EVENT CATEGORIES
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ART
Through March 2
Bled
From the vision of red twilight to the enigma of the blue fall, Buenos Aires-born artist Daniela Ramsfelder’s cicular paintings are a landscape of events, movements and vibrations. Here, imaginary time is based on a meticulous repetition of gestures, portraying a distant past and a continuous present.
Embassy of Argentina
March 2 to April 1
‘Marie Antoinette’ by Meg Schaap
An installation of an intimate portrait of France’s iconic queen “Marie Antoinette,” swallowed up by her environment, metamorphosing, rebelling and breaking free through “wallpaper” customs and norms of her time period.
Touchstone Gallery
Through March 4
Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: The Utopian Projects
Spanning 1985 through present day, this survey comprises more than 20 of the Kabakovs’ maquettes, whimsical models, for projects realized and unrealized, including monuments, allegorical narratives, architectural structures and commissioned outdoor works. Opening nearly 30 years after the Hirshhorn hosted Ilya Kabakov’s first major U.S. exhibition, these intricate creations invite the viewer into their surreal world in miniature and offer a rare glimpse into the duo’s artistic process.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
March 4 to May 28
Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings
For more than 40 years, Sally Mann has made experimental, elegiac and hauntingly beautiful photographs that span a broad body of work including figure studies, still lifes and landscapes. “Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings” explores how her relationship with the South has shaped her work.
National Gallery of Art
Tue., March 6, 5 p.m.
Fashioning the Future: Argentine Designers on the Edge of Tomorrow
“Fashioning the Future” is an experiential journey through contemporary Argentine fashion that merges science, technology and creativity. As part of the 2018 Inter-American Development Bank and the Inter-American Investment Corporation Board of Governors Annual Meeting, this exhibition celebrates the richness of Argentina’s creative and scientific contributions as well as their leadership at the forefront of innovative thinking in the region. By viewing these potential combinations of the industrial, digital and biological worlds through contemporary Argentine fashion, we can imagine how creativity and science can work in unison to positively transform our lives in the future. For information, visit www.iadb.org/en/exhibitions.
Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center
March 9 to May 28
Women House
Questions about a woman’s “place” resonate in our culture, and conventional ideas persist about the house as a feminine space. This new exhibition forms a sequel to the famous project “Womanhouse,” developed in 1972 by Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro. Similar to their artistic foremothers in the 1970s, contemporary artists in “Women House” recast conventional ideas about women and the home with acuity and wit, creating provocative photographs, videos, sculptures and room-like installations built with materials ranging from felt to rubber bands.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Through March 11
ERIK THOR SANDBERG: Out of reach…there is hope
This overview of the artist’s work from 2005 to the present brings together some 40 works, mostly paintings and several drawings, which oscillate in scale between small and full-body size.
American University Museum
Through March 11
Kateřina Vincourová: Arteria
This exhibition focuses on the fragile nuances of interpersonal relations while at the same time abstracting these notions into an examination of time and space. Kateřina Vincourová’s work thus becomes a holistic system — a large-scale spatial drawing rather than a collection of individual pieces.
American University Museum
Through March 11
Words
Artist Brian Dailey’s multiscreen video installation investigates the relationship between language, culture, national identity and the challenges of communicating key concepts across linguistic boundaries and national borders in the age of globalization. His virtual Tower of Babel is a contemporary turn on the Biblical story explaining the worldwide diversity of languages, a tale with parallels in ancient Sumerian and Assyrian myths.
American University Museum
Through March 12
Wixárika
This exhibition of native artisans is presented by the Hermes Music Foundation. The Wixárika, also known as the Huichol, are a native people of pre-Colombian origin from Mexico’s western Sierra Madre region. For centuries, the Huichol have employed an intricate and painstakingly beautiful beading technique, called nearika, to record their history and spiritual traditions through artwork. This exhibit will present musical instruments decorated in this style by Huichol artisans.
