Release Date: October 11, 2006

National Gallery of Art's 2006-2007 Concert Season Marks the 65th Year of Free Performances; Pre-Concert British Tea Offered in Garden Cafe

National Gallery of Art' s 2006—2007 Concert Season Marks the 65th Year of Free Performances

Washington, DC— Fifty-two concerts by acclaimed American and international musicians make up the 65th season of free concerts at the National Gallery of Art. The 2006–2007 concert program, presented under the direction of Stephen Ackert, head of the music department, includes 15 performances in celebration of exhibitions. The free concerts are held every Sunday through July 8, 2007, except December 24 (Christmas Eve), December 31 (New Year’s Eve), and May 27 (Memorial Day weekend).

In addition to the Sunday performances, the Gallery will present matinee concerts each Wednesday in May and June 2007, at 12:10 p.m., in the East Building Auditorium or the West Building Lecture Hall. The afternoon performances are a wonderful complement to the long-running Sunday evening concerts held in the West Garden Court in the West Building. Entrance to Sunday concerts in the West Building is at Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW; entrance to concerts in the East Building is at Fourth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. There is no entry or re-entry to concerts after 6:30 p.m. at either location.

PRE-CONCERT BRITISH TEA

On Sundays through July 8, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., the Garden Café in the West Building offers a special “afternoon tea” concert menu reminiscent of a traditional English afternoon tea party. The menu offers a fine selection of loose-leaf teas and a delicious variety of finger foods including tea sandwiches, scones with Devonshire cream and preserves, assorted pastries, and a selection of artisanal cheeses with accompaniments.

Monthly listings and locations of concerts as well as the Garden Café menu are available on the Gallery’s Web site at www.nga.gov or by calling (202) 842-6941 for concert information or (202) 712-7458 for the café .

FALL/WINTER SEASON

Soprano Alessandra Marc performs at 6:30 p.m. on October 15. Pianist Ann Schein joins guest conductor Robert Trory and the National Gallery Orchestra on October 22 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of her first concert at the National Gallery. The legendary female vocal quartet Anonymous 4 returns to the National Gallery on December 10 to sing a special program from the American a cappella tradition. In cooperation with the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the Norwegian Christmas Festival, the Nordic Choir will sing the Gallery’s annual holiday concert on December 17. The National Gallery Orchestra performs the traditional Viennese New Year concert on January 7, 2007, under the baton of guest conductor Hobart Earle.

The remaining Sunday concerts in January will be presented in connection with the Shakespeare in Washington Festival, and will feature Ellen Hargis and Paul O’Dette (January 14), the Baltimore Consort (January 21), and the Alexandria Symphony, under the direction of Kim Allen Kluge (January 28), whose performance will include Elvis Costello’s version of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.”

THE AMERICAN MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Gallery will present its 62nd American Music Festival in honor of the exhibition Jasper Johns: An Allegory of Painting, 1955–1965. Founded in 1944 by then Gallery music director Richard Bales, the festival is the oldest of its kind devoted to the music of American composers. With primary focus on the music of Jasper Johns’ colleague John Cage, the festival will feature guest performers Mark Kaplan and Yael Weiss (February 18), Alan Feinberg (February 25), and the Contemporary Music Forum (March 4).

SPRING SEASON

On March 11, the Gallery will collaborate with the National Museum of Women in the Arts in a pair of concerts designed to honor Women’s History Month. Gilmore Award winner Ingrid Fliter will play a piano recital at the Women’s Museum on March 7 and will appear as concerto soloist with the National Gallery Orchestra on March 11. The guest conductor on that occasion will be Dalia Atlas, and the program will include an overture by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. The Gallery also plans a collaboration with the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, MD, which will combine the National Gallery Chamber Players with the Walters Art Museum’s resident ensemble, the Poulenc Trio. The two groups will perform together at the National Gallery on April 8 and at the Walters Art Museum on April 20. Early music enthusiasts will want to save the date of Sunday, April 29, 2007, when the Academy of Ancient Music performs at the Gallery.

MIDDAY CONCERTS

Mid-day concerts will take place on Wednesdays in May and June, at 12:10 p.m., in the East Building Auditorium and the West Building Lecture Hall. Performances will include a series of recitals on the Steinway piano given to the Gallery in 1968 by Ailsa Mellon Bruce, daughter of Andrew Mellon, founder of the National Gallery of Art. These recitals and a jazz concert in the style of the Benny Goodman big-band era, on June 10, will mark the 100th anniversary of birth of the National Gallery of Art benefactor Paul Mellon, son of Andrew Mellon.

PIANISTS

Renowned pianists performing during the 2006–2007 concert season include Shaun Tirrell (December 3), Till Fellner (February 11), Thomas Hrynkiw (May 2), Tao Lin (May 9), Marta Felcman (May 16), Brian Ganz (May 23), Stephen Prutsman (May 30), Ney Salgado (June 6), and Elena Letnanova (June 24).

Soprano Alessandra Marc performs French opera arias in honor of Alexandre-Louis-Marie Charpentier on October 15. Soprano Amanda Pitt and pianist David Owen Norris present English music on texts by William Blake in honor of Constable’s Great Landscapes: The Six-Foot Paintings on November 5. On November 12, the Suspicious Cheese Lords perform early Renaissance choral music in honor of Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych.

Countertenor Peter de Groot, with harpsichordist Stephen Ackert and gambist Daniel Rippe, entertains concert-goers with 17th-century Dutch songs in honor of Strokes of Genius: Rembrandt’s Prints and Drawings, and the National Gallery Vocal Arts Ensemble performs English choral music in honor of The Artist’s Vision: Romantic Traditions in Britain on November 26. The 2006–2007 concert season also includes a series of six concerts between June 13 and July 1, honoring FOTO: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918–1945. Each concert will feature music and performers from one of the six countries represented in the exhibition.

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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