TKC, Transatlantic Rhythms: Ravel Piano Concerto & Porgy and Bess, June 2026 by Encore Magazine

Transatlantic Rhythms: Ravel Piano Concerto & Porgy and Bess

The Keys give you a show above and below the surface. From art galleries to museums and live music, no place inspires more freedom of expression. In The Keys, you’re part of the performance.

VisitFloridaKeys.com/arts-culture 1.800.Fla.Keys

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

JUNE 5 & 6 AT 8 P.M. | CONCERT HALL

Kellen Gray, conductor Michelle Cann, piano

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841–1904)

MAURICE RAVEL (1875–1937)

American Suite in A major, Op. 98b (1894–1895)

i. Andante con moto

ii. Allegro

iii. Moderato (alla Polacca)

iv. Andante

v. Allegro

Piano Concerto in G major, M. 83 (1929–1931)

i. Allegramente

ii. Adagio assai

iii. Presto

Michelle Cann, piano

INTERMISSION

DARIUS MILHAUD (1892–1974) La Création du monde (The Creation of the World), Op. 81 (1923)

Overture

i. The Chaos Before Creation

ii. The slowly lifting darkness, the creation of trees, plants, insects, birds and beasts

iii. Dance of Created Beings - Man and woman created

iv. The desire of man and woman

v. The Man and Woman Kiss Coda

CHARLES LUMAR II (1983–)

GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898–1937)

Elaine Eclipse (2026)

Catfish Row – Symphonic Suite from Porgy and Bess (1934–1936)

i. Catfish Row

ii. Porgy Sings

iv. Hurricane

v. Good Mornin’, Sistuh!

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 Stage flowers for Thursday’s performance are presented in loving memory of Bessie Huidekoper Fay

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

American Suite in A major, Op. 98b

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

Born September 8, 1841, in Nelahozeves, Austrian Empire. Died May 1, 1904, in Prague, Austria-Hungary.

In May 1893, while living in New York and serving as director of the National Conservatory of Music of America, Antonín Dvořák gave an interview in which he stated in no uncertain terms, “The future music of this country must be founded upon what are called the negro melodies…. These beautiful and varied themes are the product of the soil. They are American.” The responses to this proclamation were varied and vehement: There were racist reactions like those of the Second New England School composer John Knowles Paine, who saw the songs of Black Americans as the product of an inferior race. There were some who suggested that most American composers simply didn’t know “negro melodies” well enough to do meaningful work with them. And there were others, like pianist and conductor Benjamin Johnson Lang, who wanted the Czech composer to prove it: “I wish that Dr. Dvořák would write something himself, using themes from these plantation songs.”

Lang didn’t yet know that Dvořák had just completed a symphony “From the New World,” the sound and substance of which was much inspired by songs the composer learned from his friend Harry Burleigh, a Black National Conservatory student. By the time responses to his interview circulated, Dvořák was on his way to a summer sojourn in the Czech settlement in Spillville, Iowa, where he would write more pieces grappling with what might make music “American”: a String Quartet in F major (Op. 96) and a String Quintet in E-flat major (Op. 97). The response to these pieces was overwhelmingly positive; a January 1894 New York Times review of the chamber works glowed that “we may be thankful that Dr. Dvořák came to America if he was able to find inspiration here for such lovely compositions.”

Between February and March of 1894, Dvořák added a Keyboard Suite in A major to the collection of his “American” compositions, which would be published later that year. He began a symphonic transcription of the suite in early 1895, but this orchestration remained unperformed and unpublished until after his death. The suite follows a similar form to one of Dvořák’s early successes, the 1875 String Serenade in E major: five parts, with a climactic quotation from a lyrical opening movement in the finale, lending the music a stirring sense of cyclic return.

In all his “American” works, Dvořák strikes a subtle balance between the musical elements he discovered in his new home and the Czech nationalist style for which he had become internationally renowned. In the first movement of his A major Suite, the spiritual-like refrain involves a slow, pentatonic descent that repeats and then swells toward a short, expressive, rhythmic hiccup. The second movement, a furious Scherzo full of aggressive, hammered chords, includes a quiet middle section in the veiled tonality of D-flat major, featuring

Notes on the Program

a similar melodic contour to that which is found in the equivalent movement in Dvořák’s String Serenade. The skipping polacca is a Czech-infused dance with a flitting rhythmic motif akin to the composer’s beloved Humoresques. This catchy tune alternates with richly-orchestrated laments reminiscent of sections from Dvořák’s other “American” works. The interlocking wind parts in the brief Andante recall some of the composer’s best writing in his “New World” Symphony, and the suite’s finale is a barn burner worthy of inclusion in his milestone collection of Slavonic Dances. At the end of the work, the theme from the opening movement returns to round out this distinctive mix of musical ideas from America and Bohemia.

