About the Season
The Coolidge Auditorium
Today the Coolidge Auditorium, venue for world-class performers and world premieres of commissioned works since 1925, reflects the diversity of music in America, featuring artists from genres ranging from classical to jazz to musical theater and dance to bebop and rock 'n' roll.
The Cremonese Collection
Housed in the Library of Congress are several instruments by the violin makers of Cremona -- Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri. Every year since 1935, the Stradivari instruments donated by Gertrude Clarke Whittall have been played in the Stradivari Anniversary and other concerts. In May 2007, the Guarneri "Goldberg-Baron Vitta" violin joined the "Kreisler" -- both made from the same wood circa 1730 » learn more.
Commissioned Works (2007-2008)
- Wayne Shorter: Terra Incognita
Imani Winds, October 12, 2007 at 8:00pm - Chinary Ung: World premiere of a string quartet
Del Sol Quartet, October 19, 2007 at 8:00pm - Carlos Chavez: String Symphony no. 5
Camerata Bariloche, March 12, 2008 at 8:00pm - Steven Mackey: Ars moriendi
Borromeo String Quartet, May 16, 2008 at 8:00pm
New Radio Series
Beginning in October, Concerts from the Library of Congress will air across the nation in a new thirteen-week radio series hosted by Bill McGlaughliln -- a co-production of the Library of Congress, WETA-FM, and CD Syndications. The launch marks a return to the seventy-year tradition of broadcasts from the historic Coolidge Auditorium, with interactive Web packages highlighting some of the 22 million items in the Library's music archives. For further details see www.loc.gov or www.cdsyndications.com