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Appalachian Spring & Mahler’s First

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THE DONALD J. TRUMP AND JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

MAY 29 & 30 AT 8 P.M.

James Gaffigan, conductor

CHARLES IVES (1874–1954)

Three Places in New England, Orchestral Set No. 1 (1913–1929)

i. The “St. Gaudens” in Boston Common (Col. Shaw and his Colored Regiment)

ii. Putnam’s Camp, Redding, Connecticut

iii. The Housatonic at Stockbridge

AARON COPLAND (1900–1990)

GUSTAV MAHLER (1860–1911)

Appalachian Spring – Suite (1943–1944)

INTERMISSION

Symphony No. 1 in D major (1884–1888)

i. Langsam

ii. Kräftig bewegt

iii. Feierlich und gemessen

iv. Stürmisch bewegt

THANK YOU TO OUR SEASON SPONSORS

The NSO Music Director Chair is generously endowed by Roger Sant and Congresswoman Doris Matsui Noseda Era Fund Supporters The Amici di Gianandrea

Patrons are requested to turn off cell phones and other electronic devices during the performance. Any video and/or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.

From the Music Director

Cari amici,

It is with immense joy and anticipation that I welcome you to the National Symphony Orchestra’s 95th anniversary season. This moment is more than a milestone—it is a celebration of our deep musical legacy and a renewed commitment to bringing powerful, moving performances to our community and beyond. This is only the beginning. The 95th season is filled with musical discovery, celebrated artists, and unforgettable experiences.

This season features iconic works that have stood the test of time, from classic masterpieces to thrilling contemporary music. The NSO also has the opportunity to share the stage with an exceptional lineup of guest artists and conductors—beloved icons and rising stars alike. Performing new music is something the NSO truly believes in. Make history with us as we present innovative new works, including five world premieres.

I am deeply grateful to share this journey with you. Your presence in the Concert Hall is what brings our music fully to life. Thank you for being a part of the NSO family—for your passion, your applause, and your unwavering support.

Con tutto il cuore,

Gianandrea Noseda Music

Gianandrea Noseda

Director, National Symphony Orchestra

Music Director, National Symphony Orchestra

Che la musica vi porti gioia e ispirazione—may music bring you joy and inspiration.

Notes on the Program

Three Places in New England, Orchestral Set No. 1 CHARLES IVES

Born October 20, 1874, in Danbury, Connecticut.

Died May 19, 1954, in New York, New York.

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first divisions in the Union Army composed of Black men, marched to South Carolina in the summer of 1863 and launched an ill-fated attack on the coastal Confederate stronghold of Fort Wagner. Nearly half of the contingent died, along with their young leading officer, Robert Gould Shaw. The unit was recognized in 1897 with a hitherto unprecedented memorial in the Boston Common designed by the American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, in which Shaw sits on horseback among rows of marching soldiers.

Charles Ives was fascinated by the history and legacy of the Civil War, largely because of his father, George, who had headed what Ulysses S. Grant described as “the best band in the [Union] army.” Ives incorporated Civil War anthems and marches into many of his compositions—works that the historian Allen Carl Guelzo has described as “lavish demonstrations of a determination to use the American past to understand its present.” Around 1913, Ives started work on an elegiac tone poem inspired by Saint-Gaudens’s statue, in which a steady march leads to a brassy, tragic climax while funereally slow strains of American folk songs and spirituals float eerily in the background.

Ives wrote this music at a pivotal moment in the history of how the Civil War was remembered. A backlash against post-war reconstruction had resulted in Jim Crow laws that segregated and disenfranchised Black Americans. Between 1890 and 1920, towns across the former Confederacy erected a slew of memorials to Confederate soldiers outside courthouses and in town squares, embracing a nostalgic myth of the old South whitewashed of the violence of slavery and valorizing the Confederate army’s fight for a “lost cause.” It was timely for an American composer to write music that instead recognized the unequivocally righteous cause of emancipation and valorized Black men fighting for that cause—soldiers who, as Ives put it in an original poem he included in the score, were “marked with generations of pain, / Part-freers of a Destiny, / Slowly, restlessly swaying us on with you / Towards other Freedom!” Guelzo proposes that, through his music, Ives aims to galvanize present-day listeners, transporting them to a setting “in the full bloom of abolitionist energy, a world that, through his music, he could ensure would never be lost.”

Ives’ representation of “The ‘St. Gaudens’ in Boston Common (Col. Shaw and his Colored Regiment)” is the first entry in Three Places in New England, a collection of orchestral works that he assembled over the course of the 1910s and then revised for publication and performance in 1929. The final piece in the set, like the first, is slow and somber. A mess of complex, mixed rhythms in the strings aims to create an impression of the misty Housatonic River, which Ives and his wife, Harmony, saw on their honeymoon, while winds and brass present a far-off hymn.