—Nicholas Swett

Piano Concerto in G major, M. 83

MAURICE RAVEL

Born March 7, 1875, in Ciboure, France. Died December 28, 1937, in Paris, France.

Maurice Ravel was much too dapper a dresser to ever wear his heart on his sleeve. No wonder the French composer was accused in some quarters of writing music that sounded cold or superficial, even artificial. Ravel countered such criticism with perfect aplomb. “How,” he asked, “do they know that I am not artificial by nature?” But his best retort is the Adagio of the Piano Concerto in G major. An unemotional, calculating person surely could not have created such an exquisite reverie, which speaks through sound in a language that rivals the tenderest poetry. Not an artificial note to be heard.

As the Roaring Twenties segued into the next decade, Ravel, fresh from composing his wildly popular Boléro, started work on a piano concerto he envisioned as a vehicle for himself, but quickly shifted gears to write a concerto for someone else—Paul Wittgenstein, an Austrian pianist who lost his right arm in World War I. Although Ravel found the task arduous (and the attitudinal Wittgenstein terribly annoying), months of work and lots off insomnia paid off with the boldly dramatic Concerto for Left Hand Alone in 1930. The composer then went back to composing what he called his Concerto Not for the Right Hand Only, which likewise cost him a good deal of effort and sleep. At one point, he wrote to a friend: “The concerto is nearly finished and I am not far from being so myself.” But you’d never guess that from the effortless-sounding result, completed in November 1931. (Both concertos turned out to be among Ravel’s last few works before his death six years later.)

The Concerto in G abounds in distinctive melodic lines, spicy harmonies (including bitonal touches, à la Stravinsky) and, in the two outer movements, bright flashes of jazzy rhythms. Ravel was a great admirer of the music and musicians of the Jazz Age; few classical composers incorporated that

revolutionary style as naturally as he did. (He famously turned down George Gershwin’s request for lessons by telling the American it would be better to write “good Gershwin than bad Ravel.”)

A terrific attention-grabber — the crack of a whip — gets the first movement jumping. Initially, the piano assumes more of an accompanist role while the piccolo grabs the first theme. A trumpet then runs with that jaunty idea before the tempo slows and the piano moves into the foreground with a contrasting, languid melody, which includes a five-note bluesy riff that other instruments pick up. Punctuation in the form of subtle, syncopated snaps give this mellow material extra color. The calm is soon disturbed by a resumption of the opening rush, when the jazz-influenced nature of the music becomes even more pronounced. Another slowdown allows the harp to reflect on the languid tune, while various instruments poke through with bits of the bluesy riff and other themes before the piano offers a short, surprisingly gentle and lyrical cadenza enhanced by colorful trills. The pace then quickens with a motor rhythm established by the piano. This attracts the attention of the orchestra and leads everyone into a chattery, clattery coda that closes with a dashing descent and definitive whomp.

Ravel said he agonized over the second movement “bar by bar.” For inspiration, he turned to Mozart, although the spirit of Chopin (especially that composer’s "Berceuse") and Satie seem to be in the air, too. In the end, the movement is as thoroughly original as it is compelling. The extraordinary opening — a 33-measure piano solo (it takes up almost a third of the whole Adagio) — spins a beguiling, melancholy theme above a three-beat pattern in the bass. As the piano continues on its unhurried, waltz-like way, the melodic line shifts to the flute and other woodwinds. Eventually, as strings enrich the texture, the keyboard provides exquisite embellishment, reaching an expressive peak and weaving delicate right-hand filigree around the English horn’s solo turn with the main theme. The closing moments find the orchestra receding into the background as the piano offers a few more measures of the waltzing motion in the left hand, a long, lovely trill in the right.

Four emphatic chords followed by a drum thump open the saucy, jazz-flecked finale; this same motive pops up several more times before also providing the last word. In between, bits of the first movement, including the whip crack, are alluded to as the music whirls along, spiced by trombone slides and clarinet licks. A wild chase kicked off by a bassoon and increasingly virtuosic flourishes from the piano add more sparks to a movement that flies by in a breathless, fourminute flash.

