape painting that takes no social or political stance to multimedia painting and sculpture but puts climate change at the center of its meaning.
American University Museum
March 28 to Aug. 2
Meeting Tessai: Modern Japanese Art from the Cowles Collection
Tomioka Tessai is a prime example of a modern Japanese painter. Contemporaries praised his works as being exceptionally modern, and they recognized parallels between Tessai’s work and European postimpressionism. Paintings by Tomioka Tessai (1836–1924) were so esteemed that he was one of the first Japanese artists to have his works shown in the United States. “Meeting Tessai” is the first one held at a major museum in the United States in more than 50 years to explore the significance of pan-East Asian influences — a pertinent topic in today’s interconnected world — through the work of Tessai and modern Japanese painting.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Through April 19
Delita Martin: Calling Down the Spirits
Multimedia artist Delita Martin (b. 1972) makes large-scale prints onto which she draws, sews, collages and paints. Martin’s meticulous, multilayered works create a powerful presence for her subjects: black women and men depicted on a monumental scale. Through her imagery, Martin forges a new iconography that is rooted in African tradition, personal recollections and physical materials.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Through April 26
Dialog: Landscape and Abstraction – Freya Grand and AMA’s Permanent Collection
This exhibition pairs important 20th-century abstract works by artists in the OAS Art Museum of the Americas’s permanent collection with works by contemporary landscape painter Freya Grand. The pairings of Grand and artists living and working in the Americas (1960-73) convey a common dialogue through their shared forms, textures, symbols, color and composition. Here, Grand’s immersive landscapes derived from her experiences in remote regions of Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands intermingle with those of such stalwarts of the OAS AMA’s art collection as Maria Luisa Pacheco (Bolivia), Angel Hurtado (Venezuela) and Anibal Villacis (Ecuador).
Art Museum of the Americas
Through April 30
A New Light: Canadian Women Artists
“A New Light” offers visitors a sneak preview of pieces by 27 renowned Canadian women artists that will then be showcased in various prominent locations within the embassy in D.C. The Embassy of Canada is proud to display over 180 art pieces by Canadian artists throughout its chancery. As part of a 2020 revision of its art plan, the embassy is incorporating these new works that illuminate Canada’s diversity and showcase not only the diverse backgrounds of the artists, but also the various media with which they work.
Embassy of Canada
Through May 1
Liquid City and 41 Estaçõe
The Art Museum of the Americas presents the series “Liquid City” by Canadian photographer Frank Rodick and “41 Estações” by Brazilian photographer Luciano Siqueria. Based in Montreal, Rodick produced the 40 images of “Liquid City” in the 1990s in Montreal, Toronto, Tokyo, New York, Hamburg and Berlin. In these works, the city becomes a condition as opposed to a specific place — a theater of transience where he destabilizes the image by breaking down the boundaries between foreground, background and subject. In “41 Estações,” Siqueria, a Brazilian sound designer and musician, uses his daily experiences in the Rio de Janeiro subway system to highlight the routines, promises and uncertainties of human displacement amid an urban landscape. Viewings are by appointment and can be made by calling (202)370-0151.
Art Museum of the Americas
F Street Gallery
Through May 1
Women: A Century of Change
As we approach the 100th anniversary of the U.S. constitutional amendment confirming women’s right to vote, this powerful new exhibition and book from National Geographic showcases iconic women around the world. The exhibition’s stunning photographs, drawn from National Geographic’s unparalleled image collection, span nine decades and feature a myriad of countries.
National Geographic Museum
Through May 3
True to Nature: Open-Air Painting in Europe, 1780-1870
An integral part of art education in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, painting en plein air was a core practice for avant-garde artists in Europe. Intrepid artists — highly skilled at quickly capturing effects of light and atmosphere — made sometimes arduous journeys to paint their landscapes in person at breathtaking sites, ranging from the Baltic coast and Swiss Alps to the streets of Paris and ruins of Rome. Drawing on new scholarship, this exhibition of some 100 oil sketches made outdoors across Europe during that time includes several recently discovered works and explores issues such as attribution, chronology and technique.
National Gallery of Art
Through May 17
Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists
Women have been a predominant creative force behind Native American art, yet their individual contributions, for centuries, have largely remained unrecognized and anonymous. In the first major thematic exhibition to explore the artistic contributions of Native women, “Hearts of Our People” celebrates the achievements of these Native women and establishes their rightful place in the art world.
