Strathmore - About Strathmore - History

A History of Music at Strathmore
Since its first program in December of 1983, "The American Composer: His Music and His Muses" featuring Mark Wilson, Strathmore has introduced young musicians who are just beginning their careers and others offering the results of years of achievement. The "American Composer" series, curated by Marilyn Boyd DeReggi, brought renowned composers to the Mansion to speak, in programs where their works were performed. Virgil Thomson, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Gunther Schuller, Charles Dodge, Stuart Smith, Lawrence Moss and Stephen Montague all participated in the series. Virgil Thomson was so enamored by the series that he returned for three years. Thomson, who died in 1989, possessed a highly original portfolio of work, including his collaborations with Gertrue Stein on the operas "Four Saints in Three Acts," and "The Mother of Us All." His awards and honors include the Pulitzer-Prizes for the scores "Louisiana Story" and "The Plough that Broke the Plains," the Kennedy Center Honors, and 20 honorary doctorates.

1984
Keter Betts, bassist for Ella Fitzgerald, begins his relationship with Strathmore, performing as a soloist and with his quartet.

1985
Co-sponsored by Strathmore and Sutton Place Gourmet of Bethesda and Washington, the Tea Room opens in September of this year on Wednesday afternoons from 1-3 p.m. Today, musical teas are held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and have featured more than 3,000 performers over the years.

1986
Cellist Steven Honigberg makes his Strathmore debut this year. A graduate from the Juilliard School of Music, Honigberg has become one of the most gifted cellists of our time. He is a member of the National Symphony Orchestra and achieved glowing reviews for his duet work on the 1988 world premiere of David Ott's "Concerto for Two Cellos" with the NSO. Honigberg was the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's chamber music series director from 1994-2002.

1987
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, George Perle, visits, and the Rosewood Chamber Consort performs his Pulitzer Prize-winning composition, "Wind Quintet No. 4."

1988
Strathmore dedicates its Gudelsky Gazebo to celebrate its fifth anniversary. This classically-styled six-column, copper-roofed structure can hold up to 30 musicians for outdoor concerts.

April 22, 1988
Composer Gunther Schuller opens this installment of "The American Composer: His Music and His Muses" with a lecture on "The Equality of the World's Musical Styles." Following the lecture is a performance of his chamber works, including "Fantasy for Solo Cello" and "Conversations." Described as a "scholar, composer, conductor, teacher, author, music publisher, indefatigable advocate" by Alan Rich in New York Magazine, Schuller has composed everything from classical to ragtime. He has held the distinguished positions of President of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and Artistic Director of the Tanglewood Berkshire Music Center. He has created more than 160 original compositions, including his 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning work "Of Reminiscences and Reflections." He was also the recipient of the 1988 William Schuman Award, given by Columbia University for "lifetime achievement in American music composition."

May 5 and 6, 1989
The American Composer series hosts a two-day festival in celebration of John Cage, a well-known and controversial composer, artist, and writer. The "Cage-a-thon" involved philosophers, visual artists, performers, noted Cage authorities from across the country, and Cage, himself, was in attendance. Cage, who died in 1992, is famous for his non-traditional approach to the making of music and art. His "philosophy" of music, involving the importance of silence, has revolutionized the modern American composition.

May 7, 1993
Stephen Paulus lectures and performs his works as part of the Music in the Mansion series. He has been described by the New Yorker as a "bright, fluent, inventor with a ready lyric gift." Paulus is best known for his opera, "The Postman Always Rings Twice," and for his prolific portfolio of over 200 compositions.

March 18, 1993
Oscar Hijuelos, Pulitzer Prize-winning author for The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1990) lectures at Strathmore. He was the first Hispanic-American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

1995-1997
Nnenna Freelon, five-time Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist, performs at Strathmore as part of the Summer Sounds Free Outdoor Concert series and in unprecedented back-to-back performances in the 1997 Music in the Mansion series to celebrate the reopening of the mansion. Her CDs include the double Grammy-nominated Soulcall.

January 22, 1998
Pianist Christopher Taylor performs during the Music in the Mansion series at Strathmore. His fame began in 1993 when he became the first American since 1981 to reach the finals in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. His most recent achievement is his performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jesus, an over 2-hour performance of a 176-page score from memory. He has performed nationally with the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Buffalo and Los Angeles Symphonies. He was recently honored with an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

1997 – 1999
The Baltimore Consort becomes the first Ensemble-in-Residence at Strathmore performing three concerts each season of its residency.