Tim Smith

Notes on the Program

La Création du monde (The Creation of the World), Op. 81

DARIUS MILHAUD

Born September 4, 1892, in Aix-en-Provence, France. Died June 22, 1974, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Though tonight’s repertoire pieces each attempt to synthesize Black American folk music with traditional European forms, this approach was, as discussed earlier in this program, by no means universally successful or appreciated. In 1922, music critic Richard Aldrich published “Drawing a Line for Jazz” in The New York Times, writing, “Jazz draws the line nowhere. Nothing is safe from its devastating touch.” At the same time, European composers struggled to replicate a genre to which they held little cultural relation. During a tour through France, early jazz bandleader James Reese Europe observed that the French musicians in attendance earnestly believed that his band had been using “special instruments,” and were not convinced otherwise until they had examined them for themselves. It was among these stakes—the perceived threat toward ageold forms, and the troublesome reproduction of a foreign idiom—that Darius Milhaud composed his 1923 jazz-influenced La Création du monde, a ballet adaptation of a Fang creation myth.

Born in Aix-en-Provence in 1892, Milhaud hailed from both a Sephardic and Provençal Jewish family, with roots in the region dating back to the 15th century. Following his studies at the Paris Conservatory, he relocated to Brazil to serve as secretary to the then ambassador, poet Paul Claudel. Milhaud’s Jewish background and experiences in Brazil cultivated a lifelong appreciation for folk music, material he would revisit throughout his prolific career.

The Paris of Milhaud’s return was one disillusioned by modernity. Confronted by the mass brutality of new warfare, artists across media looked toward visions of un-industrialized, pre-colonial societies deemed “primitive,” particularly in Africa. As this Primitivism gained momentum across Europe, jazz music rose from New Orleans to Harlem, a highly interesting but largely inaccessible new style across the ocean. As Stravinsky would describe of his attempts to integrate the genre, “My knowledge of jazz was derived exclusively from copies of sheet music… I never actually heard any of the music performed.”

This was not the case for Milhaud, who first encountered jazz in London, then on an extended research trip to New York. There, he visited a Harlem yet undiscovered by, as he put it, “the snobs and the aesthetes.” In addition to nightclubs, Milhaud attended a performance of Maceo Pinkard’s musical Liza. The work’s instrumentation—17 solo instruments—would form the basis of La Création. On this trip, Milhaud encountered a lyricism that he recognized from Jewish folk music—a quality that is, he declared, “shared by all oppressed people.”

Milhaud approached La Création du monde, commissioned by the Ballets suédois, as an opportunity to draw together his experiences in Harlem and his established interest in polytonality—the use of multiple keys simultaneously. Resembling the

Book of Genesis, La Création traces the origins of the world from primordial mass to bursts of flora and fauna, to the first man and woman, joining together in a mating dance. From the first movement, a syncopated backbeat propels the oboe and alto saxophone forward—the key melodic players. On top of flutter tonguing in the woodwinds and high brass, the occasional use of mutes and reliance on blues scales demonstrate Milhaud’s jazz influence.

In his composer’s note, Milhaud stressed that the string parts not be doubled at risk of diluting the chamber sensibility borrowed from the genre. The impact of his time in Harlem is, perhaps, heard clearest in the work’s climax, structured as a big-band “shout” chorus. With a phantasmagoric, brass-led layering of earlier themes, the orchestra rises together for one last reverie—all the creatures falling into one final dance—before the oboe and saxophone give their parting restatements.

Though Milhaud has received similar accusations of exoticism to other Primitivist composers, contemporary scholarship often notes how his work with diasporic Jewish styles demonstrates a sincere interest in folk music. Milhaud trained under Vincent d’Indy, a prominent Parisian teacher who felt that Jewish influence was diluting French music. During the occupation, Nazis would ransack Milhaud’s apartment—likely how the original La Création manuscript was lost— leaving, allegedly, only a copy of Wagner’s Parsifal on the mantle. This direct experience of both xenophobia in music and endangered cultural inheritance distinguishes Milhaud’s perspective from someone like Gershwin, also Jewish, living six miles south of the Harlem Renaissance.

—Sarina Benezra Bell

Charles Lumar II is a Northwest Arkansas-based composer, musician, teacher, and explorer. He expresses himself in whatever medium seems up to the task, but can primarily be found playing a double bass, an electric bass, or a tuba.

Charles has had works premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in addition to performing and recording with People Museum, Solange, and Kristin Diable (to name a few). He has also toured the world playing shows at notable venues including the Kennedy Center, Radio City Music Hall, the Guggenheim, the Getty Museum, Glastonbury Festival, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

When not creating or performing music, Charles enjoys making visual art and matching his music to compelling images and videos. Charles was recently selected as a composer for Castle of Our Skins’ Black Composer Miniature Challenge 2.0 in addition to being accepted into residencies at the Virginia

Elaine Eclipse CHARLES LUMAR II

Notes on the Program

Center for the Creative Arts, Vashon Artist Residency, and The League of Stars Astro-Retreat and Art-Residency.