Mexican Cultural Institute
Through March 13
Phenomenon Masaryk
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Czech independence, this exhibition focuses on Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the founding father and first president of Czechoslovakia. The project depicts his many roles as professor of philosophy, sociologist, writer, politician, journalist, visionary, democrat, father and husband. A combination of display panels and projections portrays Masaryk’s worldly inspiration and broad influence as well as his critical thinking and courage to oppose the majority while defending justice and human values.
Embassy of the Czech Republic
March 16 to Aug. 5
Do Ho Suh: Almost Home
Korean-born Do Ho Suh (b. 1962) is internationally renowned for his immersive, architectural fabric sculptures that explore the global nature of contemporary identity. “Do Ho Suh: Almost Home” will transform the museum’s galleries through Suh’s captivating installations, which recreate to scale several of his former homes from around the world. Through these works, Suh investigates the nature of home and memory and the impact of migration and displacement on an individual’s sense of self.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Through March 18
Tamayo: The New York Years
Rufino Tamayo’s lushly colored paintings portraying modern Mexican subjects earned him widespread acclaim as an artist who balanced universal themes with a local sensibility. Tamayo (1899-1991) was drawn to New York City in the early 20th century at a time when unparalleled transatlantic and hemispheric cross-cultural exchange was taking place. “Tamayo: The New York Years” is the first exhibition to explore the influences between this major Mexican modernist and the American art world with 41 of his finest artworks.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Opening March 24
Swedish Footprints: Shaping the Future
With “Swedish Footprints: Shaping the Future” as the 2018 public diplomacy theme program, the embassy will highlight Sweden’s contributions to the strong economic, cultural, political and interpersonal ties between Sweden and the United States through a year of seminars, exhibitions, music and art. The series of events will tell the story not only of our shared past, but also some of the most vibrant areas of cooperation for the future. We will be following the stories of notable Swedes and Swedish-Americans in the United States, from the companies they’ve founded and the innovations that shape our everyday lives, to legendary films that contribute to our shared cultural heritage and pop music that creates the soundtracks of our lives. The embassy showcase will also include insights on jobs created in the United States by Swedish companies, innovative Swedish technologies that are shaping our future and the uniquely Swedish approach to international relations and security that will be in the spotlight as Sweden chairs the U.N. Security Council.
House of Sweden
Through March 25
Palimpsestus: Image and Memory
The 70 artworks on display, produced between 1900 and 2014, include more than 30 artists from 10 different countries drawn from Colección Memoria, as well as a selection of iconic modern and contemporary pieces from OAS permanent art collection. The exhibit surveys the main artistic trends and visual cultures that have developed in Latin America in the second half of the 20th eentury. The term Palimpsest, a capitalistic practice stemming from the scarcity of paper as a good for 15 centuries, is appropriated by the curator to conceptualize the relativity and interrelation of art narratives and aesthetic discourses.
OAS Art Museum of the Americas
March 25 to July 1
Cézanne Portraits
Bringing together some 60 examples drawn from collections around the world, this is the first exhibition devoted to the famed post-impressionist’s portraits. The revelatory exhibition provides the first full visual account of Paul Cézanne’s portrait practice, exploring the pictorial and thematic characteristics of his works in the genre, the chronological development of his style and method, and the range and influence of his sitters.
National Gallery of Art
Through April 27
Belonging to a Place: An Exhibition by Fogo Island Artists
Fogo Island Arts (FIA) is a residency-based contemporary art venue for artists, filmmakers, writers, musicians, curators, designers and thinkers from around the world. Since 2008, FIA has brought some of the most exciting emerging and renowned artists of today to Fogo Island, Newfoundland, to take part in residencies and to present solo exhibitions at the Fogo Island Gallery. “Belonging to a Place” features works by a selection of international artists who are alumni or forthcoming participants of the residency program. The exhibition departs from a consideration of the concept of “place,” seeking to examine where we come from and how we relate to multiple notions of belonging. Presenting sculpture, installation, video, painting and works on paper, the exhibition takes on a diverse, experimental and critical approach to contemporary art, its presentation and discussion.