Notes on the Program

The rowdy middle movement of Three Places in New England provides a sharp contrast with the other two. Ives depicts a Fourth of July church picnic at the site of General Israel Putnam’s Revolutionary War camp in Redding, Connecticut. In an accompanying narrative, Ives describes a child who hears conflicting layers of sounds, including a marching band and kids singing in a completely different key. The boy also has a vision of the “Goddess of Liberty” reminding a group of veterans “not to forget their ‘cause’ and the great sacrifices they have made for it.” Spirituals and civil war anthems like those found in the opening movement are layered and juxtaposed with patriotic band songs like “Yankee Doodle” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

These kinds of quotations and borrowings were at the core of Ives’ compositional style, and, though they can sometimes seem strange or even silly, he took their use very seriously. In a 1920 essay, he criticized composers who would write a symphony based on the plantation songs of Black Americans without caring about the ongoing cause of emancipation, proposing that commitment to principles associated with the context of a type of music was a precondition for using that music beautifully. Ives believed that if a composer was not “deeply interested in the [abolitionist] cause… his music is liable to be less American than he wishes.”

Appalachian Spring – Suite AARON COPLAND

Born November 14, 1900, in Brooklyn, New York. Died December 2, 1990, in North Tarrytown, New York.

Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring begins and ends with a serene clarinet solo. The tune itself opens, then brightens as it moves up a major triad, then closes as it moves back down a third, and opens out once again. In the score, the composer tells the clarinetist to play with “white tone,” an indication that the performer should strive to create a naked, almost hollow timbre. It is an unadorned, vulnerable voice finding its way through one of the most basic of musical patterns.

Copland composed the piece between 1943 and 1944 on a commission from the choreographer Martha Graham and arts patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. The narrative follows a pair of young pioneers on the day of their wedding, who are both excited and anxious. A preacher warns of the trials to come, while an older woman suggests that they will have the strength to navigate those difficulties. After the wedding, they sit alone together in their small home and give one another quiet confidence.

The composer produced about 35 minutes of music for a chamber ensemble of 13 instruments. In 1945, he cut 10 minutes to create a suite version of the piece for full orchestra. In the piece, vigorous, celebratory dance themes come in and out of the frame—often rhythmically misaligned in some way, which keeps the music from arriving at natural resting points. Sections come to a stop with sudden, rhetorical pauses, or they are interrupted by more yearning, ominous

tunes. The climax of the Suite is a set of variations on “‘Tis the gift to be simple, ‘tis the gift to be free” with a glorious trumpet solo and celebratory swirls in the strings. This mid-19th-century Shaker hymn advocates a hopeful, humble spirit that might strengthen a young couple looking to an uncertain future: “When we find ourselves in the place just right / ‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.”

“Simple Gifts” is one recognizable American theme in the piece, and it seems primed to evoke some patriotic feeling, but the prayerful passages at the beginning and end of Appalachian Spring are perhaps even more stirring. The clarinet solo cautiously invites other musicians to join in. As the others enter, they too wander their way up major and minor triads. Everybody gets off the gesture at slightly different points, and when the players hold their pitches, they produce a remarkable, humming, unobtrusively dissonant tonality. The final harmony of the piece is one such sonority, which lightly throbs with the sensation of being both open and closed. Even when the music has found a “place just right,” there are little threads of tendency and tension that remain to be resolved with care at some moment down the road.

Symphony No. 1 in D major GUSTAV MAHLER

Born July 7, 1860, in Kaliště, Bohemia, Austrian Empire Died May 18, 1911, in Vienna, Austria.

Gustav Mahler completed his first symphony in May of 1888. He immediately sent proud letters to his parents to announce that “it has turned out well” and to his friend Friedrich Lohr, explaining, “the emotions became so powerful in me that they gushed forth like an impetuous torrent… at a single blow, all the floodgates were opened within me!”

It was a great disappointment when the work’s premiere, which took place in Budapest in November 1889, was met with fervent criticism. This negative response was partly a marketing problem; Mahler called the piece a “Symphonic Poem” in five movements, but no explanatory program was provided to the audience. Some listeners were also uncomfortable with his extravagant, richlyorchestrated symphonic style—“monstrous tastelessness” as Viktor von Herzfeld wrote in an intermittently scathing review.

Mahler initially addressed the critics by furnishing an excess of various potential narrative associations for the work. At a few subsequent performances, he added the title “Titan,” alluding to a novel by early-19th-century German author Jean Paul, though Mahler was careful to clarify that its convoluted plot had little to do with the structure of the symphony itself. He also gave the individual movements more descriptive headings and subheadings, proposing that the first movement of the piece—in which a cheerful, folk-like theme cautiously peeps through the glassy surface of expansive, icy, harmonic-filled sections—represents the “awakening of nature from a long winter's sleep.”

Mahler suggested that the slow movement, in which a nursery rhyme is played as a haunting round in the minor key, was inspired by an etching of a fearsome

Notes on the Program

parade of forest animals carrying a dead hunter to his funeral. The Dante-esque subtitle for the demonic finale, “Dall' Inferno al Paradiso” (from The Inferno to Paradise), rounded out this set of intriguing but disjointed explanations. There is a certain truthful beauty to this chaotic overabundance of possible stories. Perhaps, one should leave it to third-party program annotators to try and create a semi-coherent narrative about a work. The composer himself should be allowed to have been inspired by a swirling, irrational mixture of sounds, images, characters, techniques, and feelings.

Yet, Mahler eventually shed all these titles. Following some of the more useful criticism he received, he also cut the anodyne second movement from his original version and trimmed the finale (but not too much—it remains a glorious, bombastic, baggy bundle of themes). The final, four-movement version, which he published in 1898, strikes a happy balance between fulfilling the formal expectations of a 19th-century symphony and exploring wild, grandiose ideas that only Mahler could dream up.