Renwick Gallery
Through May 24
Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition
This exhibition presents works by African American artists of the 20th and 21st centuries together with examples by the early 20th-century European artists with whom they engaged. European modernist art has been an important, yet complicated influence on black artists for more than a century. The powerful push and pull of this relationship constitutes a distinct tradition for many African American artists who have mined the narratives of art history, whether to find inspiration, mount a critique or claim their own space.
The Phillips Collection
Through May 24
Robert Franklin Gates: Paint What You See
“Robert Franklin Gates: Paint What You See” showcases an adventurous artist who greatly influenced the course of Washington art from his arrival from Detroit in 1930, at the age of 24, until his death in 1982 as an AU Professor Emeritus. He was a muralist, painter, printmaker, draftsman, and professor at the Phillips Gallery School and then American University for over 40 years.
American University Museum
Through May 24
Volkmar Wentzel
Volkmar Kurt Wentzel (b. Dresden, 1915-2006) arrived in Washington, D.C., in the early 1930s. When the Great Depression led to prohibitive housing costs in D.C., he moved to West Virginia to join a community with Robert Gates and several other artists who had become close friends. In 1937, back in Washington, purchased a new camera and began photographing the series “Washington by Night.” First lady Eleanor Roosevelt, out for a stroll one evening, encountered Volkmar and purchased several of his pictures. Volkmar completed his Washington photographs and brought them to National Geographic. The event led to his 48-year photographic career as a National Geographic photographer.
American University Museum
Through May 25
Chiura Obata: American Modern
Chiura Obata (1885-1975) ranks among the most significant Japanese American cultural artists and figures of the 20th century. Best known for his majestic views of the American West, Obata brought a distinctive trans-Pacific style to the arts community of California as an artist and teacher. This major traveling retrospective presents the most comprehensive survey to date of his acclaimed and varied body of work, from bold landscape paintings of the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park to intimate drawings of his experiences of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Through May 25
Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico
For the past 50 years, Graciela Iturbide has produced majestic, powerful and sometimes visceral photographs. She is considered one of the greatest contemporary photographers in Latin America. This monumental survey of photographs of Mexico spans Iturbide’s career with images from 1969 through 2007. It encompasses compelling portrayals of indigenous and urban women, explorations of symbolism in nature and rituals, and haunting photographs of personal items left after the death of Frida Kahlo.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Through June 7
Natural Beauties: Exquisite Works of Minerals and Gems
For centuries, nature’s most enduring materials, like malachite, jade, amethyst and lapis lazuli, have been carved, polished and mounted into beautiful works of art. Hillwood founder Marjorie Merriweather Post was known for the incredible gems and jewelry that signaled her unparalleled taste, but the hardstone objects that make up a less well-known area of her connoisseurship are equally impressive and exquisite. This special exhibition is the first at Hillwood to focus on finely crafted objects that incorporate these exceptional stones and minerals.
Hillwood Museum, Estate & Gardens
Through June 14
Raphael and His Circle
Raphael (1483-1520) was one of the greatest artistic figures working in the Western classical tradition. In celebration of the 500th anniversary of his death, the gallery presents 25 prints and drawings in an intimate installation that illustrates how the combination of artistic traditions, wide range and immediate influence of Raphael’s art shaped the standard of aesthetic excellence for later artists.
National Gallery of Art
Through July 5
I Am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa
Taking its name from a 1970’s feminist anthem, “I Am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa” draws upon a selection of artworks by women artists from the National Museum of African Art’s permanent collection to reveal a more contemporary feminism that recognizes the contributions of women to the most pressing issues of their times. With experimental and sophisticated use of diverse media, the 27 featured artists offer insightful and visually stunning approaches to matters of community, faith, the environment, politics, colonial encounters, racism, identity and more.
National Museum of African Art
Through July 5
Delight in Discovery: The Global Collections of Lloyd Cotsen
Over his lifetime, Lloyd Cotsen was known as many things: a philanthropist, the CEO of skin and hair care company Neutrogena and an accumulator of art. Though he was best known for his professional work, his personal legacy is the Cotsen Foundation for the Art of Teaching and his world-renowned collections of textiles, basketry and folk art. This exhibit highlights the global spectrum of his interests, primarily through textile fragments and garments collected over a 60-year period.
