All upcoming Music & Theater programs

From sleigh bells and sugarplums to the mystical beauties of the Nativity, every December is alive with the music of Christmas. Lecturer and concert pianist Rachel Franklin revisits this most beloved seasonal repertory, hand-picking selections that explore how classical Western composers created a canon of both secular and sacred experiences that are now deeply rooted in our collective seasonal expectations.

The 48th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society features musical masterpieces from the late-16th to the early 21st century, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments in a 6-concert series held mostly on Saturdays. This concert features music of Johann Sebastian Bach with the violinist Catherine Manson and Kenneth Slowik on harpsichord.

The 48th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society features musical masterpieces from the late-16th to the early 21st century, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments in a 6-concert series held on Sundays. This concert features music of Johann Sebastian Bach with the violinist Catherine Manson and Kenneth Slowik on harpsichord.

When the doors of Radio City Music Hall opened in 1932, New Yorkers entered a new world: a dazzling Art Deco fantasy of an entertainment palace far removed from the drab realities of the Great Depression. Join actor Tim Dolan to explore the Music Hall’s stories, secrets, traditions, and trivia, illustrated by rare photos that bring its excitement and glamour to life—including the beloved Christmas Spectacular, in which Rockettes have been kicking up their heels since 1933.

There’s no more iconic holiday performance in New York than Radio City Music Hall’s famed Christmas Spectacular. And there’s no better way to see the precision dancing of the Rockettes than from prime orchestra seats in the fabulous Art Deco theater where the show has been a tradition since 1933. In addition, get a special behind-the-scenes VIP tour of the Music Hall, covering the stunning 1930s interiors and art, the Great Stage, Mighty Wurlitzer Organ, and an opportunity to meet a Rockette along the way.

Smithsonian Chamber Music Society audiences are privy to the unparalleled experience of being able to hear two magnificent quartets of instruments—one made by Antonio Stradivari, the other by his teacher Nicoló Amati—in this popular four-concert series on Saturdays. The concert features music composed by Schubert, Mozart, and Mendelssohn.

Smithsonian Chamber Music Society audiences are prhttps://tsa-api02-16/libretto2/performance/261542#details-paneivy to the unparalleled experience of being able to hear two magnificent quartets of instruments—one made by Antonio Stradivari, the other by his teacher Nicoló Amati—in this popular four-concert series on Sundays. The concert features music composed by Schubert, Mozart, and Mendelssohn.

Beginning in the mid-1950s, rock music found a surprising home on mainstream television, including on programs hosted by Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and Ed Sullivan. Elvis, for example, appeared on all three shows. But it was the appearance of the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964 that changed the face of pop culture, leading to an explosion of televised rock, from prime-time variety shows like “Shindig” to the sitcom antics of “The Monkees.” Media historian Brian Rose presents a lively survey of how rock and television grew up together.

Craftsmen, dramatists, perfectionists, melodists, and unlikely partners, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II not only changed the American musical, they changed us too. Filmmaker and cultural historian Sara Lukinson offers an abundant sampling of musical clips from their shows in a joyful evening that celebrates the enduring magic they created.

In September 1929, William Faulkner published The Sound and the Fury and the singer-songwriter Charley Patton released a record with the eerily parallel title “Screamin’ and Hollerin’ the Blues.” Tim A. Ryan, a professor and author of Yoknapatawpha Blues: Faulkner’s Fiction and Southern Roots Music, examines how working in different media Faulkner and Patton mobilized similar imagery, language, themes, and experimental forms to depict their shared Mississippi world.