Friday Music Series 2019-20 archive

Friday Music Series Artists Rebecca Gates, Carlos Simon, Brazilian Strings Trio, and Barkada Quartet

Fall 2019


September 20, 2019 at 12:30 p.m.
Co-presented with the GU Library Associates and the Booth Family Center for Special Collections

Rebecca Gates

Offered in conjunction with Lauinger Library’s exhibit of the Future of Music Coalition. Rebecca Gates has appeared as a vocalist on records by artists as wide ranging as The Decemberists and Willie Nelson.

McNeir Hall | FREE


September 27, 2019 at 12:30 p.m.

Modern Musick

Early music ensemble-in-residence performing on period instruments.

McNeir Hall | FREE


October 4 POSTPONED: now scheduled for October 11, 2020 at 12:30 p.m.

Richard Giarusso, baritone
Andrew Jonathan Welch, piano

Program including Schubert and Beethoven lieder

McNeir Hall | FREE


October 18, 2019 at 12:30 p.m.

Paul Bratcher Trio

Jazz piano trio with Prof. Bratcher and friends

McNeir Hall | FREE


October 25, 2019 at 12:30 p.m.

Carlos Simon

Compositions for the Silver Screen
Lecture/recital/film screening, with new GU Music Program faculty member Prof. Simon, whose work for film has been featured at the Sundance Film Festival.

McNeir Hall | FREE


November 1, 2019 at 12:30 p.m.

Barkada Quartet

Saxophone quartet, said to display “virtuosity of the utmost distinctive order” (Splash Magazine).

McNeir Hall | FREE


November 8, 2019 at 12:30 p.m.

Claudia Chudacoff, violin
Kathryn Brake, piano

McNeir Hall | FREE


November 15, 2019 at 12:30 p.m.

Brazilian Strings Trio

Innovative instrumentalists on the contemporary Brazilian musical scene

McNeir Hall | FREE


November 22, 2019 at 12:30 p.m.

Katharina Uhde, violin
R. Larry Todd, piano

Lecture/recital exploring Beethoven’s sonatas

McNeir Hall | FREE


December 6, 2019 at 12:30 p.m.

Harbert, Hamley, Ashby Trio

Prof. Ben Harbert, Chris Hamley, and Lucas Ashby adapt art music to two electric guitars and drum set.

McNeir Hall | FREE

Spring 2020

January 31 at 12:30 p.m.

Aaron Myers, voice/piano

Awarded “Jazz Artist of the Year” by the International Music & Entertainment Awards (IMEA) in 2016, composer/singer/pianist Aaron Myers kicks off the new year with a program dedicated to seasons—of weather, love, and life. 

McNeir Hall, New North Building
FREE


February 7 at 12:30 p.m.

Chris Freitag, guitar

Part of “The Chaconne Project,” a year-long exploration of one of music’s great masterworks, Freitag performs his adaptation for classical guitar of the final movement from Bach’s Partita in D minor for solo violin.

McNeir Hall, New North Building
FREE


February 14 at 12:30 p.m.

Rehanna Thelwell, mezzo-soprano
William Woodard, piano

Program featuring two members of the Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. Thelwell has been applauded for her “superb and expressive power” by the South Florida Classical Review and Woodard made his Carnegie Hall debut participating in Renée Fleming’s SongStudio.

McNeir Hall, New North Building
FREE


February 21 at 12:30 p.m.

Soloists from the Havana Lyceum Orchestra

Music from Cuba
Members of the Lyceum Orchestra of Havana perform works by Cuban composers, joined by students participating in the GU Orchestra and the Chamber Music Ensembles Program.This event is part of “Music for Cuba,”an international exchange program initiated in 2017 between GU’s Music Program and the Lyceum Orchestra of Havana.

McNeir Hall, New North Building
FREE


February 28 at 12:30 p.m.

Nation Beat

Co-sponsored with the Department of History

Brass band and percussion explode in Nation Beat’s jazz-infused, funkified New Orleans-meets-Brazil carnival sound: “a blissful mix” (New York Daily News).

McNeir Hall, New North Building
FREE

Please note that the public Friday Music Series concerts below have been canceled. Due to the COVID-19 crisis and out of concern for public health, all Georgetown University Department of Performing Arts events are canceled through the end of the spring 2020 semester, while academic courses continue online.


March 20 at 12:30 p.m.

Louise Toppin, soprano
John O’Brien, piano

The Music of Margaret Bonds

Featuring songs by African-American composer Margaret Bonds and part of the GU Music Program’s multi-year exploration of her work. Manuscripts and sketches for many of the works on this program come from Lauinger Library’s Booth Family Center for Special Collections ,and the recital is offered in tandem with a spring world premiere of Bonds’ Credo, performed by the GU Orchestra and Concert Choir. Toppin is a winner of the Metropolitan Opera regional auditions.

McNeir Hall, New North Building
FREE


March 27 at 12:30 p.m.

Leah Claiborne, piano
with Akilah Kidd, flute

Claiborne, coordinator of Keyboard Studies at the University of the District of Columbia, performs this Women’s History Month program featuring music by Black Female composers. 

McNeir Hall, New North Building
FREE


April 3 at 12:30 p.m.

Mauro Refosco, percussion

“Virtuoso” (New York Times) percussionist and noisemaker Mauro Refosco performs and records with artists such as David Byrne, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Thom Yorke’s Atoms for Peace.

McNeir Hall, New North Building
FREE


April 17 at 12:30 p.m.

Marco Pavé with Wyzlife

GU Artist in Residence and Memphis native Tauheed Rahim II (Marco Pavé), who has been featured on NPR and MTV News, performs as part of “Critical Frequencies: Live from the Southern Hip Hop Stage.”

McNeir Hall, New North Building
FREE


Past Performances