The George Washington University Textile Museum
Through Sept. 7
Pat Steir: Color Wheel
The Hirshhorn will host the largest painting installation to date by the acclaimed abstract painter Pat Steir. The exhibition is an expansive new suite of paintings by the artist, spanning the entire perimeter of the Museum’s second-floor inner-circle galleries, extending nearly 400 linear feet.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Through Sept. 13
Lee Ufan: Open Dimension
“Lee Ufan: Open Dimension” is an ambitious site-specific commission by the celebrated Korean artist Lee Ufan. The expansive installation, featuring 10 new sculptures from the artist’s signature and continuing “Relatum” series, marks Lee Ufan’s largest single outdoor sculpture project in the US, the first exhibition of his work in the nation’s capital, and the first time in the Hirshhorn’s 45-year history that its 4.3-acre outdoor plaza has been devoted, almost in its entirety, to the work of a single artist.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Through Oct. 12
Marcel Duchamp: The Barbara and Aaron Levine Collection
Featuring the recent gift of over 50 major historical works, including more than 35 seminal works by Marcel Duchamp, this exhibition comprises an unparalleled selection of art, thoughtfully acquired over the course of two decades and offering a rarely seen view of the entire arc of Duchamp’s career. This is the first stage of a two-part exhibition on the life and legacy of Duchamp. The second stage, opening spring 2020, will examine Duchamp’s lasting impact through the lens of the Hirshhorn’s permanent collection, including significant works by a diverse roster of modern and contemporary artists.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Through Oct. 12
Portraits of the World: Denmark
“Portraits of the World: Denmark” will feature the painting “Kunstdommere (Art Judges)” by Michael Ancher (1849-1927), on loan from the Museum of National History in Hillerød, Denmark. The monumental group portrait pays tribute to a tightly knit artists’ community in northern Denmark, which served as the incubator for the Modern Breakthrough in Danish painting. A complementary display of American portraits will highlight the proliferation of artists’ communities in New York City during the first half of the 20th century, which likewise accelerated the development of modern art in the United States.
National Portrait Museum
DANCE
Tue., March 3, 7:30 p.m.
Fruits Borne Out of Rust
Conceived and directed by internationally renowned Japanese visual artist Tabaimo in collaboration with award-winning choreographer Maki Morishita, this whimsical, mischievous multimedia work is performed by a solo female dancer and two on-stage musicians to an original score by Yusuke Awazu and Keisuke Tanaka. Tickets are $35 to $45.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
March 5 to 7
Martha Graham Dance Company: The Eve Project
Martha Graham is inarguably the mother of American modern dance. In celebration of the centennial of the 19th amendment in 2020, which gave women the right to vote, the company has created a collection of new commissions and signature Graham classics that each make bold statements about female power. Tickets are $25 to $69.
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater
Sat., March 14, 2 p.m.
The Mush Hole: Truth, Acknowledgement and Resilience
“The Mush Hole” is a heartbreaking dance theater piece that moves through Canada’s residential school history with hope and empathy. The performance by Kahawi Dance Theatre reflects the realities of the Mohawk Institute Residential School experience and offers a compelling way to open dialogue and to heal.
National Museum of the American Indian
DISCUSSIONS
Thu., March 5, 6 p.m.
Bohemian Stories with Author Renáta Fučíková
Renáta Fučíková discusses her book “Bohemian Stories,” an illustrated history of Czechs in the United States that showcases the deep bonds between the two countries. Short texts and vivid illustrations create a portrait of composer Antonín Dvořák’s life in America, reveal the stories of politicians Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Madeleine Albright, and celebrate the accomplishments of astronaut Eugene Cernan and sports legend Martina Navrátilová, among others. Readers also learn about Czech immigrants who settled the barren prairies of the Midwest and helped build the streets and neighborhoods of Chicago and New York, and experience the success of artists and athletes who found a new home in the United States. Admission is free; to RSVP, visit bohemianstories.eventbrite.com.
Embassy of the Czech Republic
Thu., March 5, 7 p.m.