Embassy of Canada Art Gallery
Through Spring 2018
Syria: Please Don’t Forget Us
The Syrian conflict has raged for almost seven years and claimed the lives of more than 500,000 of the country’s citizens. Eleven million people, one-half of Syria’s pre-war population, have fled their homes. The Assad regime is detaining more than 100,000 of its people in secret detention centers where they are starved, tortured, and killed. This exhibition is a powerful testament to not only what the Syrian people have endured, but also their quest to document the crimes, tell their stories and hold their perpetrators accountable.
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Through May 5
A Dark and Scandalous Rockfall
This collaborative installation by Perla Krauze and Barbara Liotta, artists from both sides of the Mexico-United States border, incorporates material and metaphorical qualities of stone to evoke landscape and classical sculpture. The title of the exhibit is drawn from the poem “Dry Rain” by Mexican poet Pedro Serrano, which begins: “At times the poem is a collapse/ a slow and painful landslide/ a dark and scandalous rockfall.” Given the current state of U.S.-Mexico relations, this exhibition presents a healing gesture, recognizing our shared history.
Mexican Cultural Institute
Through May 6
Ten Americans: After Paul Klee
This exhibit explores the seminal role of Swiss-born artist Paul Klee (1879-1940) in the development of mid-20th century American art. “Ten Americans” sheds new light on important figures in American Abstract Expressionist and Color Field painting who adapted aspects of Klee’s art and ideology into their own artistic development. It showcases more than 60 paintings, prints and drawings from collections in the U.S. and Switzerland.
The Phillips Collection
Through May 13
Brand New: Art and Commodity in the 1980s
It’s the ’80s as you’ve never seen it before. Explore the iconic decade when artwork became a commodity and the artist a brand. Razor-sharp, witty, satirical and deeply subversive, these nearly 150 works examine the origins and rise of a new generation of artists in 1980s New York who blurred the lines between art, entertainment and commerce, a shift that continues to define contemporary art today.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Through May 13
Michel Sittow: Estonian Painter at the Courts of Renaissance Europe
Undoubtedly the greatest Renaissance artist from Estonia, Michel Sittow (c. 1469–1525) was born in Reval (now Tallinn), likely studied in Bruges with Hans Memling and worked at the courts of renowned European royals such as King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. Through some 20 works representing most of Sittow’s small oeuvre, the exhibition will offer an opportunity to examine his art in a broader context.
National Gallery of Art
Through May 13
Outliers and American Vanguard Art
Some 300 works explore three distinct periods in American history when mainstream and outlier artists intersected, ushering in new paradigms based on inclusion, integration and assimilation.
National Gallery of Art
Through June 3
Beyond Words: Book Illustration in the Age of Shakespeare
With visually interesting illustrated books and single sheet prints that have been rarely or never before displayed, this exhibition explores the production of the images in books in early modern Europe. Featuring more than 80 illustrated rare books and prints from the 15th to the 18th century from the Folger Shakespeare Library, the images include woodcuts, produced from carved woodblocks, and engravings and etchings, printed from copper plates.
Folger Shakespeare Library
Through June 24
Jim Chuchu’s Invocations
The museum is the first institution to acquire and display Kenyan multimedia artist Jim Chuchu’s mesmerizing suite of video projections, in which two distinct videos loop in succession and follow the structure of initiation rituals. Surrounded by Chuchu’s pulsing house beats and evocative imagery, viewers are invited to contemplate the separations and releases that shape our individual and collective identities.
National Museum of African Art
Through July 8
Hung Liu in Print
This spotlight exhibition features 16 prints and a tapestry by painter and printmaker Hung Liu that invites viewers to explore the relationship between Liu’s multi-layered paintings and the palpable, physical qualities of her works on paper. Her multifaceted body of work probes the human condition and confronts issues of culture, identity and personal and national history.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Through Aug. 5
The Prince and the Shah: Royal Portraits from Qajar Iran
In our age of social media and selfies, it may be difficult to grasp the importance of painted portraits and studio photographs in 19th-century Iran. During this time, known as the Qajar era, rulers such as Fath-Ali Shah, a contemporary of Napoleon, and Nasir al-Din Shah, a contemporary of Queen Victoria, used portraiture to convey monarchical power and dynastic grandeur. Through a selection of about thirty works from the Freer and Sackler collections, this exhibition explores how Persian artists transformed modes of representing royalty and nobility.
