The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has announced its upcoming events for the month of February.
The Center's Focus on Russia continues with ballet from Mariinsky and Bolshoi, pianist Denis Matsuev playing Rachmaninoff, and concert performances by Mariinsky Opera
Join Bill Conti and the NSO Pops for And the Winner Is...
Nobody knows the music that accompanies the flicker of the film projector better than Oscar and three-time Emmy winner Bill Conti. He has composed cinematic scores to match some of Hollywood's biggest roles and served as Music Director of the Academy Award ceremonies more than a dozen times. Join Conti in a thrilling orchestral salute to Hollywood as he raises his baton to his music for the hit movies Rocky, The Right Stuff, and For Your Eyes Only, as well as classic themes from E.T., the Extraterrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pinocchio, Mary Poppins, Star Wars, and more!
Feb. 11-13 | Concert Hall
A fairy tale valentine from Mariinsky Ballet's The Sleeping Beauty
Russia's world-renowned Mariinsky Ballet returns to perform Konstantin Sergeyev's full-length 1952 staging of the beloved fairy tale ballet, The Sleeping Beauty. Sergeyev's choreography follows from the Petipa original but packs more dance into every act, telling the story from evil curse to romantic awakening through big and beautiful movements.
Feb. 9-14 | Opera House
Power and spectacle: Bolshoi Ballet's Spartacus
Bolshoi Ballet performs former director Yuri Grigorovich's Spartacus, a "cinematically paced adventure yarn" (The New York Times) that showcases "a great company at the absolute peak of its form" (The Telegraph).
Feb. 16-21 | Opera House
Matsuev plays Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2
Denis Matsuev, whom The Washington Post calls "an absolute powerhouse of a pianist," performs fellow Russian Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. Conducted by young, rising star Maestro James Gaffigan, the National Symphony Orchestra also plays Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and contemporary Russian composer Lera Auerbach's haunting Requiem for Icarus.
Feb. 18-20 at 7:30 p.m. | Concert Hall
Revel in Alvin Ailey's Revelations
For its annual Kennedy Center engagement, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater presents a week of mixed programs that promise audience favorites as well as new works by today's most inventive choreographers. And to further delight the company's devoted fans, each program features Revelations, Alvin Ailey's "ever-touching" and "enduring megahit" (The Washington Post).
Feb. 2-7 | Opera House
Have a Fortas Valentine's Day
The youthful and energetic East Coast Chamber Orchestra's program covers a wide variety of classical music with works by Purcell, Elgar, Britten, and Villa-Lobos. And capping the performance is Tchaikovsky's lovely Serenade--a fitting end to this Valentine's Day concert.
Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. | Terrace Theater
Fortas Favorite: Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio
Enjoy an evening of Schubert from one of chamber music's "foremost trios with the greatest longevity...bring(ing) to worldwide audiences their expressive and exhilarating interpretations" (Musical America). Performing Schubert's Trio in B-flat, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio gives audiences a look at the composer's companionable, avuncular side.
Feb. 28 at 7:30 | Terrace Theater
Have a howling fun time at Peter and the WolfIn one of its most cherished and acclaimed productions, Magic Circle Mime Company returns to bring Peter and the Wolf to musical and theatrical life. Sergei Prokofiev's classic work for children--a symphonic fairy tale in which each character is represented by a different orchestral instrument--becomes a dazzling event for the whole family.
Feb. 14 at 1 & 3 p.m. | Concert Hall
Music gets fancy in the next NSO Teddy Bear Concert
Sometimes it's fun to look fancy, but did you know that you can dress up music? In Fancy That!, NSO violinist Marissa Regni plays a one-woman show about how to decorate music in the form of ornamentation and variations. To help "illustrate" this idea, music by Bach, Mozart, and Prokofiev is performed alongside graphic artist Marie Cheek, who will put children's imaginings of fancy music into images. Ages 3 and up.
Feb. 20 & 21 | Family Theater
The perfect concert for your little history buff
While nearly everyone is taught that the "Star-Spangled Banner" was written during the War of 1812, how many people realize there is a link between the Erie Canal and Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"? How about "Joy to the World" and the John Deere plow? In this multimedia program, Yvonne Caruthers and her NSO friends match recognizable musical works with key moments in American history. For age 9 and up.
Feb. 28 at 1:30 and 4 p.m. | Family Theater
Experience Mariinsky Opera in concert with Eugene Onegin, Boris Godunov, and even more coming in March
This concert performance of Eugene Onegin, conducted by Valery Gergiev, follows a dashing and worldly gentleman, portrayed by Alexey Markov, whose rejection of an impressionable country girl ends in a fatal duel.
Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. | Opera House | Tickets from $29
This concert version of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, conducted by Maestro Valery Gergiev, combines one of the great bass roles in the operatic repertory, performed here by Evgeny Nikitin, with thunderous choral movements of unprecedented power.
Feb. 28 at 1:30 p.m. | Opera House | Tickets from $29
More Mariinsky Opera in March:
An Evening of Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, & Borodin in Concert
Mar. 3 at 7:30 p.m. | Opera House | Tickets from $29
An Evening of Tchaikovsky Operas in Concert with special guest Anna Netrebko
Mar. 4 at 7:30 p.m. | Opera House | Tickets from $29
The Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Series for Artistic Excellence
Prokofiev's War and Peace
Fully staged with a cast of over 200.
Mar. 6 at 7:30 p.m. & Mar. 7 at 1:30 p.m. | Opera House
Tickets available online at kennedy-center.org or at the Box Office or charge by phone.?(202) 467-4600?Toll-free (800) 444-1324?TTY (202) 416-8524?Groups (202) 416- 8400
For more information, visit http://www.kennedy-center.org/
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