The REACH Opening Festival at the Kennedy Center: Full Schedule

Thanks to all who celebrated with us as we opened the REACH! Please visit Kennedy-Center.org/reach to see upcoming events and explore our vibrant new spaces.

9:30am EDT

The Future Is Now and I Am It: A Parade to Mark the Moment

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Performers to include: Lubana Al-Quntar, Hall Williams Band, Kazaxe, Ladygod, Soka Tribe, Mariachi El Rey, LeeAnet Noble & Team Vicious, Eastern High School Drumline, and The President’s Own Marine Band

Guest artists to include: Nona Hendryx, Andrew Ondrejcak, The Griggs Brothers, Marlon Taylor-Wiles, Laura Anderson Barbata, Sheldon Scott, Stephanie Mercedes, Vanessa German, Hoesy Corona, Carlos Nazario, and others

To open the REACH, the Kennedy Center gathers artists from far-flung corners of the artistic landscape together with young people to walk, march, and dance into the future in this parade curated by multi-disciplinary visual and performance artist Carrie Mae Weems, in collaboration with David Ross of The MusicianShip and Funk Parade.

Let us know if you are planning on attending! RSVP

David Ross - Artistic Director
Carrie Mae Weems - Artistic Collaborator
Sandra Atkinson - Parade Director
The Griggs Brothers - Costume Consultants
Marlon Taylor-Wiles - Costume Consultant
Andrew Ondrejcak - Costume Consultant
Daniel Pinha - Float Designer
Dan Castor - Site Supervisor

Also featuring Kennedy Center Turnaround Artists + Schools

Catch performances by many parade participants throughout the day on the North Plaza. No timed-entry passes are required to visit this area. Food and refreshments will be available for purchase.

The President's Own Marine Band
11 a.m.-12 p.m.

Hall Williams Band
12-1 p.m.

Mariachi El Rey
1-2 p.m.

LadyGod
2-3 p.m.

Daniel Bernard Roumain
3-4 p.m.

Standing Rock
4-4:30 p.m.

Second Line
4:30-5:30 p.m.

Saturday September 7, 2019 9:30am - 11:00am EDT
Various Locations

Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Erik Bruner-Yang (Maketto)

Pass Info

Saturday September 7, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
River Pavilion

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

10:00am EDT

World Music Workshop with Imani Gonzalez

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An interactive, participatory workshop for families with children ages 4 & up! Learn about the rich diversity of cultures through activities based on authentic children’s songs, rhythms, stories, and artifacts. Along the way, you'll discover lifestyles and values of children in faraway countries and come to appreciate the similarities and differences between these cultures and our own.

Saturday September 7, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Storytelling Workshop with Diane Macklin

Pass Info

This participatory storytelling workshop is an inter-generational activity for children age 5 and up with parents and caregivers.

Saturday September 7, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Sardar Classroom

Active/Hands-On

Experience Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Tai Chi with US Wushu Academy

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Learn Tai Chi principles to reduce physical stress and improve mental well being. Your guide is Christopher Pei, founder of the United States Wushu Academy. Pei is a leading figure in the promotion of Wushu, Tai Chi, and Qigong.

Saturday September 7, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Lower Lawn

Active/Hands-On

Experience Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Mason Bates & Daniel Bernard Roumain (Skylight Soundscapes Activation)

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Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates joins Daniel Bernard Roumain for a concert in the chill-out lounge space of the Skylight Pavilion. Roumain is a classically trained composer, performer, violinist, and bandleader noted for blending funk, rock, Hip Hop, and classical music into an energetic and experiential sonic form.

Daniel Bernard Roumain will also give a solo performance on the North Plaza from 3-4 p.m. No timed-entry passes are required to visit this area. Food and refreshments will be available for purchase.

Featured Artists

Daniel Bernard Roumain

Daniel Bernard Roumain’s acclaimed work as a composer, performer, educator, and activist spans more than two decades, and he has been commissioned by venerable artists and institutions worldwide. “About as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets” (NYT), DBR is perhaps the only... Read More →

Mason Bates

Recently named the most-performed composer of his generation and the 2018 Composer of the Year by Musical America, Mason Bates serves as the first composer-in-residence of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Championed by legendary conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Michael... Read More →

Saturday September 7, 2019 10:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Electronica/DJ Culture, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Performance

10:00am EDT

Recycled Art with Jacquie Ehle and Potomac Conservancy

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Jacqueline (Jackie) Ehle Inglefield will lead participants through an art-making experience using recycled plastic water bottles.

Saturday September 7, 2019 10:00am - 7:00pm EDT
Presidential Grove

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

10:00am EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

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Feeling creative? Visit the Moonshot Studio and get hands-on with the process of art-making!

Go for hands-on exploration in our new Moonshot Studio, where activities will be running throughout the festival for visitors of all ages to spend time delving into various art forms, exploring stories and themes from the Center’s stages, and creating their own works of art.

Today in the Moonshot Studio:
MoKC: Art Studio
Learn to draw just like Mo Willems! Here you can sketch his characters—or make up your own—at large drawing tables. Use light tables to practice tracing your favorite characters. See how simple shapes can be assembled to create expressive characters!

MoKC: It’s a Mo-A-Trope!
Make your favorite Mo characters squawk, jump and dance in a hand-made Mo-A-Trope (it’s a zoetrope with Mo in it!). Using early hand-made technology called zoetropes, learn how simple drawings can come to life with the simple spin of a wheel.

JFK Ideals: Poetry & Pennants
Explore the words and ideals of JFK through poetry and visual art. Transform the words of John F. Kennedy into an original poem. Then use your poem to create a pennant that celebrates your ideals and puts them on display.

Mixmaster Station
Curated by Marvin and Brian Quijada (composer and playwright, respectively, of Kid Prince & Pablo), use the Mixmaster Station to create your own livelooped mixes using sounds, rhythms, and beats, and combining genres like trap, reggaeton, swing, and original music from Marvin and Brian.

Analog: Install - Interactive Dance and Technology Experience
Explore an interactive installation designed to demystify the experience of watching a contemporary dance performance. Turn, bend, and jump to create virtual choreography generated from your own movements and projected in real-time through motion-tracking technology.

Saturday September 7, 2019 10:00am - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

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Step into new worlds in our Virtual Reality Lounge, where you can put on an Oculus headset that brings to life colorful adventures near, far, and beyond imagination in three dimensions!

Half Life VR
Director: Robert Connor, Producer: Royal Swedish Opera
Step right in to the Royal Swedish Ballet's production of Half Life in this singular VR experience. From pioneering contemporary choreographer Sharon Eyal, Half Life progresses with her signature language of cyborg-like angular movements and poses to the beat of minimal techno. The performance by the Royal Swedish Ballet was filmed from 60 different angles using 360° VR cameras. At one moment you’re looking at the ensemble from above, and the next you’re standing among them. Details of movement, costume, and expression are up close and personal for a uniquely immersive and artistic experience

Last Whispers
Director: Lena Herzog, Producer: Emblematic Group
Last Whispers is a project about the mass extinction of languages. By definition, this extinction occurs in silence, since silence is the very form it takes. Every two weeks the world loses a language. At an unprecedented speed, faster than the extinction of some species, our linguistic diversity—the very means by which we know ourselves—is eroding. Today, out of the 7,000 languages remaining on Earth, only 30 are spoken among the majority of the world population. It is estimated that at least half of the planet’s currently spoken languages will have died out by the end of this century. Some estimates project a much greater speed of disappearance. Last Whispers is an immersive oratorio, an invocation of the languages that have gone extinct and an incantation of those that are endangered.

“Circle of Life” in 360º | THE LION KING on Broadway
Director: Julie Taymor, Producer: Total Cinema 360
THE LION KING continues as one of the most popular stage musicals in the world, with a worldwide gross exceeding that of any film, Broadway show or other entertainment title in box office history. “Circle of Life” in 360 allows viewers – in a seamless 360° sweep – to experience the number from within it, completely surrounded by the 31 cast members onstage, Julie Taymor’s eye-popping puppets and masks, set pieces flying in from above and actors emerging from two floors below the stage as Pride Rock rises up to present Mufasa, Rafiki and baby Simba. The virtual reality technology enables viewers to choose where to look at every point, inviting repeat viewings of the video to take in every possible vantage point.

The Parksville Murders
Composer: Kamala Sankaram, Librettist: Jerre Dye, Director: Cari Ann Shim Sham, Producer: Opera on Tap
Two young women (Sarah and Corrine) wake up confused and terrified in a dark, surreal, music-filled world of incongruities and evil intentions, a space where Time seems to have curved in on itself somehow. Grotesque, masked figures slowly gather around the two from the corners of the darkened room, ceremoniously awaiting the women’s fate. As the thundering sonic world escalates and The Watchers descend upon them, one woman fights her way out, only to find that ‘out’ might be yet another illusion in this horrific, virtual universe. Will you help Sarah?

Traveling While Black
Director: Roger Ross Williams, Producer: Felix & Paul Studios
Traveling While Black is a cinematic VR experience that immerses the viewer in the long history of restriction of movement for black Americans and the creation of safe spaces in our communities. Visit historic Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington, D.C. and join patrons as they share and reflect on their experiences. Confronting the way we understand and talk about race in America, Traveling While Black highlights the urgent need to facilitate a dialogue about the challenges minority travelers still face today.

Saturday September 7, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

11:00am EDT

Master Class: Intermediate Ballet with Tiler Peck

STUDENT PARTICIPATION BY INVITATION ONLY: Led by the New York City Ballet principal dancer, this intermediate classical ballet class is for students ages 10+ who have taken ballet continuously for at least 3 years and take at least 3-4 ballet classes per week.

The participants in these classes/events are being curated by the Kennedy Center from participants in existing Kennedy Center education programs.The public is welcome to observe the class through the studio’s windows and/or a viewing area by the studio door.

Featured Artists

Tiler Peck

Tiler Peck is an international award-winning Principal Dancer with the New York City Ballet, an actress and designer. Last summer, she added the title of Curator to her ever-growing list of accolades, as she starred in the second installment of The Los Angeles Music Center’s presentation... Read More →

Saturday September 7, 2019 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Studio F

Dance

Audience Everyone
Experience Invitation Only

11:30am EDT

Opening Ceremony: Redeclaration of Creative Independence

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The Re-Declaration of Creative Independence is a communally performed choral poem and institutional assertion inspired by the opening of the REACH at the Kennedy Center. It is written in the spirit of Maya Angelou’s inaugural poem, but with a greater emphasis on the prosaic lyricism of President John F. Kennedy. In performance, The Re-Declaration seizes on the recent examples of Zinn’s "A People’s History" or Coates’s "Between the World and Me," literary texts that multiple players can parse and breathe individual life into as they simultaneously make the words their own and all of ours collectively.

Penned and organized by Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact Marc Bamuthi Joseph, the Re-Declaration distills how the REACH demands us to re-engage the intersection of American ideals and global aesthetics, and further reifies that our physical expansion is an opportunity to expand our radius of accountability, participation, and belonging. Joseph will integrate original verse, language from Kennedy Center Honorees, and direct quotations from our institutional namesake to welcome our community into the possibilities inherent in the opening of the REACH - to consider that our mission isn’t just to "present" artists but to USE art as opportunity to activate all communities in an embodied inspiration beyond the traditional transactional paradigm.

The Re-Declaration will be initially performed by Kennedy Center board and staff, members of the Turnaround Arts roster, DC-based cultural leaders, and extended members of the Kennedy Center national family. Excerpts of the Re-Declaration will be read throughout the day and occasionally during our Opening Festival to make our public narrative clear and to center our audiences and our community in the relationship between the Kennedy Center ideals and the broader vision of creativity at the core of American promise.

Featured Artists

Marc Bamuthi Joseph

BAMUTHI (Marc Bamuthi Joseph) is a 2017 TED Global Fellow, an inaugural recipient of the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, and an honoree of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship. Joseph’s opera libretto, We Shall Not Be Moved, was named one of 2017’s “Best Classical... Read More →

Saturday September 7, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Presidential Grove

Audience Everyone
Experience Sign-Language Interpreted

11:30am EDT

Storytelling Workshop with Diane Macklin

Pass Info

This participatory storytelling workshop is an inter-generational activity for children age 5 and up with parents and caregivers.

