Music & Concerts
SPRING ARTS 2020: Symphonies, opera and more on spring slate
Out British pianist Stephen Hough to play, present essay book mid-April


[Events are subject to change. The following events are scheduled as of March 11. Check the respective sites for cancellations.]
“P r i s m,” composer Ellen Reid’s surreal and haunting opera exploring the trauma of sexual abuse and the problems of memory in its wake, will be performed today and Saturday at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.). Tickets are $29 at kennedy-center.org.
Washington National Opera has two current productions. Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” continues through March 22 at the Kennedy Center Opera House (2700 F St., N.W.). Tickets range from $45-299.
And Saint-Saen’s “Samson and Delilah” runs through March 21.
“Blue,” a new opera by Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson about the death of a young black man by a white police officer, is slated for a March 15-28 production.
SHIFT: a Festival of American Orchestras runs March 24-28 with the Jacksonville Symphony (its music director Courtney Lewis is gay) performing March 24, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra March 25, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra March 27 and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra March 28.
The National Symphony Orchestra, as usual, has several upcoming concerts. Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin will perform the Grieg Piano Concerto April 2-4, Louis Langree conducts Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto with gay pianist Stephen Hough April 16 and 18. The British-born Hough, who now lives in Australia, will also promote his new book of witty essays “Rough Ideas: Reflections on Music and More” (one essay is dubbed “Gay pianists: can you tell?”) at Politics & Prose (5015 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) on Sunday, April 19 at 1 p.m. It’s free to attend. Details at politics-prose.com.
Back to the NSO, Conductor Laureate Christoph Eschenbach returns to conduct an all-French program, including Ravel’s famous “Bolero,” April 23-25. Queer organist Cameron Carpenter will perform Poulenc’s “Organ Concerto” all three nights.
All performances are in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Details and tickets at kennedy-center.org.
Not classical but quick side note, since it is at the Kennedy Center — TV icon Lynda Carter (“Wonder Woman”) will give her annual concert on Saturday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Terrace Theater. This year’s show is calld “The Human & Divine Tour” and features her daughter, Jessica Carter Altman. Tickets are $65-110.
On Saturday, March 28, the Choral Arts Society of Washington presents “Music by Women on a Mission” with performances at 4 and 8 p.m. at Live! at 10th & G (945 G St., N.W.). Artistic Director Scott Tucker will be joined by guest conductor Gisele Becker for a program by women composers. Tickets are $30 at choralarts.org.
Also in the only “loosely” classical vein, Congressional Chorus presents its cabaret show “Vogue: Return to the ‘90s” March 21-22 at Church of the Epiphany (1317 G St., N.W.). Tickets are $39-49 ($19 for students). Details at congressionalchorus.org.
Washington Concert Opera performs Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra” on Sunday, April 5 at 6 p.m. at Lisner Auditorium (730 21st St., N.W.). Its 2020 Gala: an Evening with Offenbach is Wednesday, May 13 at 6 p.m. at the Embassy of France (401 Reservoir Rd., N.W.). A variety of ticket packages are available. Details at concertopera.org.
Way more pop leaning but still of note, The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will perform its new show “Genderosity” this weekend (see page 56 for details). It will debut a new choral work by Broadway vet Andrew Lippa “Unbreakable” in early June.
The Washington Bach Consort, under gay direction, has a bounty of spring performances in its Director’s Series, Chamber Series and Noontime Cantata Series. Full details at bachconsort.org.
D.C. Different Drummers, an LGBT ensemble, offers its “Precious Moments” concert (its annual symphonic band spring concert) on Saturday, April 4 at 7 p.m. at Church of the Epiphany (1317 G St., N.W.). Thea Kano of the Gay Men’s Chorus will join as guest conductor. La Voix Live 2020, an evening of music and laughter with the D.C. Different Drummers ensembles is Friday, April 17. Details at dcdd.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.”