EVENT CATEGORIES
Art | Discussions | Galas | Open Houses |
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ART
Through Nov. 4
Left Behind (Zurückgelassen)
Photographer Friederike Brandenburg visualizes the paradoxical relationship between beauty and decay as he ventures into isolated places of nature otherwise presumed to be untouched by man, where he finds objects — some aesthetic, some absurd — discarded by human civilization.
The Goethe-Institut
Through Nov. 5
Building Bridges, Not Fences
From traditional to digital media, the technical, conceptual and cultural journey of photography is explored through the work of photographers Shay Aloni and Ammar Younis, who depict daily life in Israel and the relationships between Arabs and Jews, as well as several Cuban artists who portray what life is really like on the communist island.
Music Center at Strathmore
Through Nov. 6
Perspectives: Hale Tiger
Multimedia artist Hale Tenger, born in Izmir, Turkey, creates videos and installations that examine the tangible and intangible traces of events, filming the façade of the St. George Hotel in Beirut — the site of the assassination of Rafik Hariri, former prime minister of Lebanon — while it was being renovated from 2005 to 2007.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Nov. 6 to April 8
Antico: The Golden Age of Renaissance Bronzes
This exhibition is the first in the United States devoted to the Mantuan sculptor and goldsmith Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi (c. 1455–1528), known as Antico for his expertise in classical antiquity.
National Gallery of Art
Nov. 7 to Dec. 30
The Solemnity of Shadows: Juan Laurent’s Vision of Spain
Nearly two dozen rare albumen photographs and two albums, with a particular focus on Spanish art and architecture, illustrate the skills of Juan Laurent (1816–86), a preeminent figure in the history of Spanish photography.
National Gallery of Art
Nov. 7 to Feb. 3
New Visions: A Selection of the Latest Acquisitions from the IDB Art Collection, 2008–2011
The Inter-American Development Bank’s art collection comprises 1,722 artworks that include paintings, sculpture, photography, works on paper, ceramics and handcrafted objects. These works showcase the region’s creativity and highlight the achievements of its distinguished artists.
Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center
Nov. 9 to Feb. 4
Conversación: Photo Works by Muriel Hasbun and Pablo Ortiz Monasterio
In conjunction with FotoWeek DC, this exhibition represents a yearlong collaboration between two artists, one from Mexico and one in D.C., whereby a single photograph was sent by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio as a digital file to Muriel Hasbun, who replied by sending back one of her own. This exchange went on for months, the results of which reveal how photography can probe the possibilities of cultural and visual exchange in a digital age.
Mexican Cultural Institute
Nov. 10 to Feb. 3
On the Lakeshore… and Other Stories
Photographer Iris Janke’s work treads a fine line between reflection and intuition, between control and chance, as she records her daily experiences in a visual diary from which she selects the images that have the strongest narrative power.
Goethe-Institut
Through Nov. 11
Waterline
Taking her inspiration from the traditions of the Waanyi culture, Judy Watson, one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, mixes her poetically abstract stained canvases with Aboriginal history, elements of her family’s past, government documents and everyday objects to provide a glimpse of how Aboriginal people lived and were perceived in the first half of the 20th century.
Embassy of Australia
Through Nov. 13
The Loveliest Girl in the World
Miina Savolainen of Finland presents her award-winning photography project featuring 10 girls from a children’s home that tells a story about becoming visible and accepting oneself.
Embassy of Finland
Through Nov. 16
Traditional and New
George Mason University’s School of Art collaborated with the Sichuan Normal University in China on an exchange of student and faculty works from each university that have been selected to be exhibited at both universities.
George Mason University Fine Art Gallery
Through Nov. 27
The Gothic Spirit of John Taylor Arms
John Taylor Arms (1887–1953), an American printmaker, believed in the uplifting quality of Gothic art and the power of close observation, skillfully transcribed. This exhibition presents selected examples from the artist’s entire career, from his early New York works to his finest images of European cathedrals.
National Gallery of Art
Through Nov. 27
Italian Master Drawings from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection: 1525-1835
The splendors of Italian draftsmanship from the late Renaissance to the height of the neoclassical movement are showcased in an exhibition of 65 superb drawings assembled by the European private collector Wolfgang Ratjen (1943–97).
