National Symphony Orchestra

Upcoming Events

• National Symphony Orchestra: Hugh Wolff, conductor/Joshua Bell, violin, plays Lalo

  Nov 19 - 22, 2009 | Buy Now
  An acclaimed American conductor with a global perspective, Hugh Wolff conducts a program featuring Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole with Joshua Bell, whom the Boston Herald calls "the greatest American violinist active today."

• NSO Kinderkonzert: Making Music with Friends

  Nov 21, 2009 | Buy Now
  The newest concert by the Kennedy String Quartet of Strings and Stories fame is an interactive program for children that explores the connections between the way we feel and act and the way music is composed and performed. Age 4+.

• NSO Pops: The Music of The Music Man/Marvin Hamlisch, conductor

  Nov 27 - 28, 2009 | Buy Now
  Songs from Meredith Willson's Tony Award–winning blockbuster musical are performed in concert by the NSO Pops, including "Seventy-six Trombones," "Goodnight My Someone," "Till There Was You," and more.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Andrew Litton, conductor/Yuja Wang, piano, plays Higdon

  Dec 3 - 5, 2009 | Buy Now
  Pianist Yuja Wang premieres Jennifer Higdon's Piano Concerto with Grammy-winning conductor Andrew Litton. Also on the program are Rimsky-Korsakov's Suite from The Snow Maiden and Tchaikovsky's First Symphony.

• NSO Pops: Happy Holidays!/Marvin Hamlisch, conductor

  Dec 10 - 13, 2009 | Buy Now
  Step out of the cold and allow time-honored holiday classics to warm your heart! The NSO Pops captures the spirit of the holiday season in this Kennedy Center tradition featuring vocal ensemble Afro Blue, a visit from Santa Claus, and other guests.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Handel's Messiah

  Dec 17 - 20, 2009 | Buy Now
  Get in the holiday spirit with the NSO's annual performance of Handel's masterpiece, this year featuring conductor Rossen Milanov, four guest vocal soloists, and The Washington Chorus in the large-scale, epic Beecham/Goossens orchestration.

• New Year's Eve at the Kennedy Center

  Dec 31, 2009 at 8:30 PM | Buy Now
  Usher in the New Year with a dazzling concert featuring members of the National Symphony Orchestra performing classic favorites followed by the Grand Foyer Party.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Leonard Slatkin, conductor/Nikolaj Znaider, violin, plays Elgar

  Jan 7 - 9, 2010 | Buy Now
  Former NSO Music Director Leonard Slatkin returns to the Kennedy Center, to lead soloist Nikolaj Znaider in Elgar's Violin Concerto. Znaider will play the same Guarnerius violin with which Fritz Kreisler premiered Elgar's work 100 years ago.

• NSO Teddy Bear Concert: Bears, Bears Everywhere

  Jan 9, 2010 | Buy Now
  New! NSO musicians Paula Akbar, Lewis Lipnick, and Joe Connell, take a peek at adorable bears and the sounds of their homelands--music that is as unique as they are. Perfect for even the youngest music lovers in your family.

• NSO Ensemble Concert: Connections: MORE Science and Music

  Jan 10, 2010 | Buy Now
  Endangered species, synapses, neurons, condensation, and precipitation--are these terms from a science course or a music class? Learn the answer in this new fast-paced, multimedia performance by NSO musicians. Age 9+.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Michael Stern, conductor/Emanuel Ax, piano, plays Beethoven

  Jan 14 - 16, 2010 | Buy Now
  Emanuel Ax returns to perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 led by renowned conductor Michael Stern. The program also features symphonies by Barber and Sibelius.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Iván Fischer, conductor/Christianne Stotijn, mezzo-soprano & Stig Andersen, tenor

  Jan 21 - 23, 2010 | Buy Now
  NSO Principal Conductor Iván Fischer returns with music by a favorite composer, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. The performances feature tenor Stig Andersen and the exciting young mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn.

