Music & Concerts
FALL ARTS 2019 CLASSICAL: Hands and feet
Classical performers — especially organists! — put all appendages to use for the sake of music
Washington National Opera presents Verdi’s “Otello” Oct. 26-Nov. 16 in the Kennedy Center Opera House (2700 F St., N.W.) in a production the company hasn’t performed in nearly 20 years. Libretto by Arrigo Bolto, based on Shakespeare’s “Othello” in Italian with English titles. Adapted from an English National Opera production. Tickets range from $45-299. The WNO performs Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” (Nov. 2-23).
The NSO Pops performs with R&B singer Maxwell Sept. 18-21 and “Nat King Cole at 100” Oct. 17-19.
The National Symphony’s season-opening gala concert is Sept. 28 with Gianandrea Noseda offering a jazz-influenced program. Tickets are $65-199.
Among other NSO fall highlights are “Carmina Burana” (Oct. 3-5), Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 (Oct. 10-12) and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 (Oct. 31-Nov. 2).
Full details at kennedy-center.org.
Washington Performing Arts presents Pink Martini with Meow Meow Sunday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Pianist Drew Petersen performs Saturday, Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. at the Kennedy Center and the Spektral Quartet performs “Looking Skyward” Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m., also at the Kennedy Center.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis performs Oct. 16 in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The String Queens play Saturday, Nov. 2 at Republic Restoratives (1369 New York Ave., N.E.), the Taipei S.O. Chamber Ensemble performs Nov. 14 at the Freer Gallery Meyer Auditorium (1050 Independence Ave., S.W.), the Taipei Symphony Orchestra performs Friday, Nov. 15 at The Music Center at Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane, N. Bethesda, Md.) and pianist Zoltan Fejervari performs Nov. 17 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Kian Soltani (cello). The WPA season continues into the new year. Full details at washingtonperformingarts.org.
Vocal Arts D.C. presents Brenda Rae (soprano) and Jonathan Ware (piano) Sept. 15 at 2 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Christian Gerhaher (baritone) and Gerold Huber (piano) will perform Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. Details at vocalartsdc.org.
Openly gay organist Christopher Houlihan returns to Washington for a recital on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. at St. Ann Roman Catholic Church (4001 Yuma St., N.W.). He’ll be joined by orchestra for a performance of Jongen’s “Symphonie Concertante.” Details at christopherhoulihan.com.
South Dakota Symphony Orchestra’s Lakota Music Project is in residence in Washington Oct. 16-21 culminating with a performance at Washington National Cathedral (3101 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) on Monday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. as part of PostClassical Ensemble’s Native American Festival. This is the first time they’ve performed outside their home state. Details at postclassical.com. Tickets for the Oct. 21 concert at tix.cathedral.org.
Washington Concert Opera opens its fall season with Ambroise Thomas’ “Hamlet” on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. at The G.W. Lisner Auditorium (730 21st St., N.W.) with Jacques Imbrailo, Lisette Oropesa and Eve Gigliotti singing the leads. Tickets are $15-110.
Its “Opera Outside” event is Saturday, Sept. 28 at 11 a.m. at Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park. Various singers will perform. It’s free.
“Festejo de Dia de los Muertos” is Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. at the Mexican Cultural Institute (2829 16th St., N.W.) featuring the performance of a Brahms requiem by Laura Choi Stuart, Brian Mextorf and the Choral Arts Society Chamber Singers. Tickets are $95. Details at neworchestraofwashington.org.
The New Orchestra of Washington (NOW) presents “Chiaroscuro” on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 4 p.m. at Live! at 10th & G (945 G St., N.W.). On the program are Grieg’s “Holberg Suite,” Bacewicz’s “Concerto for String Ochestra,” film composer Bernard Herrmann’s “Psycho: a Suite for Strings” from the classic Hitchcock thriller, and Shostakovich’s First Piano Concerto. Details at concertopera.org.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra kicks off its 37th season Saturday night (Sept. 14) at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore). The program includes works by Mozart, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Beethoven and more. It’s free — just show up, no tickets required.