National Gallery of Art
Through Dec. 14
Elusive Pioneer of American Documentary Photography
This exhibition examines the work Louise Rosskam, an elusive pioneer of American documentary photography in the 1930 and ’40s, including her compelling photographs of Southwest D.C. neighborhoods before their destruction for urban renewal as well as her images of Puerto Rico as it developed from an impoverished U.S. possession to an industrialized commonwealth.
American University Katzen Arts Center
Through Dec. 14
Inner Piece: Works from the Heather and Tony Podesta Collection
This selection of works comes from the private collection of Tony and Heather Podesta, widely known for their respective lobbying firms but are equally well known for being among the country’s most prominent contemporary art collectors.
American University Katzen Arts Center
Through Dec. 14
Wayne Barrar: An Expanding Subterra
New Zealand photographer Wayne Barrar traveled through America, New Zealand, Australia and France seeking the subterranean places in which people live, work, and play — depicting hidden the underground worksites of mines and universities to the surreal domestic world of the subterranean homes in an opal mining town in South Australia.
American University Katzen Arts Center
Through Dec. 30
Urban_Landscapes
Art from Europe and the United States imagines urban areas with great potential for diversification and transformation, playing with known architecture and structures and how the ideas behind them are often obscured by the viewer’s angle.
Embassy of Austria
Through Jan. 1
Wedding Belles
Four gowns belonging to heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and those of her mother and daughters, along with bridesmaid dresses, a royal veil, and a stunning Cartier bag carried by Post’s daughter tell the story of 20th-century wedding style through the lens of one of America’s most notable and fashionable families.
Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens
Through Jan. 2
Warhol: Headlines
Andy Warhol had a lifelong obsession with the sensational side of contemporary news media, and his source materials for his artwork — headlines from the tabloid news — will be presented for comparison, revealing Warhol’s role as both editor and author.
National Gallery of Art
Through Jan. 7
A Song for the Horse Nation
The story of the relationship of Native Americans and horses is one of the great sagas of human contact with the animal world, as evidenced by this array of 122 historic objects, artwork, photographs, songs and personal accounts that tells the story of how the return of horses to the Americas by Christopher Columbus changed everything for Indians.
National Museum of the American Indian
Through Jan. 8
Degas’s Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint
Bringing together about 30 works from some of the world’s finest collections, this exhibition traces ballet in Edgar Degas’s art from the 1870s to 1900, while also celebrating “Dancers at the Barre” as a crowning achievement in the artist’s four-decade career — prompted by discoveries from a recent conservation treatment of the masterpiece, which took 16 years to create.
The Phillips Collection
Through Jan. 8
The Invention of Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries
The Pastrana Tapestries—among the finest surviving Gothic tapestries—will be on view together for the first time in the U.S. and will showcase the recently restored set of four monumental tapestries that commemorate the conquest of two strategically located cities in Morocco by the king of Portugal, Afonso V (1432–1481).
National Gallery of Art
Through Jan. 15
Andy Warhol: Shadows
Created in the last decade of Andy Warhol’s life, “Shadows” comprises 102 silkscreened and hand-painted canvases featuring distorted photographs of shadows generated in the artist’s studio — forms that at once suggest and mock the bravura brushwork of the abstract expressionists.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Through Jan. 15
CHINA Town: Contemporary Ceramic Painting from Jingdezhen
This unprecedented exhibition of porcelain art — the sixth in a series of exhibits organized over the last decade by the Meridian Center’s Art for Cultural Diplomacy program with Chinese partners — highlights objects from Jingdezhen, a city of 1.6 million people that has produced the finest Chinese porcelain for more than 1,000 years, especially the world-renowned blue and white decorative motifs.
Meridian International Center
Through Jan. 15
Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible
Marking its 400th anniversary this year, the 1611 King James Bible still echoes in books, movies, songs, speeches and sermons today. But who translated it? The Folger Shakespeare Library and University of Oxford draw on their deep resources to uncover the little-known story of one of the most widely read books in the history of the English language.