Freer Gallery of Art
Through Aug. 15
Tomb of Christ
Be virtually transported to Jerusalem and discover the fascinating history of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in an immersive 3-D experience unlike anything you’ve seen in a museum before. Groups will be able to virtually visit the church and learn about its storied history and enduring mysteries.
National Geographic
Through Nov. 12
Mark Bradford: Pickett’s Charge
For his first solo exhibition in D.C., acclaimed artist Mark Bradford debuts a monumental site-specific commission inspired by Paul Philippoteaux’s 1883 cyclorama depicting the Battle of Gettysburg. Covering the curved walls of the Hirshhorn’s Third Level Inner Circle, “Pickett’s Charge” presents 360 degrees of abstracted historical narrative.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Through Dec. 25
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts
More than 300 works of art from the museum’s permanent collection are on view within this exhibition. Working in media as diverse as wood, ceramics, drawing, jewelry, mixed media, sculpture, painting, photography, printmaking, and video, these works of art reflect the visionary ideas and styles developed by men and women from more than half of Africa’s 55 nations. The installation is organized around seven viewpoints, each of which serve to frame and affect the manner in which African art is experienced.
National Museum of African Art
DANCE
Mon., March 12, 7:30 p.m.
“S” by Circa
Lauded by critics worldwide for their creativity and talent, Australia’s Circa ensemble has combined death-defying acrobatics and bold storytelling in performances that have been leaving audiences spellbound since 2006. “S” combines the daring acrobatics that Circa is known for with a dazzling pre-recorded score by the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet for a performance that has been lauded as “stunning” and “sublime” (Le Devoir). Tickets are $27 to $68.
Music Center at Strathmrore
March 27 to April 1
New York City Ballet: Two Programs
New York City Ballet returns with two sensational repertory programs for its annual appearance, including a program to celebrate the centennials of Jerome Robbins, one of the most influential dance-makers in the company’s history, and legendary composer Leonard Bernstein. It also presents three works by NYCB’s George Balanchine and Peter Martins’s “Zakouski,” while Resident Choreographer and Soloist Justin Peck offers the Kennedy Center premiere of a brand new piece. Tickets are $29 to $99.
Kennedy Center Opera House
DISCUSSIONS
Wed., March 7, 6:30 p.m.
Talk with Bestselling Author Lars Kepler
Solid State Books and the Embassy of Sweden present an evening with Lars Kepler for “The Sandman – A Joona Linna Novel,” the number-one internationally bestselling thriller that tells the chilling story of a manipulative serial killer and the two brilliant police agents who must try to beat him at his own game.
Solid State Books: The Apollo
Tue., March 27, 6:45 p.m.
The Juedischer Kulturbund: Keeping the Arts Alive in Nazi Germany
Though under severe Nazi government restrictions, in the 1930s, many Jewish artists expelled from German institutions found an outlet to reach Jewish audiences through the Kulturbund, the Culture League of German Jews. Historian Michael Brennner examines the Kulturbund’s achievements and the opportunities and dilemmas it brought for a persecuted minority under an authoritarian regime. Tickets are $45; for information, visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
FESTIVALS
March 1 to 27
D.C. Francophonie Cultural Festival
The D.C. Francophonie Cultural Festival celebrates the diversity and richness of the French language and Francophone communities around the world through a series of cultural events and outreach programs presented every spring in the capital of the United States. Since 2001, more than 40 embassies and partners (including the Alliance Française de Washington DC and the Smithsonian Associates) have collaborated each year to present an array of experiences all rooted in the Francophone culture — from Africa, to the Americas, to the Middle East — through concerts, cuisine, films, literary salons and lectures for all ages. Highlights include: tours in French at the National Museum of African Art; Yannick Nézet-Séguin directing the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Strathmore Music Center (March 6); dinner at Supra, D.C.’s first Georgian restaurant (March 5); a night of poetry at the Alliance Française (March 9); various films; and La Grande Fête de la Francophonie party at the French Embassy (March 23). For a complete schedule, visit www.francophonie-dc.org.