The theme of the opening movement is based on a selection from Mahler’s mid-1880s song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (“Songs of the Wayfarer”), in which the speaker wanders through a lovely spring meadow, enjoying the calls of the birds and the smell of the flowers. Mahler takes large chunks of the song, splashes them down on an orchestral canvas, and extends them using gradual accelerandos that come to various points of euphoric breathlessness. The second movement follows organically from the jolly, earthy character that emerges in the first. A heavy-footed, rustic scherzo is the main event, while the rolling waltz in the middle of the movement has the flexibility and the juicy slides of a sultry Viennese dance hall number.

The third movement, which opens with an infamous solo double-bass rendition of a minor-key version of the nursery rhyme “Frère Jacques,” includes a distinctively scored section for clarinets, oboe, trumpet, and percussion that sounds like keening, Jewish folk music. In the middle of the movement, another “Song of the Wayfarer” appears, here taking the form of a rolling, celestial lullaby—a childlike vision of heaven. At the start of the finale, the promised “Inferno” opens before us. Iterations of the infectious, violent, marching primary theme are leavened by other, contrasting ideas: a tender love song played by the violins and cellos; extensive quotations from previous movements; and eventually, a glorious chorus blasted out by a band of happy horns that appears once, peters out, and then returns in revelatory, triumphant fashion.

Meet the Artists

James Gaffigan, conductor

Recognized worldwide for his natural ease and extraordinary collaborative spirit, American conductor

James Gaffigan has attracted international attention for his prowess as a conductor of both symphony orchestras and opera.

Recently named the next Music Director of Houston Grand Opera, Gaffigan will assume his new role in the 2027–2028 season. Commencing as Music Director Designate in the 2026–2027 season, his initial term will last for five seasons, through 2031–2032. A rarity among American conductors for his rise to prominence in the esteemed houses and concert halls of Europe, Gaffigan is in demand at opera companies and symphony orchestras across the world. Gaffigan serves as the General Music Director of Komische Oper Berlin, where he leads his third season in 2025–2026. He also serves as Music Director of the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra.

In August 2025, Gaffigan marked his fourth and final season as Music Director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia. He is the former Chief Conductor of the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and former Principal Guest Conductor of both the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera.

Gaffigan has conducted for the Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra national de Paris, Zürich Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Dutch National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Santa Fe Opera, among many others.

He also prioritizes maintaining an equal balance as a symphonic conductor. He regularly leads the world’s greatest orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

In Europe, he has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Staatskapelle Dresden, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and Czech Philharmonic, and he maintains ongoing relationships with the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

A champion of new music, Gaffigan has led more than 30 premieres by composers including Thomas Adès, Kaija Saariaho, Anders Hillborg, Andrew Norman, Sarah Kirkland Snider, and Wynton Marsalis. His robust discography features recordings with the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir, and Frankfurt Radio Symphony.

Gaffigan’s early training in New York City’s public schools inspired his belief in music education and access to the arts. He regularly works with young musicians at the Juilliard School, Aspen Music Festival and School, Music Academy of the West, and Verbier Festival.

His first titled positions included Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, a position created for him by Michael Tilson Thomas, and Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland

Orchestra, where he worked with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. Gaffigan was first prize winner of the 2004 Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition.

Gaffigan earned his undergraduate degree at the New England Conservatory of Music, followed by conducting studies at the Shepherd School of Music at Houston’s Rice University, Aspen Music Festival’s Aspen Conducting Academy, and the Tanglewood Music Center.

National Symphony Orchestra

The 2025–2026 season is the National Symphony Orchestra’s 95th and Music Director Gianandrea Noseda’s ninth season. Gianandrea Noseda serves as the orchestra’s seventh music director, joining the NSO’s legacy of distinguished leaders: Christoph Eschenbach, Leonard Slatkin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Antal Doráti, Howard Mitchell, and Hans Kindler. Its artistic leadership also includes Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Steven Reineke.

Since its founding in 1931, the NSO has been committed to performances that enrich the lives of its audience and community members. In 1986, the National Symphony became an artistic affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where it has performed since the Center opened in 1971. The 96-member NSO participates in events of national and international importance, including the annual nationally televised concerts on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, livestreamed performances on medici.tv, and local radio broadcasts on WETA Classical 90.9 FM.

Since launching its eponymous recording label in 2020, the NSO has embarked on ambitious recording projects, including its first complete Beethoven Symphony cycle and the

release of the first-ever cycle of George Walker’s Sinfonias, both led by Noseda. Recent projects include Four Symphonic Works by Kennedy Center Composerin-Residence Carlos Simon conducted by Noseda, and William Shatner’s So Fragile, So Blue, recorded live in the Concert Hall with the NSO under Steven Reineke. Forthcoming releases with Gianandrea Noseda include music by Gustav Mahler and William Grant Still, as well as Samuel Barber’s opera Vanessa.

The NSO’s community engagement and education projects are nationally recognized, and career development opportunities for young musicians include the NSO Youth Fellowship Program and its acclaimed, tuition-free Summer Music Institute.

Symphony

Loud and Clear

Terms to know in the Concert Hall, loosely defined.

An extended work with multiple sections—typically four movements.

A “symphonic” piece is a long piece with multiple interpretations of a musical idea. A repeated, transformed musical idea is called a theme.

