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Moving Stories, Dancing Myths
Saturday, November 1, 2008, 3:00 pm, Sackler sublevel 1
Saturday, November 8, 2008, 3:00 pm, Sackler sublevel 1
Experience the magical world of the Ramayana epic with performances from the Devi Dance Theater. Young dancers recreate the lively battles between Hanuman's monkey army and the demon-king Ravana, as well as stories of the birth of Sita. Chat with the dancers to learn how these performances relate to the manuscript paintings featured in Garden and Cosmos.
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The Blossoms Rained, and There Was Light
Saturday, November 15, 2008, 3:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium
Join Devi Dance Theater for retellings of classical stories about the Hindu deities Rama, Krishna, and Shiva. Hear poems from the Hindi Ramayana of Tulsidas and see how the culture of sixteenth-century India still influences contemporary choreography.
Free tickets required.
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Balinese Music and Dance: Gamelan Mitra Kusuma
Thursday, December 4, 2008, 7:30 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Pre-concert gallery tour, Hindu and Buddhist Art. 6:45 pm
Experience the distinctive sounds of a Balinese gamelan orchestra and dramatic dances from the island's Hindu-Balinese traditions as the Washington area's own Gamelan Mitra Kusuma (Flowering Friendship) performs a program of classic and contemporary repertoire. Guest artists I Gusti Ngurah Kertayuda, I Made Lasmawan, and Luh Made Dwi Wahyuni joins gamelan director I Nyoman Suadin for this event. I Nyoman Suadin studied at Bali's Conservatory of the Performing Arts and currently teaches at the University of Maryland, Swarthmore College, and the Eastman School of Music.
This program is cosponsored with the Embassy of Indonesia.
Free tickets required.
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Five Directions: A Korean and American Jazz Excursion
Tuesday, December 9, 2008, 7:30 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Six boundary-breaking musicians from Korea and the United States join forces for this experimental work evoking the origins of the universe, the cosmic balance of ying and yang, and the five elements of creation. Three leading lights of the New York improv scene—Ned Rothenberg (clarinet and shakuhachi), Erik Friedlander (cello), and Satoshi Takeishi (percussion)—are joined by Korean musicians Yoon Jeong Heo (geomungo/zither), Kwon Soon Kang (vocal), and Young Chi Min (daegum/flute and chang-go/drum) for this unique collaboration that blends free jazz and traditional Korean music.
The concert is copresented with the Asia Society Washington Office, with support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of South Korea.
Free tickets required.
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Musicians from Marlboro I
Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 7:30 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Pre-concert gallery tour, Surface Beauty: American Art and Freer’s Aesthetic Vision. 6:45 pm
Young participants in Vermont’s annual Marlboro Music Festival bring the excitement of this prestigious gathering to the Freer with performances of Mozart’s String Quintet, K. 614; Mendelssohn’s Octet, op. 20; and Janácìk’s String Quartet no. 1. Festival veteran Scott St. John, violin and viola, is joined by emerging artists Jessica Lee, Yonah Zur, and Miho Saegusa, violin; Maiya Papach and Mark Holloway, viola; and Susan Babini and Na-Young Baeck, cello.
Free tickets required.
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Iraqi Jazz Fusions: Amir ElSaffar’s Two Rivers
Saturday, February 7, 2009, 7:30 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Pre-concert gallery tour, Arts of the Islamic World. 6:45 pm
Iraqi American jazz artist Amir ElSaffar leads this cross-cultural quintet in a performance of Two Rivers, an original work inspired by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the composer’s Iraqi and American heritage, and the common ground between American jazz and Iraqi classical music. ElSaffar sets the modes of Arab music to innovative grooves, free ensemble playing, and multilayered sound textures, resulting in a work that the BBC praised as “harrowing to absorb, full of as much beauty as pain.” He performs on trumpet and santur with Rudresh Mahanthappa, saxophone; Nasheet Waits, drums; Carlo DeRosa, bass; and Zaafir Tawil, oud, violin, and dumbek.
Cosponsored with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University
Free tickets required.
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Musicians from Marlboro II
Thursday, February 19, 2009, 7:30 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Pre-concert gallery tour, Surface Beauty: American Art and Freer’s Aesthetic Vision.6:45 pm
Young musicians from around the world who have participated in the Marlboro Music Festival join longtime Marlboro cellist Peter Stumpf in Haydn’s Quartet, op. 64, no. 6; Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet, op. 115; and Kodaly’s Duo for Violin and Cello. Filling out the ensemble are Augustin Hadelich and Karina Canellakis, violin; Sebastian Krunnies, cello; and Romie de Guise-Langolois, clarinet.
Free tickets required.
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Hafiz in the West: Martin Bruns, baritone; Jan Philip Schulze,
Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 7:30 p.m., Meyer Auditorium
Pre-concert gallery tour, Arts of the Islamic World. 6:45 pm
In 1812 the translation into German of poems by the fourteenth-century Persian mystic Hafiz sparked a wave of interest among poets and composers throughout the West, including Franz Schubert and Johannes Brahms. Martin Bruns, one of Europe’s most versatile vocalists, lends his operatic baritone to songs inspired by Hafiz’s haunting intimate poetry. A winner of the New York State Metropolitan Opera Auditions, Bruns earned leading roles with the Wiesbaden, Dusseldorf, and Munich opera houses and has collaborated with conductors Eric Ericson, Heinz Holliger, and Gerard Schwarz. This recital of works by Schubert, Brahms, Hugo Wolf, Adolf Jensen, and Viktor Ullmann provides unique insights into the influence of Hafiz’s Persian poetry on European composers centuries later.
Free tickets required.
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Prism Saxophone Quartet with the Music From China ensemble
Sunday, March 1, 2009, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium
This Washington premiere of fascinating new works blends soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones with Chinese strings and percussion. Music by Chen Yi and Grammy Award-winning composer Zhou Long is featured.
Free tickets required.
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Performance TICKETS
Free tickets are required for most performances in the Meyer Auditorium. Up to four tickets per person can be reserved (for a service fee of $2.75 per ticket and $1.25 per order) beginning 10:00 a.m. the second Monday before the event through Ticketmaster at (202) 397-7328, (410) 547-7328, or (703) 573-7328; at www.ticketmaster.com; or at Ticketmaster walk-up locations.
Two tickets per person are also distributed (for no service fee) at the Meyer Auditorium beginning one hour before showtime, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Meyer Auditorium seating plan
Members of the Friends of the Freer and Sackler Galleries may reserve a limited number of free tickets to designated public programs by calling 202.633.0448.
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Performance at the Smithsonian
A list of all the performances at the Smithsonian.
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