Saturday September 7, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Classical Music & the Voice

Experience Learn by Participating

11:30am EDT

Telling Your Story through the Blues Workshop with Imani Gonzalez

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Experience what happens when two cultures - African and American blues - collide to create an exciting new experience built on the musical elements of “repetition” and “call & response.” Participants will work together to compose a blues song using the "Writer’s Workshop" approach and perform it.

Saturday September 7, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Jazz

Experience Learn by Participating

12:00pm EDT

Primary (Film Screening)

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John F. Kennedy was the first presidential candidate to allow a documentary film crew to follow him behind the scenes on the campaign trail. The film Primary, directed by Robert Drew, is a breakthrough in cinema verite filmmaking that captures the battle between JFK and Hubert Humphrey in the Wisconsin primary and changed the way that candidates use film and television. Followed by a discussion about the use of media by presidential campaigns past and present

Saturday September 7, 2019 12:00pm - 1:45pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing, Open Captioned

12:00pm EDT

GIRLAAA DJs: Legacy Beyond the Trend

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Eight DJ sets throughout the day will be curated by #dontmutedc. DJs to be announced at a later date.

Saturday September 7, 2019 12:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Electronica/DJ Culture

Experience Performance

12:30pm EDT

Master Class: Beychella with MODELS INC. Led by Celebrity Choreographer Iran ‘Bang’ Paylor

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Beychella-style Master Class taught by local company MODELS INC. Led by Celebrity Choreographer Iran ‘Bang’ Paylor - Learn moves from Beyoncé’s famous Coachella performance.

Featured Artists

MODELS INC.

MODELS INC. was founded March 2, 2006 in the Nation’s Capital, Washington, DC. It is a community-based Modeling Organization. MODELS INC. was built from the bottom up with dedication, determination and hard work. Led by CEO/Founder: Iran “Bang” Paylor and President Aaron Handy... Read More →

Saturday September 7, 2019 12:30pm - 1:30pm EDT
Studio F

Dance, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

1:00pm EDT

The Fastest Plane Performance by Story Tapestries

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Join this entertaining, international, dynamic program that weaves the power of dance, theater, music, and storytelling together. As the bamboo flute sounds, open up your imagination and prepare to embark on our journey. Travel back in time and across the world, landing in a time when animals could talk and some people could understand them! Dance through the streets of Brazil, Mexico, India, and even the United States. Walk away ready to say "hello" in Spanish, English, Portuguese, and Hindi. Leave the program with the knowledge of what a folk tale is and the desire to read, write, and even tell other stories.

Saturday September 7, 2019 1:00pm - 1:45pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Active/Hands-On

Experience Performance

1:00pm EDT

Valerie June

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The singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist from Memphis, TN - who is also a Kennedy Center Turnaround Artist - performs a concert.

Featured Artists

Valerie June

Valerie June knows a thing or two about turning hopes and dreams into realities. With 2013's Pushin' Against A Stone, she went from self-releasing her music as Tennessee's best kept secret to being hailed by the New York Times as one of America's “most intriguing, fully formed new... Read More →

Saturday September 7, 2019 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Studio K

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone

1:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

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During the REACH opening, the Skylight Pavilion becomes an inviting, meditative zone informed by the music and spaces of different environments. Immerse yourself in the techno cityscapes of Detroit to Berlin… the resonant choral music of cathedrals… the fuzzy inside of a synthesizer… the art and desert of Burning Man…the mountains of Appalachia… and more! Using an integration of projected imagery, sound design, looping playlists, staging and occasional live performances, the space becomes a loungey retreat amidst the bustle of the REACH celebration.

Saturday September 7, 2019 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

1:00pm EDT

Tai Chi with US Wushu Academy

Pass Info

Saturday September 7, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm EDT
Lower Lawn

Active/Hands-On, Arts & Wellness

Experience Learn by Participating

1:00pm EDT

National Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony

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Feel the power of hundreds of local choral voices coming together with the National Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s monumental Ninth Symphony led by conductor Thomas Wilkins. This open-air concert will feature four soloist singers from Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, who will be coached before the performance by superstar soprano Renée Fleming. Stanley J. Thurston will lead the 300-voice chorus, anchored by The Heritage Signature Chorale.

Featured Artists

National Symphony Orchestra

The 2018–2019 season marks the National Symphony Orchestra’s 88th, and Gianandrea Noseda’s second as its music director. The Italian conductor serves as the Orchestra’s seventh music director, joining the NSO’s legacy of such distinguished leaders as Christoph Eschenbach... Read More →

Saturday September 7, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned, Sign-Language Interpreted

1:00pm EDT

Poem Store with Jacqueline Suskin

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Famed performance poet Jacqueline Suskin - a Kennedy Center Turnaround Artist - will bring her roaming "Poem Store" to the REACH. Throughout the day, she'll strike up conversations with visitors and write them personalized poems on her typewriter, which she'll give to them as a memento.

Saturday September 7, 2019 1:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Presidential Grove

Active/Hands-On

Experience Learn by Participating

1:00pm EDT

Social Practice Residency - Nolan Williams - Open Rehearsal: Stirring the Waters

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“Stirring the Waters” is a 75-minute concert production highlighting key events of the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968, making vital connections between then and now. Audience members are welcome to watch the creative process unfold during an open rehearsal for the work, during the Reach Opening Festival.

Saturday September 7, 2019 1:00pm - 4:30pm EDT
Studio J

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

1:30pm EDT

The Mobile Music Box

Pass Info

The Mobile Music Box is a public music project led by Chicago artist Aquil Charlton, who teaches people how to make instruments from recycled materials, sample them, and arrange the sounds to make beats. Participants in this workshop will make and sample shakers, saxophones, or thumb pianos then reflect on the process.

Saturday September 7, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Classical Music & the Voice, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

2:00pm EDT

Master Class: Advanced Ballet with Tiler Peck

STUDENT PARTICIPATION BY INVITATION ONLY: Led by the New York City Ballet principal dancer, this advanced classical ballet class is for high school students ages 14+ with at least 4 continuous years of serious ballet training and at least 2 years of pointe work (for ladies).

The participants in these classes/events are being curated by the Kennedy Center from participants in existing Kennedy Center education programs.The public is welcome to observe the class through the studio’s windows and/or a viewing area by the studio door.

Featured Artists

Tiler Peck

Saturday September 7, 2019 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Studio F

Dance

Experience Invitation Only

2:30pm EDT

Magic of the Sea Performance by Story Tapestries

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Explore life above and under sea level told through song, story, and dance. Become a manta ray and a shark as you listen and participate in folk tales and true stories from Indonesia. Children and families will be encouraged to foster the desire to read and write stories and poetry, think creatively, and cultivate their ability to work as a community.

Saturday September 7, 2019 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Active/Hands-On

Experience Performance

2:30pm EDT

"Me and the Light" Film Screening and Live Performances with Lil Buck and Valerie June

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Get an eye-opening glimpse into the life and artistry of virtuoso “jookin’” dancer and Kennedy Center Turnaround Artist Lil Buck in this film. He will also perform as part of this special screening, while singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist and Turnaround Artist Valerie June - who contributed to the film's soundtrack - will play part of the score live.

Saturday September 7, 2019 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening, Dance

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing, Open Captioned

2:30pm EDT

Kronos Quartet (Skylight Soundscapes Activation)

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For 45 years, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet has combined a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually reimagine the string quartet experience. In the process, Kronos has become one of the world’s most celebrated and influential ensembles, releasing more than 60 recordings, commissioning more than 1000 works for string quartet, and winning more than 40 awards. The quartet covers a broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical music. Enjoy a performance by this Grammy-winning ensemble in the chill-out lounge space of the Skylight Pavilion.

KRONOS QUARTET
David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Sunny Yang, cello
With special guest Lee Knight

Traditional (arr. Jacob Garchik) / The House of the Rising Sun (inspired by The Everly Brothers) +
George Gershwin (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Summertime (inspired by Janis Joplin) +
Babatunde Olatunji (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Zungo (inspired by Nina Simone) +
Jacob Garchik / Storyteller *
Traditional (arr. Kronos Quartet) / Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram (inspired by Pete Seeger) +
Pete Seeger (arr. Kronos Quartet) / Step by Step +
with Lee Knight, voice, banjo
Lee Hays (arr. Jacob Garchik) / If I Had A Hammer (inspired by Pete Seeger) +
with Lee Knight, voice, banjo
Jlin (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Little Black Book **
Abel Meeropol (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Strange Fruit +
Antonio Haskell (arr. Jacob Garchik) / God Shall Wipe All Tears Away (inspired by Mahalia Jackson) +
John Coltrane (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Alabama +
Wu Man (real. Danny Clay) / Two Chinese Paintings **
II. Traditional / Silk and Bamboo (inspired by Huanlege) +
Terry Riley / One Earth, One People, One Love from Sun Rings *

PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE

* Written for Kronos
** Written for Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire
+ Arranged for Kronos

Presented in associated with Washington Performing Arts

Featured Artists

Kronos Quartet

Saturday September 7, 2019 2:30pm - 4:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Classical Music & the Voice, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Performance

3:00pm EDT

Larisa Martinez

Pass Info

The opera singer - a soprano and Kennedy Center Turnaround Artist who has been highly praised for her warm quality of voice and unique timbre - performs a concert.

Featured Artists

Larisa Martinez

Highly praised for her warm quality of voice and unique timbre, soprano Larisa Martínez has established a strong, unique presence in the classical performance world. Ms Martínez was recently seen as Violetta in Wichita Opera’s production of La Traviata, and as Maria from West... Read More →

Saturday September 7, 2019 3:00pm - 3:45pm EDT
Studio K

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone

3:30pm EDT

Master Class: Breakdown Flexing with Drew Dollaz

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Drew Dollaz is a pioneer of flexing, a Brooklyn-based genre of street dance characterized by rhythmic contortionist movements. A self-taught dancer, Dollaz is known for blending flexing with other styles including ballet to create a transcendent hybrid of movement artistry. In this master class, participants will break down flexing and its elements individually and learn a bit of everything about the form. The class is open to the public, first-come first-served, all ages and all levels, no experience necessary. 20 participants maximum.

Featured Artists

Drew Dollaz

Drew Dollaz is a pioneer of flexing, a Brooklyn-based genre of street dance also referred to as bone breaking, which is characterized by rhythmic contortionist movements. A self-taught dancer, Dollaz is known for blending flexing with other styles including ballet to create a transcendent... Read More →

Saturday September 7, 2019 3:30pm - 4:45pm EDT
Studio F

Dance

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

4:00pm EDT

Standing Rock

Come watch the students of Standing Rock perform a drum circle on the lower lawn.

Saturday September 7, 2019 4:00pm - 4:30pm EDT
Lower Lawn

4:00pm EDT

A Vision For the REACH: Kennedy Center Chairman interviews Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter and REACH Architect Steven Holl

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Three of the guiding forces behind the creation of The REACH sit down for a conversation about the mission and vision of the new space. David M. Rubenstein, the Kennedy Center’s Chairman, talks with President Deborah F. Rutter and architect Steven Holl about the first expansion in the center’s history, designing a new arts gathering space, and an artistic and cultural vision that embraces artists and community. The event will include an audience Q and A.

Sponsors

David M. Rubenstein

David M. Rubenstein is the Cornerstone of the REACH.

Saturday September 7, 2019 4:00pm - 5:15pm EDT
Justice Forum

Audience Everyone
Experience Lecture/Discussion

4:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Saturday September 7, 2019 4:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

4:30pm EDT

Kazaxe Dance Fitness by Azuka Bom

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Get your whole body moving with this local dance fitness company from Springfield, VA. Bring out the wild (and a lil’ bit of the sexy) in you and dance hard to the rumbling international beats of dancehall, soca, acrobat, and more! Kazaxe isn't just about the dancing, it’s about the tribe, raising vibrations from within ourselves and bursting out to the world together. Dress ready to move!

Saturday September 7, 2019 4:30pm - 5:30pm EDT
North Plaza

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

5:00pm EDT

Poem Store with Jacqueline Suskin

Pass Info

Saturday September 7, 2019 5:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Presidential Grove

Active/Hands-On

Experience Learn by Participating

6:00pm EDT

The Chuck Brown Band (Millennium Stage Event)

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Celebrate Go-Go - D.C.’s famous homegrown style of funk - and the late “Godfather of Go-Go” Chuck Brown with an outdoor mainstage performance by The Chuck Brown Band.