Charles is inspired by the stars; birds singing; and his mother, Elaine.

Catfish Row – Symphonic Suite from Porgy and Bess GEORGE GERSHWIN

Born September 26, 1898, in New York, New York. Died July 11, 1937, in Los Angeles, California.

Brothers George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin based Porgy and Bess on a 1925 novel of the same name by DuBose Heyward, who worked on the opera’s libretto along with his wife, the playwright Dorothy Heyward. The story depicts the inhabitants of the fictional, impoverished, Black neighborhood of Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina. Porgy is a disabled beggar who shows kindness to Bess, the socially ostracized girlfriend of an abusive man named Crown. Porgy and Bess form an unlikely relationship that helps her gain acceptance in the community, but, after Porgy kills Crown and seems likely to wind up in jail, Bess leaves for New York with the drug dealer Sportin’ Life. The opera, which premiered in 1935, was groundbreaking for its sympathetic portrayal of the subject matter and for the Gershwins’ insistence that only Black singers should play the main roles. But it has always generated criticisms for its use and misuse of dialects, and for its propagation of negative stereotypes about Black American life. Though productions of the opera itself have gone in and out of fashion since the 1930s, individual numbers from it, especially “Summertime,” “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin,” “Bess, You Is My Woman Now,” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” quickly became standards for vocalists and jazz performers.

Like much of his music, George Gershwin’s score draws from contemporary popular songs, jazz, spirituals, Jewish music, and Romantic-era operatic and instrumental repertoire. Duke Ellington offered an appraisal of Gershwin’s writing in an interview from December 1935, declaring that it does not and cannot authentically display “the Negro musical idiom,” and that, as a result, there exists a frustrating mismatch between the story and the music. Still, Ellington thought the score itself was “grand,” as “it was taken from some of the best and a few of the worst. Gershwin surely didn’t discriminate: he borrowed from everyone from [Franz] Liszt to Dickie Wells’ kazoo band.”

In 1936, Gershwin produced a five-movement orchestral piece that combined several sections from Porgy and Bess. It was quickly overshadowed by a similar suite compiled by Robert Russell Bennett in 1942, after Gershwin’s death. When Gershwin’s own symphonic setting was resurrected in the late 1950s, his brother Ira called it Catfish Row, giving it the quality of a self-contained tone poem.

Many familiar songs from the opera make an appearance in the suite. In the first movement, a violin soloist plays Gershwin’s sublime, sorrowful, yearning-filled

lullaby “Summertime.” Here, the melody unfolds over two chords that oscillate back and forth in an almost stagnant manner. When the harmony finally shifts at the ends of the work’s phrases, there is a rush of hope and emotion, but the music always winds up stuck in place again. In the second movement of the suite, a banjo chimes in with the symphony orchestra for a rendition of “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’,” Porgy’s optimistic, modulation-filled ditty. The suite also shines a spotlight on moments of masterful orchestral writing that feature in Gershwin’s score, including a frightening, chromatic fugue that smacks of Béla Bartók; a piercing, dissonant piccolo part from the cinematic storm scene; sweet, flirtatious flute lines found in the fifth movement that sound like they could have been written by a Russian composer of the late-Romantic era; and Gershwin’s electric, pentatonic xylophone licks that we hear at the very opening, and which return in tragic fashion close to the very end.

—Nicholas Swett

Meet the Artists

Kellen Gray, conductor

American conductor Kellen Gray has earned a reputation as a versatile and imaginative artist, celebrated for his diverse array of traditional and experimental programming, thrilling performances, and provocative multimedia concert experience curation. He is one of the foremost experts and interpreters of the music of African-diasporic composers, for whom he is a passionate advocate and champion.

Born and raised in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Gray’s early professional life took him on a diverse path ranging from orchestral violinist to beekeeper, before turning his full-time attention to conducting. Since the end of 2023, he has served as Associate Artist of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra: a newly created role that sees him conduct, curate, and present programs right across the RSNO’s series offerings. Since September 2024, Gray has also been the Conductor & Artistic Director of the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra (Indiana, USA), where he is leading dynamic artistic programming and community enrichment activities for the city of Lafayette.

Recent and forthcoming guestconducting highlights include engagements with such leading American orchestras as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, and Seattle Opera, amongst others. He also enjoys a thriving presence on the stages of the United Kingdom, working with such orchestras as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, London

Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Gray credits the many folk music styles of the southeastern United States as his earliest and most impactful musical influences, and his repertoire interests to date have been fueled by the engaged pursuit of that same spirit of cultural authenticity. This has led to a particular mastery not only of works that incorporate American folk idioms, but also in-depth explorations of heavily folk-inspired European composers such as Béla Bartók, Manuel de Falla, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, amongst others.