Various locations
March 5 to 19
DIRECT CURRENT
Modern masterpieces, cutting-edge composition, dance, drag, film, jazz, hip hop, video games, electronica, ecology and activism all converge at the inaugural season of “DIRECT CURRENT,” a new two-week celebration of contemporary culture. Focusing on works new to Washington, on interdisciplinary creations in which artistic worlds collide, and on innovative responses to topical concerns, this new spring immersion showcases some of the most potent, provocative and original voices in American arts today. For information, visit www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/series/DCT.
Kennedy Center
Thu., March 8
Beauty Power – Time Corridor of Taiwan Women Fashion, 1888-2018
To celebrate the 130th anniversary of Twin Oaks, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the U.S. is hosting the fashion show, “Beauty Power – Time Corridor of Taiwan Women Fashion, 1888-2018” to showcases Taiwanese women’s fashion trends with more than 20 outfits. This show will present how diversified traditional clothes have evolved into modern smart clothes in Taiwan.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office
March 20 to April 15
National Cherry Blossom Festival
Each year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates spring in D.C., the gift of the cherry blossom trees and the enduring friendship between the people of the United States and Japan. The festival produces and coordinates daily events featuring diverse and creative programming promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty, and community spirit. Events are primarily free and open to the public. Highlights include: Pink Tie Kickoff Party (March 15); opening concert ceremony at the historic Warner Theatre (March 24); the Blossom Kite Festival (March 31); Petalpalooza presented by FreshDirect concert and fireworks show (April 7); and the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade (April 14). For information, visit
Various locations
Wed., March 21, 6:30 p.m.
Literature Festival: Zeitgeist
On the occasion of the annual Zeitgeist literature festival, the Goethe-Institut Washington, the Austrian Cultural Forum and the Embassy of Switzerland invite three leading novelists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland to America’s capital. This year’s theme, ‟Insiders – Outsiders,” will highlight three compelling new works in German that deal with multiculturalism, migration and xenophobia. Join us in welcoming Philipp Winkler from Germany with “Hooligan,” Nava Ebrahimi from Austria with “Sechzehn Wörter (Sixteen Words)”and Meral Kureyshi from Switzerland with “Elefanten im Garten (Elephants in the Garden).” Admission is free; for information, visit http://acfdc.org.
Embassy of Austria
Sat., March 24, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Easter Egg Hunt and Decorating
Register your little ones for an Easter egg decorating workshop and an egg hunt at 12 p.m. on the embassy’s spacious grounds. Or sign up your older ones (ages 6 to 15) for a special egg decoration workshop (11 a.m. or 12:30 p.m.) under the direction of folk art master Marie Švirgová and folk artist Dagmar Benešová, who founded the Folk Art Academy in Břeclav, Czech Republic. RSVP required and can be sent to czechembassyindc@gmail.com; please bring your own basket and white hard-boiled eggs for decorating.
Embassy of the Czech Republic
MUSIC
Thu., March 1, 6:45 p.m.
Dr. Dieter Hennings and the University of Kentucky Guitar Quartet
As part of its 2018 Music Series, “La Música de México,” the Mexican Cultural Institute is proud to present a concert by Dr. Dieter Hennings and the University of Kentucky Guitar Quartet. Hennings is a proponent of new music, particularly that of Latin America. Along with Jeremy Andrew Bass, Mario Ortiz and Andrew Rhinehart, Hennings will play a program centered around the guitar music of the Mexican composer and conductor Juan Trigos (b. 1965). Following the influence and passion Manuel M. Ponce had for the classical guitar, since 1989 Trigos has created a remarkable body of works of great scope and beauty that are becoming staples of the Mexican new music repertoire for guitar. To RSVP, visit www.instituteofmexicodc.org.