Featured Artists

Chuck Brown Band

The Chuck Brown Band The Chuck Brown Band toured the world with the Godfather of Go Go for the most prolific period of his life, when he had 5 Billboard charting releases and a Grammy nomination over a ten-year period. They continue to honor him by carrying the torch, keeping the... Read More →

Saturday September 7, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned, Sign-Language Interpreted

6:00pm EDT

"To Sleep With Anger/ When it Rains" (Film Screening)

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TO SLEEP WITH ANGER is one of the greatest films of the pioneering African-American writer/director Charles Burnett, featuring an indelible performance by Danny Glover as a mysterious visitor from the South who shows up on the doorstep of some Los Angeles friends. The film is rooted in traditions of folklore and mysticism. In the enchanting, jazz-inflected short film WHEN IT RAINS, a musician works the neighborhood to help a friend pay rent. The screenings will be followed by a conversation with Burnett.

Saturday September 7, 2019 6:00pm - 8:45pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing, Lecture/Discussion

6:00pm EDT

Reconcile, Reimagine, and Reclaim: Three Workshops with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center

By Invitation Only

For the REACH opening festival, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific Amerian Center has curated three workshop performances that aim to “Reframe, Reimagine and Reclaim” narratives around migration, gender, double-consciousness, agency and imagination. “Reframe: Creativity on the Run” will showcase refugee artists and explore creativity as the natural reaction to displacement and loss. In “Reimagine: Queer Futurisms,” each performer will offer their take on queer futures, imagining possibility at the intersections of culture and time, while declaring truths born out of the lasting legacies of colonization and present-day empires. “Reclaim: The Good Fun Muslim Friends Club” is a social performance in the form of a variety show that explores the unapologetic self and agency as responses to harsh sociopolitical realities.

1JourneyFestival, a Social Practice Resident of the Kennedy Center, will join in the space.

Saturday September 7, 2019 6:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
Studio J

Active/Hands-On

7:00pm EDT

8 Wards of Joy! Film Commissions (Film Screening)

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A Film Project Highlighting Communities Throughout the Nation’s Capital

A series of silent films by DC-based filmmakers Shellee Haynesworth, Mignotae Kebebe, Vinny Mwano, and Be Steadwell will be shown, reflecting the joy and resilience housed within the nation’s capital throughout each of its wards. Films edited by Regi Allen.

Saturday September 7, 2019 7:00pm - 7:30pm EDT
Bluestone Stage

Film/Screening

Experience Learn by Observing

7:00pm EDT

Speech with Arrested Development

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Hip Hop trailblazer Speech, a Kennedy Center Turnaround Artist, brings his Grammy-winning group Arrested Development to the REACH.

Featured Artists

Arrested Development

The multi-platinum, Grammy Award Winning group Arrested Development delivers an onstage energy to thirsty audiences looking to quench their soul! It’s been more than twenty years since a new group called Arrested Development slammed the gangsta dominated world of hip hop with defiant... Read More →

Saturday September 7, 2019 7:00pm - 7:45pm EDT
River Pavilion

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

8:00pm EDT

"Love Train" Music Video

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The "Love Train" music video features Kennedy Center Turnaround Arts students alongside Turnaround Artists including Alfre Woodard, Elizabeth Banks, Frank Gehry, Jackson Browne, Jason Mraz, Keb' Mo’, Misty Copeland, Paula Abdul, Tim Robbins, Trombone Shorty, Yo-Yo Ma, and The O’Jays. The video was produced by Turnaround Arts and Playing For Change to spread the message that the arts have the power to build more compassionate and connected communities. The Kennedy Center's national initiative, Turnaround Arts, leverages the unique power of the arts in elementary and middle schools to fuel school transformation.

Saturday September 7, 2019 8:00pm - 8:05pm EDT
Video Wall

Film/Screening

Experience Learn by Observing

8:05pm EDT

Trombone Shorty

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Troy Andrews, aka Trombone Shorty, is a Grammy-nominated musician, producer, and actor who grew up in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans. He is best known as a trombone and trumpet player but also plays drums, organ, and tuba. He performs in concert at the REACH.

Saturday September 7, 2019 8:05pm - 9:35pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

8:30pm EDT

Underground Comedy Stand-Up Showcase

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Bust a gut at a Stand-Up Showcase from local comedy promoter Underground Comedy, featuring some of D.C.’s best comedians and up-and-coming talent.
Recommended for ages 16 and up.

Saturday September 7, 2019 8:30pm - 10:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Comedy

Audience Mature Audiences
Experience Performance

9:30pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

The Bessie award–winning multimedia creation Slow Dancing is a series of larger-than-life, hyper-slow-motion video portraits of dancers and choreographers from around the world. Each subject's movement was shot on a specially constructed set using a high-speed, high-definition camera recording at 1,000 frames per second (standard film captures 30 frames per second). The result is approximately 10 minutes of extreme slow motion. Creator David Michalek’s goal was to craft a visual statement to capture the "essence" of dance in a different medium.

Saturday September 7, 2019 9:30pm - 11:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

Jazz Animation (Film Screening)

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A morning medley of animation spanning 60 years! Enjoy a compilation of visually dazzling cartoons set to jazz music, including Three Little Bops (Friz Freleng, 1957; Music: Shorty Rogers, voice: San Freberg), Begone Dull Care (Evelyn Lambart and Norman McLaren, 1949; Music: Oscar Peterson), Boogie Doodle (Norman McLaren, 1941; Music: Albert Ammons), KoKo (George Griffin, 1988; Music: Charlie Parker), Bridgehampton (John Canemaker, 1998; Music: Fred Hersch), Sensology (Michel Gagne, 2010; Music: Barry Guy, Paul Plimley); and Giant Steps (Michael Levy, 2001; Music: John Coltrane). Appropriate for all ages. Total running time: 36 minutes.

Sunday September 8, 2019 10:00am - 10:45am EDT
Justice Forum

Jazz, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

"Jazz Barre" Class Led by Sidebarre DC

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Get a high-intensity, low-impact, full-body workout with Jazz Barre, led by Sidebarre DC instructors to music performed by a live jazz trio led by saxophonist Marshall Keys!

Sunday September 8, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Studio F

Arts & Wellness, Jazz

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Victor Haskins: Jazz Performance for Families

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Take a trip to Salvador, Bahia with a jazz trio led by Betty Carter Jazz Ahead graduate Victor Haskins! This performance for families – and audiences of all ages – includes original compositions fusing Black American music with the rhythmic drumming of Brazil’s Candomblé tradition. Come, learn, and enjoy!

Sunday September 8, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Jazz

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Performance

10:00am EDT

John Coltrane-Inspired Jazz and Meditation Service

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On a 1966 tour of Japan, Coltrane was asked what he wanted to be in 10 years. “I would like to be a saint,” he said.

The legendary saxophonist would never make his transition to sainthood, but his spirit lives on in San Francisco’s famous Church of John Coltrane. Aeon magazine describes the vibe of this one-of-a-kind congregation is “a rapturous out-of-your-head-ness," mixing African Orthodox liturgy with Coltrane’s quotes and music. The church encourages worshippers to sing along, dance, and clap to the music.

“There is a real desire among aficionados of John Coltrane, not only for his music, but for his philosophy and spirituality as a believer and a saint,” says Pastor Wanika Stephens, “Everyone is welcome here. The main ingredient is love.” Amen!

Featured Artists

Church of Coltrane

In 1965 the early church was being organized as a cultural group to educate the local community about this music known as Jazz. The greatest art form and cultural contribution that the United States has offered to the world. This music came through African Americans to bring healing... Read More →

Sunday September 8, 2019 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Jazz, Arts & Wellness

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Sign-Language Interpreted

10:00am EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

Pass Info

Sunday September 8, 2019 10:00am - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

Pass Info

Sunday September 8, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

11:00am EDT

Jazz Instrument "Petting Zoo"

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The delight in watching the eyes of a child light up is priceless – and that's exactly what happens when the Instrument Petting Zoo arrives! Our Musical Instrument Petting Zoo program is designed to provide children (and adults!) the opportunity to enjoy hands-on fun by getting to know the instruments of a jazz ensemble. Try out a trumpet. Beat the drums. Live out your wildest musical dreams!

Sunday September 8, 2019 11:00am - 1:00pm EDT
Studio J

Jazz, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

11:30am EDT

"Jazz Barre" Class Led by Sidebarre DC

Pass Info

Get a high-intensity, low-impact, full-body workout with Jazz Barre, led by Sidebarre DC instructors to music performed by a live jazz trio led by saxophonist Marshall Keys!

Sunday September 8, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Studio F

Arts & Wellness, Jazz

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

11:30am EDT

"But Then, She's Betty Carter" (Film Screening)

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Look behind the scenes into the life of legendary jazz vocalist Betty Carter. Uncompromised by commercialism throughout her long career, she forged an alternative criteria for success – including founding her own recording company and raising her two sons as a single parent. Michelle Parkerson's special film captures Carter's musical genius, her paradoxical relationship with the public, and her fierce dedication to personal and artistic independence. (1980, 53 mins.)

Sunday September 8, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Jazz, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

11:30am EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Sunday September 8, 2019 11:30am - 3:30pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone

12:00pm EDT

Victor Haskins: Jazz Performance for Families

Pass Info

Take a trip to Salvador, Bahia with a jazz trio led by Betty Carter Jazz Ahead graduate Victor Haskins! This performance for families and audiences of all ages includes original music fusing Black American music with the rhythmic drumming of Brazil’s Candomblé tradition. Come, learn, and enjoy!

Sunday September 8, 2019 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Jazz

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Performance

12:00pm EDT

Brandee Younger Workshop

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Join a jazz and classical master class with Brandee Younger! A classically trained harpist, Younger is known for sharing the stage with Jazz royalty Jack Dejohnette and Ravi Coltrane; laying down tracks with Grammy-winning artists like Beyoncé, Common, and John Legend; and bringing to life the work of Ravel. Her ability to feature the harp in genres of music where harp is often absent demonstrates her cross-reaching ability as a musician.

Brandee Younger will perform the Music of Alice Coltrane tonight at 6 p.m. in Studio K.

ADVANCED REGISTRATION REQUIRED: Register for this Master Class by clicking here.

Sunday September 8, 2019 12:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Active/Hands-On, Jazz

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Advanced Registration Required

1:00pm EDT

"Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment" (Film Screening)

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"Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment" captures an intimate look into John F. Kennedy’s life during a key confrontation in the U.S. battle for civil rights - the desegregation of the University of Alabama in 1963. Using the distinctive American Cinéma Vérité style pioneered by Robert Drew, the cameras follow each participant as the crisis unfolds and up through its dramatic climax - including rare scenes from inside the Oval Office. The screening is followed by a discussion with Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact Marc Bamuthi Joseph.

Sunday September 8, 2019 1:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Jazz, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing, Lecture/Discussion, Open Captioned

1:30pm EDT

Syncopated Ladies Workshop

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Join Chloe and Maud Arnold of the Syncopated Ladies for a beginner's tap workshop. All shoes welcome!

Experience the fierce footwork of Emmy-nominated viral female tap dance sensations Syncopated Ladies! The L.A. based dance group bends the tap genre for modern audiences, taking its place in what traditionally has been a tap-dancing boys club. Created by D.C. natives Chloe and Maude Arnold, The Syncopated Ladies have garnered international acclaim with appearances on “Good Morning America,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” and “Ellen” and reached over 6 million views after Beyoncé shared their rendition of her iconic Coachella performance. “We’re not breaking down doors,” says Maud. “We’re creating the entire house. We're trying to make the world see our African-American street dance form as an elevated form of art.” @syncladies

The Syncopated Ladies will perform tonight at 8:15 in Studio K with a live simulcast projected on the Outdoor Film Wall.

ADVANCED REGISTRATION REQUIRED: Register for this Master Class by clicking here.

Sunday September 8, 2019 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Studio F

Active/Hands-On, Dance

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Advanced Registration Required

1:30pm EDT

Roomful of Teeth

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Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth performs in the River Pavilion.

