The Music Division of the Library of Congress, to mark its 100th year as the nation's foremost musical archives, announces a gala season of concerts, films, lectures and exhibits that highlight the extraordinary range of the division's collections in classical music, jazz, American musical theater and dance.
![Concerts from the LOC](images/music.jpg)
Many of the events will be presented in the historic, newly renovated Coolidge Auditorium in the Thomas Jefferson Building. Considered one of the world's finest acoustic environments, the intimate, 500-seat concert hall has been home to many of the legendary musical figures of the century.
"We are very happy to be reopening the Coolidge Auditorium in our centennial year," said Jon Newsom, Music Division chief. "The official date is Oct. 30, 1997, the birthday of the founder of the Library's concert series, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. Our public programs will illuminate our distinguished history, and look ahead to what we intend will be an equally distinguished future. Our 1997-98 season demonstrates a renewed commitment to preserving and sharing the Library's performing arts treasures, to presenting superb chamber music, and to commissioning new works that reflect a broad vision of the performing arts in America."
All Library of Congress public programs are presented free of charge to the public. Tickets for Music Division events in the 1997-98 season may be obtained through TicketMaster (see below). Following is a schedule of selected programs:
1897 Dance Exposition:
Society Dances and Parlor Amusements in the Great Hall
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 1997, at 8 p.m. Dance scholar and producer Elizabeth Aldrich (known for authentic and visually sumptuous dance sequences in the films "Jefferson in Paris" and "The Age of Innocence") creates a centennial spectacle from 1897. Her Jonquil Street Foundation Dancers present a grand evening of quadrilles, waltzes, polonaises and two-steps in the Great Hall of the Library's Jefferson Building, a curtain-raiser for the season and a gala 100th birthday party for the Music Division. Following the 45-minute performance, the dance floor will be turned over to the audience, as the Library of Congress Centennial Cotillion Band plays vintage music from the Music Division vaults.
Music and Cinema Festival
A yearlong festival of film and video programs presented in cooperation with the Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. No tickets are required for the Jazz Film Series and the Nathan Kroll Film Series, which will be screened at 7p.m. in the Mary Pickford Theater, Madison Building, LM-302. All other Music and Cinema events will be presented in Coolidge Auditorium at 8 p.m., with tickets available from Ticket-Master (see below).
Library of Congress Jazz Film Series
Curated by jazz radio host Larry Appelbaum, the popular Jazz Film Series returns to the Pickford Theater Sept. 9 through Oct. 3, 1997, with programs on Tuesday and Friday at 7 p.m. Opening the series is the U.S. premiere of Don McGlynn's new documentary, Dexter Gordon: More Than You Know. Bruce Lundvall, president of the Blue Note jazz record label, will introduce the film. Also to be screened: performances by Milt Jackson, Mose Allison, Kenny Burrell (who will be on hand to speak and take questions), Ray Anderson and a tribute to the Jazz Messengers.
Nathan Kroll Film Series
Wednesday-Friday, Oct. 8-10, 1997, at 7 p.m. Distinguished producer and filmmaker Nathan Kroll introduces a trio of evenings devoted to luminaries Pablo Casals, Martha Graham, and Andrés Segovia from a 60-year career embracing film, television, radio and sound recordings. Winner of three Peabody awards, an Emmy and first prizes at film festivals in Venice, Italy; Edinburgh, Scotland; Berlin; Spain; and France, Mr. Kroll is admired for recording extraordinary encounters with some of the most important performing artists of our time -- legendary figures such as Pablo Casals, Andrés Segovia, Helen Hayes, Jascha Heifetz, Martha Graham, Joan Sutherland, and George Szell.
Grand Music Cinema
Wednesday, March 4, 1998, at 8 p.m. Grand Music Cinema transports you to a time when the new medium of film plus live music equaled a unique and compelling art. Film composer Elmer Bernstein ("The Age of Innocence," "The Ten Commandments," "The Magnificent Seven") has created a new violin-and-piano score, commissioned by the Library's McKim Fund, for a visually stunning, hand-painted Dutch gem from the earliest days of the cinema: "The 400 Tricks of the Devil, subtitled The Adventures of a Professor, Fantasie-Film." Bernstein's new work will be conducted by musicologist Gillian Anderson, who has reconstructed and restored the original orchestral scores for more than 20 of the great silent classics, performing them in the United States, Europe and South America. Also featured: a 1926 MGM version of La Bohème, starring Lillian Gish as Mimi, and John Gilbert as Rodolfo.
