One-Hour Live Concerts in the Secret Garden
Opera | Choir | Jazz | Chamber Music | Early Music | Cabaret | Tango | Flamenco
2022 – 2023 Season Concerts
Friday, August 12, 2022 | 6pm, 7:30pm
Shakespeare in the Garden: “The summer’s flower is to the summer sweet”
Cole Manel, lute | Mara Yaffee, soprano | Sarah Shodja, recorder | Michael Crowley, Shakespearean Actor
Shakespeare’s works are bursting with picturesque descriptions of blooming gardens, birds, music, love and beautiful flowers. Immerse yourself into his words like never before – surrounded by our very own gorgeous garden! Music from the playwright’s time paired with captivating narrations from his sonnets, plays and poems will make you see the world around you with entirely different eyes. Enjoy pieces by John Dowland, William Byrd, Robert Johnson, and more.
Tickets & Program
Thursday, September 8, 2022 | 5pm, 6:30pm
Kennedy Center Opera House Quintet: “South Africa Send-Off Concert”
Adria Sternstein Foster, flute | Kayla Moffet, violin | Erika Gray, viola | Amy Frost Baumgarten, cello | Susan Robinson, harp
Experience this outstanding ensemble in the setting of an intimate garden concert, before they embark on their tour to South Africa! Their repertoire of Debussy, Piazzolla, Gershwin and more is sure to enchant you – and their audiences abroad!
This concert has been generously sponsored by George and Patti White
Thursday, October 6, 2022 | 5pm, 6:30pm
It Takes Two (and a Trio) to Tango
New Trifilio Tango Trio: Emmanuel Trifilio, bandoneon | Julie Huang Tucker, piano | Zoë Jorgenson, double bass
Sean Ericson and Jackie Pham, tango dancers
Tango returns to the Secret Garden with beautiful movements of dancers accompanied by the captivating sound of the bandoneon, piano, and double bass, in a program featuring the entrancing music of Astor Piazzolla, the composer who brought tango to international attention, along with other celebrated tango composers and original music by Emmanuel Trifilio, the leading bandoneon musician in the Washington DC area.
This concert has been generously sponsored by Norma Dugger
Tickets & Program Listen
Sunday, October 30, 2022 | 6:00pm
Classical Movements’ 30th Anniversary Gala
Celebrating 30 years of Moving the Music, Changing the World
International Artists | Dinner with Wine Pairings | Champagne Toast
Insingizi of Zimbabwe | Morgan State University Singers | Javier Arrey, baritone | Prague Summer Nights String Quartet | Brass Fanfare
Join many of the wonderful friends we have made over these past 30 years for an evening to delight both the ears and palate. The celebration begins with a reception followed by dinner with performances by an exciting array of international artists.
Gala Co-Chairs: Linda Bunce | Carolyn Fuller | Patti White
Anne Midgette, Master of Ceremonies
Sunday, November 13, 2022 | 5pm, 6:30pm
Bold as Brass: From Bach to Bernstein
Musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera/Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra
William Gerlach, NSO Principal Trumpet | Michael Harper, NSO Assistant Principal Trumpet | Robert Rearden, NSO Horn | Colin Wise, US Navy Band Principal Trombone | Seth Cook, WNO/KCOHO Principal Tuba
Celebrate the Fall season with the vibrant sound of brass! This program will include exciting works from Bach to Bernstein and works by Dukas, Cheetham, Maurer, and Ewald, and more will be performed by Principal brass members of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the US Navy Band.
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Saturday, January 28, 2023 | 5pm (SOLD OUT), 7pm (Seats remain)
Northern Lights: A Scandinavian Savory Soiree
Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt, Sibelius, Elfrida Andrée
Concert with Sumptuous Multi-Course Scandinavian Cuisine and Wines
Marianna Prjevalskaya, piano | Elise Blake, violinist
The festivities begin with a Lingonberry sparkling cocktail reception before a dinner of three types of “Smørrebrød”, Baked Salmon with Swedish Hovmästarsås (dill sauce) served with potatoes au gratin and asparagus, ending with Rice pudding served with blueberry sauce “Risgrynsgrót ris, a la Malta” and a warm glass of Glögg.
Enjoy the fantastic music by Nordic composers such as Jean Sibelius, Edvard Grieg, and more as Marianna Prjevalskaya returns to the Rectory and will perform on our 1928 Grand Haines Piano alongside Elise Blake on violin, in our beautiful glass-enclosed atrium!.