Program:
Partita for 8 Voices - Caroline Shaw
--intermission--
"Done No Why Say Do" - William Brittelle
"Beneath" - Caleb Burhans
"The Isle" - Caroline Shaw
"AEIOU" - Judd Greenstein

Sunday September 8, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Classical Music & the Voice

Experience Performance

3:30pm EDT

Syncopated Ladies Workshop

Pass Info

Sunday September 8, 2019 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Studio F

Active/Hands-On, Dance

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Advanced Registration Required

3:30pm EDT

"Looks of a Lot" (Film Screening)

Pass Info

“A gathering and a series of pieces shot through the prism of my Chicago collaborators, shedding light on our flaws and our virtues.” – Jason Moran

This short-form documentary follows the development and culmination of “Looks of a Lot,” a collaborative multimedia work by Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran. Commissioned by the Chicago Symphony in 2014, “Looks of a Lot” reflects upon the gun violence that scars, and often ends, young people’s lives on the South Side of Chicago. Collaborators with Moran include the Bandwagon (featuring drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Tarus Mateen), visual artist Theaster Gates, reedist Ken Vandermark, Kennedy Center's Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead graduate Katie Ernst, and Chicago’s Kenwood Academy High School Jazz Band. The screening also includes a showing of "Staged," a seven-minute short featuring Jason Moran.

Sunday September 8, 2019 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening, Jazz

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing, Open Captioned

3:30pm EDT

Film Workshop with Charles Burnett

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Charles Burnett is a pioneering African-American independent filmmaker whose deeply observational movies treat social realism with a poetic touch. Burnett will talk about his approach to his craft in an informal discussion accompanied by scenes from his films, including "Killer of Sheep" and "To Sleep with Anger."

Sunday September 8, 2019 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Jazz, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

4:30pm EDT

The Second City & Kennedy Center's Jazz Comedy Experiment

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You may not know how the story is going to end… and neither do we. So join us along with Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran for a true experience in creative expression across the worlds of music and comedy.

With a smart blend of music and improvisation, The Second City and the Kennedy Center's Jazz Comedy Experiment shows that creative joy is in the journey – not the destination.

Featured Artists

Jason Moran

Jazz pianist, composer, and artist Jason Moran hails from Houston, TX. He’s an alumnus of the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with Jaki Byard. Upon graduation, he studied with Andrew Hill and Muhal Richard Abrams. Moran’s 18-year relationship with Blue Note Records... Read More →

Sunday September 8, 2019 4:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
Studio J

Comedy, Jazz

Audience Mature Audiences

5:00pm EDT

Mercury Soul & Jazz Mafia (Skylight Soundscapes Activation)

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Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence, Mason Bates, brings San Francisco’s eclectic artist collective, Jazz Mafia to the Skylight Pavilion. Jazz Mafia represents some of the most forward-thinking and accomplished players in the fields of, Jazz, Hip Hop, Electronica, and Funk. Two of the bands from the collective will be featured in this performance: Brass Octet Heaviest Feather, and hybrid-crossover band Cosa Nostra Strings come together for a diverse and electrifying performance.

Sunday September 8, 2019 5:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Jazz, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

5:00pm EDT

"The Glass Shield" (Film Screening)

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Charles Burnett’s 1994 police drama was released two years after the Los Angeles riots that occurred after the arrest and beating of Rodney King. When a black man (played by Ice Cube) is framed for murder, a rookie police officer discovers and confronts racism in the Los Angeles Police Department. This absorbing film unfolds like a thriller as it deals with political issues that are still relevant today.

Sunday September 8, 2019 5:00pm - 7:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Jazz, Film/Screening

Experience Open Captioned, Lecture/Discussion

6:00pm EDT

Brandee Younger: Music of Alice Coltrane (Millennium Stage Event)

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Celebrate the music of prolific composer, harpist, and keyboardist Alice Coltrane with a performance by genre-defying young harpist Brandee Younger. A fearless and versatile talent, the classically-trained Younger has played with jazz royalty Ravi Coltrane, Jack Dejohnette, Reggie Workman, Charlie Haden, and Butch Morris, amongst others. She’s featured in Beyoncé’s new film “Homecoming” and new album “Soul Awakening,” and has worked with popular artists including Common, John Legend, and Drake. As her star continues to rise, she cites Alice Coltrane as one of her greatest influences. Experience the avant-garde magic of Coltrane favorites like “Blue Nile,” “Rama Rama,” and “Translinear Light” at this special concert.

Sunday September 8, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Studio K

Jazz

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

7:00pm EDT

Jason Moran & The Bandwagon with Kelela

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Join pianist Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran for a concert with his acclaimed group The Bandwagon and special guest singer/songwriter Kelela.

The Los Angeles-via-D.C. singer Kelela Mizanekristos makes otherworldly R&B that integrates elements of UK club music. Her 2013 debut mixtape, “Cut 4 Me,” established her brand of dark, sensual dance hooks and shimmering, airy vocals. Her 2015 EP, “Hallucinogen,” found her paired with new collaborators (Arca), as well as old ones (Kingdom, Nguzunguzu). Recently, Kelela released her first full albums, “Take Me Apart,” and “Take Me a_Part, the Remixes,” full of her sexiest, most thoughtful, and most texturally intricate tracks yet. @kelelam

Featured Artists

Jason Moran

Kelela

With great anticipation, Kelela's debut album emerges as an epic portrait of an artist spanning the past and future of R&B. In her hands, however, the genre knows no boundaries and so Take Me Apart exists as an absolutely singular and fearless addition to a canon of recent classics... Read More →

Sunday September 8, 2019 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Jazz

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

7:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Sunday September 8, 2019 7:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

8:00pm EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Opie Crooks (A Rakes Progress)

Sunday September 8, 2019 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

8:00pm EDT

"Nightjohn" with Charles Burnett (Film Screening)

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Post-show discussion with Charles Burnett

Adapted from the novel by Gary Paulsen, Nightjohn tells the powerful and inspirational story of Sarny, a twelve-year-old slave girl whose life is changed when a runaway slave teaches her how to read and write. Rarely shown, this is one of the most emotionally powerful films by independent film pioneer Charles Burnett, who will be present for a discussion following the screening.

Sunday September 8, 2019 8:00pm - 9:45pm EDT
Justice Forum

Jazz, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Observing

8:15pm EDT

Syncopated Ladies

Pass Info

Experience the fierce footwork of D.C. natives and Emmy-nominated viral female tap dance sensations Syncopated Ladies! The L.A. based dance group bends the tap genre for modern audiences, taking its place in what traditionally has been a tap-dancing boys club. Created by sisters Chloe and Maude Arnold, the Syncopated Ladies have garnered international exposure with appearances on “Good Morning America,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” and “Ellen;” and reached over 6 million views after Beyoncé shared their rendition of her iconic Coachella performance. “We’re not breaking down doors,” says Maud. “We’re creating the entire house. We're trying to make the world see our African-American street dance form as an elevated form of art.” @syncladies

A live simulcast will be projected on the Outdoor Film Wall.

Sunday September 8, 2019 8:15pm - 8:45pm EDT
Studio K

Dance, Jazz

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

8:45pm EDT

Flying Lotus

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Immerse yourself in a 3D multimedia spectacle with Flying Lotus – aka music producer and DJ Steven Ellison, grandnephew of Alice and John Coltrane – whose acclaimed experimental productions blend electronica, jazz, and Hip Hop. Ellison’s newest album, “Flamagra,” sketches sweeping jazz-funk with guest artists including Solange, George Clinton, Thundercat, Little Dragon, Herbie Hancock, and David Lynch. @flyinglotus

Featured Artists

Flying Lotus

Nearly half a decade has somehow elapsed since the last Flying Lotus album—the Grammy-nominated cadaver tetris of You’re Dead! During that intermission, the multi-disciplinary Los Angeles artist has remained in constant orbit, collaborating with Kendrick Lamar on the classic To... Read More →

Sunday September 8, 2019 8:45pm - 10:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

10:00pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

Sunday September 8, 2019 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

Arts on the Horizon: Stories on the Horizon Class

Pass Info

Stories on the Horizon: Storybook Adventures- Watch your little one grow and explore in this storybook-inspired class with teaching artists Laura Loy and Margaret McLaughlin. We will play and learn with help from some of our favorite stories. Music, movement, and puppets will be used to bring these stories to life! Best for ages 9 months to 2.5 years.

Monday September 9, 2019 10:00am - 10:45am EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Theater, Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Monday September 9, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

10:00am EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

Pass Info

Feeling creative? Visit the Moonshot Studio and get hands-on with the process of art-making!

Go for hands-on exploration in our new Moonshot Studio, where activities will be running throughout the festival for visitors of all ages to spend time delving into various art forms, exploring stories and themes from the Center’s stages, and creating their own works of art.

MoKC: Art Studio
Learn to draw just like Mo Willems! Here you can sketch his characters—or make up your own—at large drawing tables. Use light tables to practice tracing your favorite characters. See how simple shapes can be assembled to create expressive characters!

MoKC: It’s a Mo-A-Trope!
Make your favorite Mo characters squawk, jump and dance in a hand-made Mo-A-Trope (it’s a zoetrope with Mo in it!). Using early hand-made technology called zoetropes, learn how simple drawings can come to life with the simple spin of a wheel.

JFK Ideals: Poetry & Pennants
Explore the words and ideals of JFK through poetry and visual art. Transform the words of John F. Kennedy into an original poem. Then use your poem to create a pennant that celebrates your ideals and puts them on display.

Mixmaster Station
Curated by Marvin and Brian Quijada (composer and playwright, respectively, of Kid Prince & Pablo), use the Mixmaster Station to create your own livelooped mixes using sounds, rhythms, and beats, and combining genres like trap, reggaeton, swing, and original music from Marvin and Brian.

Analog: Install - Interactive Dance and Technology Experience
Explore an interactive installation designed to demystify the experience of watching a contemporary dance performance. Turn, bend, and jump to create virtual choreography generated from your own movements and projected in real-time through motion-tracking technology.

Monday September 9, 2019 10:00am - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

Pass Info

Monday September 9, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Iphigenia Workshop with Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter

This event is closed to the public. Patrons are welcome to observe the workshop through the studio’s windows and/or a viewing area by the studio door.

Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and bassist Esperanza Spalding joins forces with jazz saxophonist, composer, and 2018 Kennedy Center Honoree Wayne Shorter to work intensively with performers and creative team members on their new jazz opera “Iphigenia,” a contemporary take on the Greek myth co-commissioned by the Kennedy Center.

Featured Artists

Esperanza Spalding

Monday September 9, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
Studio F

Jazz, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Invitation Only

11:00am EDT

Arts on the Horizon: Stories on the Horizon Class

Pass Info

Monday September 9, 2019 11:00am - 11:45am EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Theater, Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

11:00am EDT

"Every Little Step" (Film Screening)

Pass Info

Screening of the 2008 documentary Every Little Step chronicling casting for the 2006 Broadway revival of A Chorus Line

Monday September 9, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

11:30am EDT

InterAct Story Theater

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InterAct Story Theatre's Artistic Director Ali Oliver-Krueger invites kids and their grownups to a theatrical adventure inspired by a beloved children's story. Kids will explore the story as actors, use their imaginations to become the characters, act the story out in their own words, and maybe even dream up a new story! Best for children 5 and under.

Monday September 9, 2019 11:30am - 12:15pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Theater, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone, Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Participating

12:00pm EDT

Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra Musicians (Skylight Soundscapes Activation)

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Musicians from the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra perform a concert in the chill-out lounge space of the Skylight Pavilion.

Adria Sternstein Foster, Flute
Ashley Booher, Clarinet
Christopher Jewell, Bassoon
Susan Robinson, Harp

Program:
Roussel - 2 Poemes de Ronsard for flute and high soprano
Lori Laitman - “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” for clarinet and soprano
Mozart - Don Giovanni Overture and arias for flute, clarinet and bassoon
Beethoven - Variations on Mozart’s “La ci darem la mano” from Don Giovanni for flute, clarinet, and bassoon
Stella Sung - Dance of the White Lotus Under the Silver Moon for flute and harp
Harp and voice selection(s) TBD

Featured Artists

Adria Sternstein Foster

Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra Principal Flutist, Adria Sternstein Foster has been praised by the Washington Post for her “molten phrasing” and tone of “sheer iridescence”.As a member of the IBIS Chamber Music Society, Adria has performed chamber music for flute, harp... Read More →

Ashley Booher

Ashley Booher is currently the Bass Clarinetist and Third Clarinet of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra/Washington National Opera Orchestra. Ashley has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony and other DC local orchestras. Ms. Booher is also an active... Read More →

Christopher Jewell

Christopher Jewell is the Assistant Principal Bassoonist of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. An active performer in the Washington, DC area, Mr. Jewell also regularly performs with the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, Post Classical Ensemble, Wolf Trap Opera Company, and the Chesapeake... Read More →

Susan Robinson

Susan Robinson is the principal harpist of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, a position she has held since 1995. She also served as the principal harpist of the Boston ‘POPS’ Esplanade Orchestra, with whom she has toured the Far East and the US, for many years, and performs... Read More →

Monday September 9, 2019 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Classical Music & the Voice, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Performance

1:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Monday September 9, 2019 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone

1:00pm EDT

Broadway Collective: Dance Master Class

By Invitation Only

A dance master class from The Broadway Collective, a training academy for young performers who are serious about pursuing a career in the music theater industry. Taught by Kate Lumpkin and Robert Hartwell.