Celebrating Women’s Achievement in Music and Arts
Enjoy a cross-over evening featuring a multimedia installation — dedicated to the first female member of the New York Philharmonic, the Viennese harpist Stephanie “Steffy” Goldner — as well as a panel discussion on the role of women as musicians and artists over time, comparing genres and continents, complemented by inspiring music from the Boulanger Initiative. Admission is free; to RSVP, visit acfdc.org.
Embassy of Austria
Fri., March 6, 3 p.m.
Artist Talk with Composer Gabriela Ortiz
The Mexican Cultural Institute, in collaboration with INSeries, welcomes Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz for a conversation on her newest operatic storybook, “Ana y su sombra,” playing at GALA Hispanic Theatre on March 7 and 8 as part of the InSeries Women Composer Festival. To RSVP, visit www.instituteofmexicodc.org.
Mexican Cultural Institute
Sat., March 14, 3 p.m.
Wine Regions of France and Italy: Bordeaux
Join Food and Wine magazine’s 2019 Sommelier of the Year Erik Segelbaum in an enjoyable interactive workshop series into the worlds of French and Italian wine, designed to boost the wine IQ of both novices and seasoned aficionados. Tickets are $100.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Tue., March 17, 6:45 p.m.
Ireland’s Fight for Freedom
In the course of their bitter war with the British Empire from 1919 to 1921, Irish nationalists turned to novel tactics both military and political. Unable to confront Britain’s overwhelming military power directly, the Irish Republican Army mounted a campaign of assassination, hit-and-run raids, and — a new concept — urban guerrilla warfare to fight their opponents to a standstill. George Mason University history professor Kevin Matthews discusses how this war set the standard for other independence struggles in the 20th century. Tickets are $45; for information, visit smithsonianassociates.org.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Thu., March 19, 6:30 p.m.
Neuro-Night: Spanish Scientists Advance Health Research.
Brain Awareness Week is an annual global campaign celebrating its 25th anniversary in mid-March. The campaign was founded by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives and the European Dana Alliance for the Brain with a simple but profound mission: to share the wonders of the brain with the public and teach the impact brain science has in our daily lives. In this event, NIH Spanish scientists studying neurodegenerative disorders discuss how these diseases impact our nervous system and give insights into future treatments. Admission is free; to RSVP, visit www.spainculture.us/city/washington-dc/.
Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain
Sat., March 21, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Through Her Eyes: Celebrating Indigenous Women of the Andes
A special Women’s History Month program, “Through Her Eyes” celebrates the stories, experiences and perspectives of Andean indigenous women. Cultural and content experts will lead a series of performances, demonstrations and activities offering visitors a window into the rich traditions and contemporary life of women in these indigenous communities.
National Museum of the American Indian
FESTIVALS
March 3 to April 19
DC Tango Festival – Pan-American Symphony Orchestra
The Pan-American Symphony Orchestra (PASO) — the first orchestra in the nation to focus solely on Latin American music — presents the DC Tango Festival, largely held at the Embassy of Argentina. Events include the Buenos Aires-based Juan D’Arienzo Orchestra (March 3); a series of four tango lessons beginning March 4; a tango dance party (March 6); Mariana Quinteros singing popular tangos by Argentina’s most well-known tango composers (March 12, 13); Tango Night at the Movies featuring the 1950 musical drama “Arrabalera”; and “Tango of the Americas,” a show of original tango music from Colombia, Argentina and the U.S. at the Kennedy Center. For information, visit www.panamsymphony.org/concert-season/dc-tango-festival.
Embassy of Argentina
March 6 to 7
Women Composers Festival
The IN Series presents a festival celebrating the brilliance of living female composers who have been under-represented in the classical music scene of the nation’s capital, as well as in the canon of works produced by IN Series. The festival features four performances of two fully staged operas, both local premieres, as part of an effort to radically reshape the image of who makes opera. For more information, visit www.inseries.org/women-composers-festival.
GALA Hispanic Theatre
March 8 to 21
DIRECT CURRENT
The Kennedy Center’s two-week celebration of contemporary culture, returns for a third season. With special emphasis on female creators, on works new to the District of Columbia, and on interdisciplinary creations, the 2020 spring immersion showcases some of the most provocative, original and pioneering voices in the arts today. The festival kicks off with a special screening of Ava DuVernay’s Oscar-nominated documentary “13th,” with Jason Moran’s powerful score performed live for the first time in collaboration with One Woman, One Vote 2020 Festival. Other highlights include Mija at U Street Music Hall (March 13), Camila Meza and the Nectar Orchestra (March 14) and “Blue,” a Washington National Opera production about a family that struggles after a teenager is shot by policy (March 15-28). For information, visit www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/festivals-series/direct-current/.
