George Mason University's Center for the Arts

For more than 40 years, this remarkable sextet has maintained their place at the apex of a cappella singing, delighting audiences around the world with their incomparable musicianship, charm, and wit. One of Britain’s great musical institutions, they are counted among the world’s most elite classical performers, and celebrated for their commitment to perfection in blend, balance, and intonation. “Still unmatched for their musicality and sheer ability to entertain,” lauds The Times of London. Renowned for their versatility, The King’s Singers have an impressive and diverse repertoire that encompasses Medieval music to Renaissance masterpieces, lieder to folk, to pop and jazz. “The King’s Singers have the same microscopic perfection one sometimes hears from purely instrumental chamber musicians.” (The Washington Post)

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Long Yu, conductor
Di Wu, piano

Known as “the best in the Far East,” the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra was the first orchestra of its kind in Asia and is credited with the development of Chinese symphonic music. Formed in 1879, this ensemble introduces Chinese orchestral works to audiences around the world, while bringing the finest classical music of the Western World to the Chinese people. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Long Yu, the orchestra embraced a new era of its history with the recording of music for the Grammy Award-winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Chinese-born Di Wu, winner of the 2009 Juilliard's William Petschek Piano Debut Recital Award and recipient of one of the coveted prizes at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, joins the orchestra to perform the daunting Piano Concerto No. 2 by Rachmaninoff. The program also includes China Air Suite by Bao Yuankai and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture.

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With David Holt and Richard Watson

This legendary musician returns to the Center for the Arts with long-time collaborator and Grammy-winning banjoist David Holt and grandson, Richard, for an incredible evening of music. Showcasing his universally acknowledged virtuosity of the flatpicking guitar, Doc Watson has mastered a wide range of musical genres, including traditional ballads, fiddle tunes, blues, gospel, country, and contemporary music. His extraordinary talent has been recognized with seven Grammy Awards, a National Medal of the Arts, a National Heritage Fellowship, and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was even declared a “national treasure” by President Jimmy Carter. Don’t miss this marvelous performance that spans generations and musical traditions!

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The Band of the Irish Guards and Royal Regiment of Scotland brings all of the pomp and grandeur of the British Empire to the Center’s stage. A gifted group of musicians was gathered by Queen Victoria in 1900 to commemorate the bravery of the Irish Regiments, and quickly gained a reputation for excellence. It was the band’s responsibility to inspire an esprit de corps among the troops, and it traveled extensively throughout both World Wars to give morale-boosting performances for those on active service. Now renowned across the globe, these regiments uplift spirits with rousing marches, sailor ballads, and of course, folk songs from their native Ireland. This incredible ensemble is a delight for the whole family!

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Alexei Kornienko, conductor
Alexander Sinchuk, piano
Julian Schwarz, cello

This marvelous orchestra was founded in 1978 with the purpose of broadcasting the expansive symphonic repertoire of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries throughout Russia for the past 30 years has toured the globe, performing exquisite works by Russian composers. Following the European music tradition, the Moscow State Radio Symphony Orchestra does not have a permanent principal conductor; instead, Music Director Anatoli Nemudrov invites distinguished maestros from Russia and around the world to conduct the ensemble, facilitating the continuing development and mastery of the musicians. “From the first notes played by the violas, one could predict that a special music event was about to start.” (Palm Beach Daily News)   Program includes The Tsar’s Bride Overture by Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op.43, Variations on a Rococo Theme in A for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 33, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Symphonic Suite for Orchestra, Op. 35.

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Jim Carroll, Artistic Director
Steve Lippia, Guest Vocalist
The trademark of this remarkable group of musicians from Washington, D.C. has always been the insightful interpretation of classics by revered jazz masters. This year, the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra pays tribute to the great Frank Sinatra, with guest artist, Steve Lippia. Mr. Lippia is one of the country’s most prominent interpreters of classic pop music, and has “an astounding approximation of Frank Sinatra’s voice.” (Courier-Post) Reminiscent of Sinatra’s concerts, the program will include some of the most memorable tunes from Count Basie and Buddy Rich that showcase these great jazz instrumentalists as well as the magnificent talent of Steve Lippia.