High school students will register for all three master classes a la “Broadway bootcamp":
Broadway Collective: Dance Master Class from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Broadway Collective: Acting Master Class from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Broadway Collective: Vocal Master Class from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

This event is by invitation only. Students from area high-schools are being invited to take part in this set of master classes. Our education department is working directly with school performing arts departments to identify attendees.

Monday September 9, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm EDT
Studio J

Theater, Dance

Audience Everyone
Experience Invitation Only

1:00pm EDT

"Fences" (Film Screening)

Pass Info

Screening of the 2016 film "Fences" starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson

Monday September 9, 2019 1:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening, Theater

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

1:30pm EDT

InterAct Story Theater

Pass Info

Monday September 9, 2019 1:30pm - 2:15pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Theater, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone, Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Participating

2:00pm EDT

Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra Musicians (Skylight Soundscapes Activation)

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Musicians from the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra perform a concert in the chill-out lounge space of the Skylight Pavilion.

Ko Sugiyama, Violin
Najin Kim, Violin
Xi Chen, Violin
Uri Wassertzug, Viola
Igor Zubkovsky, Cello

Program:
Mozart- Don Giovanni Overture and Dalla Sua Pace
Puccini- Crisantemi
Bizet- Carmen Fantasy
Respighi- Tramanto
Verdi- Prestissimo from String Quartet in E Minor

Monday September 9, 2019 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Classical Music & the Voice, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Performance

2:30pm EDT

Arts on the Horizon: Off the Page!

Pass Info

Take an active role in shaping Arts on the Horizon's newest show, Off the Page! In what we are calling a PLAY-shop, families will participate in a series of interactive activities designed to explore how children ages 3-6 want to engage with various objects, images, and stories related to the play's themes. Join teaching artists Laura Loy and Ryan Sellers for a fun-filled, participatory workshop! In Off the Page!, the magic of books can transport us to new worlds. Music, illustrations, and entire adventures can lift right off the page. When an imaginative young child falls asleep after reading a book, the stories come to life in their dreams. Using dance and music, this world premiere production will unfold around the audience. Watch a new world come to life right before your eyes!

Monday September 9, 2019 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Theater, Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

3:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Monday September 9, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone

3:00pm EDT

Broadway Collective: Acting Master Class

By Invitation Only

An acting master class from The Broadway Collective, a training academy for young performers who are serious about pursuing a career in the music theater industry. Taught by Kate Lumpkin and Robert Hartwell.

High school students will register for all three master classes a la “Broadway bootcamp":
Broadway Collective: Dance Master Class from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Broadway Collective: Acting Master Class from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Broadway Collective: Vocal Master Class from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

This event is by invitation only.Students from area high-schools are being invited to take part in this set of master classes. Our education department is working directly with school performing arts departments to identify attendees.

Monday September 9, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm EDT
Studio J

Theater, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Invitation Only

3:00pm EDT

DC Playwrights Forum with Aaron Posner and Karen Zacarías

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Observe established and emerging local playwrights in a special DC Playwrights Forum discussion led by two nationally known local favorites and Helen Hayes Award winners: playwright/director Aaron Posner and playwright Karen Zacarías. Among the topics: Is there a distinct identity of a “D.C. playwright”? How can we help grow as artists, and as a theater town?

Monday September 9, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm EDT
River Pavilion

Theater

Audience Everyone
Experience Invitation Only, Sign-Language Interpreted

3:30pm EDT

Storytelling for Seniors with Candace Wolf

Pass Info

Kennedy Center Teaching Artist Candace Wolf leads a storytelling workshop for seniors focused on documenting personal and community history.

Monday September 9, 2019 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Theater, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Open Captioned

4:00pm EDT

Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra Musicians (Skylight Soundscapes Activation)

Pass Info

Musicians from the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra perform a concert in the chill-out lounge space of the Skylight Pavilion.

Amy McCabe, Trumpet
Brandon Eubank, Trumpet
Geoffrey Pilkington, Horn
Douglas Rosenthal, Trombone
Seth Cook, Tuba

Program:
Gershwin- Summertime
Brass Quintet Selections

Monday September 9, 2019 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Classical Music & the Voice, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Performance

4:15pm EDT

Broadway Collective: Vocal Master Class

By Invitation Only

A vocals master class from The Broadway Collective, a training academy for young performers who are serious about pursuing a career in the music theater industry. Taught by Kate Lumpkin and Robert Hartwell.

High school students will register for all three master classes a la “Broadway bootcamp":
Broadway Collective: Dance Master Class from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Broadway Collective: Acting Master Class from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Broadway Collective: Vocal Master Class from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

This event is by invitation only. Students from area high-schools are being invited to take part in this set of master classes. Our education department is working directly with school performing arts departments to identify attendees.

Featured Artists

Kate Lumpkin

Kate Lumpkin is currently a Casting Director with her own company, the Resident Casting Director at the Musical Theatre Factory, and the US & Canadian Casting Associate for Celebrity Cruises. She has been associated with FOX East Coast Casting, Michael Cassara Casting and Jessica... Read More →

Robert Hartwell

Robert Hartwell was born and raised in North Carolina. After graduating from the University of Michigan’s Musical Theatre Department’s BFA program, he moved to NYC to begin his career.Today, he’s a music theater veteran with over 4,000 performances under his belt. He recently... Read More →

Monday September 9, 2019 4:15pm - 5:15pm EDT
Studio J

Theater, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Invitation Only

5:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Monday September 9, 2019 5:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone

5:45pm EDT

HBO Bryan Stevenson: True Justice (Film Screening)

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Special screening of the HBO documentary True Justice.

For more than three decades, Alabama public interest attorney Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, has advocated on behalf of the poor, the incarcerated, and the condemned, seeking to eradicate racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. An intimate portrait of this remarkable man, True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s FIght for Equality follows his struggle to create greater fairness in the system and shows how racial injustice emerged, evolved, and continues to threaten the country, challenging viewers to confront it.

Monday September 9, 2019 5:45pm - 7:45pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Experience Open Captioned

6:00pm EDT

Behind the scenes of “Amazing Grace:” The Gospel According to Aretha Franklin; Performance & Panel Discussion

Performance by Smallwood Vision Choir followed by a panel discussion with Reverend William Barber, NAACP Board member and Alan Elliot, Producer of Amazing Grace.

Monday September 9, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Classical Music & the Voice, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Lecture/Discussion

6:00pm EDT

The Broadway Collective (Millennium Stage Event)

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Robert Hartwell and associate instructors from The Broadway Collective will teach 3 dance combos. Learn choreography inspired by the best and brightest on Broadway and enjoy an entertaining and interactive evening on the plaza. No dance experience required!

Featured Artists

Robert Hartwell

Monday September 9, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Theater

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

7:00pm EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Kwame Onwuachi (Kith and Kin)

Monday September 9, 2019 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

8:00pm EDT

"Amazing Grace" (Film Screening)

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Screening of the 2019 documentary "Amazing Grace" chronicling the making of Aretha Franklin's best-selling 1972 gospel album.

Monday September 9, 2019 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

8:00pm EDT

Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Daniel Bernard Roumain's "The Just and the Blind"

Pass Info

Explore issues of racial profiling and the prison-industrial complex in "The Just and the Blind," a multimedia collaboration of short poetry/spoken word vignettes created by composer-violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain, spoken-word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and street dance pioneer Drew Dollaz.

Featured Artists

Daniel Bernard Roumain

Drew Dollaz

Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Monday September 9, 2019 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Studio K

Theater

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

8:15pm EDT

Dave Harris's "Everybody Black"

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Join a reading of fast-rising playwright Dave Harris’s Everybody Black, his award-winning satire in which a black historian is paid big money by white people to write the definitive version of The Black Experience™, even though he has never met another black person. Harris’s play won the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award at this year’s Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. This reading contains strong themes and language and is suitable for audiences 18 and up.

Monday September 9, 2019 8:15pm - 9:45pm EDT
River Pavilion

Theater

Audience Mature Audiences
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

Monday September 9, 2019 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

Welcome & Land Acknowledgement

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Words of welcome and land acknowledgement by Dr. Gabrielle Tayac, a member of the Piscataway Indian Nation, Welcome song by Ralph and Dennis Zotigh (Kiowa) and other special guests.

Tuesday September 10, 2019 10:00am - 10:45am EDT
River Pavilion

Indigenous Cultures

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

10:00am EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

Pass Info

Feeling creative? Visit the Moonshot Studio and get hands-on with the process of art-making!

Go for hands-on exploration in our new Moonshot Studio, where activities will be running throughout the festival for visitors of all ages to spend time delving into various art forms, exploring stories and themes from the Center’s stages, and creating their own works of art.

MoKC: Art Studio
Learn to draw just like Mo Willems! Here you can sketch his characters—or make up your own—at large drawing tables. Use light tables to practice tracing your favorite characters. See how simple shapes can be assembled to create expressive characters!

MoKC: It’s a Mo-A-Trope!
Make your favorite Mo characters squawk, jump and dance in a hand-made Mo-A-Trope (it’s a zoetrope with Mo in it!). Using early hand-made technology called zoetropes, learn how simple drawings can come to life with the simple spin of a wheel.

JFK Ideals: Poetry & Pennants
Explore the words and ideals of JFK through poetry and visual art. Transform the words of John F. Kennedy into an original poem. Then use your poem to create a pennant that celebrates your ideals and puts them on display.

Mixmaster Station
Curated by Marvin and Brian Quijada (composer and playwright, respectively, of Kid Prince & Pablo), use the Mixmaster Station to create your own livelooped mixes using sounds, rhythms, and beats, and combining genres like trap, reggaeton, swing, and original music from Marvin and Brian.

Analog: Install - Interactive Dance and Technology Experience
Explore an interactive installation designed to demystify the experience of watching a contemporary dance performance. Turn, bend, and jump to create virtual choreography generated from your own movements and projected in real-time through motion-tracking technology.

Tuesday September 10, 2019 10:00am - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

Pass Info

Tuesday September 10, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Iphigenia Workshop with Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter

Featured Artists

Esperanza Spalding

Tuesday September 10, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
Studio F

Jazz, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Invitation Only

10:00am EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Tuesday September 10, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

11:00am EDT

In Conversation with Yalitza Aparicio

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An in-depth conversation with the first Indigenous Mexican Academy Award-nominated actress, Yalitza Aparicio (Mixtec/Triqui), who made her acting debut in "Roma" in 2018. Moderated by Mexican director, playwright, and actress Ofelia Medina, founder of The Health Trust for Indigenous Children in Mexico. Part of a cultural collaboration between the Kennedy Center, the Mexican Cultural Institute, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Featured Artists

Ofelia Medina

Dancer, actress, director, playwright and social activist. Since 1985, she has worked with native communities to defend their rights and create productions connected to their languages and expressions. In 1990, she founded the Health Trust for Indigenous Children in Mexico, which... Read More →

Yalitza Aparicio

Originally from Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Aparicio is a Mexican actress who made her acting debut in Roma (2018). Before stardom she pursued a career in pre-school education and one day hopes to open a daycare center that supports single mothers. She is the first Indigenous American woman... Read More →

Tuesday September 10, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Indigenous Cultures

Audience Everyone
Experience Lecture/Discussion

12:00pm EDT

Graffiti Live Painting by Raiz

Pass Info

Watch Raiz Campos (Amazon/Brazil) create a graffiti painting on a large natural fiber mat depicting the lifestyle of the Indigenous population of the Amazon.

Tuesday September 10, 2019 12:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Indigenous Cultures, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Observing

12:45pm EDT

Didgeridoo Demonstration by David Williams

Pass Info

Bring a picnic, relax, and enjoy a didgeridoo presentation with David Williams, a descendant of the Wakka Wakka people from central southwest Queensland. Participants will be introduced to the didgeridoo, how it is made, and how the sound works. David's skills as a didgeridoo player have taken him around Australia and also internationally to Beijing, Shanghai, New Zealand, and San Francisco. This demonstration is presented in collaboration with the Embassy of Australia.