Folger Shakespeare Library
Through Jan. 15
Visions of the Orient: Western Women Artists in Asia 1900–1940
“Visions of the Orient” features 125 prints and paintings by four female Western artists exploring Asian cultures between 1900 and 1940, all of whom trained as painters but, while living in Japan, also designed woodblock prints.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Through Jan. 22
Contemporary Art from Chile
In this dual exhibition, “Traveling Light” features five contemporary Chilean artists who’ve installed site-specific work at the museum, while “Common Place” highlights the evolving subordinate relationship between Latin American housekeepers and their housewife employers.
OAS Art Museum of the Americas
Through Jan. 29
Power/Play: China’s Empress Dowager
Following China’s disastrous Boxer Rebellion, the Grand Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) used photographic portraiture to rehabilitate her public image, allowing a young aristocratic photographer to take elaborately staged shots of her and her court. As the only photographic series taken of the supreme leader of China for more than 45 years, these images represents a unique convergence of Qing court pictorial traditions, modern photography and Western standards of artistic portraiture.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Through Feb. 12
30 Americans
Provocative and confrontational, this exhibition showcases works by many of the most important African American artists of the last three decades, focusing on issues of racial, sexual and historical identity and exploring the powerful influence of artistic legacy across generations.
Corcoran Gallery of Art
Through Feb. 12
Weaving Abstraction: Kuba Textiles and the Woven Art of Central Africa
Ingeniously woven from palm fiber, Central African textiles distinguished the wealthy and powerful. Woven art from the Kuba kingdom in particular makes playful use of a language of over 200 patterns. “Weaving Abstraction is the most comprehensive exploration of this art form to date in the U.S., with 150 objects ranging from small, exquisite baskets to monumental skirts.
The Textile Museum
Through March 4
Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley
This international exhibit features more than 148 objects used in a range of ritual contexts, with genres as varied and complex as the vast region of Central Nigeria, that demonstrate how the history of the area can be “unmasked” through the dynamic interrelationships of its peoples and their arts.
National Museum of African Art
CELEBRATIONS
Sat., Dec. 3, 7 to 10:30 p.m.
CentroNía’s 25th Birthday Bash
CentroNía celebrates 25 years of progress with a special tribute to its founder, Beatriz “BB” Otero, whose vision drives CentroNía in educating and guiding more than 2,500 children and families across the D.C. area, with this lavish evening featuring dinner, live music, and a live and silent auction of fine handicrafts by local artists. For information, contact Francis Keller at (202) 332-4200 ext. 1091 or email fkeller@centronia.org.
American University Katzen Arts Center
Sat., Dec. 3, 4 to 8 p.m.
Holidays through History!
Visit the cherished past at Tudor Place, Anderson House, Dumbarton House and the Woodrow Wilson House as all four D.C. landmarks jointly throw open their doors for a holiday open house where guests can stroll the historic rooms, delight in period decorations and music that reflects holiday traditions from the Federal period through the Roaring Twenties, and sample seasonal treats and crafts projects. Tickets for adults are $10 and $5 for children.
Various locations
Sat., Dec. 3, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Swedish Christmas Bazaar
Experience a typical Swedish “julmarknad” with vendors, food, music and the traditional Santa Lucia procession. Highlights include a market to purchase holiday gifts, a children’s activity room with Swedish crafts, Swedish Café with home-baked goods and traditional delicacies, as well as holiday carols and songs performed by children from the Swedish school.
House of Sweden
Through Dec. 4
Seventh Annual Flamenco Festival at GALA
“Fuego Flamenco VII” is an exploration of the diversity and depth of flamenco and its contemporary expressions; this year’s attractions include a U.S. premiere with the sultry Ana González appearing with José Barrios and Company from Madrid, as well as a world premiere by the Flamenco Aparicio Dance Company from D.C. that features only male flamenco dancers from Spain and the U.S. For information, visit www.galatheatre.org.
