Berlin in Lights: Cabaret, Jazz, and Radical Theater in Weimar Germany

Drew Peterson, pianist

Josephine Baker

John Edward Hasse, guest curator

Felix Conteras, conga

Ellington Carthan, pianist and narrator

Jeffrey Mumford, guest curator

Annie Jacobs-Perkins, cello

Katerina Burton, soprano

CAAPA Choir

Robin De Jesús, actor

David Strathairn, actor

Kevork Mourad, artist

Derek Goldman, playwright/director

José Sacín, bass baritone (Don Quihote)

Israel Lozano, tenor (Master Peter)

Jennifer Zetlan, soprano (Trujaman)

Ricardo Marlow, Flamenco guitar

Philip Kennicott, guest curator

Hany Hassan FAIA, visuals

Flávio Chamis, guest curator

André Mehmari, pianist and composer

Tatjana Mead Chamis, viola

Elin Melgarejo, vocalist

Jerod Tate, guest curator

Nino Rota, composer

Christy Klenke, French Horn

Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 7:30pm

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Berlin in the 1920s was a hotbed of innovation, incorporating elements from points west as well as east: Duke Ellington and the Bauhaus, Shostakovich and Leninist fight songs. The Threepenny Opera, by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, is one of the most famous examples of the Weimar Republic’s artistic ferment. However, this landmark collaboration grew out of cosmopolitan influences, a newfound spirit of openness, and radical politics. In March 2026, PCE will explore this endlessly fascinating period, including remarkable yet little-known works such as Kurt Weill’s Oil Music, his first composition for the theater, racy cabaret songs and songs of political protest by Friedrich Holländer, Mischa Spoliansky, and Hanns Eisler. The concert will end with memorials to a culture cut short: the songs Weill wrote in exile, classics of the Broadway stage and American songbook, and Shostakovich’s film score to The New Babylon, the Soviet film about the Paris Commune.

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Program

Berlin in Lights: Cabaret, Jazz, and Radical Theater in Weimar Germany

Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 7:30pm
Terrace Theater | 2700 F St NW, Washington, DC
‍Presented without intermission

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Drew Lichtenberg, guest curator
Melissa Wimbish, soprano
PostClassical Ensemble conducted by Angel Gil-Ordóñez

PROGRAM

Arnold Schoenberg: Selections from Pierrot Lunaire

Kurt Weill: Oil Music

Weill: Berlin im Licht/Hosannah Rockefeller from Happy End

Friedrich Holländer: Oh! How We Wish That We Were Kids Again

Mischa Spoliansky: Masculine-Feminine

Holländer: Chuck Out the Men!

Weill: Pirate Jenny and Alabama Song from The Threepenny Opera

Hanns Eisler: Abortion is Illegal

Eisler: Song of the Moldau

Weill jazz set: Bilbao Song - Speak Low - My Ship

Dmitri Shostakovich: Excerpt from The New Babylon, performed with projected film

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Post-Concert Discussion

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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

Berlin in Lights: Cabaret, Jazz, and Radical Theater in Weimar Germany

Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 7:30pm

Berlin in Lights: Cabaret, Jazz, and Radical Theater in Weimar Germany

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