La Epoca de Oro del Tango (The Golden Age of Tango)
Thursday, March 5, 1998, at 8 p.m. Musicologist Susana Salgado, the Library's Consultant for Iberian and Latin-American music, brings together violinist José Miguel Cueto, pianist Nancy Roldán and bandoneón player Raúl Jaurena -- with tango dancers Daniela and Armando -- for a night devoted to the history of the tango and its relationship to the films of Carlos Gardel. Tango buffs can see clips from Gardel's 1930s films "El día que me quieras" ("The Day You Love Me"), "Cuesta abajo" ("Downward Slope"), "Tango Bar" and "El tango en Broadway" will be shown during the program. Ms. Salgado will present her lecture in English.
NEWBAND: Der Letze Mann
Wednesday, March 11, 1998, at 8 p.m. Composer Dean Drummond conducts NEWBAND -- juxtaposing conventional instruments with unique Harry Partch inventions like the cloud chamber bowls and the chromelodeon -- in his new score for the controversial 1924 German expressionist classic "Der Lezte Mann." Directed by F.W. Murnau, with a screenplay by Carl Mayer and photography by Karl Freund, the film features Emil Jannings in one of his greatest roles: an aging doorman at the cosmopolitan Atlantic Hotel.
Chamber Music Series: The Juilliard String Quartet
Thursday, Oct. 30, at 8 p.m. First violinist Joel Smirnoff, violist Samuel Rhodes and cellist Joel Krosnick welcome a new partner in a foursome celebrating 35 years as the Library's resident string quartet: violinist Ronald Copes. They reopen the Coolidge Auditorium with the Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 12, of Mendelssohn; Three Pieces for String Quartet by Aaron Copland; and Schubert's Quartet in D minor, D. 810.
Thursday and Friday, April 16 and 17, 1998, at 8 p.m. The Juilliard performs Beethoven's Grosse Fugue, Op. 130; Mozart's Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478, with pianist Thomas Sauer, and a world premiere: Donald Martino's Three Sad Songs for viola and piano, commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Fund in the Library of Congress.
Il Giardino Armonico
Friday, Oct. 31, 1997, at 8 p.m. This stunning period-instrument ensemble from Italy won a 1996 Gramophone Award for its recording of Antonio Vivaldi's double and triple concertos. The New York Times declares, "[Their] Vivaldi was so astonishing that it put worthy local efforts in the shade... Il Giardino Armonico are brilliant players by any standard." The group performs Vivaldi's La Follia" Variations, RV 63; Lute Concerto in D major, RV 93; and Concerto in C major, RV 443, for sopranino recorder; Matthew Locke's music for Shakespeare's The Tempest, and J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050.
NOTE: Beginning this season, patrons can order tickets for Music Division events from TicketMaster. We believe that this service will eliminate long pre-concert lines and offer a more efficient and convenient method for everyone. For information regarding tickets, call TicketMaster at the telephone numbers listed below.
In comparison to the previous system of distributing tickets on the evening of the performance, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis, the new ticket distribution service will eliminate the various inconveniences that patrons experienced, particularly the long pre-concert lines. It will also allow the Library of Congress to comply with current security regulations for all federal buildings.
Patrons can order advance tickets for Library of Congress Music Division events directly from TicketMaster. Seats for each concert will be available on a regularly scheduled basis, approximately six weeks before each concert, and patrons may request specific seats. Exception: Tickets will not be required for the Library of Congress Jazz Film Series and the Nathan Kroll Film Series, presented in the Library's Mary Pickford Theater. The TicketMaster ticketing system is designed to offer tickets on the "best available seat" basis. Therefore, the sooner patrons order tickets, the better the seat and the wider the selection. In the past, due to the popularity of the Library's concert series, there were not enough tickets for everyone waiting in line for many of the concerts. Under the new system, when a concert becomes "Sold Out," that information will be immediately available when patrons call TicketMaster.
As always, there will be no charge for events in the Concerts from the Library of Congress Series. However, there will be a nominal charge for the ticketing services provided for this series by TicketMaster.
Tickets may be obtained at all TicketMaster outlets, including Hecht's department stores, Tower Records and Kemp Mill Music, for a $2 service charge per ticket. For a complete list of outlets, call TicketMaster at (202) 432-7328, or visit TicketMaster Washington/Baltimore on the World Wide Web. TicketMaster phone-charge tickets may be obtained for a $2.75 service charge per ticket plus a $1.25 handling fee per order (four tickets maximum).
To charge tickets by phone, call (202) 432-7328 in Washington; (301) 808-6900 in suburban Maryland; (703) 432-7328 in Northern Virginia; (410) 752-1200 in Baltimore; or toll free from elsewhere at (800) 551-7328.