Mexican Cultural Institute
Thu., March 1, 7:30 p.m.
Oscar Peñas in Concert
In his hometown of Barcelona, Spain, Oscar Peñas trained in classical guitar before exploring the world of jazz. Today, tuitarist and composer Peñas embodies a new wave of talented artists who make up New York’s flourishing music scene. His compositions are eclectic, transcending, and merge different genres, cultures and styles with fluidity, grace and power. Tickets are $30.
Music Center at Strathmore
Sun., March 4, 3 p.m.
Annapolis Symphony Orchestra: Manuel Barrueco, Guitar
The Mediterranean spirit of Spain and Italy comes to life in this afternoon of memorable symphonic music. Catalan music champion Xavier Montsalvatge’s “Sortilegis” opens the concert, and world-renowned guitarist Barrueco brings new energy and poignancy to Joaquín Rodrigo’s famous “Concierto de Aranjuez.” Tickets are $10 to $30.
The Music Center at Strathmore
Wed., March 7, 8 p.m.
The Chieftans
The Chieftains’ name has been synonymous with the finest Irish music for over 55 years. Formed in 1962 and led by founding member Paddy Moloney, the band has spread Ireland’s indigenous sounds and styles across the globe. Tickets are $35 to $90.
The Music Center at Strathmore
Thu., March 8, 7:30 p.m.
Bella Hristova, Violin
Amy Yang, Piano
Acclaimed for her passionate performances, beautiful sound and compelling command of her instrument, violinist Bella Hristova is a young musician with a growing international career whom The Washington Post noted that is “a player of impressive power and control.” The evening commemorates the 75th anniversary of the historic rescue of Bulgarian Jews from the Holocaust. Tickets are $90, including buffet and wine; for information, visit www.embassyseries.org.
Embassy of Bulgaria
Fri., March 9, 6:30 p.m.
Lukas Lauermann Concert
The young Austrian cellist Lukas Lauermann creates new ways of playing this centuries-old musical instrument. His music, full with joy in experimenting, oscillates between the tradition of classical concert halls and the directness of pop music. Admission is free; for information, visit http://acfdc.org.
Embassy of Austria
Sun., March 11, 7:30
Shostakovich and the Black Monk: A Russian Fantasy
Dmitri Shostakovich dreamed of creating an opera based on Chekhov’s mystical tale, “The Black Monk.” Decades of suffering under political attacks within an oppressive Soviet regime wreaked havoc on the composer’s life, leaving the work ultimately unfinished. In a bold intersection of chamber music and theater, witness the trials and redemption of one man’s obsession as the Emerson String Quartet and a cast of actors tell this story through the eyes of Shostakovich himself. Tickets are $60.
Wolf Trap
Mon., March 12, 6 p.m.
PunjabTronix
Technology meets tradition as cutting-edge live electronica and digital technologies combine with the traditional sounds of Punjabi folk. Produced and commissioned by U.K.-based Asian Arts Agency, “PunjabTronix” is an exciting new international collaboration between award-winning British-Indian electronic music producer DJ Swami and traditional Punjabi folk stars.
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
Tue., March 13, 6:30 p.m.
Washington Women in Jazz Featuring Bassist Judith Ferstl
From March 10 to 18, 2018, the 8th annual Washington Women in Jazz Festival (WWJF) is taking place in and around D.C., staging and celebrating female jazz artists. As part of the festival, the Austrian Cultural Forum presents the young Austrian bassist Judith Ferstl, who will perform together with Sarah Hughes (saxophone), Shana Tucker (cello), Amy K. Bormet (piano) and Ana Barreiro (drums), as part of the Washington Women in Jazz Ensemble. Admission is free; for information, visit http://acfdc.org.
