What does it take to be a superstar musician? Talent? Sure, but past a certain level, everyone’s got that. If they’re honest, the pros admit it takes a certain amount of showmanship, even in the staid world of classical music. Like any other performer, they have to cultivate a persona. And among classical musicians, the [...]
The Washington Performing Arts Society has officially released its 2011-2012 season, and few would say the suspense has been killing them. Classical fans will be not terribly surprised to see that it looks a lot like the 2010-2011 season—with, in fact, some of the exact same lineups: Joshua Bell with Sam Haywood on Jan. [...]
This weekend, the Trey McIntyre Project is performing at Harman Hall, courtesy of the Washington Performing Arts Society, and I’d planned on writing a long post about the company’s movement style and business model—both of which are pretty impressive and have earned wide popular and critical acclaim around the country.
First established in 2005, the group [...]
He's still controversial, but recently Wynton Marsalis has seen a bit of a re-evaluation—pointing out that beneath all the bile over his musico-political views, Marsalis is a brilliant and absurdly accomplished musician. His performance last night at the Kennedy Center (sponsored by the Washington Performing Arts Society), with the 14-piece Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, bore [...]
