Release Date: September 23, 2004

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART ANNOUNCES
NEW CONCERT, NEW START TIME, AND NEW HEAD
OF THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT

Washington, DC--Forty concerts by acclaimed American and international musicians make up the spectacular 63rd season of free concerts at the National Gallery of Art. As in the past, concerts will be presented Sundays, beginning October 3, 2004, and ending June 26, 2005, but they will begin at 6:30 p.m., one-half hour earlier than in previous seasons. Several of this season’s concerts feature programs chosen especially to highlight Gallery exhibitions and the Gallery’s first music and art education festival, November 13-16.

FALL SEASON

The National Gallery Orchestra will open the season on October 3, 2004, under the direction of guest conductor Angel Gil-Ordóñez. World-renowned soprano Alessandra Marc will perform songs and arias by Ludwig van Beethoven, Stefano Donaudi, Giacomo Puccini, and Richard Strauss on October 10. The exhibition All the Mighty World: The Photographs of Roger Fenton, 1852-1860 (October 17, 2004-January 2, 2005) will be celebrated on October 17 with a performance by the National Gallery Vocal Arts Ensemble. The program, selected by Vocal Arts Ensemble artistic director Rosa Lamoreaux and guest conductor Samuel Gordon, consists of vocal music with texts by William Wordsworth and other 19th-century English poets. On October 24 the New York Chamber Soloists will perform American chamber music from 1942 to 1959 that includes works by Arthur Berger, Walter Piston, Elliott Carter, and Mel Powell. The October 31 concert will feature pianist Andreas Haefliger playing four Beethoven sonatas.

Three pianists will appear at the Gallery in November: Christopher Kypros (November 7); Ariana Barkeshli (November 21), whose recital of music by Mussorgsky and Persian composers Aminollah Hossein, Goinoush Khaleghi, and Alireza Mashayekhi will honor the exhibition Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Victoria and Albert Museum; and Leon Bates (November 28).

FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ART EDUCATION - NOVEMBER 13-16

The exhibition Gerard ter Borch (November 7, 2004-January 30, 2005) will be celebrated by four concerts as part of the Gallery’s first festival combining music and art education. Titled "Evenings with Gerard ter Borch", the festival will be presented in cooperation with the Royal Netherlands Embassy. On consecutive evenings, November 13-16, concerts and gallery talks relating to 17th-century Dutch art and music will be presented. Gallery talks are set to convene each evening at 5:30 p.m. in the West Building Rotunda. Following the Gallery talks, concerts will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the East Garden Court. The Washington Bach Consort (November 13), the Folger Consort (November 14), and the world-renowned recorder virtuoso Marion Verbruggen (November 15), will perform music by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Johannes Shenck, Constantin Huygens, Jacob van Eyck, and other 17th-century Dutch and Flemish composers. The Trio Pétillant from the Netherlands will perform on November 15 and 16, at 5:30 p.m., as a musical adjunct to Gallery talks.

WINTER SEASON

Highlights of the Gallery concerts in the holiday season will include a recital by violinist Henning Kragerrud and pianist Helge Kjekshus, presented in cooperation with the Royal Norwegian Embassy as an adjunct to the Norwegian Christmas at Union Station festival. The Gallery’s traditional holiday concerts will take place on December 19, when the Washington Men’s Camerata sings a concert of seasonal favorites, and on January 2, when the National Gallery Orchestra plays its traditional Viennese New Year concert under the baton of guest conductor Hobart Earle.

January 2005 performers include the Mendelssohn Piano Trio, violinist Cyrus Forough, and pianist Gülsin Onay, playing music by Franz Liszt, Edward Elgar, and Turkish composers Ahmed Adnan Saygun and Muhiddin Durroglu-Demiriz in honor of the exhibition Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Rembrandt’s Late Religious Portraits (January 30-May 1, 2005) will be highlighted by a full day of musical and educational programs and a Sunday concert on January 30, with music provided by the Camerata Trajectina from the Netherlands.

The National Gallery Vocal Arts Ensemble and the Smithsonian Chamber Players, under the direction of Kenneth Slowik, will also honor the Rembrandt exhibition with a performance of Johann Thiele’s Saint Matthew Passion on February 6. Cotton Puffs,Q-Tips®, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha (February 13-May 30, 2005) will be celebrated on February 20 with a jazz concert by jazz trumpeter Bobby Rodriguez and his trio from Los Angeles (performed in the East Building Auditorium), and a recital on February 27 by violinist Leila Josefowicz and pianist John Novacek, performing works by Novacek and fellow Los Angeles composers Esa Pekka Salonen, John Adams, and Mark Grey.

