Release Date: April 28, 2006

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
PREMIERES MID-DAY CONCERT SERIES

The National Gallery of Art premieres a mid-day concert series in May 2006. A wonderful complement to the long-running Sunday evening concerts, the one-hour mid-day performances will begin at 12:10 p.m. each Wednesday in the West Building Lecture Hall during the month of May unless noted otherwise. Visitors can enjoy music from the Renaissance and baroque periods selected to enhance visitors’ enjoyment of such exhibitions as Master Drawings from the Woodner Collection and The Poetry of Light: Venetian Drawings from the National Gallery of Art; both are on view in the West Building April 30 through October 1, 2006. The schedule of performances is as follows:

May 3
Barbara Hollinshead, mezzo soprano
Howard Bass, lute
16th- and 17th-century music for voice and lute
Presented in honor of Master Drawings from the Woodner Collections
Wednesday at 12:10 p.m.
West Building Lecture Hall

May 10
Arco Voce
17th- and 18-century music for voice and instruments
Presented in honor of Master Drawings from the Woodner Collections
Wednesday at 12:10 p.m.
East Building Small Auditorium*
Music by Chopin, Debussy, and Schubert

May 17
Stephen Ackert, harpsichord
Music by Gabrieli, Scarlatti, and anonymous 16th-century Italian composers
Presented in honor of Master Drawings from the Woodner Collections and The Poetry of Light: Venetian Drawings from the National Gallery of Art.
Wednesday at 12:10 p.m.
West Building Lecture Hall

May 24
Piffaro
16th- and 17th-century music for wind instruments
Presented in honor of Master Drawings from the Woodner Collections
Wednesday at 12:10 p.m.
West Building Lecture Hall

May 31
Ars Lyrica
Music for voice and instruments by Dietrich Buxtehude, Giulio Caccini, Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville, and Monteverdi
Presented in honor of Master Drawings from the Woodner Collections
Wednesday at 12:10 p.m.
West Building Lecture Hall

All mid-day concerts are performed in the West Building Lecture Hall except the May 10th concert, which will be performed in the East Building Small Auditorium. Concerts are free to the public and begin promptly at 12:10 p.m. at both venues; doors open at 12 noon. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis. The West Building Lecture Hall is located at 6th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, and the East Building Small Auditorium is located at 4th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. For the full concert list, visit www.nga.gov or call (202) 842-6941.

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov. The Gallery is now on Facebook—become a fan at www.facebook.com/NationalGalleryofArt.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART PREMIERES MID-DAY CONCERT SERIES

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
PREMIERES MID-DAY CONCERT SERIES