Tuesday September 10, 2019 12:45pm - 1:00pm EDT
Lower Lawn

Indigenous Cultures

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

1:00pm EDT

Come to the Circle: Hoop Dance & Stories by Ty Defoe

Pass Info

Bring a picnic, relax, and have the opportunity to participate in interdisciplinary artist Ty Defoe's (Oneida/Anishinaabe Nations) outdoor hoop dance and storytelling demonstration. Open to the public, all ages.

Tuesday September 10, 2019 1:00pm - 1:15pm EDT
Lower Lawn

Indigenous Cultures, Dance

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

1:15pm EDT

Storytelling by Rose Powhatan

Pass Info

Bring a picnic, relax, and join Rose Powhatan (Pamunkey/Tauxenent) as she brings history to life by sharing the stories of the Powhatan Talking Totem Poles, fire-engraved wood poles with pictographs relating key events from the history and mythology of Virginia's Indians and their Eastern Woodlands cousins. Rose Powhatan is a long-standing member of the Kennedy Center Community Advisory board. Open to the public, all ages.

Tuesday September 10, 2019 1:15pm - 1:45pm EDT
Presidential Grove

Indigenous Cultures, Theater

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Learn by Observing

2:00pm EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Cable Smith (The Royal)

Tuesday September 10, 2019 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

2:00pm EDT

Panel: Native Artists in the Performing Arts

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Artists motivate us to explore thoughts and feelings that shape self-identity as well as our sense of belonging in any given community. How has the complexity and challenges of living in today’s world affected the life of contemporary performing artists with Native/Indigenous roots? How do they identify themselves and their creative inspiration; how do they balance honoring legacy while working in contemporary circles; what strategies have led to success and how do they define success – these and other questions will frame our conversation with the following Native/Indigenous artists from Australia and the United States - Ty Defoe (Oneida/Anishinaabe Nations), Amrita Hepi (Bundjulung/Ngapuhi), and David Williams (Wakka Wakka). Moderated by Christopher K. Morgan (Hawaii).

Featured Artists

Amrita Hepi

Amrita Hepi is an award winning first nations choreographer and dancer from Bundjulung (Aus) and Ngapuhi (NZ) territories. Her mission as an artist is to push the barriers of intersectionality and make work that garners multiple access points through allegories. An artist with a broad... Read More →

Christopher K. Morgan

Christopher K. Morgan is Executive Artistic Director of Dance Place in Washington, D.C., where he curates 40 weekends of performances annually, oversees a school for youth and adults, and continues Dance Place’s role in creative placemaking. Morgan’s leadership is deeply connected... Read More →

David Williams

David Williams is a descendant of the Wakka Wakka people. His skills as a didgeridoo player have taken him around Australia and internationally to Beijing, Shanghai, New Zealand and San Francisco. Through his didgeridoo performances and traditional style paintings, he aims to further... Read More →

Ty Defoe

TY DEFOE (Giizhig) is from the Oneida and Ojibwe Nations. He is an interdisciplinary-hyphenated artist, writer, and shape-shifter. As a two-spirit person, Ty aspires to an integral approach to artistic projects, social justice, indigeneity, and environmentalism. Ty’s frequents his... Read More →

Tuesday September 10, 2019 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Indigenous Cultures

Audience Everyone
Experience Lecture/Discussion

4:00pm EDT

Panel: The New Contemporary in Native American Art

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Moderated by Andrea Hanley (Navajo), this panel presents a dynamic discussion between three Native American artists, Steven Paul Judd (Choctaw/Kiowa), Frank Buffalo Hyde (Onondaga/Nez Perce), and Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo), who will discuss practice, process, and self-determination. Native American artists are constantly reimagining their narratives, and addressing context, community, and intersection with other artists. This discussion is an ongoing examination of the contemporary Indigenous art movement, within the context of the contemporary art world.

Featured Artists

Frank Buffalo Hyde

For over twenty years Frank Buffalo Hyde has redefined Contemporary Native American Art, as a painter, muralist, and art writer. His work has been on exhibition internationally and throughout the US. His dynamic work engages the mis-communications between indigenous people and popular... Read More →

Steven Paul Judd

Steven Paul Judd, based in Oklahoma, is a filmmaker, director, screenwriter, writer of fiction, and visualist. Mr. Judd’s extensive award-winning filmography provides a unique perspective on and from within Native American culture today. His innovative approach provides a glimpse... Read More →

Virgil Ortiz

Virgil Ortiz is a potter and fashion designer whose work blends historic events with sci-fi and fantasy, yielding imagery that is both ultramodern and futuristic. Raised in a creative environment filled with storytelling, collecting clay, gathering wild plants, and producing figurative... Read More →

Tuesday September 10, 2019 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Indigenous Cultures

5:00pm EDT

Moving into the Future Workshop

Pass Info

Attendees will participate in a movement workshop and learn about indigenous expressions, cultural art forms and futurism. Centered in her work with Dancing Earth, Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Rulan Tangen will share how dance and movement can reflect cultural heritage and draw on the stories and perspectives of a multitude of Indigenous peoples. This session is ideal for citizen artists, artists, student artists and anyone who would like to explore joyous movement as a way to center creativity and engagement of the whole being.
Limited Capacity.

ADVANCED REGISTRATION REQUIRED: Register for this workshop by clicking here .

Featured Artists

Rulan Tangen

2018-2019 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Rulan Tangen is Founding Artistic Director/Choreographer of Dancing Earth. After years of teaching dance workshops to reservation youth, she also supports aspiring performers, theater artists and technicians, art educators and leaders to express... Read More →

Tuesday September 10, 2019 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Studio J

Indigenous Cultures, Dance

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Advanced Registration Required

6:00pm EDT

Keali'i Reichel (Millennium Stage Event)

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Best selling Hawaiian musician and respected hula teacher Keali'i Reichel brings his award winning music and dancers for a concert featuring both ancient and contemporary music and hula.

Featured Artists

Keali'i Reichel

Maui’s Keali‘i Reichel (Kanaka Maoli/Hawaiian) has been at the forefront in the revival and perpetuation of Hawaiian culture. He is a world-class performer, best-selling recording artist, multiple award-winning kumu hula (hula teacher), prolific composer, renowned chanter, choreographer... Read More →

Tuesday September 10, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Indigenous Cultures

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

6:00pm EDT

Stencil Art Making with Frank Buffalo Hyde

Frank Buffalo Hyde (Onondaga/Nez Perce) transforms stenciling into fine art practices. His explosively colorful, bold works powerfully jolt viewers to consider the miscommunication of cultures. Participants will use Frank’s stencils to create their own artwork. Adaptive art tools will be offered and further accessibility accommodations are also available. This workshop is ideal for all skill levels, ages 12 and up.
Limited capacity.

ADVANCED REGISTRATION REQUIRED: Register for this workshop by clicking here .

Featured Artists

Frank Buffalo Hyde

Tuesday September 10, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Indigenous Cultures, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Advanced Registration Required

6:00pm EDT

Graffiti Live Painting by Raiz

Pass Info

Watch Raiz Campos (Amazon/Brazil) create a graffiti painting on a large natural fiber mat depicting the lifestyle of the Indigenous population of the Amazon.

Tuesday September 10, 2019 6:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Indigenous Cultures, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Learn by Observing

6:00pm EDT

Live Clay Sculpture Demonstration with Virgil Ortiz

Pass Info

Virgil Ortiz is a Cochiti Pueblo potter, fashion designer, and photographer known for his unique style of blending graphic/comic imagery with time-traveling history and futuristic fantasy. Watch Virgil create a clay sculpture in this live demonstration.

Tuesday September 10, 2019 6:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Indigenous Cultures, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

7:10pm EDT

"An Occupation" Installation Performance by Amrita Hepi

Pass Info

"An Occupation" is an outdoor installation performance - part sculpture and part performance using a 20 foot wide inflatable structure and an internal light source. This moving text and performance choreographed by Amrita Hepi (Bundjulung/Ngapuhi) questions modes of occupation and structural systems - a desire to override dominant power structures while still being held deeply within them. This performance is presented in collaboration with the Embassy of Australia.

Tuesday September 10, 2019 7:10pm - 7:30pm EDT
Bluestone Stage

Indigenous Cultures, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Learn by Observing

7:30pm EDT

A Tribe Called Red with Uptown Boyz

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Get into your groove with Canadian electronic music group A Tribe Called Red (Mohawk/Cayuga), whose contemporary “powwow-step” style blends Hip Hop, reggae, and dance club beats with elements of First Nations vocal chanting and drumming. Opening act is local intertribal drummers the Uptown Boyz (Piscataway).

Tuesday September 10, 2019 7:30pm - 8:30pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Indigenous Cultures

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

8:30pm EDT

In the Roundhouse: Contemporary Native American Music

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Calling on her Native American heritage, Grammy nominated Dawn Avery (Mohawk descent) uses her soaring cello lines, sultry voice, and powerful lyrics to tell stories about many shades of love...from Mohawk erotica to songs encompassing all of creation. In her multi-media show, "50 Shades of Red," the hypnotic "downtempo" electronic soundscapes are elevated by Grammy-winning guitarist Larry Mitchell, and interpreted by dancer Ty Defoe (Oneida/Anishinaabe Nations). Boston-based performing songwriter Thea Hopkins, of Aquinnah Wampanoag descent, is inspired by American musical traditions from the bluegrass of the Stanley Brothers to the rich melodies of the Gershwin Brothers. Her cast of characters include dreamers, outlaws, and heroines both Native and non-Native.

Featured Artists

Dawn Avery

Dawn Avery’s Indian name is Ieriho:kwats, from Mohawk descent, and she wears the turtle clan. Her calmly passionate vocals and soaring cello lines reflect a deep devotion rooted in her Native American heritage and love of sacred traditions. Dr. Avery is a prolific composer and songwriter... Read More →

Larry Mitchell

Larry Mitchell is a Grammy award-winning producer, engineer and performer who has toured the world playing guitar with well-known artists including Tracy Chapman, Billy Squier, Ric Ocasek and Miguel Bosé. In his original compositions, Mr. Mitchell skillfully weaves guitar textures... Read More →

Thea Hopkins

Thea Hopkins is a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Martha's Vineyard. She received a major Fellowship from the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation in 2016. Peter, Paul & Mary recorded her song, "Jesus Is On The Wire," in 2004 and again in 2010 with the Prague Symphony Orchestra... Read More →

Ty Defoe

Tuesday September 10, 2019 8:30pm - 10:00pm EDT
Studio K

Indigenous Cultures

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

8:30pm EDT

Short Films by Steven Paul Judd and Katherine Freer (Film Screening)

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A selection of short films by filmmaker and screenwriter Steven Paul Judd (Choctaw/Kiowa)—Round Dance, Neil Discovers the Moon, and First Contact—and multimedia designer Katherine Freer—Ajijaak Theme and Super Hero.

Tuesday September 10, 2019 8:30pm - 10:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Indigenous Cultures, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

10:00pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

Tuesday September 10, 2019 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

Classical Talks

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Get first-hand insight into the craft, dedication, and artistry of making music in our TED-style Classical Talks.

10:00 – 10:18 am: "History of the Harp" with NSO Harpist Adriana Horne
Join Principal Harp of the National Symphony Orchestra, Adriana Horne, for a short history of the pedal harp. Learn how the harp developed from a simple instrument to the pedal harp seen in modern orchestras. Demonstrations will accompany the presentation.

10:20 – 10:38 am: "What Does a Conductor Actually Do?" with Ankush Kumar Bahl, conductor
Ankush Kumar Bahl, former Assistant Conductor of the NSO, will answer this question and more! Learn about how a conductor first breaks into the field, builds a career, and what a “normal” work week looks like. The audience will also learn about the different hats a conductor may wear, including how we study music, choose repertoire, and what it means to be an assistant conductor.

10:40 – 10:58 am: "Preparing the Chorus" with Scott Tucker, Artistic Director, The Choral Arts Society
Scott Tucker, Artistic Director of the Choral Arts Society of Washington, will explore such topics as; 1) how to bring the best out of a group of volunteer singers, 2) what is it like to prepare a chorus for an orchestral conductor, and 3) what is involved in singing in an unfamiliar language. Hear behind the scenes accounts from one of DC's longest standing choruses about its many collaborations with the NSO and international artists, and experience first hand the thrill of producing a perfect unison sound.