A passionate champion for Africandiasporic composers, Gray was the Founder & Curator of Charleston Symphony Orchestra’s Project Aurora: a programming and performance initiative aiming to illustrate the importance of African American arts and culture as equally valuable to its European equivalent. Additionally, he serves as Assistant Editor & Conductor Liaison for the African Diaspora Music Project, after extensive research at the Center for Black Music Research (CBMR) at Columbia College Chicago.

Gray’s discography to date comprises two celebrated releases—African American Voices and African American Voices II, made with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra—showcasing music by Margaret Bonds, William Dawson, William Grant Still, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Florence Price, and George Walker. Both records have met with the highest critical acclaim, including receiving an elusive five-star review from the prestigious Diapason magazine.

Gray’s appointment as Associate Artist of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra—the first position of its kind for the orchestra—marked an unprecedented but organic development following his highly successful tenure as the orchestra’s

Assistant Conductor (2021–2023).

Previous positions in Gray’s formative years as a conductor included successful tenures with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (Associate Conductor, 2018–2023), Chicago Sinfonietta (Conducting Fellow & Assistant Conductor, 2016–2018), and Valdosta Symphony Orchestra (Assistant Conductor, 2014–2016).

Kellen Gray is based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Lauded as “exquisite” by The Philadelphia Inquirer and “a pianist of sterling artistry” by Gramophone, Grammy Award®–winning pianist Michelle Cann is one of the most sought-after artists of her generation. Recent engagements include appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, and Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo. She is a recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, and she served as the inaugural Christel DeHaan Artistic Partner of the American Piano Awards.

Highlights of Cann’s 2025–26 season include appearances with the Colorado Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, and Ireland’s National Symphony Orchestra. Her recital appearances include Stanford Live, Music Toronto, Chamber Music Detroit, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Spivey Hall, and a recital tour in China.

Recognized as a leading interpreter

of the piano music of Florence Price, Cann performed the New York City premiere of Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with the Dream Unfinished Orchestra in 2016. Her recording of the concerto with the New York Youth Symphony won a Grammy Award® in 2023 for Best Orchestral Performance. She won a Grammy Award® in 2025 for Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price, recorded with soprano Karen Slack, which features 19 unpublished songs composed by Price. Her acclaimed debut solo album, Revival, featuring music by Price and Margaret Bonds, was released in 2023.

Cann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and an Artist’s Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. She joined the Curtis piano faculty in 2020 as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies, and she is on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.

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

Michelle Cann, pianist

Meet the Artists

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, live-streamed 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.

Suite:

Multiple pieces intended to be performed together. Suites may take from larger works such as an opera or a ballet.

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

Presto - very fast

Additional Markings

Non tanto - not as much

Ma non troppo - but not too much

Molto - very

Assai - 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 & Vice President, Programming

Ana Vashakmadze, Artistic Administrator

DEVELOPMENT

Laney Pleasanton, Manager of Individual Giving

Pamela Wardell, Vice President 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 Arts

President, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing

Chief

Ambassador Richard Grenell Chief Financial Officer

Ambassador Richard Grenell

Ambassador Richard Grenell Chief Financial Officer

Chief

Ambassador Richard Grenell Chief Financial Officer

Donna Arduin

General

General Counsel

Berke

Donna Arduin General Counsel

Berke

Senior Vice President, Development

Dale

Senior Vice President, Development

Vice

Dale

Senior Vice President, Marketing

Osborne

Senior Vice President,

Senior Vice President, Marketing

Senior

Senior Vice President, Marketing

Osborne

Senior Vice President, Special

Senior Vice President, Special Events

Vice

Senior Vice President, Special Events

Donlon

Vice President, Human

Vice President,

Vice President, Human

Senior

Vice President, Human Ta’Sha Bowens

Vice President, Operations

Vice President,

Vice

Vice President, Operations

Vice

Vice President,

Vice President, Education

Vice President,

Vice President, Education

Chief

Vice

Vice President, Public Relations

Vice President,

Vice President, Public Relations

Chief

Chief Information

Chief Information Officer

Chief

Executive Director, National

Executive

Executive Director, National

Executive Director, National Symphony

Executive Director,

General Director, Washington National

General

General Director, Washington

Concert Hall Staff

Theater Manager

Theater Manager Allen V. McCallum Jr.

Theater Manager

Theater Manager Allen V. McCallum Jr.

Allen V. McCallum Jr.

