Friday Music Series
The Georgetown University Music Program’s Friday Music Series features free concerts on Friday afternoons beginning at 12:30 p.m. in McNeir Hall, New North Building.
Unless otherwise noted, events below are currently planned as live offerings, subject to change based on existing public health guidelines.
Please see below for details and check back for updates.
Spring 2023
Elena La Fulana
Elena La Fulana is a singer-songwriter and leader of the D.C.-based bilingual Latinfolk band Elena & Los Fulanos. Originally from Managua, Nicaragua, Elena identifies as both American and Nicaraguan and her music, which ranges from twangy, heartbreak-themed folk Americana, to soothing, introspective, violin-infused Latin cumbia, reflects this dual identity. Her band, Elena & Los Fulanos, has twice been nominated for a Wammie Award, and their most recent album, “Volcán,” was hailed as “bilingual folk album for the resistance” by Washington City Paper, a publication that also selected Elena for their People Issue 2017 highlighting notable Washingtonians. Most recently, Elena has been touring with the LatinGrammy winning and Grammy nominated band Flor de Toloache, and with them performed at The Kennedy Center Honors in 2019 and the Latin Grammys in 2021.
Friday, January 27 at 12:30 p.m.
McNeir Hall, New North Building
Paul Bratcher Quartet
A native of Harrisburg Pennsylvania, Paul Bratcher began playing piano at age 11. After high school Paul continued his education at Messiah College where he achieved a B.S. in Music Education. During his time there he had opportunities to study and play with Tim Warfield, Bruce Barth and Cyrus Chestnut. He went on to pursue an M.M. in Jazz Studies from Michigan State University, where he studied under Reggie Thomas. During his time there he played with such masters as Rodney Whitaker, Jeff Tain Watts, Etienne Charles, Randy Guilespie, Diego Rivera, Michael Dease, Wes ‘Warm Daddy’ Anderson and Branford Marsalis. Bratcher has participated in three international tours on the continents of Africa, Canada and South America. He has recorded an album with young trumpeter Anthony Stanco and has toured the all across the United States. He currently serves as Associate Chair of Piano at the Levine School of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at Georgetown University.
Friday, February 3 at 12:30 p.m.
McNeir Hall, New North Building
Baroque Cello Duo
Amy Domingues and Eve Miller, Baroque Cello
Amy Domingues performs on the cello and viola da gamba. Following several years of study, including masterclasses with Wieland Kuijken, Paolo Pandolfo, and Philippe Pierlot, she earned a master’s degree in Early Music from Peabody Conservatory. Amy has enjoyed an ambitious career as a historically informed musician, performing on baroque cello and viola da gamba with groups as varied as The Folger Consort, Hesperus, and The Washington Bach Consort. Amy is a founding member of Sonnambula (Ensemble in Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art 2018-2019), and co-founder of Corda Nova Baroque. She is an avid educator and maintains a private studio of cello and gamba students. Eve Miller is a cellist, baroque cellist, composer, and music historian. Eve received a Bachelor’s Degree in cello performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and a Master’s Degree of Music History from Temple University. Ms. Miller is principal cellist of Philadelphia’s Bach Collegium and she is the assistant principal cellist of Philadelphia’s baroque orchestra, Tempesta di Mare. Recent scholarship includes exploration of “gigging life” in colonial and independent Philadelphia and in particular the effects of French immigration from mainland France and the French colonies on Philadelphia’s eighteenth-century musical culture
Friday, February 10 at 12:30 p.m.
McNeir Hall, New North Building
Big Chimney Bluegrass
Big Chimney is a modern string band reinventing rock and pop as well as devoted to the preservation and performance of American traditional music. The members have been active in the DC bluegrass scene for many years as soloists and members of diverse ensembles.
Friday, February 24 at 12:30 p.m.
McNeir Hall, New North Building
Shorty Corleone and Friends
A collaboration between the Georgetown Music and Theater and Performance Studies programs
R&B, Hip-Hop and Go-Go artist Charles “Shorty Corleone” Garris is widely recognized for his distinctive singing voice, flair for creative production, and wide range of explosive performances and recordings. For over 10 years he has served as the lead vocalist of Washington, D.C.’s number one Go-Go band, Rare Essence, engaging audiences with his unique sound and captivating style. Garris is credited with formulating many hit songs for the group including “Body Snatchers” which hit # 50 on Billboard Magazine’s Top 100 Chart. He has also solidified his presence in the “Legends of Go-Go” entourage.
Friday, March 17 at 12:30 p.m.