Saturday, February 25, 2023 | 5pm (sold out), 6:30pm (seats remain)
If I Loved You: Falling In & Out of Love
Gershwin, Porter, Kern, Sondheim, Richard Rodgers & more
Anna Bergman, soprano | Howard Breitbart, musical director & piano
Hailed by New York & London critics as “an artist at the top of her game” and “a soaring vocal talent,” acclaimed soprano, Anna Bergman, serenades you with her new show, an international musical journey of courtship, romance, heartbreak and love rekindled. With inspired arrangements by her musical director/pianist Howard Breitbart, Anna performs songs & arias by such songwriters as George & Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Stephen Sondheim, Edith Piaf, Leonard Bernstein, Richard Rodgers with Hammerstein & Hart, Franz Lehar & others. This event takes place in our glass enclosed atrium.
“…a vocal citizen of the world who has triumphed in everything from Broadway tunes to opera arias and the sultry innuendoes of the cabaret chanteuse.” (The Washington Post)
Tickets & Program Listen Discover Anna Bergman
Friday, March 24, 2023 | 5pm, 6:30pm
American Roots: Bluegrass & Bourbon
Ken Kolodner, hammered dulcimer, hammered mbira & fiddle | Brad Kolodner, banjo, gourd banjo & fiddle | Alex Lacquement, bass
The father-son team Ken & Brad Kolodner crosses the boundaries of Old-Time, Bluegrass and American Roots music in a transfixing, elegant program played in sophisticated arrangements for banjo, hammered dulcimer and fiddle featuring distinctive songs, traditional pieces and original music.
“…exceptionally talented musicians and they have created a tight, top-notch sound.” Bluegrass Today
“The Kolodners and their collaborators play with impeccable chops and with great feeling.” Bluegrass Unlimited
Join us between the two performances for a Bourbon Reception hosted by Musical Movements for Change
Sunday, April 30, 2023 | 4pm | Special Concert and Reception
A Benefit Concert for Ukraine: Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet & Ukrainian composers
Principal Musicians from the National Symphony:
Nurit Bar-Josef, violin concertmaster | Marissa Regni, principal second violin | Natasha Bogachek, violin | Daniel Foster, principal viola | Rebecca Epperson, viola | Loewi Lin, cello | Lin Ma, principal clarinet | Special Guest – Zino Bogachek, violin and composer from the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra
The first half of the concert features Ukrainian composers with a world premier of a brand new piece by Zino Bogachek, Mortuis Praeterium Et Futurum followed by Mykola Lysenko’s Quartet in D. The second half features Mozart’s sublime clarinet quintet.
This concert is presented at Third Baptist Church just a two blocks from The Rectory. If you donate $20 or more to Ukraine Relief, you are invited to join us for a reception and a meet-and-greet with the artists at the Secret Garden of The Rectory after the concert.
This concert has been generously sponsored by George and Patti White.
Tickets & Program Listen
Friday, May 12, 2023 | 5pm 6:30pm
Brahms, Beach, Schubert: Four Hands, one Piano
Brahms Hungarian Dances and Schubert Fantasy in F Minor
Vieness Piano Duo: Vijay Venkatesh, piano | Eva Schaumkell, piano
Hailed for “effortless technical command and authority with a sense of poetry”, award-winning pianist Vijay Venkatesh returns to the Secret Garden with Eva Schaumkell as they play together as the Vieness Piano Duo on one piano with a program of Franz Schubert’s Fantasy in F Minor; Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dances; and Amy Beach’s Summer Dreams Op. 47.
“Vijay Venkatesh is blessed with it all: transcendent technique, unbridled passion, and irresistible charisma. He breathes with an oxygen of imagination.” (The Washington Post)
Eva Schaumkell is praised for her “astonishing combination of depth of expression and thrilling virtuosity” (Nassauische Neue Presse)
This concert has been generously sponsored by Norma Dugger
June 9, 2023 | 6pm | Opera in the Secret Garden
Alexandria Summer Nights: The Magic Flute
Musicians from the Alexandria Summer Nights Young Artists Music Program
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Due to the poor air quality in Alexandria the two performances originally scheduled for Thursday, June 8th and Friday, June 9th will be combined into one single performance on Friday, June 9th at 6:00 PM now at the George Washington Masonic Memorial.
Mozart’s masterpiece comes to the Secret Garden in an enchanting staging featuring a talented cast of young musicians. An audience favorite for 230 years, experience the delightful story of magic, adventure, and true love – and Mozart’s majestic, sparkling score – like never before. Performances include two in the Secret Garden and a third at Castleton.
This concert is part of the Alexandria Summer Nights 2023, with is generously sponsored by John H. Hart
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Friday, July 21, 2023 | 5pm 6:30pm
Summertime: Jazz in July
Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra & more
Sweet Something: Ariana Harbin, vocalist | Caleb Nei, pianist | Jeff Cuny, bassist | Aaron Ivey, drummer
Retro, smooth, and timeless. Vocalist and front-woman, Ariana Harbin leads jazz quartet Sweet Something in favorite jazz tunes from “Summertime” to “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” and in tribute to the indelible performances of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and more.
This concert has been generously sponsored by Carolyn Fuller