GALA Hispanic Theatre
DANCE
Nov. 2 to 6
The Great Gatsby
The jazz-age splendor immortalized in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story about obsession, wealth and excess in the roaring 20s is brought to life through brilliant choreography by the Washington Ballet’s Septime Webre and Billy Novick’s live jazz ensemble. Tickets are $20 to $125.
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater
Sun., Nov. 6, 6:30 p.m.
Ananiashvili-Ratmansky Ballet Gala
Nina Ananiashvili, who began her career with the Bolshoi Theatre in 1981 and has since become one of its most acclaimed ballet soloists, returns to America to perform works by the new choreographic sensation, Alexei Ratmansky, with 13 additional dancers and musicians from the Bolshoi Orchestra. Tickets are $35 to $150.
GW Lisner Auditorium
Nov. 16, 18 and 19
National Acrobats of the People’s Republic of China
Drawing on centuries of tradition, the National Acrobats of the People’s Republic of China, a national cultural treasure, is acclaimed for deftly demonstrating gasp-inducing flexibility, agility and talent while performing daring physical feats to the accompaniment of traditional Chinese music. Tickets are $32, $40 or $48.
George Mason University Hylton Performing Arts Center (Nov. 16)
George Mason University Center for the Arts (Nov. 18, 19)
DISCUSSIONS
Tue., Nov. 1, 6:45 p.m.
Explore Chile: From the Atacama Desert to Easter Island
Chilean travel expert Kristina Schreck leads a virtual exploration of Chile, one of the most geographically intriguing countries on the planet, with the driest desert in the world, a lush wine-producing valley, thousands of miles of coastline, the jagged peaks of the Andes, the glaciers of Patagonia, and mysterious Easter Island not far offshore. Tickets are $40; for information, call (202) 633-3030 or visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Wed., Nov. 2, 6 p.m.
Prevention on Prescription Drug Misuse Among Youth
The alarming trend of prescription drug misuse is discussed by leading prevention scientists who explain how parents, counselors and policymakers can make a difference in stopping this form of drug abuse. Reservations can be made by emailing michaela@mentorfoundation.org.
House of Sweden
Thu., Nov. 3, 6:30 p.m.,
Sun., Nov. 13, 2 p.m.,
Sun., Nov. 20, 2 p.m.,
Tue., Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Puerto Rico ‘Re-viewing Documentary’ Programs
In conjunction with the exhibit “Re-viewing Documentary: The Photographic Life of Louise Rosskam,” Félix Matos Rodriguez of the City University of New York gives a lecture on Puerto Rico’s social history in the 1940s on Nov. 3. On Nov. 13 and 20, a two-part screening of films from Puerto Rico’s Division of Community Education documents the social and economic issues that were part of the effort to integrate the rural population into the island’s industrialization and urbanization movement of the 1950s. And on Nov. 29, Laura Katzman, author of the book behind the “Re-Viewing Documentary” exhibition, discusses the work of Louise Rosskam (1910-2003), an elusive pioneer of the “golden age” of American documentary photography (tickets are $10).
American University Katzen Arts Center
Washington DCJCC (Nov. 29)
Sat., Nov. 5, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Non-Western Traditions in Art
Janetta Rebold Benton, professor of art history at Pace College, spotlights on selected works created by cultures from as far away as Cambodia and Niger and as close as the American Southwest. Tickets are $120; for information, call (202) 633-3030 or visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Wed., Nov. 9, 6 p.m.
Italy’s 150 Years of Unification
Modern Italian history professor John Davis puts the Italian unification into historic context, providing insight into the struggles and challenges that surrounded it. Renato Miracco, cultural attaché, hosts a light reception at the conclusion of the program. Tickets are $35; for information, call (202) 633-3030 or visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
Embassy of Italy
Mon., Nov. 14, 6:45 p.m.
Tell Jemmeh: Ancient Cultures on the Negev
Israeli archeologist David Ben-Shlomo describes the findings that archaeological site Tell Jemmeh continues to yield as part of an ongoing Natural History Museum dig. Tickets are $40; for information, call (202) 633-3030 or visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Wed., Nov. 16, 9 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.