McNeir Hall, New North Building
Andy Stack and Jay Hammond Duo
Andy Stack is from Baltimore, MD and currently lives in Durham, NC. As a multi-instrumentalist, he has released multiple albums with Merge Records and has toured extensively as half of the duo Wye Oak since 2006. His solo project – Joyero – was released by Merge records in 2019. In addition to Wye Oak and Joyero, he has toured and recorded as a member of Lambchop, Helado Negro, EL VY, William Brittelle and many others, which has granted him recording credits on Sub Pop, 4AD, Nonesuch, New Amsterdam Records and RVNG Intl. Jay Hammond is a musician, sound artist and cultural anthropologist living in Washington DC. As a guitarist and songwriter, he records under the moniker Trippers & Askers. The latest Trippers & Askers album – Acorn (2021, Sleepy Cat Records) – was called a “shimmering homage to nature” by The Guardian. He has toured and recorded with Psychic Temple, Eamon Fogarty, and No Lands, and his recording credits include New Amsterdam Records, Galtta Media and Sleepy Cat Records. His current book project, “Social Music: A Sounded Anthropology of Improvisation and Intimacy” is an ethnography of improvising music communities in North America. His publications have appeared on Bloomsbury Academic. He is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Music Program at Georgetown University.
Friday, March 24 at 12:30 p.m.
McNeir Hall, New North Building
The Suspicious Cheese Lords
Founded in 1996, The Suspicious Cheese Lords strive to broaden the global repertoire of choral music and attract new listeners by unearthing forgotten works, breathing new life into familiar pieces, and highlighting original compositions. Our recordings, concerts, workshops, and liturgical performances provide scholarly yet accessible interpretations of music from all ages, educating and inspiring fans and future musicians alike. The Lords have released four world-premiere recordings and have been featured on nationwide radio broadcasts, including Harmonia Early Music and Robert Aubry Davis’ Millennium of Music. Our fifth album, another world-premiere recording featuring works by Palestrina and Andreas de Silva, is scheduled for release in early 2023.
Friday, March 31 at 12:30 p.m.
McNeir Hall, New North Building
Brake-Chudacoff Duo
Kathryn Brake, Piano and Claudia Chudacoff, Violin
Kathryn Brake (piano)- Characterized as a “compelling and imaginative performer” by The Washington Post, pianist Kathryn Brake has performed solo recitals in the United States, Canada, Italy, France, Switzerland and Spain. A winner of the National Young Chopin Competition, the Beethoven Competition, the Kosciusko Foundation Awards and the Elizabeth Davis Award, she has performed as soloist with several orchestras, including the Baltimore Symphony and the National Symphony. A much sought-after chamber music player and recitalist who is equally at ease with a wide range of musical styles, Ms. Brake has performed live on WETA and WGMS radio stations and has recorded broadcasts for France Musique and Radio Television Espanola. She can be heard on the Albany Records label in several critically acclaimed recordings of duos and chamber music. Claudia Chudacoff (violin) recently completed her third one-year full-time contract as a member of the violin section of the National Symphony Orchestra. She is the concertmaster of both the National Gallery Orchestra and the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and in 2015 retired from her position as concertmaster of the U.S. Marine Band’s White House Chamber Orchestra, in which she served during four Presidential administrations. Prior to moving to Washington DC, she was the Assistant Concertmaster of the Louisville Orchestra. She has appeared as soloist several times with all four of these groups, as well as with the Concert Artists of Baltimore, the Toledo Symphony, the Louisville Ballet, the Ann Arbor Symphony and others.
Friday, April 14 at 12:30 p.m.
McNeir Hall, New North Building
Spain reimagined: The legacy of Manuel de Falla in the Spanish avant-garde
Enriqueta Somarriba, piano and Genevieve McGahey, soprano
Praised by the New York Concert Review for her “aplomb” and “natural, individual, interpretation,” Spanish pianist Enriqueta Somarriba has developed her career in the US and Europe as a soloist, chamber musician and educator. She has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Cervantes Institute of New York, State Theatre of New Jersey, Pregones Theatre, Liederkranz Hall, Center for Jewish History in NY, Zimmerli Art Museum, as well as in international venues and festivals: Auditorio Nacional de Música de Madrid, Ganz Hall (Chicago), Kasteel d’Ursel (Antwerp, Belgium), Sala dei Notari (Perugia, Italia), Festival de Musica y Danza de Granada, Festival dels Horts (Valencia, Spain), Festival de Perfeccionamiento Pianistico (Mexico) and National Center for the Diffusion of Music (Cuenca, Spain). She has performed as a soloist with the Orquesta Andrés Segovia, Virtuosi Brunensis Orchestra, Orquesta Fórum Musikae and Rutgers Symphony Orchestra. Genevieve McGahey, soprano, is a versatile performer, scholar and collaborator. She has appeared as a featured soloist alongside Emma Kirkby and members of Stile Antico singing works by Dowland and Strozzi, as well as in the Festivale de Musique en L’ile in Paris. A versatile performer, she is equally at home performing music of the Renaissance and inhabiting varied sound worlds of composers such as Arvo Part.
Friday, April 21 at 12:30 p.m.
McNeir Hall, New North Building
Past Performances