Orchestra

A group of musicians who play together.

In the Western European tradition, an orchestra often includes the four major instrument families—brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion. An especially large orchestra is called a symphony orchestra. A smaller orchestra is called a chamber orchestra

Movement

A section of a musical work. Movements are often separated by silences, and they typically differ in tempo—speed.

Opera

A musical play with singers who perform a staged version of the dramatic text—the libretto.

Sonata

Originally, a musical composition played on instruments. In modern usage, “sonata” can mean a piece for a soloist or an ensemble, often with two to four movements.

If a work or a movement is written in sonata form, it is structured in three sections: exposition, development, and recapitulation.

Concerto

A piece pairing a technically advanced soloist with the support of an orchestra, usually in three movements. Though there may be multiple soloists, the contrast between a larger ensemble and a soloing group defines a concerto.

Tone poem

An orchestral piece meant to convey a non-musical subject such as an art piece, landscape, story, or mood.

Rhapsody

A one-movement composition without a strict formal structure. Rhapsodies often include improvisation and evocative contrasts.

Counterpoint

The interaction of multiple melodies to create a larger musical product.

Tempo Markings

Adagio - slow, at ease

Andante - moderately slow, walking pace

Moderato - moderate

Allegretto - slightly slower than allegro

Allegro - fast, bright

Vivace - fast, lively

Additional Markings

Non tanto - not as much

Ma non troppo - but not too much

Molto - very

Con delicatezza - with delicacy

Cantabile - in a singing style

Scherzo - a fast, playful section

National Symphony Orchestra

GIANANDREA NOSEDA , MUSIC DIRECTOR

The Roger Sant and Congresswoman Doris Matsui Chair

STEVEN REINEKE , PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR AND ARTISTIC ADVISOR

VIOLINS

Nurit Bar-Josef, Concertmaster

Ying Fu, Associate Concertmaster, The Jeanne Weaver Ruesch Chair

Ricardo Cyncynates, Assistant Concertmaster

Xiaoxuan Shi, Second Assistant Concertmaster

Jane Bowyer Stewart

Heather LeDoux Green

Lisa-Beth Lambert

Jing Qiao

Marina Aikawa

Peiming Lin

Derek Powell

Regino Madrid**

Meredith Riley**

Susan Midkiff**

Marissa Regni, Principal

Dayna Hepler, Assistant Principal

Cynthia R. Finks

Deanna Lee Bien

Glenn Donnellan

Natasha Bogachek

Carole Tafoya Evans

Jae-Yeon Kim

Wanzhen Li

Hanna Lee

Benjamin Scott

Malorie Blake Shin

Angelia Cho

Kei Sugiyama**

VIOLAS

Daniel Foster, Principal, The Mrs. John Dimick Chair

Dana Kelley, Assistant Principal

Nancy Thomas

Jennifer Mondie

Tsuna Sakamoto

Ruth Wicker

Mahoko Eguchi

Abigail Evans Kreuzer

Rebecca Epperson

Jacob Shack

Johanna Nowik

Chiara Dieguez**

CELLOS

David Hardy, Principal, The Hans Kindler Chair, The Strong Family and the Hattie M. Strong Foundation

Raymond Tsai, Assistant Principal

David Teie

Rachel Young

Mark Evans

Eugena Chang Riley

Loewi Lin

Britton Riley

Noah Krauss

BASSES

Robert Oppelt, Principal

Richard Barber, Assistant Principal

Jeffrey Weisner

Ira Gold

Paul DeNola

Charles Nilles

Alexander Jacobsen

Michael Marks

HARP

Adriana Horne, Principal

FLUTES

Aaron Goldman, Principal

Leah Arsenault Barrick, Assistant Principal

Matthew Ross

Carole Bean, Piccolo

OBOES

Nicholas Stovall, Principal, The Volunteer Council Chair

Jamie Roberts, Assistant Principal

Harrison Linsey***

Kathryn Meany Wilson***, English Horn

CLARINETS

Lin Ma, Principal

Eugene Mondie, Assistant Principal

Paul Cigan

Peter Cain, Bass Clarinet

BASSOONS

Sue Heineman, Principal

David Young, Assistant Principal

Steven Wilson

Sean Gordon, Contrabassoon

HORNS

Abel Pereira, Principal, The National Trustees’ Chair

James Nickel, Acting Associate Principal

Markus Osterlund***

Scott Fearing

Robert Rearden

Geoffrey Pilkington**

TRUMPETS

William Gerlach, Principal, The Howard Mitchell Chair, The Strong Family and the Hattie M. Strong Foundation

Michael Harper, Assistant Principal

Michail Thompson

Tom Cupples

TROMBONES

Craig Mulcahy, Principal

Evan Williams, Assistant Principal

David Murray

Matthew Guilford, Bass Trombone

TUBA

Seth Cook**, Acting Principal

TIMPANI

Jauvon Gilliam, Principal, The Marion E. Glover Chair

Scott Christian, Assistant Principal

PERCUSSION

Eric Shin, Principal, The Hechinger Foundation Chair

Erin Dowrey, Assistant Principal

Scott Christian

Jason Niehoff*

KEYBOARD

Lisa Emenheiser*

ORGAN

William Neil*

LIBRARIANS

Elizabeth Cusato Schnobrick, Principal

Zen Stokdyk, Associate

Karen Lee, Assistant

PERSONNEL

Karyn Garvin, Director

Brooke Bartolome, Manager

Sufyan Naaman**, Coordinator

STAGE MANAGERS

David Langrell, Manager

N. Christian Bottorff, Assistant Manager

The National Symphony Orchestra uses a system of revolving strings. In each string section, untitled members are listed in order of length of service.

