Sunday, March 8, 2026 | 4:00pm
Last Stand Quartet Plays Haydn and Ravel

Musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra: Joel Fuller, Violin | Derek Powell, Violin | Mahoko Eguchi, Viola | Rachel Young, Cello

Experience the National Symphony Orchestra up close and personal! These four stellar musicians are part of the NSO and perform together as the Last Stand Quartet. Stay for a post-concert reception, where the NSO musicians will meet-and-greet with the audience.

This program pairs two landmark works that illuminate the evolution of the string quartet. Haydn’s String Quartet in D Major, Op. 71, No. 2 opens the program with its bold, orchestral introduction, graceful inner movements, and a finale full of wit and rhythmic vitality. Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major, M.35 offers a striking contrast, unfolding a luminous palette of color and texture, from its glowing opening theme to the atmospheric slow movement and the driving, brilliant finale. Together, the works trace a journey from classical clarity to modern expressive richness.

Friday, March 13, 2026 | 5:30pm
Chamber Music: Serenade to the Stars

Musicians of the Washington National Opera Orchestra:  Adria Sternstein Foster, principal flute | Kayla Moffet, principal 2nd violin | Erika Gray, viola | Amy Frost Baumgarten, principal cello | Susan Robinson, principal harp

An evening of chamber music by women, performed by some of today’s finest female musicians. The evening’s program includes Maddalena Sirmen’s spirited Trio in D Major, Fanny Mendelssohn’s tender Romance from her String Quartet (arranged for flute and strings), and Stella Sung’s evocative Dance of the White Lotus for flute and harp. Rounding out the program are Three Dances by Lera Auerbach and Libby Larsen’s imaginative Trio for flute, viola, and harp—bringing a contemporary voice to this rich musical celebration.

Tuesday, March 24, 2026 | 5:30pm, 7pm
VIDA – A Tango Life

QuinTango: Emmanuel Trifilio, bandoneon | Regino Madrid, violin | Joan Singer, violin | Hai Jin, piano | Ali Cook, double bass

Tango returns to the Secret Garden with the captivating sound of the bandoneon, violin, 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

Tuesday, April 14, 2026 | 5:30pm
Four hands, One Piano: Barber, Schubert, Saint-Saëns

Vieness Piano Duo: Vijay Venkatesh, piano | Eva Schaumkell, piano

Hailed for “effortless technical command and authority with a sense of poetry,” award-winning pianists Vijay Venkatesh and Eva Schaumkell return to the Secret Garden Concert Series as they play together on one piano with a program of Franz Schubert’s Fantasy in F Minor, Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, and Barber’s Souvenirs.

“Vijay Venkatesh and Eva Schaumkell, at the height of their abilities combine the profane and sacred, nature and poetry – they transcend whatever they touch.” (Star-Ledger, New Jersey)

“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)