Embassy of Austria
Thu., March 15, 7 p.m.
Versos Olvidados by Angelita Montoya
Flamenco vocalist Angelita Montoya presents “Versos Olvidados,” a tribute to the women poets of the “Generation of 1927” who have long been forgotten.
Soulful vocalist Montoya, daughter of dancer Antonio Montoya and singer Antonia Rodríguez, belongs to one of the most well-known Flamenco linages, the Montoyas, and make her debut at the age of 9. With music by Alejandro Cruz Benavides, she is accompanied by Benavides on piano and Fran Cortés on guitar. Admission is free but RSVP is required.
NYU Washington D.C.
Fri., March 16, 8 p.m.
Washington Performing Arts: Wu Man and the Huayin Shadow Puppet Band
One of the world’s foremost masters of the pipa (a Chinese lute), Wu Man is well-known to U.S. audiences for her collaborations with Kronos Quartet and the Silk Road Ensemble. In this joyous multimedia program, she joins China’s Huayin Shadow Puppet Band — superstars in their home country — for an evening of traditional music and shadow puppetry. Tickets are $25 to $45.
GW Lisner Auditorium
Sat., March 24, 2 p.m.
Washington Performing Arts: Roman Rabinovich, Piano
From winning the 2008 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition to being tapped by Sir András Schiff for his young pianists’ series to stepping in for Murray Perahia in recital at Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, Roman Rabinovich has garnered accolades and the attention of the international piano community. Tickets are $45.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Thu., March 29, 7:30 p.m.
Narek Arutyunian, Clarinet
Clarinetist Narek Arutyunian is an artist who “reaches passionate depths with seemingly effortless technical prowess and beguiling sensitivity” (The Washington Post) who has performed with the Copland Clarinet Concerto, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall as well as Artie Shaw’s Concerto for Clarinet with The Boston Pops. Tickets are $90, including buffet and wine; for information, visit www.embassyseries.org.
Embassy of Armenia
Sat., March 31, 8 p.m.
The English Beat
Scoring five top 10 U.K. hits while crisscrossing the line between soul, ska, reggae, pop and punk, these rockers have kept people all over the world dancing since 1979. Tickets are $30 to $35.
Wolf Trap
THEATER
March 3 to 17
Washington National Opera: Verdi’s Don Carlo
Family ties fray and unravel in Verdi’s spectacle of forbidden passion, political intrigue, and shattering betrayal set at the height of the Spanish Empire. More than 20 years have passed since WNO last staged this grand masterpiece in four acts, and now a solid-gold cast heralds its return in this stunning new production. Tickets are $45 to $300.
Kennedy Center Opera House
Through March 4
Hamlet
In the wake of his father’s abrupt death, Hamlet returns home from university to find his personal and political world changed as he never imagined it could—his mother remarried, his uncle on the throne and a world seemingly gone insane. When his father’s ghost appears and demands vengeance, the increasingly desperate Danish prince must decide: submit or resist. Accept or avenge. Live or die. Please call for ticket information.
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Through March 4
The Wolves
Winter indoor soccer. Saturdays. Over quad stretches and squats, a team of young women prepares to defend the Wolves’ undefeated record, their banter spilling from tampons to genocide to the pressures of preparing for their adult lives. With an ear for the bravado and empathy of the teenage years, “The Wolves” explores the violence and teamwork of sports and adolescence, following a pack of 16-year-old girls who turn into warriors on the field. Tickets are $20 to $85.
The Studio Theatre
Mon., March 5, 7:30 p.m.
The Moors
An eerie manor in a bleak, windswept landscape; shadowy corners and surreptitious staircases; secrets, mysteries, and melodramatic revelations. This is the gothic novel, the world of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights — but in Jen Silverman’s new adaptation, that world is populated by millennials. Admission is free
Shakespeare Theatre Lansburgh Theatre
March 9 to May 12
The Wiz
In this adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s magical novel, Dorothy is whisked away by a tornado to the fanciful land of Oz. There, she and her sidekicks encounter Munchkins, flying monkeys and a power-hungry witch named Evillene who vows to destroy them. Ease on down the road and rediscover this imaginative story celebrating community, courage, heart, brains and friendship. Please call for ticket information.
