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Masterworks of Five Centuries Saturday Series

Sales for this series have closed.
Registrations may still be available for the individual sessions within this series.

Masterworks of Five Centuries Saturday Series

7-Session Weekend In-Person Smithsonian Chamber Music Society Concert Series

7 sessions, from October 14, 2023, ​to March 16, 2024​
Code: BPS8
Registration
$200
Member
$240
Nonmember

The 7 programs included in this series are:

Masterworks of Five Centuries (Saturday series)
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society In-Person Concert
October 14, 2023 - ​7:30 p.m. ​to 9:30 p.m. ET​
Session details

The 46th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society features musical masterpieces from the late 16th century to the cusp of the 21st, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments in a 7-concert series held mostly on Saturdays. This concert features fugues of Bach and Mozart with the Smithsonian Consort of Viols.

Masterworks of Five Centuries (Saturday series)
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society In-Person Concert
November 4, 2023 - ​7:30 p.m. ​to 9:30 p.m. ET​
Session details

The 46th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society features musical masterpieces from the late 16th century to the cusp of the 21st, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments in a 7-concert series held mostly on Saturdays. This concert features sonatas and trios of Bach and Rameau.

Masterworks of Five Centuries (Saturday series)
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society In-Person Concert
November 18, 2023 - ​7:30 p.m. ​to 9:30 p.m. ET​
Session details

The 46th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society features musical masterpieces from the late 16th century to the cusp of the 21st, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments in a 7-concert series held mostly on Saturdays. This concert features piano trios of Beethoven with the Smithsonian Chamber Players.

Masterworks of Five Centuries (Saturday/Sunday series)
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society In-Person Concert
January 28, 2024 - ​7:30 p.m. ​to 9:30 p.m. ET​
Session details

The 46th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society features musical masterpieces from the late 16th century to the cusp of the 21st, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments in a 7-concert series held mostly on Saturdays and on Sundays. This concert features music composed by Bartók, Florence Price, Beethoven, and Schönberg performed by the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra.

Masterworks of Five Centuries (Saturday series)
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society In-Person Concert
February 10, 2024 - ​7:30 p.m. ​to 9:30 p.m. ET​
Session details

The 46th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society features musical masterpieces from the late 16th century to the cusp of the 21st, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments in a 7-concert series held mostly on Saturdays. This concert features piano trios of Beethoven with the Smithsonian Chamber Players.

Masterworks of Five Centuries (Saturday series)
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society In-Person Concert
February 24, 2024 - ​7:30 p.m. ​to 9:30 p.m. ET​
Session details

The 46th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society features musical masterpieces from the late 16th century to the cusp of the 21st, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments in a 7-concert series held mostly on Saturdays. This concert features suites and sonatas of J.S. Bach with the Smithsonian Chamber Players.

Masterworks of Five Centuries (Saturday series)
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society In-Person Concert
March 16, 2024 - ​7:30 p.m. ​to 9:30 p.m. ET​
Session details

The 46th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society features musical masterpieces from the late 16th century to the cusp of the 21st, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments in a 7-concert series held mostly on Saturdays. This concert features English consort music with the Smithsonian Consort of Viols.

The 46th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society features musical masterpieces from the late 16th century to the cusp of the 21st, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments. Veteran musicians of the Society are joined in several of the programs by emerging artists during this 7-concert series held mostly on Saturdays*.

The season presents three chamber program dyads, plus a chamber orchestra concert. The Smithsonian Consort of Viols makes two appearances. In the first, fugues of Bach from The Art of Fugue are combined with Bach fugue arrangements by Mozart. The spring program features English consort music by Orlando Gibbons and Henry Purcell, whose 1680 fantazias provide a fitting capstone to a venerable tradition. Catherine Manson and Rebecca Landell Reed join the SCMS artistic director in two programs surveying Beethoven piano trios, and in another pairing, Slowik is partnered by violinist Edwin Huizinga, viol player Arnie Tanimoto, and harpsichordist Corey Jamason for sonatas, suites, and trios of J. S. Bach and Jean-Philippe Rameau. The January chamber orchestra concert honors the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schönberg's birth.

*Special Information for this Concert Series

  • This series includes six Saturdays and one Sunday concert on Sunday, January 28, 2024. The January 28 concert has a different location compared to the rest of the series and other varying terms so please read this section carefully.
  • Location: All six Saturday concerts take place in the National Museum of American History’s intimate Nicholas and Eugenia Taubman Hall of Music at 14th St. and Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The Sunday, January 28 concert will be held at St. Mark's Capitol Hill, 301 A St. SE, Washington, DC (Metro: Capitol South).
  • SCMS artistic director Kenneth Slowik curates a series of pre-concert talks starting at 6:30 p.m. for the six Saturday concerts included in this series, shedding light on the glorious music and the lives and times of the featured composers. Please know the Sunday, January 28 concert will not have a pre-concert lecture.

Concert Season Repertoire

Saturday, October 14, 2023, 7:30 p.m. 
Fugues of Bach and Mozart 

The Smithsonian Consort of Viols
Kenneth Slowik, Arnie Tanimoto, Catherine Slowik, and Chelsea Bernstein, viols 

Saturday, November 4, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Sonatas and Trios of Bach and Rameau 

Edwin Huizinga, violin; Arnie Tanimoto, viola da gamba; Kenneth Slowik, harpsichord 

Saturday, November 18, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Piano Trios of Beethoven 
Op. 1, No. 2 in G Major; Fourteen Variations, Op. 44; Op. 11 in B-flat Major  

The Smithsonian Chamber Players 
Catherine Manson, violin; Rebecca Landell Reed, cello; Kenneth Slowik, fortepiano 

Sunday, January 28, 2024, 7:30 p.m.**
Béla Bartók: Rumanian Folk Dances, Sz.56 
Florence Price: Andante moderato
Ludwig van Beethoven, arr. Gustav Mahler: Quartetto serioso, Op. 95 
Arnold Schönberg: Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 

The Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra
Kenneth Slowik, conductor 

**This concert is on a Sunday, will not have a pre-concert lecture, and will be held at a different location compared to the rest of the outlined series: St. Mark's Capitol Hill, 301 A St. SE, Washington, DC (Metro: Capitol South).

Saturday, February 10, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Piano Trios of Beethoven 
Op. 1, No. 1 in E-flat Major; Op. 1 No. 3 in C Minor; Op. 70, No. 1 in D Major, the Ghost 

The Smithsonian Chamber Players 
Catherine Manson, violin; Rebecca Landell Reed, cello; Kenneth Slowik, fortepiano

Saturday, February 24, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Suites and Sonatas of J. S. Bach 

The Smithsonian Chamber Players
Corey Jamason, harpsichord; Kenneth Slowik, cello and viola da gamba 

Saturday, March 16, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Consorts of Orlando Gibbons and Henry Purcell 

The Smithsonian Consort of Viols
Kenneth Slowik, Arnie Tanimoto, Wade Davis, Catherine Slowik, Chelsea Bernstein, and Lily Schrantz viols 

7 concerts

General Information