Library of Congress Announces 2012-13 AMERICAN VOICES Season

The 2012-2013 Concerts from the Library of Congress season offers a packed lineup of 40 concerts, lectures, film screenings, master classes and workshops, all celebrating the rich tapestry of the nation's musical heritage. Concerts kick off Saturday, Oct. 6 at 8 p.m., with a performance by the Moscow Sretensky Monastery Choir.

The Library's 87th concert season salutes great American voices from the past, including Woody Guthrie, John Philip Sousa, Victor Herbert, and John Cage. New voices in American composition are in focus throughout the year, in Library of Congress commissions from Nico Muhly, whose "Autogram" will be premiered by violinist Daniel Hope and pianist Jeffrey Kahane; and Chaya Czernowin, whose chamber ensemble work will be unveiled by Orchestra 2001. Top contemporary music ensembles ACME and yMusic will introduce new works by American composers under age 35.

October brings the launch of a two-year Songs of America project, which explores American history through five centuries of songs. Highlighting the project is George Crumb's epic seventh and final volume of the American Songbooks song cycle.

Commemorating the Civil War sesquicentennial, the Library's Music Division curators present a three-part miniseries mining its unmatched collections from the period: a 2,500-item Civil War Sheet-Music Collection (http://lcseb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/civilwar/civilwar-home-html) and the personal archive of President Abraham Lincoln's bandmaster, Francis M. Scala. On tap is a workshop and performance on the legacy of African American spirituals during the Civil War, a panel discussion on the role of music in the Lincoln White House and a concert by "The President's Own" United States Marine Band. These events are presented in conjunction with a major Library of Congress exhibition, "The Civil War in America," Nov. 12, 2012-May 2013.

Wrapping up the season in May 2013 will be the week-long residency of composer John Adams. Under the auspices of the Library's Dina Koston and Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music, Adams will curate an exciting mini-festival showcasing young artists, including the Attacca Quartet and violinist Jennifer Koh.. Adams will also conduct the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in works by Stravinsky and Schoenberg and Adams's "Son of Chamber Symphony."

The Concerts from the Library of Congress series is made possible through the generous support of endowments given to the Library by private donors. The series is presented free of charge to the public but requires tickets for admission. Tickets are distributed by TicketMaster at (202) 397-7328, (410) 547-7328 and (703) 573-7328. Various ticketing service charges apply. Although the supply of tickets may be exhausted, there are often empty seats at concert time. Interested patrons are encouraged to come to the Library by 6 p.m. on concert nights to wait in the standby line for no-show tickets. Tickets for events at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H Street, NE) are available through the Atlas Box Office at (202) 399-7993 or www.atlasarts.org.

Concerts from the Library of Congress 2012-2013

Unless otherwise noted, all concerts will be held at 8 p.m. in the Coolidge Auditorium located on the ground floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. Pre-concert presentations will be at 6:15 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion unless otherwise noted, and these presentations do not require tickets. All programs are subject to change without notice. *Asterisks indicate Songs of America programs.

Thursday, Sept. 6, at noon, Mary Pickford Theater *
John Cage Centennial Festival Event
"Musicircus"
Henning Lohner's riotous Musicircus film is a three-and-a-half-hour documentary of the "Musicircus" homage to John Cage, presented at New York's Symphony Space shortly after his death in 1992. Preceding and following this film, screened for the first time in the United States, is Elliot Caplan's haunting "Beach Birds for Camera," an adaptation of a dance work originally created for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
No tickets required

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