• NSO Children's Concert with Iván Fischer

  Jan 24, 2010 | Buy Now
  NSO Principal Conductor Iván Fischer introduces children to the world of classical music through short, carefully selected works performed by NSO ensembles.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Iván Fischer, conductor/Mischa Maisky, cello, plays Tchaikovsky

  Jan 28 - 30, 2010 | Buy Now
  NSO Principal Conductor Iván Fischer leads Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations and Lensky's Aria featuring cellist Mischa Maisky, whose performances are marked by "sentiment and dancing energy" (The New York Times).

• NSO Kinderkonzerts: Magical Mozart

  Jan 30, 2010 | Buy Now
  Showing all the fun he must have had creating and playing his music, the Unlikely Trio--NSO musicians Carole Bean, flute, Dotian Levalier, harp, and William Wielgus, oboe--performs a wonderful array of Mozart's greatest works. Age 4+.

• NSO Pops: And the Winner Is.../Bill Conti, conductor

  Feb 11 - 13, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  The NSO Pops led by guest conductor and movie music composer Bill Conti presents a thrilling orchestral salute to the Academy Awards.

• NSO Family Concert: Peter and the Wolf

  Feb 14, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  In one of its most cherished and acclaimed productions, Magic Circle Mime Company returns to bring Sergei Prokofiev's classic work for children to life as a dazzling theatrical and musical event.

• National Symphony Orchestra: James Gaffigan, conductor/Denis Matsuev, piano, plays Rachmaninoff

  Feb 18 - 20, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  Young, rising star conductor James Gaffigan leads virtuoso Russian pianist Denis Matsuev in Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. The program also features Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and Auerbach's haunting Requiem for Icarus.

• NSO Teddy Bear Concert: Fancy That!

  Feb 20 - 21, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  In Fancy That!, NSO violinist Marissa Regni plays a one-woman show about how to decorate music in the form of ornamentation and variations. This concert is perfect for even the youngest music lovers in your family.

• NSO Ensemble Concert: Connections: MORE History and Music

  Feb 28, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  In this multimedia program, Yvonne Caruthers and several of her NSO colleagues integrate many of today's most recognizable musical works alongside landmarks in 19th-century American history.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor/Ingrid Fliter, piano, plays Mozart

  Mar 4 - 6, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  Former NSO Principal Guest Conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos returns to conduct Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 with Argentinean pianist Ingrid Fliter, as well as Mozart's Serenata notturna and Strauss's Symphonia Domestica.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Christoph Eschenbach, conductor/Verdi Requiem

  Mar 11 - 13, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  In his first NSO concert since his appointment as the Music Director of the Kennedy Center and NSO, Christoph Eschenbach conducts Verdi's Requiem with four great singers of today.

• Beyond the Baton: Christoph Eschenbach

  Mar 13, 2010 at 6:00 PM | Buy Now
  Christoph Eschenbach, Music Director Designate of the National Symphony Orchestra, discusses his vision for the future of the NSO and his concert of Verdi's Requiem.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Jakub Hrusa, conductor/Daniel Müller-Schott, cello, plays Dvorák

  Mar 25 - 28, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  Prague Philharmonia's young Chief Conductor, Jakub Hruša, leads fellow rising star Daniel Müller-Schott in Dvorák's Cello Concerto. The program also includes Schubert's "Unfinished" and Janácek's Taras Bulba.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Iván Fischer, conductor/Bach

  Apr 1 - 3, 2010 | On Sale 2/10/10,
  NSO Principal Conductor Iván Fischer celebrates Easter week by conducting Bach's Mass in B minor with renowned vocal soloists and the University of Maryland Concert Choir.

