PostClassical Ensemble

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Cultural Diplomacy

American Roots

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Bouncing Off The Walls: Music and Architecture

November 16, 2023

The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater

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At different times in his career, The Washington Post’s Philip Kennicott has been focused on music and architecture, but never truly explored the relationship between the two. Together with PostClassical Ensemble and Music Director Ángel Gil-Ordóñez, Kennicott will examine these artforms and their unique, yet overlapping explorations of time and space. The program includes an overture by Beethoven written to celebrate a remodeled opera house, works by Gabrieli, composed for the mighty Basilica of San Marco in Venice, a symphony by Haydn featuring one of the most complicated “architectural” forms ever composed, a classic overture by Rossini, reassembled to maximize the acoustic possibilities of The Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, and more. Leave with a deeper understanding of your place in time and space and the buildings and sounds that make up your world.

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What people are saying

So many thanks for that most inspiring, capacious evening. With PCE’s usual ability to surprise and delight… that symphony was astonishing…

Kate

Your leadership and dramatic shaping of the Symphony last night was truly masterful - and so inspiring. I know I’ll never forget this experience. Thank you, Maestro!

Chris

I loved the intimacy of the ensemble and the aching beauty of the melody repeating and recurring and turning up where I did not expect it . And I found the quality of the sound thrilling.

That was my take on the concert --that and the tears that it brought to my eyes, simply to be there, to be present at the creation of something so beautiful..

Michaele

What a perfect PCE evening, wonderful concert and lovely gathering

Liz

Angel, You are so musical! I've played the 4th twice, it was the first Mahler I heard as a kid, and I'm invariably disappointed that conductors don't let it breathe. U nailed it.

David

Congratulations again to you and your superb ensemble on a wonderful and provocative performance in the Terrace Theater last evening. As always, we learned something from this concert and it was fun, too.

Alec

Everything about it was sheer delight, including the lively and interesting talk at the end…

Catherine

"Wildly Ambitious"
Anne Midgette

"Invigorating"
Alex Ross

"One of the country's most innovative musical groups"
Phillip Kennicott

UPcoming this season

Encounters

Cultural Diplomacy

American Roots

Film

Bouncing Off The Walls: Music and Architecture

November 16, 2023

Encounters

Cultural Diplomacy

American Roots

Film

Amazing Grace: In Paradisum

January 10, 2024

Encounters

Cultural Diplomacy

American Roots

Film

Beyond Category: The Concert Music of Duke Ellington

April 16, 2024

SOLD OUT! - Music Salon at the Hay-Adams Hotel: Le Chat Noir to Birdland

Monday, October 2 at 6:00pm 800 16th Street NW. Joine PCE at the Hay-Adams Hotel for our first music salon of the 2023/24 season! Hosted by PCE Music Director Ángel Gil-Ordóñez, this salon explores the connections between Parisian cabarets and American jazz clubs. With David Jones (clarinet and saxophones), Melissa Wimbish (soprano), Aaron Clay (bass), Elizabeth Hill (piano). Tickets include hors d’oeuvres and paired wine. This performance is sold out.

Learn More

Spring Arts Preview

The Georgetowner Spring Arts Preview previews the best upcoming in visual and performing arts in and near Washington this season. Check out the Q&A with PCE’s Angel Gil-Ordoñez.

The Prelude: Setting the stage for Amazing Grace

Wednesday, December 28, 2022 at 6:30pm: Tune up and tune in for The Prelude, a 50 minute pre-concert discussion that enriches the concert experience with insights into the music, the composers, and the artists. Free and on Zoom. Registration required.

The Prelude: Setting the stage for Entwined: A Double Feature

Tuesday, March 21 at 6:30pm: Tune up and tune in for The Prelude, a 50 minute pre-concert discussion that enriches the concert experience with insights into the music, the composers, and the artists. With director and playwright Derek Goldman, visual artist Kevork Mourad, PCE’s Ángel Gil-Ordóñez and classical music journalist Gail Wein as host. Free and on Zoom. Registration required.

PCE at Harvard’s "Instituto Cervantes Observatory”

On February 9: Music Director Ángel Gil-Ordóñez was invited to join Philip Bennett at Harvard’s "Instituto Cervantes Observatory” to discuss performances of Spanish music, played by American musicians for American audiences, including lesser-known works by Manuel de Falla. They also addressed the surprising relationship between Falla and another towering figure of 20th-century Spain, Federico García Lorca, which PCE will explore at our next concert on April 19th.

Watch "Found in Translation: The Discovery of Spanish Classical Music by American Audiences"

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PCE Makes The Washington Post's Top 10

Classical Music Critic Michael Brodeur names PCE’s April 2022 concert “Mahler’s Fourth: A Wicked New Look” one of the top 10 Washington, DC performances of the year!

Thanksgiving Radio Special

On November 24, NPR’s 1A broadcast a PCE More than Music episode exploring the life and work of an American original, Lou Harrison. Harrison used instruments rarely seen in any ensemble—Flower pots, parts of old cars, and junk he collected with composer John Cage. Together, he blended eastern and western music into his own unique creation.

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Brazilian Chamber Music Featuring PCE Musicians

On December 4 at 2:00pm The Friends of the Art Museum of the Americas present “An Afternoon of Brazilian Chamber Music” featuring a 45-minute vibraphone, marimba, percussion, and vocal music program celebrating modern and contemporary Brazilian composers. With vocalist Melissa Wimbish, Bill Richards, Sean MacCarthy-Grant.

More Info

Around Town Best Bets

WETA's Robert Aubry Davis weekly review series, "Around Town Best Bets,” selects PCE's first concert of the season, "Paris at Midnight: Jazz and Surrealism in the 1920s.”

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Washington Post Review

"Gil-Ordóñez led the 37-piece ensemble with attentive precision and a lively sense of humor that Petersen carried over to the keyboard."

Read

Bouncing Off The Walls: Music and Architecture

Haydn Festival

Bouncing Off The Walls: Music and Architecture

Amazing Grace: In Paradisum

Beyond Category: The Concert Music of Duke Ellington

Don't Miss A Beat!

SOLD OUT! - Music Salon at the Hay-Adams Hotel: Le Chat Noir to Birdland

Spring Arts Preview

The Prelude: Setting the stage for Amazing Grace

The Prelude: Setting the stage for Entwined: A Double Feature

PCE at Harvard’s "Instituto Cervantes Observatory”

PCE Makes The Washington Post's Top 10

Thanksgiving Radio Special

Brazilian Chamber Music Featuring PCE Musicians

Around Town Best Bets

Washington Post Review

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