Monetary Reform in the Wake of Crisis
The Cato Institute’s 29th annual monetary conference addresses the fundamental issue of how to prevent another global financial crisis — not by tinkering with the present government discretionary fiat money regime but by fundamental reform — with speakers such as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and World Bank President Robert Zoellick. To register, visit www.cato.org/monetary/.
National Association of Home Builders
Thu., Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m.
Copland’s Mexico and Chavez’s New York: Notes on a Creative Friendship
In the late 1920s American composer Aaron Copland and his Mexican counterpart Carlos Chávez met for the first time, striking a friendship that would last a lifetime. This talk by Leonora Saavedra will center upon the first 15 years of their friendship, a time of high aspirations and fruitful exchange of music and ideas. Admission is free but reservations are recommended and can be made at RSVP@instituteofmexicodc.org.
Mexican Cultural Institute
Thu., Nov. 17, 6:45 p.m.
The Return of the Mummies!
After a long exile in a remote basement of the Natural History Museum, ancient Egyptian mummies have been dusted off, cleaned up, and are ready to meet the public. Tickets are $30; for information, call (202) 633-3030 or visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
Location on ticket
Sat., Nov. 19, 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
The Silk Road: Conveying Luxury Goods and Ideas to the World
Lawrence Butler explores the colorful caravans that for 3,000 years traveled along the “Silk Road,” a network of long-distance trade routes connecting the ancient and medieval cultures of Eurasia, transporting luxury goods and spreading ideas such as Buddhism and Islam far from their homelands. Tickets are $110; for information, call (202) 633-3030 or visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Wed., Nov. 30, 6:45 p.m.
Keeping Endangered Languages Alive
Natural History Museum researchers Gabriela Perez Baez, Joshua Bell and Gwyneira Isaac discuss how knowledge is created, spread and lost as part of the Smithsonian Initiative on Recovering Voices, reaching communities in places as far-flung as Mexico and New Guinea. Tickets are $40; for information, call (202) 633-3030 or visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
FESTIVALS
Through Nov. 2
Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival
This annual celebration presents the year’s best in Jewish writing by both emerging and established authors from across the world, with author panels, readings, and talks for fans of fiction, history, politics, humor, children’s stories and more. For information, visit www.washingtondcjcc.org/litfest.
Washington DCJCC
Through Nov. 10
Kids Euro Festival
The Kids Euro Festival, the largest performing arts festival of its kind in the United States, once again brings together the European Union embassy community to transform the Washington area into an EU adventure for children and their families, with more than 200 free events around town, from the Kennedy Center and Natural History Museum to the embassies of Austria and Sweden. For information, visit www.kidseurofestival.org
Various locations
Nov. 17 to Dec. 4
Seventh Annual Flamenco Festival at GALA
“Fuego Flamenco VII” is an exploration of the diversity and depth of flamenco and its contemporary expressions; this year’s attractions include a U.S. premiere with the sultry Ana González appearing with José Barrios and Company from Madrid, as well as a world premiere by the Flamenco Aparicio Dance Company from D.C. that features only male flamenco dancers from Spain and the U.S. For information, visit www.galatheatre.org.
GALA Hispanic Theatre
GALAS
Wed., Nov. 2, 6:30 p.m.
American Islamic Congress 10th Anniversary Gala
The American Islamic Congress commemorates 10 years of work toward interfaith understanding, civil rights and peace, with a special performance by world-renowned oud player Rahim Alhaj and a silent auction of art from around the Muslim world. For ticket information, email gala@aicongress.org.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Sat., Nov. 5, 7 p.m.
12th Annual Champagne Gala
The 2011 Champagne Gala at the French Embassy features exquisite samplings from the finest Champagne houses in France, as well as food from some of D.C.’s favorite restaurants and a luxury silent auction. Tickets are $250.
La Maison Française
Mon., Nov. 7, 5 p.m.
2011 Democracy Award Dinner
The National Democratic Institute’s annual Democracy Award Dinner features a discussion on the Arab Spring with leaders from North Africa and the Middle East, as well as posthumous honors for Charles Mannatt, Geraldine Ferraro and Richard Holbrooke, with keynote address by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Tickets are $350; for information, visit www.ndi.org/2011dinner.