Ford’s Theatre
March 10 To April 7
Chicago
“Chicago” is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who maliciously murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media, and her rival cellmate Velma Kelly by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today’s tabloids. Tickets are $45 to $55.
Andrew Keegan Theatre
Through March 11
Familiar
It’s winter in Minnesota, and an immigrant Zimbabwean family is preparing for the wedding of their eldest daughter. But when the bride insists on observing roora, a traditional bride-price ceremony, it opens a deep rift in the household. Rowdy and affectionate, “Familiar” pitches tradition against assimilation among the members of one devoted family. Which will prove stronger: the customs they keep or the secrets they’ve kept buried? Tickets start at $49.
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Through March 11
The Great Society
Robert Schenkkan’s Tony Award-winning play “All the Way” set the stage for President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s sudden ascent to the White House. In its D.C. premiere, “The Great Society” brings the second half of Schenkkan’s epic story to its harrowing conclusion. As America is divided by civil rights protests and the anguish of the Vietnam War, LBJ struggles to maintain his relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., keep his political opponents in check and complete a raft of impossibly ambitious social policy projects. Tickets are $50 to $99.
Arena Stage
Mon., March 12, 6:30 p.m.
Sorin: A Notre Dame Story
This new, one-person play about the dawn of the University of Notre Dame is told by the intrepid Holy Cross priest who founded it, Rev. Edward Sorin. Directed by Patrick Vassel —associate director of Broadway’s smash hit, “Hamilton” — and written by celebrated playwright Christina Telesca Gorman, “Sorin” stars Matthew Goodrich as Father Sorin in a transformational performance that carries the audience through a sweeping journey of faith, character and resolve. Admission is free.
GW Lisner Auditorium
March 13 to April 22
The Winter’s Tale
Transporting audiences from Sicilia to Bohemia and safely home once more, Shakespeare’s spellbinding tale of jealousy, prophecy and redemption celebrates the magic of storytelling and the power of forgiveness. Directed by six-time Helen Hayes Award-winner Aaron Posner. Tickets are $35 to $79.
Folger Theatre
Through March 18
Becoming Dr. Ruth
Two formidable talents of the D.C. theater scene, Naomi Jacobson and Holly Twyford, join forces to bring to life the story of renowned sex therapist and media personality Dr. Ruth Westheimer. This biographical drama, starring Jacobson and directed by Twyford, tells the inspirational and unlikely story of how Karola Siegel, born in Germany in 1928, grew up to become America’s favorite sex therapist. Tickets are $39 to $69.
Edlavitch DCJCC
March 21 to April 22
Translations
Treasured Irish playwright Brian Friel captures the frustrations and foibles of communication in his poignant masterwork, “Translations.” Set during a time of great change as the British National Ordnance Survey comes to small-town Ireland to map the island and standardize its names into English, Friel builds a funny, complex and ultimately tragic exploration of culture, identity and language. Tickets are $20 to $69.
The Studio Theatre
March 30 to April 29
Two Trains Running
Confronted with a rapidly changing world in the wake of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the looming demolition of Memphis Lee’s diner as a result of Pittsburgh’s renovation project, Memphis and his regular customers struggle to maintain their solidarity and sense of pride in August Wilson’s quintessential epic drama. Tickets are $50 to $99.
Arena Stage
Through April 8
Hold These Truths
Jeanne Sakata’s one-man drama tells the true story of Gordon Hirabayashi, the American son of Japanese immigrants who defied an unjust court order when America placed its own citizens in internment camps during World War II. Midway through Arena Stage’s 2017/18 season, “Hold These Truths” brings an untold story to the stage that represents the diversity of our country and examines what it means to be an American. Tickets are $40 to $90.
Arena Stage