Owings Mills: Soheil Nasseri - Czech It Out!

Date: November 07, 2009 (Saturday)
Time: 8:00 P.M.
Place: Gordon Center For Performing Arts, 3506 Gwynnbrook Avenue, Owings Mills MD 21117 (directions
Tickets: $28-$20, online

Iranian pianist Soheil Nasseri will perform piano compositions by two of his favorite composers, the German Robert Schumann and the Czech Antonin Dvorak.

Soheil says:

Antonin Dvorak has always been a hero of mine. Aside from our shared heritage, I’ve always admired Dvořàk for his romanticism and his limitless melodic ability. While the "Serenade for Strings" is one of Dvorak’s most popular orchestral works, the Piano Concerto, the first concerto he wrote, is rarely performed – although I am not sure why, since it is a beautiful work, engaging for both the performers and the listeners. Schumann, as one of the first great Romantic composers, is a perfect way to introduce this whole program.

Program:
Schumann: Overture, Scherzo and Finale
Dvorak: Serenade for Strings
Dvorak: Concerto for Piano in G Minor

Artists:
Soheil Nasseri, piano
Edward Polochick, artistic director

Video:
YouTube

Sponsors: Herbert Bearman Foundation

Kennedy Center: Hakim's Hakimime - De Dromendief

Date: October 31, 2009 (Saturday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center
Tickets: Free and open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis

Dutch actor and master storyteller Hakim stars in this one-man show, an adventure full of fantasy, music, and humor: "Ahmed van Oranje" in De Dromendief ("Ahmad of Orange" in The Dream Thief).

(Part of Kids Euro Festival 2009)

Video:


Sponsors: Kids Euro Festival 2009

Busboys & Poets: Maysoon Zayid

Date: October 17, 2009 (Saturday)
Time: 7:00 P.M.
Place: Busboys and Poets , 2021 14th ST NW, Washington DC (directions)

Comedian and actress Maysoon Zayid performs "LAW" in WDC for the first time ever, with tales of life as a Palestinian, Muslim virgin with Cerebral Palsy from New Jersey, looking for love in all the wrong places.

(A portion of all ticket sales will go to the Maysoon's Kids scholarship fund.)

Video:

St. Mary's: Kinan Azmeh and Ayman Fanous

Date: October 16, 2009 (Friday)
Time: 8:00 P.M.
Place: St. Mary's Episcopal-Anglican Church (Foggy Bottom), 728 23 Street NW, Washington DC 20037 (directions)
Tickets: $15 suggested donation at door

Clarinetist Kinan Azmeh returns to Washington, DC, this time with hometown guitarist Ayman Fanous.

Program: Improvisations (see videos, below, for sample)

Event Details:
Facebook

Announcements:
Washington Post
Upcoming Yahoo!
Washington DC Guide

Video:

Facebook (must have FB account)

Kinan Azmeh, Simon Shaheen benefit concert for Mohammad Bakri (02:20)


Ayman Fanous -- Bouzouki Improvisations (07:53)

Kennedy Center: Khoomei-Taiko Ensemble

Date: October 9, 2009 (Friday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium State of the Kennedy Center
Tickets: Free and open to the public on a first-come, first serve basis

Khoomei-Taiko Ensemble come to the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage with a blend of Mongolian, Japanese, and American artists who highlight Mongolia's version of khoomei (throat singing) with the driving rhythms of Japanese taiko (drums).

Kennedy Center: Kazakhstan's Gaukhar Murzabekova + Amir Tebenikhin

Date: October 7, 2009 (Wednesday)
Time: 7:30 P.M. (90 minutes, no intermissions)
Place: Terrace of the Kennedy Center (directions)
Tickets: Free but required by and available from only the presenter: call (202) 460-8362 or email almat@kazakhembus.com

The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan presents a brilliant Kazakh duo.

Gaukhar Murzabekova, violinist, has won acclaim domestically and internationally. She studied under the late maestro David Oistrakh and has appeared with Sviatoslav Richter, Natalia Gutman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Oleg Kagan.

Amir Tebenikhin, pianist, has won top prizes in European competitions. He has perfomed with renowned orchestras around the world.

Program:

• Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor "Concerto Without Orchestra" (Op. 14)
• Franck: Sonata in A major for violin and piano
• Vieuxtemps: "Reverie" (Op. 22)
• Castelnuovo-Tedesco: "Figaro" variations from Rossini's Barber of Seville

Sponsors: Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Kennedy Center: Khogzhumchu Ensemble

Date: October 7, 2009 (Wednesday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center
Tickets: Free and open to the public on a first-come first-serve basis

The Khogzhumchu Ensemble from Tuva, Russia, come to enchant Washington with their magical throat singing...

Video:
Open World
Millenium Stage

Sponsors:
CEC ArtsLink
National Council for Traditional Arts
Open World (Facebook)
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

Kennedy Center: Nejla Yatkin - Wallstories

Date: October 5, 2009 (Monday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center
Tickets: Free and open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis

Nejla Y. Yatkin returns to the Millennium Stage to present her new dance event, "Wallstories," from her Dancing with the Berlin Wall Project.

"Wallstories" celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. “Dancing with the Berlin Wall” reflects on what the Wall and its removal meant to the Western world in its broadest sense -- and how the Cold War constantly threatened to turn into a devastating atomic war.

Ms. Yatkin says:

In the mid eighties, as a teenager in Berlin, I personally felt the threat of imminent conflict. This concern was an ever-present issue in conversations, meetings and demonstrations. This concern was also physically manifest in the form of the Wall, which both separated as well as divided East and West. Initially, as a child, you were always aware of it as it demarcated freedom from autocracy. Later, one simply learned to navigate around it.

Eventually, the Wall transformed from a symbol of oppression and division to a symbol of art and entertainment, from paintings to dance clubs. These simultaneously embody and trivialize the history somehow.

"Dancing with the Berlin Wall" acknowledges that physical and political boundaries play an important role in an individual as well as a collective’s life, from conventions that we live by to barriers that can isolate people and divide nations.

Previous performances:
Millennium Stage archives

Press releases:
Berlin Wall Project

Blogs:
Berlin Wall Project

Video:
Wallstories by Nejla Yatkin (03:04)

YouTube.com
more videos

Sponsors: D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, Goethe Institute New York, University of Notre Dame, Princess Grace Awards