*Regularly Engaged Extra Musician

** Temporary Position

***Leave of Absence

National Symphony Orchestra Staff

EXECUTIVE TEAM

Nigel Boon, Vice President, Artistic Planning & Interim Co-Executive Director

John Roloff, Vice President, Operations & Interim Co-Executive Director

Kasama Apfelbaum, Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis

Sabryn McDonald, Executive Assistant

ARTISTIC PLANNING

Justin Ellis, Senior Producing Director

Ana Vashakmadze, Artistic Administrator

DEVELOPMENT

Laney Pleasanton, Manager of Individual Giving

Pamela Wardell, Senior Director of Development

EDUCATION

Vanessa Thomas, Director of Education Activation & Engagements

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

Eric Rubio, Director of Finance & Administration

HUMAN RESOURCES

Tony Amato, Director, Total Rewards

Chanel Kemp, Talent Acquisition Manager

Patrice McNeill, Director, HR Operations

Lisa Motti, HRIS Coordinator

Ericka Parham, Benefits Analyst

John Sanford, Senior Business Partner

MARKETING & ADVERTISING

Michael Granados, Marketing Manager, NSO, Fortas & New Music

Lily Maroni, Senior Manager, Advertising Communications

Ada Morrison, Director, Marketing & Sales Analytics

Derek Younger, Director, Sales & Ticketing Service

ORCHESTRA OPERATIONS & CONCERT PRODUCTION

Brooke Bartolome, Orchestra Personnel and Operations Manager

Joseph Benitez, Media & OPAS Support Coordinator

N. Christian Bottorff, Assistant Stage Manager

Cayley Carroll, Director, Production & Orchestra Operations

Karyn Garvin, Director of Orchestra Personnel

David Langrell, Stage Manager

Sufyan Naaman, Operations and Auditions Coordinator

Ava Yap, Operations Assistant

PUBLIC RELATIONS

PJ Elliott, Director of Public Relations

Kennedy Center Staff

Trump Kennedy Center Staff

KENNEDY CENTER EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

KENNEDY CENTER EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

President, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing

Ambassador Richard Grenell

President, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Ambassador Richard Grenell

President, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director

Ambassador Richard Grenell

Chief Financial Officer

Donna Arduin

Chief Financial Officer

Chief Financial Officer Donna Arduin

Donna Arduin

Chief Financial Officer Donna Arduin

Ambassador Richard Grenell Financial Officer Donna Arduin

General Counsel

Elliot Berke

General Counsel Elliot Berke

Elliot Berke

Senior Vice President, Development

Lisa Dale

Senior Vice President, Development Lisa Dale

Vice

Senior Vice President, Marketing Robin Osborne

Senior Vice President, Marketing

Senior Vice President, Marketing Robin Osborne

Senior Vice President, Marketing�� Robin Osborne

Robin Osborne

Senior Vice President, Special Events

Senior Vice President, Special Events Bronagh Donlon

Bronagh Donlon

Senior Vice President, Special Events Bronagh Donlon

Vice President, Public Relations Roma Daravi

Senior Vice President, Special Events Bronagh Donlon Vice President, Human Resources��

Vice President, Human Resources��

Vice President, Human Resources Ta’Sha Bowens

Vice President, Human Resources�� Ta’Sha Bowens

Vice President, Human Resources Ta’Sha Bowens

Senior Vice President, Special Events Bronagh Donlon

Vice President, Operations

Matt Floca

Vice President, Operations Matt Floca

Vice President, Education Jordan LaSalle

Vice President, Education

Vice President, Education Jordan LaSalle

Chief Information Officer

Jordan LaSalle

Vice President, Education Jordan LaSalle

Vice President, Public Relations

Vice President, Public Relations Roma Daravi

Roma Daravi

Vice President, Public Relations

Roma Daravi

Vice President, Public Relations Roma Daravi

Chief Information Officer

Bob Sellappan

Chief Information Officer Bob Sellappan

Executive

Executive Director, National Symphony Orchestra

Executive Director, National Symphony Orchestra Jean Davidson

Executive Director, National Symphony Orchestra

Jean Davidson

Executive Director, National Symphony Orchestra Jean Davidson

General

General Director, Washington National Opera Timothy O’Leary

General Director, Washington National Opera

General Director, Washington National Opera Timothy O’Leary

Timothy O’Leary

Concert Hall Staff

Theater Manager

Allen V. McCallum Jr.

Theater Manager Allen V. McCallum Jr.

Theater Manager

Allen V. McCallum Jr.

Theater Manager Allen V. McCallum Jr.

