The Phillips Collection Announces 2016/2017 Music Season

Season Kicks off with Special Concert Featuring Mezzo-Soprano Denyce Graves Full Schedule Below

WASHINGTON—The Phillips Collection announced today the 76th concert season for the museum’s prestigious music series. Beginning in late September, Phillips Music will open the first of 37 planned performances across the Sunday Concert series, Leading International Composers, Thursday Music, and concerts in partnership with the University of Maryland’s School of Music.

The success and reputation of concerts held at the Phillips is due to the continual search for exceptional talent and the curation of a series based on the philosophy Duncan Phillips wanted for his collection.

“Music and its ability to interact with visual art continues to be held in high esteem at the Phillips,” said Director Dorothy Kosinski. “Our founder Duncan Phillips was drawn to experiencing and being challenged by music and visual art in the same setting. Decades since the museum hosted its first gathering in the iconic Music Room, this season continues to keep alive the same artistic spirit and aim. The performances ahead are certain to take audiences on a powerful journey that is once again greatly enhanced by the beautiful environment in which the music is heard.”

Some of the world’s most notable musicians have performed as part of Phillips Music over the years, as well as many promising young artists. While performers make their own selections, the concerts this season correspond with themes of movement and discovery and resonate with exhibitions and programs museum-wide.

“All music lends us the opportunity for celebration, reflection, and inspiration,” said Director of Music Caroline Mousset. “Building on the extraordinary success of our 75th anniversary season, the Phillips has planned myriad events this season to celebrate the past, present, and future of Phillips Music. It’s a season that embraces all genres of music for audiences of all ages.”

SUNDAY CONCERTS

The Sunday Concert series features an impressive roster of award-winning talent, both familiar and new. As the longest continuously running series in Washington, DC, Sunday Concerts regularly feature works from classic and living composers. This season includes numerous special engagements and debuts.

The Phillips Music season opens with acclaimed mezzo-soprano and DC native Denyce Graves (September 25), who will be making her Phillips debut. A graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts and alumna of Oberlin Conservatory and New England Conservatory, Graves began her professional career as part of the Wolf Trap Opera Company. She has performed numerous times with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, including her debut in the title role of Carmen in 1995.

Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves will open the Phillips Music season on September 25.

Rahim AlHaj (October 23) makes his Phillips debut in a concert playing the oud, one of the oldest of all string instruments. Born in Baghdad, AlHaj was eventually forced to leave Iraq because of his activism against Saddam Hussein’s regime. He was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2015.

Part of this season’s line-up are two winners of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, including Russian pianist and 2010 title holder Denis Kozhukhin (October 16) as well as Czech pianist Lukáš Vondráček (November 6) who won this year.

Aristo Sham (November 27), this year’s winner of the New York International Piano Competition, will also perform. Romanian cellist Andrei Ioniță (March 19), winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2015, will make his DC debut with South Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo.

Carter Brey (December 4), principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic since 1996, will perform a concert with major works by American composers Elliott Carter and Leon Kirchner. Joined and accompanied by Benjamin Pasternack on piano, the concert will also include Pasternack’s own transcription of selections from Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town.

Just in time for the holidays, Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear (December 18) returns to the Phillips with his own arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker from his 2015 recording of the complete ballet score.

Celebrated German violinist and 1993 winner of the Trilogy will make its U.S. debut at the Phillips on February 5. Photo: Gaetan Nerincx Paganini Competition, Isabelle Faust (January 22) makes her Phillips debut and will perform violin solo classics by J. S. Bach. During the same month, French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras (January 29) will perform all six of Bach’s cello suites.

With a reputation for “flash mob” concerts, violin trio Trilogy (February 5) will make its U.S. debut at the Phillips. Trilogy’s repertory include unique versions of music from the 18th to the 21st centuries—from Vivaldi to Daft Punk.

American violinist Anne Akiko-Meyers (April 23) will perform 21st-century works, including the world premiere of O Magnum Mysterium, which was composed especially for her by Morten Lauridsen.

This season concludes with a performance by legendary classical violinist Kyung Wha Chung (May 7), who made her impressive debut at age nine with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. Chung’s performance at the Phillips celebrates her recent return to the stage after a decade-long absence following an injury that nearly ended her career.

LEADING INTERNATIONAL COMPOSERS

In 2009, European embassies in Washington, DC, and The Phillips Collection joined forces to create an unprecedented concert series: Leading European Composers. Presenting some of the greatest living composers of our time, this series is unique in that the composers introduce their works with performers they specifically select for the occasion. Last season, Phillips Music broadened its scope to create Leading International Composers to infuse the concert season with the best of global contemporary music. Starting this year, each composer will also interact with students and faculty at the University of Maryland’s School of Music, a Phillips partner.

A Pulitzer Prize winner and Grammy Award nominee, composer Zhou Long (December 8) was born in Beijing, China, in 1953 and began his studies at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in 1977. He later went on to attend Columbia University and earned his doctorate there in 1993; he is currently Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. Zhou Long’s music embraces elements of traditional Chinese music and American symphonic music. The performance will feature musicians from the ensemble Music From China playing traditional Chinese instruments.

On December 8, Chinese Composer Zhou Long will present works featuring musicians from the ensemble Music From China. Photo: Southern Illinois University

Born in 1954, Swedish composer Anders Hillborg (March 9) studied counterpoint, composition, and electronic music at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm between 1976 and 1982. Since graduation, Hillborg has worked as a full-time composer, with a significant number of orchestra, chamber, and choral works.

Performing at the concert are the Calder Quartet, clarinetist Magnus Holmander, and Axiom Brass.

The performances this season are coordinated closely with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and the Embassy of Sweden. All Leading International Composer events conclude with a