Various locations
March 23 to 29
SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras
Building on the groundbreaking repertoire and concepts presented during SHIFT in 2017 and 2018, this year’s participating orchestras — Jacksonville Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra — offer a fresh take on orchestral concerts by featuring multi-genre thematic collaborations and commissioned works, along with dialogue, other vocal elements and video projections. For information, visit www.washingtonperformingarts.org/media/shiftrfp/.
Various locations
GALAS
Sat., March 14, 6 p.m.
Washington Performing Arts Gala & Auction
“A Celebration of Women: Fearless, Creative, Resilient” is the theme of this year’s Washington Performing Arts Gala & Auction, which will honor entrepreneur Sheila C. Johnson, CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts, and feature performances by the Children of the Gospel Choir and mezzo soprano J’Nai Bridges. One of the most established and honored performing arts institutions in America, Washington Performing Arts has for more than half a century, engaged with artists, audiences, students and civic life in the nation’s capital. Tickets start at $200 for young patrons. For information, visit one.bidpal.net/washingtonperformingarts/welcome.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
MUSIC
Wed., March 4, 7:30 p.m.
Armenian Odyssey
Presented by PostClassical Ensemble in conjunction with the Armenian Embassy, visual artist Kevork Mourad creates a multimedia meditation that ponders how crossing cultural boundaries can inspire tolerance and understanding. This world-premiere-concert event features legendary duduk master Jivan Gasparyan and Jivan Gasparyan Jr.; cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan; and composer Vache Sharafyan. Please visit postclassical.com for ticket information.
Washington National Cathedral (Great Nave)
Wed., March 4, 7:30 p.m.
Barrantes & Pinto-Ribeiro Piano Duo
The Barrantes & Pinto-Ribeiro Piano Duo was formed in Moscow in 1998, when Portuguese pianist Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro and Peruvian pianist Rosa Maria Barrantes were studying at the famous Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Since then, the duo — who live in Lisbon with their two children — has performed in concerts across Europe and America and recorded a CD featuring works by Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, Eric Satie, Francis Poulenc and Maurice Ravel. Tickets are $160, including buffet, wine and valet parking. For information, visit embassyseries.org.
Portuguese Residence
Sun., March 8, 12:30 p.m.
Persian Music: Sounds of the Homeland Ensemble
Don’t miss the Washington-area concert debut of Sounds of the Homeland, a new ensemble based in California that performs contemporary, classical and traditional Iranian music and will provide the musical highlight to the museum’s annual Nowruz celebration.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., March 13, 7 p.m.
Niño de Elche in Concert: Colombiana
“Colombiana,” the new album by Niño de Elche, explores the relation between colonialism, spices, the economy and the transoceanic exchanges within Flamenco and Latin American rhythms. Tickets are $15; for information, visit www.spainculture.us/city/washington-dc/.
Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain
Fri., March 13, 8 p.m.
The Washington Chorus: St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the two-time Grammy-winning Washington Chorus, joined by folk band The Irish Inn Mates and students of the Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance. Lauded as “sheer joy,” (Broadway World) enjoy sing-alongs and choral arrangements of Irish classics in this unique and festive concert. Tickets are $18 to $79.
Music Center at Strathmore
March 16 and 17
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
For over 50 years, South Africa’s five-time Grammy Award-winning group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has warmed the hearts of audiences worldwide with their uplifting vocal harmonies, signature dance moves, and charming onstage banter. Tickets start at $42.
Wolf Trap
Thu., March 19, 7:30 p.m.
32 Bright Clouds: Beethoven Conversations Around the World
To mark Beethoven’s 250th birthday year, composers from conflict zones around the world were commissioned by Israeli American pianist Yael Weiss to create new works connected to the German composer’s 32 piano sonatas. For this concert, Weiss performs new compositions by Syrian native Malek Jandali, Turkish composer Aslihan Keçebasoglu, Afghan composer Milad Yousufi, Aida Shirazi, who was born in Tehran, Sidney Marquez Boquiren of the Philippines and Bongani Ndodana-Breen from South Africa.