The BSO performs the score of “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” Sept. 19-21, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 Sept. 27-29, “Symphonic Fairy Tales” Oct. 3-5, “Music Box: Autumn Colors” Oct. 5, “The Nat King Cole Songbook” Oct. 10-13, Brahms “Symphony No. 4” Oct. 17-20, a Mozart violin concerto Oct. 26-27, Leslie Odom Jr. with the BSO Nov. 1 and more. The orchestra splits its time between the Meyerhoff (1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore) and the Strathmore. Details at bsomusic.org.
Baltimore Concert Opera, founded in 2009, opens its season with Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” (Sept. 20/22) and continues with Menotti’s “The Consul” (Nov. 22/24) at the Engineers Club Grand Ballroom (11 W. Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore). Tickets are $21.50-71.50 at baltimoreconcertopera.com.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington presents a cabaret show “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda” Sept. 21 at 5 and 8 p.m. City Winery (1350 Okie St., N.E.), its small ensembles showcase night Oct. 26 at 5 and 8 p.m. at Live! at 10th and G and its annual holiday extravaganza Dec. 7-15 at Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.). Details at gmcw.org.
The Washington Bach Consort presents “A Royal Occasion” with works by Handel and Bach on Sept. 22 at 4 p.m. at National Presbyterian Church (4101 Nebraska Ave., N.W.). The concert will feature soprano Margot Rood, alto Sarah Davis Issaelkhoury, tenor Aaron Sheehan and bass Jonathan Woody. Tickets are $10-69. Artistic Director Dana Marsh is gay.
The Consort’s Chamber Series will continue with “At Home With Bach” Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. at Live! at 10th & G. The Noontime Cantata Series continues Sept. 30 (BWV 109 at St. Peter’s on Capitol Hill), Oct. 1 (BWV 109 at Church of the Epiphany), Nov. 4 (BWV 26 at St. Peter’s) and Nov. 5 (BWV 26 at Church of the Epiphany). Noontime performances are free. Details at bachconsort.org.
The Hylton Performing Arts Center at George Mason University in Manassas, Va., (10960 George Mason Circle) has several classical music offerings for fall including “Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel: Spellbinding Bach” (Oct. 5), Matt Haimovitz with Simone Dinnerstein on cello and piano (Oct. 13), Terra Voce (flute/cello) featuring Maria Yefimova (Oct. 22), the Manassas Chorale: Broadway’s Best (Oct. 12) and the Manassas Syphony Orchestra: Innovative Brilliance (Oct. 26). Tickets, times and prices at hyltoncenter.org.
The Washington Sinfonietta will perform “A New Voice for Our Time” on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at The Falls Church Episcopal Church (115 E. Fairfax St., Falls Church, Va.). The program will feature works by Busconi, Elgar and Mozart. Cellist Eddie Adams will perform. Tickets are $20. Details at washingtonsinfonietta.org.
LGBT-affirming First Baptist Church of Washington (1328 16th St., N.W.) continues its First Sunday Virtuoso Organist Concert Series with Eileen Guenther (Oct. 6 at 2 p.m.) and Marvin Mills (Nov. 3 at 2 p.m.). Recitals are free. Details at firstbaptistdc.org.
The Kennedy Center’s REACH Opening Festival continues through Sunday, Sept. 22 with a bounty of events in all disciplines. All are free. Details at kennedy-center.org/reach.
The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra performs “Imaginary Symphony,” a program featuring works by Wagner, Beethoven, Walton et. al. Oct. 5-6 and “Autumn Cello and Dvorak” Nov. 16-17. Performances are held at various venues. Tickets range from $5-85. Details at alexsym.org.
The D.C. Different Drummers Capitol Pride Symphonic Band has its fall concert “For the Children!” on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. at Church of the Epiphany (1317 G St., N.W.). Its holiday concert will be Dec. 9 at 3 p.m. at Lutheran Church of the Reformation (212 E. Capitol St., N.E.). The Marching Band will perform at the AIDS Walk (Oct. 26) and High Heel Race (Oct. 29). Details at dcdd.org.
Virginia Opera performs Puccini’s “Tosca” Oct. 4-8 at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts (4373 Mason Pond Dr., Fairfax). Tickets are $54-110. The company returns with “Il Postino” Nov. 8-12. Ticket prices vary and packages are available. Details at vaopera.org.
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1
I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.
Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”
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