The Department of Performing Arts’ spirit of collaboration manifests in numerous interdisciplinary projects every year, professional partnerships in music and theater, and collaborations across faculty and students.
PostClassical Ensemble
The PostClassical Ensemble (PCE), a Washington, DC-based chamber orchestra, is proudly designated as the ensemble-in-residence at Georgetown University. Under the leadership of Music Director and Georgetown faculty member Angel Gil-Ordóñez, PCE comprises some of the region’s finest musicians and is celebrated for its creative programming that integrates classical music with historical and cultural narratives.
Georgetown music students benefit from PCE’s presence through orchestral and chamber coaching, masterclasses, workshops with visiting artists and composers, and educational outreach in DC-area schools. Students also gain real-world experience through administrative fellowships in education, production, development, and marketing. PCE’s frequent performances, including at Georgetown’s Friday Music Concert Series and the Kennedy Center, offer direct access to professional orchestral practices.
The 2025–2026 season includes three multimedia performances at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, each curated in collaboration with leading scholars and cultural partners:
- The Pale Blue Dot: A Musical Voyage Inspired by Nature (Nov. 19, 2025)
- Berlin in Lights: Cabaret, Jazz, and Radical Theater in Weimar Germany (Mar. 11, 2026)
- Orpheus: The Magic of the Arts (May 20, 2026)
These performances explore themes ranging from ecological crisis to the cultural ferment of 1920s Berlin and the enduring myth of Orpheus. Learn more and purchase tickets.
Wednesday March 11, 2026 at 7:30pm
Berlin in Lights. Cabaret, Jazz, and Radical Theater in the Weimar Republic
With guest curator Drew Lichtenberg (Associate Director at Shakespeare Theatre Company and author of The Piscatorbühne Century: Politics and Aesthetics in the Modern Theater After 1927). Visuals curated by Shelley Langdale (Head of Modern and Contemporary Prints and Drawings at the National Gallery of Art).
With Melissa Wimbish, soprano
Selections include: Schoenberg (excerpts from Pierrot Lunaire), Weimar cabaret songs by Friedrich Holländer, Mischa Spoliansky, songs by Kurt Weill (“Pirate Jenny”, “Alabama Song” etc.), excerpt from Shostakovich’s film score The New Babylon.
Please note: There are a number of free tickets available to students for this performance. To secure your free ticket, fill out this Google form.
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.
Drew Lichtenberg, guest curator
Melissa Wimbish, sopranoSimone Baron, accordion
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
Weill: Pirate Jenny and Alabama Song from The Threepenny Opera
Hanns Eisler: Abortion is Illegal
Weill jazz set: Bilbao Song – Speak Low – My Ship
Dmitri Shostakovich: Excerpt from The New Babylon, performed with projected film
Music Policy Forum
The Music Policy Forum (MPF), founded by Georgetown alumnus Michael Bracy (CAS ’90), is a dynamic non-profit leadership network that promotes collaboration among musicians, music businesses, government officials, non-profits, researchers, and philanthropists to develop strong, equitable, and sustainable music ecosystems through innovative policies and models. Since its inception in 2017, MPF has been closely connected with Georgetown University, providing rich opportunities for public conferences and convenings, especially the Music Industry Seminar. This seminar is a cornerstone of MPF’s educational initiatives at Georgetown, offering students and faculty deep insights into the music industry through direct access to a vast network of leaders.
Additionally, MPF co-sponsors the annual Music Ecosystem Forum at Georgetown University, a major event that gathers diverse stakeholders to discuss strategies for advancing music ecosystems. This forum facilitates dialogue on critical issues such as equity, sustainability, and the future of musical labor, combining academic research with practical industry insights. Through these initiatives, including the Music Industry Seminar and the Music Ecosystem Forum, Georgetown’s Department of Music and MPF collaborate to integrate scholarly perspectives with real-world practices, enriching the educational landscape and contributing to the ongoing discourse in music policy.