Box Office Treasurer

Box Office Treasurer Deborah Glover

Allen V. McCallum Jr. Box Office Treasurer

Deborah Glover

Box Office Treasurer

Deborah Glover

Box Office Treasurer Deborah Glover

Head Usher

Head Usher Cathy Crocker

Head Usher

Stage Crew

Cathy Crocker

Head Usher Cathy Crocker

Cathy Crocker

Head Usher Cathy Crocker

Stage Crew Zach Boutilier, Michael Buchman, Paul Johannes, April King, John Ottaviano, and Arielle Qorb

Zach Boutilier, Michael Buchman, Paul Johannes, April King, John Ottaviano, and Arielle Qorb

Stage Crew Zach Boutilier, Michael Buchman, Paul Johannes, April King, John Ottaviano, and Arielle Qorb

Stage Crew Zach Boutilier, Chandler Bryant, Michael Buchman, Paul Johannes, April King, John Ottaviano

*Represented by ATPAM, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers.

Steinway Piano Gallery is the exclusive area representative of Steinway & Sons and Boston pianos, the official pianos of the Kennedy Center.

Steinway Piano Gallery is the exclusive area representative of Steinway & Sons and Boston pianos, the official pianos of the Trump Kennedy Center.

Steinway Gallery is the exclusive area representative of Steinway & Sons and Boston pianos, the official pianos of the Kennedy Center.

The technicians at the Kennedy Center are represented by Local #22, Local #772, and Local #798 I.A.T.S.E.

The technicians at the Trump Kennedy Center are represented by Local #22, Local #772, and Local #798 I.A.T.S.E.

The technicians at the Kennedy Center are represented by Local #22, Local #772, and Local #798 I.A.T.S.E.

The technicians at the Kennedy Center are represented by Local #22, Local #772, and Local #798 I.A.T.S.E. AFL-CIO-CLC, the professional union of theatrical technicians.

Steinway Piano Gallery is the exclusive area representative of Steinway & Sons and Boston pianos, the official pianos of the Kennedy Center. The box office at the Kennedy Center is represented by I.A.T.S.E, Local #868.

The box office at the Kennedy Center is represented by I.A.T.S.E, Local #868.

The box office at the Trump Kennedy Center is represented by I.A.T.S.E, Local #868.

The box office at the Kennedy Center is represented by I.A.T.S.E, Local #868.

AFL-CIO-CLC, the professional union of theatrical technicians.

The technicians at the Kennedy Center are represented by Local #22, Local #772, and Local #798 I.A.T.S.E. AFL-CIO-CLC, the professional union of theatrical technicians.

The American Guild of Musical Artists, the union of professional singers, dancers and production personnel in opera, ballet and concert, affiliated with the AFL-CIO, represents the Artists and Staging Staff for the purposes of collective bargaining.

The American Guild Musical Artists, the union of professional singers, dancers and production personnel in opera, ballet and concert, affiliated with the AFL-CIO, represents the Artists and Staging Staff for the purposes of collective bargaining.

National Symphony Orchestra musicians are represented by the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Federation of Musicians, AFM Local 161-710.

National Symphony Orchestra musicians are represented by the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Federation of Musicians, Local 161-710.

National Symphony Orchestra musicians are represented by the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Federation of Musicians, AFM Local 161-710.

National Symphony Orchestra musicians are represented by the Metropolitan Washington,

National Symphony Orchestra musicians are represented by the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Federation of Musicians, AFM Local 161-710.

Thank You to Our Supporters

National Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors

Officers

Joan Bialek, Chair

Ashley Davis, Vice Chair

Stanley Pierre-Louis, Treasurer

Brian Boyle, Secretary

Executive Committee

Carl Bergeron, Chair, Pension Committee

Brian Boyle, Co-Chair, Development Committee

Ashley Davis, Chair, Nominating and Governance Committee

Shannon McCormick Davis, Co-Chair, Development Committee

Ronald D. Abramson

Anne K. Altman

Michael F. Brewer

Jean Davidson, ex officio

Barbara H. Franklin

Directors

Ernest Abbott

Andrita J. Andreas

Katherine Armstrong

Jane Lipton Cafritz

Ronya Corey

Pierre de Lucy

Debbie Driesman

Larry Driver

William Finnerty

Brian L. Gevry

David Ginsberg

Cindy Green

Thomas C. Green

Kathryn Jones

Christina Co Mather

Michael Mayton

Richard Moxley

Stephanie Guyett

Dana Hearn

Daniel Heider

Helen Jackson

Ann D. Jordan, Lifetime Dir.

Vlad Khomenko

Gerald L. Kohlenberger, ex officio

Michael Lipsitz

Jan M. Lodal

Timothy R. Lowery

Katherine Marshall

Heidi Narang

Michael Salzberg

Roger W. Sant

Susan Silverstein Scott

Tina B. Small

David B. Novy

Cathy McCulloch

Sarah Mills

Jeanne Weaver Ruesch

Sheryl Schwartz

Jeffrey M. Senger

Jeff Shockey

Raghu Srinivasan

Courtney Straus

Meaghan VerGow

Stuart Winston

National Symphony Orchestra National Trustees

Officers

Gerald L. Kohlenberger, VA, Chairman

Ross Ain, DC, Vice Chairman

Ken Leibowitz, DC, Vice President of Membership

Purvi Patel Albers, TX, Vice President of Development

Jeannette J. Segel, AZ, Vice President of Special Events & Meetings

Members

Susan Ain, FL

Ralph Baxter, WV

Jeri Crawford, NV

Nancy Jean Davis, FL

Gail Charnley Elliott, CT

Glenn Finch, VA

Mary Galvin, IL

Larry Kellogg, FL

Ex-Officio Positions

Michael Mayton, AR, Past Chairman

Jessine Monaghan, DC, Past Chairman

Mary K. Abercrombie, ID, Past Chairman

Laura Kerr-Engstrom, OK

Tom Mims, FL

The Rostropovich Legacy Guild

Theresa Thompson, VA

James Ward, NM

John Wohlstetter, SC

Stephen T. Young, GA

Members of the Rostropovich Legacy Guild have designated future gifts to support the National Symphony Orchestra’s artistic, educational, and community programs. The Guild honors cellist and former Music Director Mstislav Rostropovich, whose legacy continues to inspire the NSO.