Theater Manager Allen V. McCallum Jr.

Box Office Treasurer

Deborah Glover

Box Office Treasurer Deborah Glover

Deborah Glover

Box Office Treasurer Deborah Glover

Box Office Treasurer

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

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

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 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.

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.

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)

Patty Perkins Andringa

Rebecca J. Ault Trust

Mavis A. Walters and Thomas A. Baxter†

Michael D. Bolden

Dr. and Mrs. William P. Brose

John Cahill

Julia A. Carr

James M. Compton, Col USA (Ret)†

Mrs. Jane L. Donaghy

Christine M. Feinthel

Eleanor and Thomas W. Fina

Mrs. Nancy M. Folger

George† and Duffy† Ftikas

Olga M. Gazda

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey A. Gorman

Mrs. Susan D. Hamburger

Rodney† and Anne Haugh

Dana A. Hearn and Kevin J. McCloskey

Maria C. Higgins

Carla H. Jones-Batka

Maria and Stephen Lans

Virginia Cretella Mars

Catherine H. and Michael R. Mayton

Dr. and Dr. Omar Mazzoni

Patricia Morton†

Mrs. William E. Naylor, Jr.†

Phylliscity and John Oliff

Mr. Theodore C. Panglao

William and Cathy Pastor

Mr. W. Larz Pearson

Steven C. Price

Francis H. Rasmus

Ms. Jennifer Renner

Helen I. Rickels†

Mrs. George W. Riesz

Dr. Ann H. Rose

Carol Ruppel

Rita Shapiro and Edward F. Maclary

Peggy M. Siegel

Margaret Stehman

Elena Thompson

Mr. Rick Trevino

Stella Boyle Smith Trust

Mr. Dennis L. Stout and Mr. Daniel Studnicky

Rafael E. Urrutia and Joanne H. Urrutia Trust

Jenny Craig Wallace

Mr. Glenn D. White, Jr.

Drs. Robert and Gail† Wilensky

Mr. and Mrs.† Rance R. Willis

Thank You to Our Donors

Individual, Foundation, and Corporate Donors

$500,000+

AARP

Sandy and Bud Drutz

$100,000–499,999

Anonymous

Mrs. Byrle M. Abbin

Mr. Martin K. Alloy and Mrs. Daris M. Clifton-Alloy

Agnieszka and Witold Balaban

Boeing

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities

$50,000–99,999

Ernest and Catherine Abbott

The Andreas Family Foundation

Maria Bartiromo

Joan Bialek and Louis Levitt, MD

Brian and Sheila Boyle

Cestone Family Foundation

Ms. Ashley Davis

Shannon and Jim Davis

$25,000–49,999

Anonymous

Mary K. Abercrombie

Ms. Anne K. Altman

Eve E. Bachrach

Bender Foundation, Inc.

Michael Brewer and Janet Brown

BVLGARI

CityCenterDC

Clark Construction Group, LLC

Pierre de Lucy and Jodie McLean

Ms. Kirby Heller and Mr. Stephen Dennett

Will and Anna Finnerty

Ann and Tom Friedman

Mary B. Galvin

Brian and Kendra Gevry

David and Ellen Ginsberg

Cindy and Andy Green

$15,000–24,999

Anonymous (2)

Ross and Judy Ain

Ralph H. Baxter, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Richard T. Crawford

Patricia Duggan

Gail Charnley Elliott and E. Donald Elliott

Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Finch

$10,000–14,999

Anonymous (4)

Jeffrey S. Abramson

In Honor of Joan Bialek

Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC

Ms. Nadine Cohodas

Paul Dans and Mary Helen Bowers

Betsy and Robert Feinberg Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences

Dr. Gary Mather† and Ms. Christina Co Mather

Dana A. Hearn and Kevin J. McCloskey

Doug Kimmelman

Jacqueline Badger Mars

Thank You to Our Donors

$6,000–9,999

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Baly, III

Aaron Copland Fund for Music

Phil and Joan Currie

Mr. and Mrs. Dennis de Tray

Drs. Gilbert and Rona Eisner

Mr. Edward A. Farquhar

Henrietta “Etta” Fielek

Dr. and Mrs. Michael Gold

Mr. Woolf P. Gross

$4,000–5,999

Anonymous (2)

David M. Bachman, M.D.

