PostClassical Ensemble Reveals 2024-25 Season

PostClassical Ensemble has announced the concert line-up for its 2024-2025 season at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater,* with season packages on-sale today. This, the 21st season of the Washington, DC-based chamber orchestra, will continue PCE’s signature model of presenting imaginative concert experiences developed in close collaboration with guest curators. Audiences will experience the vast range of music from Brazil, get to know Italy’s most accomplished film composer, and be immersed in the perspective of a contemporary American Indian composer.This announcement comes on the heels of PCE Music Director Angel Gil-Ordóñez’s immensely successful 2023-24 season, which saw the second straight year of sold-out and critically-acclaimed concerts at The Kennedy Center.

Legends of Brazil: A Musical Celebration for 200 Years of Friendship

November 19 & 20, 2024 at 7:30pm

The Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

The new season begins on November 19th when PCE celebrates the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between America and Brazil with Legends of Brazil: A Musical Celebration for 200 Years of Friendship. This bicentennial celebration showcases two centuries of incredible music from South America, from the earliest works by composers native to Brazil to a world premiere commission by André Mehmari, a leading figure on the Brazilian classical scene today. Presented by guest curator Flávio Chamis (composer, conductor, and educator), the concert offers a panoramic view of Brazilian concert music. The program includes a tempestuous classical overture by José Maurício Nunes, the modern and US premiere of movements from Francisco Mignone’s Quadros Amazônicos (an orchestral suite based on myths from the Amazon), Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras no. 4, a set of popular Brazilian songs performed by DC’s own Elin Melgarejo, and chamber music featuring Latin GRAMMY-nominated violist, Tatjana Mead Chamis. 

Amazing Grace: Fire and Light

January 13, 2025 at 7:30pm

The Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

On January 13th, PCE presents Amazing Grace: Fire and Light. Honoring composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate with PCE's American Roots Artist Award, PCE’s seasonal tradition of ringing in the New Year, Amazing Grace, returns with a stirring program of music for chamber orchestra and vocal soloists. Celebrating the universal expression of the human spirit through music, Amazing Grace prompts a living BIPOC composer to curate a concert of music they connect with deeply, including sharing their own work. In this concert, citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, takes PCE on a journey of fire and light in a program featuring selections from his moving cantata Standing Bear, and Lowak Shoppala’ (Fire and Light), a work expressing Tate’s Chickasaw heritage through music, and more. The concert also includes Samuel Barber’s dreamlike Knoxville: Summer of 1915 performed by Mvskoke soprano, Kirsten C. Kunkle.

Beyond the Godfather: The Concert Music of Nino Rota

March 18, 2025 at 7:30pm

The Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

Italian composer Nino Rota is perhaps best known for his unforgettable Academy Award-winning original score composed for Francis Ford Coppola’s cinematic masterpiece The Godfather, and his film career is marked by celebrated collaborations with Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, and Franco Zeffirelli. However, Rota’s 150 film scores are just one side of his extraordinarily prolific compositional output. In our season finale, Beyond the Godfather: The Concert Music of Nino Rota, PCE will paint a full picture of Rota’s artistry, including gems from his film music, such as La Strada, Amarcord, and Romeo and Juliet, and his remarkable yet little-known concert works, such as Concerto for Strings, music from the ballet Le Moliére imaginaire, his Nonetto for chamber ensemble, and his virtuosic concert piece for french horn and orchestra, Castel del monte. Beyond the Godfather is presented in partnership with the Italian Cultural Institute.

All concerts will take place at 7:30pm at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. Each performance will feature discussions with experts that help contextualize and expand on the ideas presented in concert. 

Additionally, PCE will continue their much-lauded salon concert series held at the beautiful Hay-Adams hotel, announcing details as they become available. 

Season package tickets for performances at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater are on sale now. Single tickets go on sale next month. For more information, visit www.postclassical.com. 

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