Anonymous (4)

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Dr. Linda E. Wetzel

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The Honorable Chris Wright and Mrs. Liz Wright

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William Reed

In Memory of Jane Reese

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Lawrence Wilkerson

Al Wilson

Dr. Ursula R. Wolfman

Robert Woodward and Elsa Walsh

Clinton B. Wright

Daniel Zak

Orchestrated Lives

Each month, the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) spotlights a different musician. For this program, bass player Alex Jacobsen discusses orchestral compromises, the future of the NSO, and his love for out-of-the-box arrangements.

Name: Alex Jacobsen

Hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Instrument: Bass

Years with the NSO: 13

How did you find your way into the world of the professional bass? I come from a musical family. My dad’s side is a lot of lawyers, geologists, and historians, but my mom’s side is basically all musicians. I started playing piano when I was in first grade, and then I started cello in fifth grade. In middle school, I wanted to play jazz and funk, so I switched to electric bass, and, by the time I got to high school, I had sort of combined those into upright bass. I just took to it like a fish to water. Orchestra really got exciting when I started being able to play in really good orchestras, which sometimes takes a long time.

What do you think makes the NSO special as an orchestra? I joined 13 years ago, and I really didn’t know anything except how to play bass. Right away, I found that there are so many people in this group that are selfless by instinct—very, very generous. There’s a strong tradition of friendliness at the NSO that I really value. Being a good orchestra is not just about attracting the best talent; it’s also about having a will to play together. There’s an emotional cost to the compromises; you want to feel seen and appreciated, and so does the person to your right, and so does the person to your left. One thing I really love about this orchestra—and the bass section especially—is that we have a lot of different ways we like to play, but we also really like playing together. We’re committed to it.

Was composition something that you became interested in as you were picking up instruments, or did that come later in life? I definitely became interested in composition while playing jazz as a kid. You learn more about music theory and harmony from playing jazz than by taking every music harmony class in college, because you have to compose if you play jazz. You must improvise.

I do a lot more arranging now, taking a melody that already exists. I have a lot of friends in the woodwind section, but there are not a lot of pieces for, for example, woodwind and bass quartets. I like to arrange well-known pieces for strange ensembles with my friends. Balance and blend are almost always the biggest issues, but it’s worth it because I like doing stuff that other people haven’t done before. I find that, if you do popular pieces, even if it’s a bad arrangement, people will usually enjoy it because it’s sort of like karaoke. Worst-case scenario, it’s just fun.

Do you have a favorite or most surprising, on-stage or off-stage NSO memory? One of the things that I’ve learned about being a professional musician is that it takes so much of my concentration in any given week to play the music that, by the time I get to the next week, I have forgotten all about the previous week. It’s nice when things are not surprising, though, which is why the next two years are going to be a special challenge—everything’s going to be surprising. I’d rather not move out of the Center, but moving out doesn’t mean that we can’t continue to fulfill our mission. Our job is to bring beauty into the world, and we can still do that if we’re not here.

If you could say anything else to NSO audiences, what would it be? It’s impossible to overstate how much we appreciate every single person who makes the decision to come listen to us. We struggle to fill halls ordinarily, and a lot of folks have been staying away over the last year, which has been especially challenging. There was a moment a few months ago when the audience was not very big, but we stood up at the end of the show, and someone in the balcony took out a sign that said: “WE LOVE NSO.” I just started crying—I was so grateful. And that’s such a small thing, but every single person coming to see us means that much to us.

Support your ORCHESTRA

The mission of the National Symphony Orchestra is to engage audiences locally, across the country, and around the world through excellence in performance and education. Each year, the NSO offers approximately 150 concerts as well as some of the country’s most extensive community and educational programming. It regularly participates in events of national and international importance, including performances for state occasions, highlevel government events, and regularly televised holiday appearances for Capitol Concerts and local radio broadcasts on WETA, making the NSO one of the most-heard orchestras in the country.

Give your support in this 95th season by becoming a Member, joining the NSO Circles, or pledging a Legacy Gift. Visit tkc.co/SupportNSO or scan the QR code.

Thank You to Our Supporters

The Trump Kennedy Center Board of Trustees

National Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors

The Trump Kennedy Center President’s Council

The Trump Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts

President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts

National Committee for the Performing Arts

National Symphony Orchestra National Trustees

The Trump Kennedy Center Circles Board

The Trump Kennedy Center Community Advisory Board

The Trump Kennedy Center Corporate Fund Board

The Trump Kennedy Center 50th Anniversary Committee

Corporate Donors

Individual and Foundation Donors

Endowment Gifts, Bequests, and Legacy Donors

Building the Future Campaign Donors

Visit tkc.co/Support for a full listing of donors and to learn how you can join us by becoming a Member.