Dr. Mark Cinnamon and Ms. Doreen Kelly

George and Phyllis† Cohen

Helen Darling and Brad Gray

Dimick Foundation

Ms. Thelma Duggin

Jack Firestone

Mr. and Mrs. Jurgen O. Gobien

Mr. and Mrs. Rolf Graage

Daniel Heider

Joe† and Lynne Horning

Dr. Elaine S. Jaffe and Mr. Michael Evan Jaffe

$1,800–3,999

Anonymous (4)

Anja Allen

Mr. John Ausink and Ms. Elaine S. Simmons

Ken and Liz Babby

Ann and Russel Bantham

Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell J. Bassman

Herschel V. Beazley

Robin Berrington

Robert Bleimann and May Chin

Jane B. Boynton

Mary Breiner

Ms. Linda Bunce

Mr. Vincent Careatti

Frank and Victoria Chang

Helen Chason

Susan Christie

Donna Christy

Janice and Larry Clark

Robin Rowan Clarke

Sandra Cummins-Haid and Allen Haid

Col. and Mrs. James Dandridge II, Ret

Mr. Michael J. Dean

The Charles Delmar Foundation

Tracy Dietz

Peter and Sally DiGiovanni

Cherrie W. Doggett

Dr. Earl W. Donaldson

Tom and Eileen Ehrgood

Charles and Mita Forsyth

Catherine French

Richard L. Gaiani

Carol Galaty and Kenneth Shuck

Ms. Pamela J. Garvie

Professor Joseph L. Gastwirth

Laura Genero, in memory of Elizabeth H. Genero

Jesse Goodman and Nicole Lurie

Ms. Susan Z. Haller

Frederic Harwood and Nedda di Montezemolo

Dr. and Mrs. H. Keith Hellems

Virginia Hendrickson

Richard and Pamela Hinds

David and Elizabeth Hunt

Glen M. Johnson

Jane Mary Kwass

Edward Lenkin and Roselin Atzwanger

RADM Dan and Jackie March, USN Ret

Joan and John McAvoy

Mr. James E. Miller and Ms. Fynnette Eaton

Jewish Federation of Greater Washington

Isabelle Katzer

Henry B. & Jessie W. Keiser Foundation, Inc.

Helen and David Kenney

SooJung Kim

Vlad and Tanya Khomenko

Cynthia Krus and George S. Corey

Howard and Allison Lutnick

Sis and Jim McKay

In Honor of Jenny Mondie

Ralph and Gwen† Nash

Elise and Dennis Reeder

Daniel Hicks and John McCall

Mr. and Mrs. J. Paul Horne

Christiane B. Huff

Stephen and Neda Humenik

Brian Hunter

Dr. Brian M. Ilfeld

Ms. Nancy E. Johnson

Ann L. Jones

Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Kampschroer

Irene and Louis Katz

Diane and Brian Keller

Stephanie Smith Kinney

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Kirchhoff

Mr. Michael and Young Hee Kreps

Jurate and Carl Landwehr

Janet Platt Lambert

Dr. and Mrs. Keith M. Lindgren

Judge and Mrs. Alan D. Lourie

Dr. Joyce S. Lowenstein

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Maddox

Mary Kay and Dorn McGrath

Susan McGrath

Alan and Ruth Melvin

Patrick Michaels

Mr. Jim Miller

Mr. Joseph J. Minarik

Arthur Mitchell

Dr. Nazee Moinian

Clara Montanez

Susan and Fred Morhart

James Morris

Ms. Sakura Namioka

Kara Nath

Bruce and Son Young Nelson

Ms. Madeline C. Nelson

David O'Connor

David and Marina Ottaway

Andi Owen and Glenn Karpf

Tracy Pless

Mr. and Mrs. James J. Pohlman

Mahy Polymeropoulos

Brenda A. Pommerenke and Dr. Larry George

Mr. Robert K. Oaks

Mr. Joseph A. Page and Ms. Martha Gil-Montero

Ashley Rose and Jerry Horak

Claire and Jack Tozier

Michael and Alice Weinreb

Dr. and Mrs. Peter L. Willson

Admiral William Roberts and Patricia Roberts

Ellen and Roy Rosenthal

MG (Ret) and Mrs. Alan B. Salisbury

Steven and Donna Shriver

Dr. Barbara S. and Dr. Howard D. Stowe

Marilyn Walz Taylor

Charles Trozzo and Gail Rothrock

Gloria M. Weissberg, PhD

Dr. Linda E. Wetzel

Mr. Christopher Wolf and Mr. James L. Beller, Jr.

David Worby

The Honorable Chris Wright and Mrs. Liz Wright

George and Virginia Potts

Jane Evans Ramsay

William Reed

In Memory of Jane Reese

Henry & Anne Reich Family Foundation, Lee G. Rubenstein, Co-President

Gerd and Duncan Ritchie

Mr. and Mrs. James P. Roach

Mr. and Mrs. William Ronsaville

Dr. Shirley Ross and Mr. Joseph Pinciaro

Robert and Fran Rubin

Mr. Charles A. Rubio, Jr.