Freer Gallery of Art
Thu., March 19, 7:30 p.m.
Christylez Bacon, Hip-Hop & Nistha Raj, Violin
Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon is known for his beat-boxing, rhyming and storytelling skills. This collaboration with violinist Nistha Raj offers a contemporary take on classical Hindustani music. Together, Bacon and Raj create an edgy, innovative amalgam that draws on their diverse heritages with the goal of bridging cultural divides. Tickets are $24.
Music Center at Strathmore
Sat., March 21, 3 p.m.
Maryta de Humahuaca in Concert
Maryta de Humahuaca (Kolla) is an Indigenous performing artist from the small city of Humahuaca in the province of Jujuy, Argentina. Her music is a fusion of contemporary and traditional Andean music. This program is presented in collaboration with the Embassy of Argentina.
National Museum of the American Indian
Sun., March 22, 3:15 to 6:15 p.m.
Pierrot Lunaire – A Multimedia Chamber Concert Experience
Arnold Schoenberg’s 1912 expressionist masterpiece “Pierrot Lunair (Moonstruck Pierrot)” is a melodrama about Pierrot, the sad clown character from the Italian commedia dell’arte, set to 21 poems by Albert Giraud. This interdisciplinary event features a musical performance accompanied by dramatic poetry readings, displays of visual art and a pre-concert lecture. Admission is free; to RSVP visit acfdc.org.
Catholic University of America
Mon., March 23, 7:30 p.m.
Annelene Lenaerts, Harp
Belgian harpist Anneleen Lenaerts is one of the leading soloists of her instrument who, in December 2010, was appointed principal harpist of the Vienna Philharmonic. From an early age, Lenaerts began winning an impressive amount of prizes at international harp competitions: 23 prizes between 1997 and 2009. Most recently in 2019, she released a new CD recording with works by Nino Rota with the Brussels Philharmonic, and she won an Opus Klassik after being nominated in four different categories. Tickets are $225, including buffet reception, wine and parking on the embassy compound. For information, visit embassyseries.org.
Belgian Residence
Thu., March 26, 7:30 p.m.
Brahms & Dvořák
The Brahms and Dvořák chamber music members of the President’s Own Marine Band and Chamber Group perform a repertoire of two chamber works by the master composers. Tickets are $125, including buffet, wine and beer. For information, visit embassyseries.org.
Embassy of the Czech Republic
Thu., March 26, 7:30 p.m.
Matt Haimovitz, Cello & Laura Colgate, Violin
Matt Haimovitz is a groundbreaking artist who made his debut in 1984, at the age of 13, as soloist with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic and is notably the first classical artist to play at New York’s infamous CBGB club. Colgate, a resident of Takoma Park, Md., has led a prestigious career as a chamber and orchestral musician, soloist, and educator. She is passionate about innovating in the world of classical music and co-founded the Boulanger Initiative, an advocacy organization for women composers based in D.C. Tickets are $30.
Music Center at Strathmore
THEATER
March 1 to 21
Washington National Opera: Samson and Delilah
Seduction and deceit tangle in Saint-Saëns’s sensual grand opera. When Delilah seduces Samson into revealing the source of his physical power, his faith will be put to a final, catastrophic test. Tickets are $45 to $299.
Kennedy Center Opera House
March 4 to April 12
Pass Over
Kitch and Moses seem stuck on their street corner, but it don’t matter. They joke, dream, and throw down about the promised land they’re heading to just as soon as they get up off the block. Allegorical and immediate, humorous and chilling, Nwandu’s collision of the Exodus saga and “Waiting for Godot” probes the forces that have marooned these young black men, and the power and limitations of their personal resilience.
Studio Theatre
Through March 8
The 39 Steps
One evening in 1930s London, Richard Hannay attends a vaudeville performance at the London Palladium when a fight breaks out in the theater and shots are fired. In the ensuing panic, a frightened young woman named Annabella persuades Hannay to take her back to his flat. There, she claims to be a spy who has uncovered a plot to steal British military secrets implemented by a mysterious espionage organization known as “The 39 Steps.” The next morning, Hannay wakes up to find Annabella stabbed to death. Now a suspect in her murder, Hannay must careen across Europe to evade the police and expose the killer’s true identity in this fast-paced and riotously funny adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller film presented by Constellation Theatre Company. Tickets are $25 to $45.
