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By Jeremy D. Birch
08 Jul 2009
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| Conductor Emil de Cou |
The National Symphony Orchestra presents its annual engagement of concerts under the stars at Wolf Trap National Park. This year's lineup ranges from country to classical to Broadway to film to video game music.
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For more than 35 years, the NSO has made listening to magnificent music under the stars at Wolf Trap for the Performing Arts an annual tradition.
On July 9, country music superstar LeAnn Rimes and her band join the NSO and conductor Emil de Cou for an evening filled with her hits.
On July 10, Video Games Live™ returns as host Tommy Tallarico and guest conductor Jack Wall lead the NSO in a “Film & Music” concert event. The Orchestra plays scores from popular video games accompanied by cutting-edge visuals from Myst, Tron, Zelda, Final Fantasy, and more on giant screens in-house and on the lawn.
Principal Pops Conductor Marvin Hamlisch conducts the Orchestra on July 11 in an evening of his compositions from A Chorus Line, The Sting, Sophie’s Choice, The Way We Were, and more.
The Orchestra, conducted by Emil de Cou, is joined on July 23 by soprano Joanna Mongiardo, tenor Robert Baker, baritone Hugh Russell, and the Washington Chorus for Carl Orff’s primal, exultant Carmina Burana, plus Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, and more.
The NSO’s second “Film & Music” evening, The Wizard of Oz on July 24, features the complete 1939 classic shown on giant screens, with the full score played live by the Orchestra conducted by Emil de Cou.
On July 25, sit under the stars for an evening of The Movie Music of John Williams with Erich Kunzel conducting the Orchestra in themes from the box office hits Star Wars, Jaws, Harry Potter, E.T., and more. (Please note: no film clips will be shown.
Conducted by Emil de Cou on July 30, the Orchestra is joined by violinist Sarah Chang for Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto on a program that also includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 “Pastorale” and Four Dance Episodes from Copland’s Rodeo.
For the NSO’s final “Film & Music” evening on July 31, watch remarkable film sequences the celebrated BBC/Discovery television series Blue Planet, shown on giant screens, with George Fenton’s original score played live by the Orchestra conducted by Emil de Cou.
In Broadway ROCKS! on August 1, conductor Randall Craig Fleischer and four of Broadway’s best singers—Christiane Noll (Ragtime), Capathia Jenkins (The Civil War), Hugh Panaro (Lestat), and Rob Evan (Jekyll and Hyde)—dazzle with great moments from hit musicals, including Hairspray, Jekyll and Hyde, Disney’s The Lion King, Rent, Tommy, and more.
To conclude the concert series, the National Symphony Orchestra is joined on August 7 by conductor Stephen Lord and this year’s Wolf Trap Opera Company artists and the Choral Arts Society of Washington in a concert staging of La bohème, Puccini’s bittersweet story of young love and heartbreak.
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For tickets and further information, vist Wolftrap.
Jeremy D. Birch is the writer/editor for Kennedy Center News.
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