February is heading out like a lamb, posting temperatures teasing us with a taste of the splendid spring to come. But March has other plans re: the weekend weather, so it’s back indoors for diversions until next week.
Fortunately, there are fabulous alternatives to dining al fresco with friends and Fido. So put down that streaming guide. On Saturday, March 1 at 7pm SONOVA, the Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia, presents To Dream — Honoring the Dreamers and the Doers at the Ernst
Community and Cultural Center Theater in Annandale.
This modernized concert experience celebrates the indomitable spirit of resilience and determination shared by legendary and local heroes. Those who dare to dream are spotlighted through music using immersive, story-driven interpretative performances. The program boasts
not only two original compositions from exciting young composers such as Jeremy Smith, but also the soundtrack from the film Hook and the Finale from Dvorak’s New World Symphony, along with puppeteers from Glen Echo Park’s The Puppet Company.
Special guest Torri Huske, Arlington’s own 2024 Olympic Gold Medalist swimming champion, will be honored as a doer. SONOVA is also welcoming French composer Simon Royer from Paris whose work is making its world premier with SONOVA, conducted by music director
Maestro Ethan Lolley. Doors open at 6pm so come early to meet the puppeteers and puppets, the composers, and our latest local heroine!
For more information and tickets go to www.sonovamusic.org
On March 2 at 3pm the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic presents War and Peace at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. As the war in Ukraine has recently entered its third year, the WMP is proud to welcome the phenomenal Ukrainian pianist Stanislav
Khristenko, performing in a timely program.
In another salute to perseverance and resilience, the first piece on the program is Augusta Holmès’ Irlande, a vibrant expression of national identity employing sweeping melodies and punctuated emotion. Written in 1882, it was the French/Irish female composer’s plea for political
freedom.
Next is piano virtuoso Khristenko performing Myroslav Skorkyk’s revelatory Piano Concerto No. 3. The New York Times praises his artful musicianship as “charismatic” and “emotionally intense.”
The concert finale is appropriately Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67., also known as the Fate Symphony. Those famous first five notes are literally fate knocking at thedoor. If you have never heard this iconic beloved piece, performed live for over two hundred years, this is your chance!
Music Director Anna Binneweg is a pleasure to watch conduct the WMP. Join Anna and Executive and Artistic Planning Director Caroline Mousset in an intimate post-concert conversation. AfterChats features guest artists in engaging discussions fostering arts advocacy, complemented by a celebratory glass of bubbly. Free for all ticket holders. Bring your questions and join the dialogue.
For tickets and more information go to wmpamusic.org
If music isn’t your bag, it’s the last weekend of MeWOW: Fabulous Felines at Del Ray Artisans Gallery on Mount Vernon Avenue. The next exhibit is Fairy Tales from Around the World which opens Friday, March 7 with a reception from 7-9pm. Opening receptions are always free and all
are welcome to attend!
And if you haven’t yet been to Signature Theater for the phenomenal staging of Lin Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway and Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights, and/or the compellingly provocative Job, what are you waiting for? Be sure to read Jordan Wright’s glowing reviews in The Zebra. And get your tickets meNOW!