SPRING SEASON

The exhibition André Kertész (February 6-May 15, 2005) will be celebrated with concerts by the Takacs String Quartet, which will perform works by Béla Bartók and Ludwig van Beethoven on March 6, and the National Gallery Chamber Players Wind Quintet, performing works by Antonin Reicha and other Hungarian composers on March 13.

Highlights of the spring concerts at the Gallery will include a concert by the Baltimore Consort (May 8) performing music from the 17th century in honor of the exhibition Jan de Bray and the Classical Tradition (March 13-August 14, 2005); The St. Petersburg String Quartet (May 15); and the Monty Alexander Trio performing jazz in the East Building Auditorium (May 22). The National Gallery Orchestra will perform its last concert of the season on June 5, under the direction of guest conductor Emil de Cou. Rounding out the June concerts will be pianist Carlos César Rodriguez (June 12) and two of the Gallery’s resident ensembles, the National Gallery Chamber Players String Quartet (June 19) and the National Gallery Vocal Arts Ensemble (June 26), singing a cappella choral music from the Renaissance.

CONCERTS IN HONOR OF TOULOUSE-LAUTREC AND MONTMARTRE

Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre (March 20 -June 12, 2005) will be celebrated by three concerts. On March 20, L’Orchestre de Chambre Français will perform music by Maurice Ravel, Albéric Magnard, and other early 20th-century French composers; on March 27, a performance by world-renowned pianist Philippe Entremont will mark the occasion; and a French cabaret concert by soprano Rosa Lamoreaux and pianist Betty Bullock will conclude the celebration on April 3.

CONCERTS IN HONOR OF GILBERT STUART

Gilbert Stuart (March 27-July 31, 2005) will be highlighted by four separate concert events. The first takes place on April 10, when Christ Church Cathedral Choir from Oxford, England, performs music by Thomas Attwood, William Crotch, William Billings, and other British and American composers of Stuart’s time. The National Gallery Orchestra, led by guest conductor Stephen Simon, will perform works by Joseph Haydn, William Boyce, and other composers of Stuart’s era on April 17, and fortepianist Penelope Crawford, with the assistance of organist Stephen Ackert, will perform music from Stuart’s era for fortepiano, harpsichord, and organ on April 24. The concert on May 1 will conclude the music in celebration of Stuart’s time with a performance by Dean Shostak on the glass harmonica.

NEW HEAD OF MUSIC DEPARTMENT

Stephen Ackert was named head of the music department in January 2004 after 16 years as the Gallery’s music program specialist. An accomplished organist and harpsichordist, Ackert will perform in two of the concerts during the 2004-2005 season; on January 16 as accompanist to violinist Cyrus Forough and on April 24 as accompanist to fortepianist Penelope Crawford. His lectures and Gallery talks on the connections between art and music in various periods and cultures are a regular feature of the Gallery’s educational offerings. Ackert is committed to developing projects that enhance the opportunities for Gallery visitors to experience great art and music concurrently.

CONCERT INFORMATION

Gallery concerts are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-seated basis. Performances are scheduled every Sunday, October 3, 2004, through June 26, 2005, except December 26 and May 29. Seating begins at 6:00 p.m. and concerts start promptly at 6:30 p.m. in the Garden Courts of the West Building, except for the concerts on February 20 and May 22, which will take place in the East Building Auditorium. For concerts in the West Building, the entrance at Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW remains open until 6:30 p.m. There is no entry or reentry after 6:30 p.m. For concerts in the East Building, the entrance at Fourth Street and Constitution Avenue NW remains open throughout the concert. The Garden Café, in the West Building, is open until 6:00 p.m. for visitors’ convenience. Monthly listings of the concert programs can be obtained from the Gallery’s Web site at www.nga.gov/programs/music/index.shtm or by calling (202) 842-6941.

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART ANNOUNCES NEW CONCERT, NEW START TIME, AND NEW HEAD OF THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART ANNOUNCES
NEW CONCERT, NEW START TIME, AND NEW HEAD
OF THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT