nso

It’s that time again: just seven months after our last...

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:09:27 -0500

Bassist Jeff Weisner locks his trunk up for travel

The stage is cleared after the concert

Bassist Tony Manzo packs up his instrument for the long trip from DC to JFK in New York, then on to Madrid

Acting Principal Horn Laurel Ohlson packs her concert clothes into the wardrobe trunk

Rick Barber, Assistant Principal Bass, pauses while packing up his wardrobe trunk

The trucks are ready!

Last but not least, the Stage Technicians and NSO Stage Manager load the instrument trunks onto the trucks

Last but not least, the Stage Technicians and NSO Stage Manager load the instrument trunks onto the trucks

Last but not least, the Stage Technicians and NSO Stage Manager load the instrument trunks onto the trucks

Last but not least, the Stage Technicians and NSO Stage Manager load the instrument trunks onto the trucks

It’s that time again: just seven months after our last international Tour, the NSO is heading out again! Today is our departure date for our 2013 Tour to Spain, Germany, France, and Oman.

After Saturday night’s concert at the Kennedy Center, the orchestra packed their instruments into traveling trunks, their concert clothing into wardrobe trunks, and the stage crew loaded them onto two tractor-trailers to drive them to JFK Airport for the cargo flight.

Read more on the NSO blog.

kennedycenter: How do you get kids excited about Classical...

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 13:46:10 -0500

kennedycenter:

How do you get kids excited about Classical Music?

With mash-ups of course.

In last week’s blog you sang along with us and learned how...

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 10:32:44 -0500

In last week’s blog you sang along with us and learned how we decorate the Concert Hall’s trees for the holidays. But what about the giant ornaments that hang over the stage? It’s more complicated than you might think.

Read the full blog here:

: The Capital Area Food Bank is returning to the Messiah concerts this year and will be accepting canned goods. Here’s...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:00:28 -0500

: The Capital Area Food Bank is returning to the Messiah concerts this year and will be accepting canned goods. Here’s...:

kennedycenter:

Did You Know?

When Messiah was premiered in Dublin in 1742, the proceeds went to the relief of three charitable organizations. Time and again, the oratorio has brought aid to
the hungry and impoverished. The Foundling Hospital in London, for example, was the recipient of at least one…

“5 keyboard staaaaars…”

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 09:24:13 -0500

Yesterday the NSO held their annual day of decorating in the Concert Hall to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas. The holidays are here at the Kennedy Center.

https://blogs.kennedy-center.org/sites/nso/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=c3a31203-87ed-4595-a083-87fbbde70512&ID=161&Web=1c8a8c06-79a4-441f-9dea-5102e79d1420

How does Randall Craig Fleischer feel about leading the NSO’s Happy Holidays! pops?

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:42:59 -0500

“I’m honored to be back,” he says in this feature in the Washington Times.

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/curtain-up/2012/dec/13/randall-fleischer-new-york-voices-headline-nso-pop/

kennedycenter: nyphil: Happening Now An Open Rehearsal...

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:32:43 -0500

kennedycenter:

nyphil:

Happening Now

An Open Rehearsal audience gets a sneak peek of the Orchestra working with conductor Juraj Valcŭha, who is making his Philharmonic debut this week in a program that includes Weber’s Oberon Overture, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with André Watts, and two works by Richard Strauss: Symphonic Fantasy on Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow), and the Suite from Der Rosenkavalier.

Join us in welcoming the Slovakian native for concerts tonight through December 11.

Oh, and his name? It’s pronounced Yur-eye VAL-chu-ah.

Valcŭha conducted the National Symphony Orchestra just last week with special guest, pianist, Jonathan Biss.

kennedycenter: On Nov. 27 the Kennedy Center Concert Hall...

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 17:58:25 -0500

kennedycenter:

On Nov. 27 the Kennedy Center Concert Hall unveiled its new Rubenstein Family Organ. The house was packed that night with people who braved the cold just for a chance to score one of the free tickets that were given out before the concert. The line tripled on itself in the Hall of Nations and gradually made its way out the front door and along the facade of the Kennedy Center building. It was truly a sight to see.

If you missed this organ concert, don’t fret, you’ll have a few more opportunities this season to check out what all the buzz is about. In the meantime, watch the time-lapse video of the Concert Organ installation.

http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=A79595

: NSO conductor Vasily Petrenko on Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:21:15 -0500

: NSO conductor Vasily Petrenko on Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4:

kennedycenter:

Friday night NSO conductor Vasily Petrenko will explore Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4. Here he talks a little about what the piece means to him.

For me Shostakovich 4 is a combination of many things and thoughts by Dmitry Dmitriyevich at that time. It’s clearly a massive step forward in…

Piece by Piece: The New Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ Photo...

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:00:13 -0500

The next pipes are selected for lifting up to the installation platform.

Piece by Piece: The New Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ

Photo by Scott Suchman

Piece by Piece: The New Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ Photo...

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:00:33 -0400

The shrouded organ console with pipes.

Piece by Piece: The New Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ

Photo by Scott Suchman

Piece by Piece: The New Kennedy Center Concert Hall...

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 10:00:12 -0400

Piece by Piece: The New Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ

Pictured here: Most of the organ is not visible to the public, as it is behind the façade.

Photo by Scott Suchman

Piece by Piece: The new Kennedy Center Concert Hall...

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 09:03:33 -0400

Piece by Piece: The new Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ

Pictured here: Pipes aweigh!

Photo by Scott Suchman.

Piece by Piece: The new Kennedy Center Concert Hall...

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 09:25:09 -0400

Piece by Piece: The new Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ

Pictured here: members of the Casavant Frères team, on the upper platform, await the tub of smaller pipes about to be lifted to them.

Photo by Scott Suchman.

Piece by Piece: The New Kennedy Center Concert Hall...

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:54:49 -0400

Piece by Piece: The New Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ

Pictured here: some of the pipes are 30 feet tall.

Photo by Scott Suchman

Piece by Piece: The New Kennedy Center Concert Hall...

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 09:53:47 -0400

Piece by Piece: The New Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ

Pictured here: Each pipe is individually labeled with its specific pitch and placement.

Photo by Scott Suchman

Piece by Piece: The new Kennedy Center Concert Hall...

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 09:59:23 -0400

Piece by Piece: The new Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ

Pictured here: each of the organ pipes was carefully protected once gilded.

Photo courtesy Casavant Frères.

Piece by Piece: The new Kennedy Center Concert Hall...

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:57:49 -0400

Piece by Piece: The new Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ

Pictured here: the façade pipes, visible for the first time on September 30, required their own special treatment: gilding.

Photo courtesy Casavant Frères.

Piece by Piece: The new Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ A...

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:56:33 -0400

The 5000 pipes were packed and traveled overland from Saint-Hyacinthe in Quebec Province. (Casavante Frères)

The organ console traveled in its own individual crate. (Casavante Frères)

Piece by Piece: The new Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ

A while back, we gave you a sneak peek at the installation of the new organ.

As we get closer to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall Organ Debut: Free Concert, we figured you deserved a few more inside looks at how the organ made its way from boxes to installation.

newmusicusa: In 1958, the premiere of John Cage’s Concert for...

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 12:12:45 -0400

newmusicusa:

In 1958, the premiere of John Cage’s Concert for Piano and Orchestra was marred by disruptive behavior from both audience members and musicians. By Cage’s own account, “some of [the musicians]—not all—introduced in the actual performance sounds of a nature not found in my notations, characterized for the most part by their intentions which had become foolish and unprofessional.”[1] These intrusions included, among other things, exaggerated corny blues riffs, prolonged and sarcastic applause, and a tuba ostinato from Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps.[2] This was certainly not the only incident of this kind in Cage’s life. (via NewMusicBox » Cage = 100: Tudor and the Performance Practice of Concert for Piano and Orchestra)

John Cage would have been 100 years old today - in honor of this legendary composer’s birthday, keep your exaggerated corny blues riffs to yourself (at least until tomorrow).