Andrew Mellon Auditorium
MUSIC
Tue., Nov. 1, 7 p.m.
Ran Dank, Piano
Israeli pianist Ran Dank deploys his skilled technique with interpretive powers that have captivated audiences and garnered critical acclaim. Tickets are $50, including reception. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org.
Venue TBA
Tue., Nov. 1, 7 p.m.
Hungarian Pianist Gergely Bogányi
The Hungarian American Coalition and the Embassy of Hungary present Kossuth Prize-winning Hungarian pianist Gergely Bogányi performing works by Ferenc Liszt and Frederic Chopin. To make reservations, call (202) 362-6730/201 or email: rsvp.was@mfa.gov.hu.
Embassy of Hungary
Wed., Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m.
European Jazz Motion
The European Union National Institutes of Culture and the Austrian Cultural Forum present European Jazz Motion, a collaboration of six talented young musicians from all over the continent performing the newest in European jazz to D.C. audiences. Admission is free but reservations are required and can be made at www.acfdc.org/events-registration or (202) 895–6776.
Embassy of Austria
Thu., Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m.
The Last Romantics: Jewish Composers of Interwar Europe
Pro Musica Hebraica presents an extraordinary ensemble of European musicians to explore the lost generation of European Jewish composers who sought to forge a Jewish romantic style of classical music in the 1920s and 1930s. Tickets are $38.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Nov. 3 to 5
The Ives Project
PostClassical Ensemble presents this three-day celebration of one of America’s defining musical geniuses, Charles Ives — including his passionate courtship, his fierce transcendentalism and his cranky politics — in this one-of-a-kind theatrical project featuring a musical repertoire for voice, piano, and chamber orchestra, along with letters and essays. Tickets are $15 to $45; some discussions are free.
Music Center at Strathmore
Sat., Nov. 5, 2 p.m.
Washington Performing Arts Society: Marouan Benabdallah
Marouan Benabdallah, son of a Hungarian musician mother and Moroccan physicist father, embodies the new emerging generation of Hungarian pianists and the cultural diversity and opening of Morocco. Tickets are $38.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Sun., Nov. 6, 3 p.m.
Anna Shelest, Pianist
Acclaimed by critics for playing with “style, passion and poetry,” pianist Anna Shelest has received numerous international competition awards and performed worldwide as a soloist and chamber musician, with recent engagements at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. This program, hosted by the Washington Group Cultural Fund in cooperation with the Ukrainian Embassy, includes works by Liszt, Wagner, Schumann and Mussorgsky. Suggested donation is $20; for information, call (703) 955-2555.
The Lyceum
Wed., Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m.,
Thu., Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m.
Ádám György, Piano
From prodigy to Liszt ambassador to philanthropist, Steinway artist Ádám György continues to enchant audiences worldwide, bringing his skills to the Embassy Series to honor the 200th anniversary of the birth of composer Ferenc (Franz) Liszt. Tickets are $80, including buffet reception. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org.
Embassy of Hungary
Sat., Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m.
Taiwanese American Charity & Education Association: 2011 Annual Concert
The Taiwanese American Charity & Education Association presents pianists Sheng Yuan Kuan and Chih-Long Hu, countertenor Peter Lee, flutist Pao Chieh Tseng, percussionist Candy Chiu, and violinists Keng-Yuen Tseng and Yu-Chia Hsiao in a program of selections from Brahms, Gounod, Tosti, Donizetti, Piazzolla, Ravel, Sousa, and Moszkowski. Tickets are $30 to $45.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Sun., Nov. 13, 5 p.m.
Takács Quartet
As the resident chamber orchestra at the University of Colorado in Boulder, the Takács Quartet premieres at the Embassy of Hungary with Dvorák’s “American” String Quartet No. 12 on the 170th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Reservations must be made by Nov. 7 by calling (202) 362-6730 ext. 201 or emailing rsvp.was@mfa.gov.hu
Embassy of Hungary
Wed., Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m.