January 1999-2000
The Miami String Quartet, Strathmore’s second Ensemble-in-Residence, performs in the Music in the Mansion series. Currently, it is one of the most respected young quartets in America. It has recorded two albums, one on the Pyramid label and one on the BMG Conifer label. In 1992, it became the first string quartet to win First Prize of the Concert Artists Guild New York Competition. Internationally, it has been laureate of the 1993 Evian and the 1991 London string quartet contests.

2001 – 2002
Strathmore showcases one if its future Music Center residents, the National Philharmonic, in a five-concert series of programs on the Music in the Mansion series.

February 16, 2003
Fortepianist Paul Badura-Skoda celebrates the 50th anniversary of his American debut at the Mansion at Strathmore.

September 3, 2003
Strathmore and the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) begin its tribute to the Washington D.C. area’s musical heritage with the music of John Philip Sousa and the year 1854. The Washington Area Music Timeline Concert Series, which celebrates important musical figures and events in this vicinity, consists of over 64 concerts leading up to the opening of the new Music Center at Strathmore in February 2005. The project is based on the timeline developed by WAMA, researched, compiled and written by Jennifer Hall. It was also researched by Sam Brylawski and Gene Deanna, with additional editing by Bill Holland and Diana Quinn.

November 20 & 21, 2003
Critically acclaimed Brazilian jazz vocalist, Luciana Souza, performs during Strathmore’s Music in the Mansion series.

July 7, 2004
The Slickee Boys, D.C.’s premiere 1980s punk rock band, reunite at Strathmore for the first time in fifteen years during the outdoor Washington Area Music Timeline Concert Series.

July 14, 2004
Chuck Brown, the “godfather of go-go,” a genre of music he pioneered in D.C., sings out to a crowd of thousands during a Washington Area Music Timeline Concert performance.

July 29, 2004
The world premiere of Emergence: A Cicada Serenade by David Kane, is the second commissioned work by Strathmore. Celebrating the return of the 17-year cicadas to the region, the piece was inspired in part by the unique sound that the cicadas produce.

August 25, 2004
Nils Lofgren and his band, Grin reunite for the first time in thirty years during a Washington Area Music Timeline Concert in front of a crowd of over 3,500 fans. County Executive Douglas Duncan declares August 25th Nils Lofgren Day in Montgomery County.

September 23, 2004
World premiere of Violin Sonata No. 2, “The Appleman,” by Garrison Hull, commissioned in part by Strathmore, and performed by violinist Michael Appleman, and pianist Alexander Paley.

February 5, 2005
Strathmore celebrates the opening of its new Music Center with a concert by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Yuri Temirkanov, with special guests cellist Yo-Yo Ma, soprano Harolyn Blackwell, and soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme. A Washington Post editorial declares the hall "a gleaming jewel among the region's cultural treasures," and Post critic Tim Page writes: "Musical life in the nation's capital region just got a lot more interesting...this may turn out to be the best place to hear symphonic music that the Washington area has ever known."

September 2005
Strathmore launches its Artist in Residence program, an initiative to help cultivate local musical talent in the Washington, D.C. area by connecting established performers with up-and-coming musicians. Emerging artists are in residence in the Mansion at Strathmore for the duration of one month. During this month, the artist in residence will perform for an audience each Wednesday night. Each artist will have the opportunity to develop an audience in the area, perfect their performances, create an educational program, and premiere a new work commissioned by Strathmore. The premiere will occur on the last concert of the month and will reflect the musical growth of the artist in residence. Each musician will also participate in education events at area schools and perform on the Millennium Stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Former Artist in Residence graduates include Laura Burhenn of Georgie James, jazz harmonicist Frederic Yonnet, singer/songwriter LEA, Celtic harp player Lily Neill, and reggae band Bambu Station.

Richard Spece, clarinet, and Alexander Paley, piano, premiere “BlingBling” by Scott McAllister. The world premiere of “BlingBling” for clarinet and piano is in three movements. Bling, a term which is used to describe diamonds, jewelry and flashy style, was coined by New Orleans rap family Cash Money Millionaires back in the late '90s and started gaining national awareness with a song titled "Bling Bling" by Cash Money artist BG. McAllister’s work is a tour-de-force for the clarinet, featuring both Spece’s flexible and beautiful tones and a flashy, dance-inspired finale.

February 5, 2006

The first anniversary of the opening of the Music Center at Strathmore features an exclusive presentation, commissioned by Strathmore— "cELLAbration LIVE"—a live concert of the 2004 Grammy-winning children’s CD, cELLAbration: A Tribute to Ella Jenkins. The musicians for this evening feature some of the best performers of children’s music, including Ella Jenkins, Grammy winners Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, Riders in the Sky, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Red Grammer, Tom Chapin, Bill Harley, Tom Paxton, Michelle Valeri and Mariachi Los Camperos. This program was taped by Smithsonian Folkways and XM Radio. The DVD was released nationally in spring of 2007.

Strathmore presents Ballet Argentino and the legendary ballet dancer Julio Bocca in Bocca’s last Washington area performance before his retirement. In The Washington Post review, dance critic Sarah Kaufman glowed, “Julio Bocca doesn’t dance like a man about to retire…when he soars into the air as he did Tuesday night at the Music Center at Strathmore, or skims the stage with those light, quick feet, you see a man in command of his powers, able to dance the younger members of his small troupe, Ballet Argentino, off the stage.”

Strathmore hosts the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Awards, the country's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. These fellowships are presented to master artists for their artistic excellence, cultural authenticity, and contributions to their field.

Strathmore opens its Music in the Mansion series with the world premiere of flutist Gary Schocker’s new work, “Back to School.” The 2-movement piece for piano and flute marks the latest addition to the world-renowned flutist and award winning composer’s list of over 100 compositions in publication, primarily with Theodore Presser.

Strathmore presents the East Coast premiere of Tommy the Clown & the Hip Hop Clowns: Krumping! These high-energy shows feature the internationally recognized “father of krumping”—Tommy the Clown—with 11 of his most powerful and talented dancers.

Legendary rock ‘n roller, Bo Diddley performs at the Music Center. Dubbed “The Originator,” Bo Diddley was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998 and celebrated his 50^th anniversary in the music industry this year. He died on June 2, 2008.

Washington National Opera, under the baton of renowned tenor Plácido Domingo, makes its Strathmore debut with a concert program of opera favorites, including selections from La traviata, Rigoletto, Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Falstaff. Washington National Opera is recognized as one of the leading opera companies in the United States and the premiere producing arts company in the greater D.C. metro area.

Strathmore presents the premiere American tour performances of Russia’s world-renowned Moiseyev Dance Company at the Music Center at Strathmore. These performances will celebrate the life of the recently deceased Russian choreographer Igor Moiseyev, and commemorate the 70^th anniversary of the company and the 50^th anniversary of its first appearance in America, orchestrated by impresario Sol Hurok at New York’s old Metropolitan Opera House on 39^th Street, in 1958.

February 16, 2008

Free to Sing: The Story of the First African American Opera Company is a world premiere original Strathmore concert production about the heroic story of Washington D.C.’s “Colored American Opera Company,” the first black opera troupe in the United States. Commissioned by Strathmore, the original script by Shelley Brown and Michael Rosenberg charts the personal advancement of some of Washington D.C.’s most prominent African-American individuals, as they use their musical talent to raise money for their church community and build schools for their children in the 1870s. Free to Sing focuses on the musical accomplishments of the Opera Company with an introductory narrative, and features “Te Deum,” a recently discovered new John Philip Sousa work, and “Mass in C” by John Esputa. The evening concludes with the rarely performed concert presentation of Julius Eichberg’s American operetta, The Doctor of Alcantara. The creative team for the show includes: Emmy Award-winning director Scot Reese, Music Director Angel Gil-Ordóñez of the Post-Classical Ensemble, and Morgan State University Choir director Eric Conway. Additional research and assistance by Georgetown University professor Patrick Warfield, Post-Classical Ensemble Artistic Director Joseph Horowitz, Library of Congress historian Walter Zvonchenko, Marine Band archivist Mike Ressler, St. Augustine’s Church archivist Dena Grant, members of the St. Augustine’s Church and faculty at Howard University helped piece the story of Free to Sing together.