Andrew Geraci

Porgy and Bess & Ravel Piano Concerto

Conductor Kellen Gray frames the evening with works reflecting the breadth of our nation’s story: Dvořák’s American Suite, inspired by his time in the U.S., and the Catfish Row suite from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

June 5 & 6, 2026 at 8 p.m.

An American in Paris & Barber Violin Concerto

Karen Kamensek conducts Schoenberg’s American Symphony, Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, and Barber’s lyrical Violin Concerto featuring Johan Dalene in his NSO debut. The program culminates with Gershwin’s enormously popular An American in Paris—a vibrant, jazz-tinged celebration of city life through the eyes of an American abroad.

June 12 & 13, 2026 at 8 p.m.

2025–2026 CLASSICAL SEASON PERFORMANCE CALENDAR

Kennedy Center Chamber

Players: Spring Concert

Mon., May 31, 2026 at 2 p.m.

*Full orchestra does not perform.

Porgy and Bess & Ravel Piano Concerto

Fri., June 5, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Sat., June 6, 2026 at 8 p.m.

An American in Paris & Barber Violin Concerto

Fri., June 12, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Sat., June 13, 2026 at 8 p.m.

*Please note: The National Symphony Orchestra does not perform in these concerts.

For 250 years, America’s story has been told through the voices of its artists, the rhythm of its music, the words of its writers, and the movement of its dancers. It is a story of resilience and reinvention, of dreams daring enough to redefine what was possible, and of creativity that has not only shaped a nation, but the world.

As the nation marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Center invites Americans everywhere to take part in 250 Years of US, a yearlong exploration of who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going. Through music, theater, dance, and visual art, 250 Years of US celebrates the boundless imagination of a people united by creativity.

Matthew Murphy

SHARE THE JOY of the ARTS

A toast before the show. A meal with a view. A selfie in the foyer. At the Trump Kennedy Center, it’s not just about the performance, it’s the moments you share before and after the curtain rises.

Here, you’ll find joy and awe, surprise and wonder. When you come for a performance, you’ll leave with something more. Because what you feel—and who you feel it with— becomes the memory you both carry.

Take home... a musical memory.

Mozart Magic Flute Earrings

These exquisite earrings bring Mozart’s masterpiece to life with fluteinspired details that create a visual symphony. $42

NSO Cap and T-shirt

Our new National Symphony Orchestra cap and tee let you show your pride in our world-class symphony. $30 each

Make Your Own Music Mug

No better way to start your day than with a coffee mug imprinted with blank sheet music and sticker notes so you can compose your own melody. $20

Visit our two gift shops on Level A and in the Hall of States. Shop online 24/7 at tkc.co/shop

CURTAIN UP

Patrons share their first experiences at the Center.

Louisa and Savanah

My daughter Louisa went to her first Center performance in January 2024 at age five. It was a mother-daughter date with her friend Eliza and Eliza’s mom Joy. The girls both dressed as Elsa, and it happened to be a snowy day in D.C. The magic of Frozen, along with the wonder created by the atmosphere made for an unforgettable first experience!

Maka

I remember the first time I saw the Center. It was a tapestry of rainbow lights, holding its own in the vast D.C. skyline. I gaped as my mom drove us right up next to it. It was big, but somehow more welcoming than intimidating.

The grand hall led into yet another equally grand one, where I felt as if I were walking the red carpet, with imported

Louisa and friend Eliza, both dressed as Elsa, wait outside the Opera House to see Frozen.

crystal chandeliers far overhead. I thought that this in and of itself was magical, but the real magic was inside the theater. I whipped out my phone to take a picture of the illuminated ceiling, but as soon as the lights dimmed and the show started, I forgot phones existed. My mom and I were there to see & Juliet, and we were blown away by the acting, music, and lights that went into the production. At the end, my face hurt from smiling and my hands hurt from clapping, and it was worth it.

Diann

My family and I came to see The Princess Bride in Concert with the National Symphony Orchestra. Both of our boys play viola, and The Princess Bride is a very loved movie in our family so it was meant to be…

The best thing is, I have a service dog, Eugene, and we were welcomed without issue. The kindness started when I first emailed to see what seating was like to make sure that Eugene would fit under the chair. In the response to my email, I received kindness, dimensions, photos, and was asked to reach out to book my seats if I needed any assistance.

Overall, I was highly impressed with the hospitality of this venue. 10/10 will be attending another event!

Benjamin

As I watched the curtain rise on the opening night of the Stuttgart Ballet’s performance of Onegin, I felt a great sense of excitement swell within me. The sheer beauty of the dancers, sets, and costumes was almost overwhelming and reminded me that beauty truly is something objective, because that is the best way to describe this ballet: beautiful.

Following the bows, I could not get Onegin out of my head; something about it was so magnetic and hypnotic that I ended up returning twice more to witness the spectacle. Each night I sat in a different location around the Opera House, giving me a unique experience each performance, and each night, I picked up on new details and nuances that I had not been keen enough to see before.

While it would be impossible to name one scene as my favorite, the finale was so gut-wrenching and emotional that I will never forget what true passion looks like.

Diann’s children pose by the riverfront before The Princess Bride in Concert.