11:00 – 11:18 am: "The Power of Music" with Daniel Bowen, Artistic Director, Symphony 21
Composer and activist artist Daniel Bowen, is passionate about the Power of Music and its role
in society. In this interactive talk, Daniel will explore how the future of music technology and
sound will reshape the world as we know it today, and how his local movement, Symphony 21,
is using these tools to inspire youth and unite communities. The talk will conclude with a
multimedia performance from pianist Daniel Bowen and accompanying artists Robin Fay Massie, Adelya Shagidullina, and Tim Thulson.

11:20 – 11:30 am: Q&A with all presenters

Wednesday September 11, 2019 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Justice Forum

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Lecture/Discussion

10:00am EDT

NSO Chamber Group – Open Rehearsal

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A chamber group featuring NSO musicians Nurit Bar-Josef (violin), Angelia Cho (violin), Daniel Foster (viola), Chiara Kingsley Dieguez (viola), Loewi Lin (cello) conduct a 2 hour open rehearsal of Dvořák's Viola Quintet. Musicians will pause every 20 minutes to take questions from audience members. Audiences are free to come and go as they please.

Please note, this event is not fitting for children under the age of 6.

Featured Artists

Angelia Cho

Violinist Angelia Cho's concerto debut was with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 11. Since then, she has enjoyed an exciting and versatile career as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, teaching artist, and orchestral musician across the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle... Read More →

Chiara Kingsley Dieguez

Violist Chiara Kingsley Dieguez is an active orchestral and chamber musician based in the greater Washington D.C. and Baltimore area, where she performs regularly with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Washington National Opera, and the Eclipse Chamber... Read More →

Daniel Foster

Violist Daniel Foster’s varied career encompasses orchestral, chamber and solo playing, as well as teaching. After capturing the First Prize in both the William Primrose and Washington International Competitions, Mr. Foster became a member of the National Symphony’s viola section... Read More →

National Symphony Orchestra

Nurit Bar-Josef

Nurit Bar-Josef was appointed Concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra in 2001 (then the youngest such appointee to a major U.S. orchestra) by then-Music Director Leonard Slatkin. She was previously Assistant Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops from... Read More →

Wednesday September 11, 2019 10:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Studio J

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Wednesday September 11, 2019 10:00am - 5:30pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

10:00am EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

Pass Info

Wednesday September 11, 2019 10:00am - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

Pass Info

Wednesday September 11, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

11:00am EDT

Alan Menken Master Class

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The Alan Menken Master Class is currently full, but limited seats will become available at the venue 10-15 minutes prior to the program.

Many of us can name Alan Menken’s iconic music from the screen and stage – songs from “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “Tangled,” “Hercules,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Pocahontas” (the list goes on…) have become the soundtracks of our lives. Now you can join, listen, and learn during this rare opportunity to see one of the most prolific artists of our time in action! Attendees will learn performance and songwriting secrets from the eight-time Academy Award winner, whose legendary work was instrumental in ushering in a golden age for musical theater.

“Perhaps the toughest, most pivotal job in musical theater is that of the book writer. Their work lays the groundwork that allows our songs to soar. Their words are the runway we take off on, the flight plan we follow and the key to our safe landing.” – Alan Menken

Alan Menken and Broadway Stars will perform with the National Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. on the Mainstage.

Featured Artists

Alan Menken

Alan Menken’s music, songs and scores have become an integral part of the fabric of our lives since his first works were produced nearly 40 years ago. His stage musicals include God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, Atina: Evil Queen of the Galaxy, Real Life Funnies, Little Shop of Horrors... Read More →

Wednesday September 11, 2019 11:00am - 11:45am EDT
Studio K

Theater, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

11:00am EDT

Iphigenia Workshop with Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter

Featured Artists

Esperanza Spalding

Wednesday September 11, 2019 11:00am - 1:00pm EDT
Studio F

Jazz, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone

12:00pm EDT

District5: "S P A C E D O U T"

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DC-based wind quintet District5 performs a contemporary show that dissolves the barrier between performers and audience. The program, featuring Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Rotary Wind Quintet, explores the unexpected ways space can be manipulated within a performance.

Wednesday September 11, 2019 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

12:00pm EDT

"Duke Ellington's Washington" (Film Screening)

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"Duke Ellington's Washington" illuminates a young Ellington and the hometown that nurtured him, combining the celebrated past of Washington, DC's black community with its modern revival of rich heritage. The film also spotlights another of Ellington's legacies, – the Ellington School for the Arts – which produces a new stream of talented DC musicians, actors, dancers, and artists of all kinds.

Wednesday September 11, 2019 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

1:00pm EDT

Sound Health: Let's Make Music Together! Benefits of Community Music Therapy

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Levine Music's highly regarded and wide reaching music therapy program provides individual and group music therapy services, both on site at five Levine Music campuses and at a number of community partnership sites across Maryland, DC, and Virginia. Scientific research shows great benefit of music therapy intervention for a multitude of populations, many of whom are reached through Levine's music therapy program. Levine's work with children with developmental and intellectual differences, adults with Parkinson's disease, and older adults with memory disorders will be shared. Finally, the collaborative work between Levine's music therapists and NSO musicians in the area of aging and musical engagement will be highlighted. Come and make music with us as we highlight the benefits of music therapy for all ages and abilities! This workshop will include audio/visuals.

Wednesday September 11, 2019 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Studio J

Arts & Wellness, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

1:00pm EDT

Joseph Kalichstein & Abeo Quartet Master Class

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Joseph “Yossi” Kalichstein, Artistic Director of the Kennedy Center Fortas Chamber Music Concerts, is one of the foremost advocates for chamber repertoire. As a member of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio for the last four decades, he has continued to evangelize on “the power of three” in the chamber music realm. Join him for a master class as he mentors the next generation of performers including the Abeo Quartet.

The Abeo Quartet, silver medal winner of the 2019 Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition, has been featured in New York at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and on WQXR’s Midday Masterpieces. The quartet, formed at Juilliard, most recently performed in Montréal and has been invited to perform in Oslo, Norway this fall.

Ludvig Gudim & Njioma Grevious, violins
James Kang, viola
Drew Cone, cello

Wednesday September 11, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm EDT
Studio K

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

1:00pm EDT

NSO Mainstage Rehearsal: Alan Menken and Broadway Stars with the National Symphony Orchestra

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Attend the rehearsal for NSO's main event before the performance at 8 p.m.!

This evening, legendary composer Alan Menken and the National Symphony Orchestra present an unforgettable concert featuring four Broadway stars: Megan Hilty, Adam Jacobs, Norm Lewis, and Patina Miller. They’ll perform Alan Menken favorites including “Suddenly Seymour,” “Go the Distance,” “Part of Your World,” and more!

Featured Artists

Adam Jacobs

Broadway: Aladdin (Aladdin) Drama Desk, Grammy nominations. The Lion King (Simba), and Les Miserables (Marius). Favorite regional: US Premiere of Zorro at Alliance Theatre (Suzi nomination), Once On This Island at Paper Mill Playhouse. TV: ABC’s The Bachelorette, The 68th Annual... Read More →

Alan Menken

Megan Hilty

Megan Hilty received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the 2016 revival of Noises Off. Other Broadway credits include: Wicked and 9 to 5 the Musical. Television credits include: “Smash,” “Girlfriends Guide to Divorce,” “Sean Saves the World,” “The Good Wife... Read More →

National Symphony Orchestra

Norm Lewis

Norm Lewis. Broadway and Stage: Revival of Once on This Island, The Phantom of the Opera’s (first African American Phantom on Broadway), The Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess (Tony Nomination); Title Role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Barrow Street Theater. Television... Read More →

Patina Miller

Tony-award winning actress Patina Miller, currently starring on the CBS hit drama series “Madam Secretary,” has a resume that encompasses Broadway, TV, film, and music.Miller is most famously known for her role as Leading Player in the 2012-2013 Broadway revival of Stephen Schwartz’s... Read More →

Wednesday September 11, 2019 1:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Classical Music & the Voice, Theater

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

1:30pm EDT

"Seymour: An Introduction" (Film Screening)

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Seymour Bernstein gave up his career as a concert pianist at age 50 to pursue his passion as an educator. In actor Ethan Hawke's delightful and intimate documentary, we see how Bernstein mentors his young students with methods that build their confidence and truly inspire them to become great musicians themselves.

Wednesday September 11, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

2:00pm EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Adam Greenberg

Wednesday September 11, 2019 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

2:00pm EDT

Iphigenia Workshop with Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter

Featured Artists

Esperanza Spalding

Wednesday September 11, 2019 2:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Studio F

Jazz, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone

2:30pm EDT

"El Sistema" Workshop with Katie Wyatt

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“Play – but with your heart, not with your head!” Katie Wyatt leads a workshop on "El Sistema," a moving documentary about Venezuela’s unique music education system. The film follows Venezuelan visionary José Antonio Abreu over the past three decades, exploring how he changed hundreds of thousands of lives. Under Abreu's guidance, children from streets dominated by the gun battles and gang warfare are taken into music schools, given access to music, and taught through the model of a symphony orchestra how to build a better society.

Panelists:
Anne Henry, Executive Director, Soundscapes (Newport News, VA)
Elizabeth Schurgin, Executive Director, DC Youth Orchestra
Raquel Whiting Gilmer, Executive Director OrchKids, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Wednesday September 11, 2019 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone

2:30pm EDT

Joseph Kalichstein & Abeo Quartet Open Rehearsal

Pass Info

Joseph “Yossi” Kalichstein, Artistic Director of the Kennedy Center Fortas Chamber Music Concerts, is one of the foremost advocates for chamber repertoire. As a member of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio for the last four decades, he has continued to evangelize on “the power of three” in the chamber music realm.

The Abeo Quartet, silver medal winner of the 2019 Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition, has been featured in New York at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and on WQXR’s Midday Masterpieces. The quartet, formed at Juilliard, most recently performed in Montréal and has been invited to perform in Oslo, Norway this fall.

At 6 p.m. in Studio K, the acclaimed Quartet will perform chamber favorites by Brahms, Dvořák, and Debussy.

Ludvig Gudim & Njioma Grevious, violins
James Kang, viola
Drew Cone, cello

Wednesday September 11, 2019 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT
Studio K

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

4:00pm EDT

DC Strings Workshop Rehearsal

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Attend the DC Strings rehearsal before their workshop at 6 p.m.!

DC Strings Workshop is a local, community-based orchestra founded on the belief that access to music is an essential human right. DCSW has partnered with local schools and musicians to inspire the next generation of artists through private lessons, master classes, and exposure. The non-profit organization has put dozens of instruments into the hands of deserving young people, seeking to reach a wide audiences with engaging community performances.

Featured Artists

DC Strings

DC Strings Workshop (DC Strings) hosts a dynamic and versatile orchestra, “DC Strings” consisting of musicians committed to bringing music to all areas of the DMV, particularly underserved communities. With a mission to celebrate and recognize the contributions of musicians, conductors... Read More →

Wednesday September 11, 2019 4:00pm - 4:30pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

4:00pm EDT

NSO Duo - "Guess That Composer"

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NSO Violinist Heather LeDoux Green and NSO Bassist Paul DeNola (known as the comedic duo String Thing), and guest NSO Bassist Jeff Weisner host what should be a standard ‘Guess That Composer!’ concert. But, per usual, things go wrong: the audience mysteriously seems to recognize composers no one has heard of (Henning Kragerrud…), no one can say with a straight face (Englebert Humperdinck…), no one wants to hear (Pachebell…), and no one can tolerate after four minutes (Anton Bruckner…).

This participatory show is for people of ALL ages who love music. No actual knowledge required, though a doctorate in music history from Juilliard is recommended.