Source at 1835 14th St., NW
Through March 8
Shipwreck: A History Play About 2017
A group of well-meaning liberals gather at a farmhouse in upstate New York for a relaxing weekend. A son adopted from Kenya struggles to feel connected to his new family and country. And the 45th U.S. president sends a history-altering dinner invitation. There is plenty of blame to spare as snow piles high, mountains crumble and the wounds of the 2016 election break open. The mythology of America is rewritten in real time as we are forced to grapple with the legend of a frightening New York man made from gold. Tickets start at $34.
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
March 13 to May 20
Guys and Dolls
In this beloved 1950s musical comedy, dice-slinging gamblers, pious missionaries and glamorous showgirls come together for a light-hearted romp through New York. It’s a high-stakes game of love as brash but charming Nathan Detroit bets Sky Masterson $1,000 to woo missionary Sarah Brown. Please call for ticket information.
Ford’s Theatre
Through March 15
The Amen Corner
Margaret, a zealous church pastor of a storefront church in Harlem, must confront the past she left behind when her estranged husband Luke returns. Trying to find his own identity outside of the confines of the church, their son David bonds with his ailing father over their shared love of jazz music. Margaret’s misguided but fervent beliefs cause further disunity both within their fragile family union and in her congregation as her past comes to light. Tickets are $35 to $120.
The Shakespeare Theatre
Through March 15
The Wanderers
Esther and Schmuli are Satmar Hasidic Jews embarking on an arranged marriage, despite barely knowing each other. Abe and Julia are high-profile celebrities embarking on a dangerously flirtatious correspondence, despite being married to other people. On the surface, the lives of these two couples couldn’t be more different. The play explores the hidden connections between these seemingly disparate people, drawing audiences into an intriguing puzzle and a deeply sympathetic look at modern love. Tickets are $39 to $69.
Edlavitch DCJCC Theater J
Through March 22
Washington National Opera: Don Giovanni
A notorious lover meets his ultimate fiery punishment in Mozart’s celebrated tragicomedy. He’s spent his life betraying women. Now time’s up. Tickets are $45 to $299.
Kennedy Center Opera House
Through March 22
Timon of Athens
Timon lives in a golden world of opulence and generosity, throwing wild parties attended by politicians, artists and the celebrities of Athens. When she loses her wealth and her friends abandon her, Timon takes to the forest, exchanging her luxurious gowns for sackcloth and plotting revenge against the city she loves. Please call for ticket information.
Shakespeare Theatre Company
March 24 to April 19
Camille Claudel
Turn-of-the-century French sculptor Camille Claudel was a groundbreaking artist and a revolutionary free-thinker – but her entire life was determined by the men around her, from her passionate and tumultuous love affair with Auguste Rodin to her unsupportive brother to the gender-based censorship of her work. The MAX Theatre transforms into famed sculptor Rodin’s studio to bring their creative and lovers’ duel to life in a stunning and gorgeous new musical of an irrepressible visionary who broke the mold. Please call for ticket information.
Signature Theatre
March 27 to April 5
Synetic Teen: Romeo & Juliet
In this passionate and lyrical piece, set among the gears of a giant clock, the greatest of Shakespearean lovers race against time itself to outrun their fate. Please call for ticket information.
Synetic Theater
Through March 29
Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes
Marian, the matriarch of a far-flung Jewish family, had happily settled into retirement life with her new husband Richard. However, when a pregnant niece, the troubled boy next door and a distressed daughter with a secret show up at her door, Marian’s empty nest ends up a little fuller than she imagined. Please call for ticket information.
Signature Theatre
Through April 12
Celia and Fidel
Can one woman change the mind of a man and the fate of a nation? Fidel Castro’s most trusted confidant and political partner, Celia Sánchez, is never far from his side as he grapples with how to move his country forward. It’s 1980 and a failing economy has led 10,000 Cuban citizens to seek asylum at the Peruvian Embassy in Cuba. Castro must decide what kind of a leader he wants to be: merciful or mighty. Imbued with magical realism, “Celia and Fidel” is the dynamic story of radical change in Cuba featuring the country’s most notorious political figure and Cuba’s most influential female revolutionary. Tickets are $40 to $95.
Arena Stage