• NSO Pops: Michael Cavanaugh in Concert: The Music of Billy Joel and More/Steven Reineke, conductor

  Apr 17, 2010 at 8:00 PM | On Sale 2/10/10,
  A veteran of the "Piano Man" role from Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp's Tony-winning Broadway production Movin' Out, Michael Cavanaugh brings Joel's music to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Gospel Concert

  Apr 24, 2010 at 8:00 PM | On Sale 2/10/10,
  

• National Symphony Orchestra: Hans Graf, conductor/Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano, plays Connesson & Ravel

  Apr 29 - May 1, 2010 | On Sale 2/10/10,
  The NSO, conducted by Hans Graf, plays a commission by composer Guillaume Connesson and Ravel's Left Hand Concerto, both with celebrated pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who plays with "classical refinement and cool beauty" (The New York Times).

• NSO Pops: Sondheim at 80/Marvin Hamlisch, conductor

  May 6 - 8, 2010 | On Sale 2/10/10,
  The NSO Pops celebrates the 80th birthday of 16-time Tony Award–winning composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim with a concert of his greatest hits.

• NSO Family Concert: Lemony Snicket's The Composer is Dead

  May 9, 2010 | On Sale 2/10/10,
  In this gripping whodunit by renowned children's book author Lemony Snicket and composer Nathaniel Stookey, every member of the Orchestra is a suspect in their composer's untimely finale.

• National Symphony Orchestra: John Adams, conductor/Eric Owens, bass-baritone

  May 13 - 15, 2010 | On Sale 2/10/10,
  The unique and imaginative John Adams conducts his Walt Whitman–inspired composition The Wound Dresser, featuring baritone Eric Owens. Also on the program are works by Barber and Elgar as well as Copland's Suite from Billy the Kid.

• National Symphony Orchestra: John Adams, conductor/Leila Josefowicz, violin

  May 20 - 22, 2010 | On Sale 2/10/10,
  John Adams returns for a program that includes two of his works, The Dharma at Big Sur, featuring violinist Leila Josefowicz, and his City Noir Symphony. Also on the program are works by Britten and Stravinsky.

• National Symphony Orchestra: National Memorial Day Concert

  May 30, 2010 at 8:00 PM
  

• National Symphony Orchestra: Iván Fischer, conductor/Stravinsky & Rimsky-Korsakov

  Jun 3 - 5, 2010 | On Sale 4/7/10,
  In his final performances of the season, NSO Principal Conductor Iván Fischer takes the podium to lead Stravinsky's once-controversial, now-beloved Le Sacre du Printemps.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Kristjan Järvi, conductor/Evelyn Glennie, percussion, plays Tuur

  Jun 10 - 12, 2010 | On Sale 4/7/10,
  As part of the VSA arts International Festival, the NSO, conductor Kristjan Järvi, and percussionist Evelyn Glennie perform Tüür's "Magma." The uplifting program also features music from Ellington and Bernstein.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Juraj Valcuha, conductor/Jennifer Koh, violin, plays Szymanowski

  Jun 17 - 19, 2010 | On Sale 4/7/10,
  Jennifer Koh returns with her "pure, singing violin" (The New York Times) to perform Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, led by conductor Juraj Valcuha. Mahler's titanic Symphony No. 1 rounds out the program.

• NSO Pops: Classical Mystery Tour/Martin Herman, conductor

  Jun 24 - 26, 2010 | On Sale 4/7/10,
  Imagine The Beatles playing in concert with a symphony orchestra. What would that have sounded like? Find out when Classical Mystery Tour performs live with the NSO Pops, conducted by Martin Herman.

• National Symphony Orchestra: Jeffrey Kahane, conductor/Yo-Yo Ma, cello

  Jun 29, 2010 at 8:00 PM | On Sale 4/7/10,
  Known on the global stage for his passion and flawless performances, cellist Yo-Yo Ma returns to the NSO for a concert led by Jeffrey Kahane, whom the Denver Post says possesses "undeniable charisma."

• A Capitol Fourth

  Jul 4, 2010 at 8:00 PM
  

• National Symphony Orchestra: Labor Day Capitol Concert

  Sep 5, 2010 at 8:00 PM