Gerdan-Kaleidoscope of World Music
The musicians of the Gerdan ensemble share their personal experiences of their Eastern European multicultural music from generation to generation. Tickets are $80, including Ukrainian buffet reception. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org.
Embassy of Ukraine
OPEN HOUSES
Wed., Nov. 2, 1 p.m.,
Fri., Nov. 18, 9 a.m.
The German School in Washington Open Houses
The German School opens its doors for rising 5th and 6th grades to its Upper School to learn more about the core curriculum requirements that make a German education such an important asset in today’s global marketplace. Students excel in math and sciences, graduating with a U.S. high school diploma and a German Abitur, often completing college-level requirements in science and math. On Nov. 18, those interested in pre-school and kindergarten/entry level can participate in private tours and information sessions. Appointments are not required. For information, call (301) 365-4400 or visit www.dswashington.org.
The German School Washington, D.C
THEATER
Nov. 2 to Dec. 11
The Golden Dragon
Five actors cross age, race and gender to play 15 characters in this vicious yet poetic investigation of how intertwined our globalized lives really are, by one of Germany’s most innovative and adventurous writers. Tickets are $35 to $69.
The Studio Theatre
Through Nov. 6
Othello
Synetic Theater’s “Speak No More” – The Silent Shakespeare Festival continues with “Othello,” exploring the Bard’s tale of love, jealousy, race and perception through onstage projections, a shifting geometric set, and the swirling choreography and physical expression of Synetic’s performers. Tickets are $45 to $55.
Synetic Theater at Crystal City
Nov. 10 to 19
The Washington National Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor
In this psychologically gripping opera, Lucia is the sacrificial lamb in her brother’s scheme to regain the family fortune. Forced to abandon the man she loves and marry for money, she succumbs to madness in one of opera’s most tragic and musically dramatic scenes. Tickets are $55 to $300.
Kennedy Center Opera House
Nov. 10 to Jan. 7
Jersey Boys
This Tony and Grammy Award-winning production is the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and how a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. Tickets start at $66.50.
National Theatre
Nov. 18 to Dec. 31
A Christmas Carol
Join the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future as they lead the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge — played by renowned Washington stage actor Edward Gero — on a journey of transformation and redemption in this music-infused production that captures the magic and joy of Dickens’s Yuletide classic.
Ford’s Theatre
Nov. 18 to Jan. 1
Equivocation
In 1605 London, the worlds of King James and the Gunpowder Plot collide with William Shakespeare and his renowned theatrical troupe as the Bard, commissioned to create a calculated piece of propaganda, must find a way to please the king while avoiding the gallows in this cat-and-mouse game of politics and art. Please call for ticket details.
Arena Stage
Nov. 25 to Dec. 23
Romeo and Juliet
Synetic Theater’s “Speak No More” – The Silent Shakespeare Festival concludes with the Bard’s tragic story of love, passion and timelessness, all made stunningly physical through the lyrical choreography and movement of Synetic’s performers. Tickets are $45 to $55.
Synetic Theater at Crystal City
Nov. 25 to Jan. 1
Much Ado About Nothing
Everyone can see that Benedick and Beatrice are meant for each other except Benedick and Beatrice in one of the Bard’s most romantic comedies ever written. Please call for ticket information.
The Shakespeare Theatre
Nov. 25 to Jan. 1
Nero
As Rome collapses beneath Nero’s outrageous narcissism, a forgotten playwright tries to restore order by trying to convince the world’s most famous debaucher to choose virtue over vice. Please call for ticket details.
Arena Stage
Through Nov. 27
Greek
Set in modern-day London, this twisted yet acclaimed adaptation of Sophocles’s “Oedipus Rex” by Scena Theatre combines Shakespearean grandeur and Cockney rhyming slang to riotous effect. Tickets are $27 to $40.
H Street Playhouse
Nov. 29 to Dec. 4
Krapp’s Last Tape
Alone on his 69th birthday, a man prepares for his own “party” of sorts, surrounded by volume after volume of a life on tape, but what he hears from his 39-year-old self may irrevocably change his future in Samuel Beckett’s haunting play starring John Hurt. Please call for ticket information.
The Shakespeare Theatre