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Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy are not only two of the world’s most celebrated fiddlers—they are also husband and wife. Both have appeared frequently at the Center—Natalie in solo performances and Donnell fronting the dynamic family group, Leahy. Now our audience will have the opportunity to witness the fruits of their musical matrimony during this unforgettable evening of Celtic music. “Dual fiddle wizardry…amazing synergy,” says the Intelligencer Journal of this vivacious couple from Canada. This collaboration’s foot-tapping rave-ups, heart-wrenching ballads, and remarkable step dancing leave onlookers breathless from the moment they take the stage.

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An homage to the rich and tireless passage of the native Irish people from their homeland to the United States, nine-time All-Ireland Fiddle Champion Eileen Ivers returns to the Center with Beyond the Bog Road, a stellar collaboration of Irish and Old Time musicians, singers, step dancers, and cloggers. Ireland’s bog roads, paths into ancient sod fields led millions of immigrants from their beloved homeland to a thriving country where they passed down their musical and dance traditions through the generations. Don’t miss this celebration of Irish-American musical history featuring music, story, film, and dance, and told with Ivers’ signature passion and rootsy grace. “Ivers suggests the future of the Celtic fiddle.” (The Washington Post)

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Lang Lang, piano
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra
(http://www.langlang.com/landing)

Each year, 100 of the world’s finest musicians are handpicked through a rigorous auditioning process to join this extraordinary orchestra, and participate in one of Europe’s most important classical music festivals, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Taking up residence at the Festival’s Orchestra Academy, which was founded by Leonard Bernstein in 1987, these musicians receive an unparalleled opportunity to study and perform with some of the most important names in classical music. Under the remarkable leadership of Maestro Christoph Eschenbach and in its first tour of the United States, the orchestra performs a program that includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1. Virtuoso pianist Lang Lang joins the orchestra to perform Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. The New York Times dubbed Lang Lang the “hottest artist on the classical music planet,” and the San Francisco Chronicle raved, “Lang Lang’s playing is effortlessly sparkling and dramatic, full of showmanship and excitement.”

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Born in war-torn Uganda, the African Children’s Choir was founded in 1984 by human rights activist Ray Barnett, who wished to show the world that the choir’s members, like the millions of needy and orphaned children in Africa, have beauty, dignity, and unlimited potential. Their joyful performance blends song and dance from the entire continent of Africa; featuring more than ten languages, unique cultural dancing, and of course, uplifting gospel music. This inspirational choir has gained international acclaim performing on Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, and American Idol; alongside Mariah Carey and Sir Paul McCartney in Live 8 in London; and at Nelson Mandela’s AIDS awareness concert in South Africa. “It’s difficult to tell who is having more fun—the choir or the audience.” (The Scotsman)

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Julian Rachlin, violin

Sir Neville Marriner says that the small ensemble he founded in 1958 “had no intention of giving any concerts or continuing forever.” Fifty years and countless performances later, it seems they had a change of heart, and the music world has been better off for it. Academy of St. Martin in the Fields has firmly established itself as one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras, and boasts more than 500 recordings, making it the most recorded chamber orchestra worldwide. “As you travel around the globe, the Academy’s name has an aura possessed by no other British orchestra,” extols The Times of London. Lithuanian virtuoso Julian Rachlin leads this celebrated orchestra, and serves as violin soloist in a program that includes Astor Piazzólla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, a delightful blend of stirring violin and Tango Nuevo, evocative of the city that Piazzólla called his home.

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Classic and contemporary bluegrass meet in this dynamic performance that will bring audiences to their feet. Center favorite Cherryholmes unites with bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley for an evening that celebrates the diversity of this American musical art form. Cherryholmes plays in their own unique style: driving it hard and serving it straight up. This extraordinary family band has taken the world by storm, earning four Grammy nominations in three years, most recently for their recording “Don’t Believe.” More than 60 years after he formed the Clinch Mountain Boys in rural southwest Virginia, banjoist Dr. Ralph Stanley continues to preserve traditional bluegrass, old-time, and mountain music. As the first person inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in the 21st century and a recipient of the National Medal of the Arts, he is a testament to the endurance of this American art form. Families, young and old, will not want to miss this incredible night of music.

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