Mr. Ronald J. and Mrs. Rise F. Schlesinger

Cheryl L. Sharp

Byron and Elva Siliezar

Ronald and Margaret Stehman

Elizabeth Pendleton Streicher

Evelyn A. Sweet

Kathy Szot

Eileen and Michael Tanner

Kathleen M. Thies

Pauline Labbé Thompson

Kenneth Timmer

Steven and Prudence Traut

Raya Bakalov Treiser and Max Johnson

Capt. and Mrs. Eric Vanderpoel II, USN, Ret.

Mr. and Mrs. James G. Vaughter

Dr. Jean Vike

Laura and Kirk Wade

Pearl Y. Wang

Judy Ann and Richard Webster

Judith Weintraub

Ms. Rebecca Welch

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, Principal Bassoon Sue Heineman discusses backstage memories, 35-hour marathons, and the NSO’s next chapter.

Name: Sue Heineman

Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Instrument: Bassoon

Years with the NSO: 26

How did you find your way into the world of the professional bassoon? I grew up going to the Philadelphia Orchestra, so I had early exposure to the very highest level of the field. I’m the youngest of three, and we all took piano lessons, then we each started at a middle school that had a very strong orchestra program. My brother played tuba, and my sister played violin, and I knew I wasn’t going to play what she played, but I didn’t want to play something that seemed really obvious. Usually, when people ask why I play the bassoon, it’s like they’re asking how I even know there was such a thing. You’re a kid, and you just think, “That thing looks interesting.” Once I started playing it in the school orchestra, I was hooked. It didn’t really matter what you played—you’re part of the orchestra.

What hooked you about being a member of an orchestra? The sounds of the different sections and how they all came together. I liked the social aspect of it, especially compared to playing piano alone or with my teacher, who always yelled at me because I didn’t practice. It became clear that I had an aptitude for this, which was kind of mind-blowing for everybody. I was the little brat, and my sister was the perfect one, so I just wanted to keep getting better. I ended up going to Eastman, then doing a Fulbright in Austria and a master’s at Juilliard, but even for the first several years of my performing career, there was still this idea that I might not succeed. I was always thinking that I may just have to go back to school for something else. It was really only when I got a well-paying job—at around 32—that I thought, “Oh, this is cool. I like this. I would do this for free.”

What’s your favorite part of your life outside of the NSO? It might be a tie between animals and being outside. I’m an ultramarathoner. I was never an outdoorsy person, but years ago, I went on a bike ride with some friends, and I couldn’t really keep up with them, so I decided to start taking spinning classes at the gym. Then I was dating a guy who went on an organized bike tour in Utah, and I thought, “I want to do that.” I signed up for the same trip that he had done, and that’s when I discovered that I could bike all day long. I had no idea before that. I started hiking when I was playing at the Grand Teton Music Festival. One day on the trail, I met a trailrunner, and I thought, “Whoa, I can move a little faster.” Suddenly, you can cover in one day what it would take three days to backpack. You don’t have to carry all that stuff, and then you get to go home, have a beer, and take a shower—I could still see the view while in motion. Then I decided to do the Marine Corps Marathon because it landed on my 50th birthday. I hated that, but I also knew I was going to do another one; at that point, I was just curious about what it would take for me to enjoy this. My longest ultramarathon was 35 hours.

Do you have a favorite backstage memory at the NSO? I share a dressing room with Marissa, principal second violin, then Aaron, principal flute, often comes around and hangs. That is one of the things I’m really going to miss when we’re on the road—that little landing spot in the dressing room. I don’t have a car, so I like to be able to leave things in my locker: my clothes, an extra set of weights, and my tea. Sometimes I’ll just leave my bassoon there, because I know I can pop over or stay late if I need to practice. We’re not going to be able to do any of that next year.

How are you feeling about this next chapter for the NSO? I like the idea that we’re all in this together. It’s hard not to feel a little scared, but everybody wants this to work. I’ve also really appreciated and enjoyed the increased connection with our board. They’ve really shown their love and appreciation through all this. I know that they and our staff are working 10 times as hard as they ever have before to make this happen, so we’re coming into this situation with a feeling of relative strength and solidarity, as well as pride in what we do.

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

An American in Paris & Barber Violin Concerto

Karen Kamensek conducts Copland's Lincoln Portrait and Barber's lyrical Violin Concerto featuring Johan Dalene in his NSO debut. The program opens with Adam Schoenberg's American Symphony and 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

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.