Featured Artists

Heather LeDoux Green

Violinist Heather LeDoux Green joined the National Symphony Orchestra in 2005 and became a member of the first violin section in 2007. She came to the NSO from the other side of the Kennedy Center where she was Assistant Concertmaster of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. Prior... Read More →

Paul DeNola

A native of the San Francisco Bay area, Paul DeNola joined the National Symphony bass section in July of 2006. Before moving to Washington, D.C., Paul spent three seasons as a member of the Oregon Symphony in Portland.Paul completed his undergraduate degree at Indiana University... Read More →

Wednesday September 11, 2019 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Studio J

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Learn by Observing

4:00pm EDT

Steven Reineke Master Class

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National Symphony Orchestra Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke's boundless enthusiasm and artistry have made him one of the nation's most sought-after pops conductors. He’s brought the NSO into the 21st century, collaborating in the Concert Hall with artists like Kendrick Lamar, Seth MacFarlane, Andrew Bird, Common, Boyz II Men, Steve Martin, Renée Fleming, and countless others. Learn his approach to crafting exciting musical journeys at this accessible, yet in-depth, analysis of arranging and orchestrating.

Wednesday September 11, 2019 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

4:00pm EDT

"El sistema" (Film Screening)

Pass Info

“Play – but with your heart, not with your head!” This moving documentary about Venezuela’s unique music education system takes us from barrios of Caracas to the world's finest concert halls. The film follows Venezuelan visionary José Antonio Abreu over the past three decades, exploring how he changed hundreds of thousands of lives. Under Abreu's guidance, children from streets dominated by the gun battles and gang warfare are taken into music schools, given access to music, and taught though the model of a symphony orchestra how to build a better society.

Wednesday September 11, 2019 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

5:00pm EDT

NSO Chamber Group – “Concert of Visuals”

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The NSO's "Concert of Visuals" combines live chamber music with simultaneously projected multimedia. Musicians perform Prokofiev’s quirky ballet-inspired Quintet in G minor op. 39 for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola and Double Bass; as well as an arrangement of Brahms’s most well-known and stunningly beautiful piano works (arranged by NSO bassist Alex Jacobsen).

The visual component includes choreography from the original production of Prokofiev’s ballet, “Trapeze,” and images of Alex Jacobsen’s handwritten score. Following the performance, NSO musicians will facilitate a discussion to elicit thoughts and questions about the audience experience, and explain how this interdisciplinary project came about.

The concert features NSO musicians Jamie Roberts (oboe), Kristin Bowers (clarinet), Jae-Yeon Kim (violin), Eric Dewardt (viola), Alex Jacobsen (double bass), and visuals from artist Thomas Baker.

Featured Artists

National Symphony Orchestra

Wednesday September 11, 2019 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Studio J

Classical Music & the Voice, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

5:00pm EDT

Piano Trio

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NSO Presents: Kassia Music. DC-area chamber ensemble Kassia Music is dedicated to new music with a traditional twist. They believe contemporary music can entice listeners as it challenges them, can excite without abandoning the forms of music from the past, and can evolve without sacrificing beauty.

Wednesday September 11, 2019 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

6:00pm EDT

DC Strings Workshop (Millennium Stage Event)

Pass Info

DC Strings Workshop is a community-based orchestra founded on the belief that access to excellence in music is an essential human right. DCSW has partnered with local schools and musicians to inspire the next generation of artists through private lessons, master classes, and exposure. The non-profit organization has put dozens of instruments into the hands of young people, seeking to reach a wide audiences with engaging community performances.

Featured Artists

DC Strings

Wednesday September 11, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

6:00pm EDT

Joseph Kalichstein & Abeo Quartet

Pass Info

Joseph “Yossi” Kalichstein, Artistic Director of the Kennedy Center Fortas Chamber Music Concerts, is one of the foremost advocates for chamber repertoire. As a member of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio for the last four decades, he continues to evangelize on "the power of three" in the chamber music realm.

The Abeo Quartet, silver medal winner of the 2019 Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition, has been featured in New York at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and on WQXR’s Midday Masterpieces. The quartet, formed at Juilliard, most recently performed in Montréal and has been invited to perform in Oslo, Norway this fall.

This evening, the acclaimed Quartet performs chamber favorites by Brahms, Dvořák, and Debussy.

Ludvig Gudim & Njioma Grevious, violins
James Kang, viola
Drew Cone, cello

Wednesday September 11, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Studio K

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

7:00pm EDT

National Sawdust (Skylight Soundscapes Activation)

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National Sawdust, the performing arts institution and artist incubator in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, presents new music from performers and composers drawn from their many programs designed to support artists. The program includes no words, a new work by emerging composer inti figgis-vizueta, winner of the organization’s mentorship program, the Hildegard Competition; Waves & Lines by Kinds of Kings collective member Gemma Peacocke, Artist-in-Residence at the venue throughout the 2019–20 season; the premiere of ...and everywhere the sea by composer and pianist Jeremy Gill, performed with clarinetist Chris Grymes, a National Sawdust Curator and Artistic Advisory Council Chair; and Nathalie Joachim's Dam Mwen Yo, from National Sawdust Projects’ Forward Music Project 1.0, performed by cellist Amanda Gookin, who also collaborates with vocalist Magos Herrera in a tribute to João Gilberto.

Wednesday September 11, 2019 7:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

7:30pm EDT

Off Book: The Improvised Musical Podcast

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Every week, Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino sit down to record a completely improvised musical, combating the notion that musicals should be "carefully crafted" or "thought out at all." This time, they’re doing it live, accompanied by the incomparable Eric Gersen on the keys and produced by Earwolf.

“Every entirely re-listenable song, and the way characters fold into each other’s narrative, is awe-inspiring and totally delightful.” – The AV Club

“Warning: Downloading “Off Book” may cause you to laugh uncontrollably in a public space.” – USA TODAY

Wednesday September 11, 2019 7:30pm - 8:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Comedy, Theater

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

8:00pm EDT

Alan Menken and Broadway Stars with the National Symphony Orchestra

Pass Info

Legendary composer Alan Menken and the National Symphony Orchestra present an unforgettable concert featuring four Broadway stars: Megan Hilty, Adam Jacobs, Norm Lewis, and Patina Miller. They’ll perform Alan Menken favorites including “Suddenly Seymour,” “Go the Distance,” “Part of Your World,” and more!

Featured Artists

Adam Jacobs

Alan Menken

Megan Hilty

National Symphony Orchestra

Norm Lewis

Patina Miller

Wednesday September 11, 2019 8:00pm - 9:30pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Classical Music & the Voice, Theater

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

10:00pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

Wednesday September 11, 2019 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

6:00am EDT

Daybreaker at the REACH

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Join us September 12th for a sunrise at the Kennedy Center we will never forget.✨

In celebration of the grand opening of the REACH, Daybreaker will host it's first fully free event in DC with an all star cast of Daybreaker artists including Daybreaker’s global resident DJ FDVM, resident MC Haile Supreme, and resident yogi Atticus Mooney. Wake up early for sunrise yoga at 6 a.m. or join us for our 7 a.m. dance party just as the sun reaches over the city skyline.

There is only one first! Don't snooze—see you at the REACH at sunrise. ☀️

Please note: The first 1,000 people on site will be allowed entry. The garage will be open at 5 a.m. to the public through A level parking off of F Street (North side). Early morning parking is $14 for patrons.

Thursday September 12, 2019 6:00am - 9:00am EDT
Bluestone Stage

Active/Hands-On, Arts & Wellness

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Sound Health: Second Saturdays Workshop

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Discover the joys of making music in Spanish with Levine School of Music's Cantemos Y Bailemos program! Children ages 4-24 months participate in musical activities such as singing songs and lullabies, chants, simple finger plays, wiggles, bounces, listening, and movement.

About “Sound Health” Second Saturdays:

This series of free workshops designed for families with children under the age of 5 explores the power of the arts to promote wellness of the mind and body. Sound Health is a partnership between the Kennedy Center and National Institutes of Health, in association with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Thursday September 12, 2019 10:00am - 10:45am EDT
Sardar Classroom

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

Pass Info

Go for hands-on exploration in our new Moonshot Studio, where activities will be running throughout the festival for visitors of all ages to spend time delving into various art forms, exploring stories and themes from the Center’s stages, and creating their own works of art.

Today in the Moonshot Studio:
MoKC: Art Studio
Learn to draw just like Mo Willems! Here you can sketch his characters—or make up your own—at large drawing tables. Use light tables to practice tracing your favorite characters. See how simple shapes can be assembled to create expressive characters!

MoKC: It’s a Mo-A-Trope!
Make your favorite Mo characters squawk, jump and dance in a hand-made Mo-A-Trope (it’s a zoetrope with Mo in it!). Using early hand-made technology called zoetropes, learn how simple drawings can come to life with the simple spin of a wheel.

JFK Ideals: Poetry & Pennants
Explore the words and ideals of JFK through poetry and visual art. Transform the words of John F. Kennedy into an original poem. Then use your poem to create a pennant that celebrates your ideals and puts them on display.

Mixmaster Station
Curated by Marvin and Brian Quijada (composer and playwright, respectively, of Kid Prince & Pablo), use the Mixmaster Station to create your own livelooped mixes using sounds, rhythms, and beats, and combining genres like trap, reggaeton, swing, and original music from Marvin and Brian.

Analog: Install - Interactive Dance and Technology Experience
Explore an interactive installation designed to demystify the experience of watching a contemporary dance performance. Turn, bend, and jump to create virtual choreography generated from your own movements and projected in real-time through motion-tracking technology.

Thursday September 12, 2019 10:00am - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Older Children, Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

Pass Info

Thursday September 12, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Thursday September 12, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

11:00am EDT

Iphigenia Workshop with Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter

Featured Artists

Esperanza Spalding

Thursday September 12, 2019 11:00am - 2:00pm EDT
Studio F

Jazz, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Invitation Only

12:00pm EDT

Singercize! Improving Parkinson's Disease Symptoms through Singing

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The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) curates a workshop led by Elizabeth Stegemöller, PhD, MT-BC on music therapy designed for Parkinson's patients. Through interactive exercises, participants will explore how music can improve movement, memory, and motor skills in Parkinson's patients.

AMTA represents over 8,000 music therapists, corporate members, and related associations worldwide. The mission of the organization is to advance public knowledge of music therapy benefits and increase access to quality music therapy services.

In cooperation with the American Music Therapy Association. Sound Health is a partnership between the Kennedy Center and National Institutes of Health, in association with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Thursday September 12, 2019 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Studio J

Arts & Wellness

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

12:00pm EDT

Song as Community: Seeking Purpose and Well-Being in Music

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The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) curates a workshop led by Robin Rio, MA, MT-BC on seeking purpose and well-being in music. Participants will explore the health benefits of group singing and learn about music as a tool to develop relationships with people who, on first meeting, may not think they have much in common.

AMTA represents over 8,000 music therapists, corporate members, and related associations worldwide. The mission of the organization is to advance public knowledge of music therapy benefits and increase access to quality music therapy services.

In cooperation with the American Music Therapy Association. Sound Health is a partnership between the Kennedy Center and National Institutes of Health, in association with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Featured Artists

Robin Rio

Robin Rio, MA, MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist, adjunct faculty of music at Virginia Commonwealth University, and emeritus professor of music therapy at Arizona State University. Together with social work professor/flutist Cameron Carter, Rio leads the RVA Street Singers... Read More →

Thursday September 12, 2019 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Studio K

Arts & Wellness

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

1:00pm EDT

"Once in a Hundred Years" (Film Screening)

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Discover the life and legacy of groundbreaking African American opera singer Marian Anderson—whose concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial 80 years ago became an historic moment in the fight for civil rights—with the new 2019 documentary Once in a Hundred Years. The film will be followed by a discussion moderated by Washington Post Journalist Dorothy Gilliam with guest speakers including filmmaker Bill Nicoletti, acclaimed bass and 2019 Marian Anderson Vocal Award Winner Soloman Howard, soprano Harolyn Blackwell, and others.

Featured Artists

Soloman Howard

Soloman Howard’s voice is described as “sonorous” by The New York Times, “superhuman” by The Denver Post, and “a triumph” by The Guardian.His 2018-19 season features performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Santa Fe Opera, and Washington... Read More →

Thursday September 12, 2019 1:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing, Open Captioned

2:00pm EDT

Iphigenia Workshop with Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter

Featured Artists

Esperanza Spalding

Thursday September 12, 2019 2:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Studio F

Jazz, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Invitation Only

3:00pm EDT

Rap Improvisation Workshop with Freestyle Love Supreme Academy

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Elevate your mad rapping skills to pure magic in a Rap Improv Workshop led by Freestyle Love Supreme Academy. Learn basic theories of Hip Hop, spoken word, beatboxing, confidence, momentum, listening, and ultimately joy!

Thursday September 12, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Hip Hop, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

3:30pm EDT

Master Class: Harolyn Blackwell

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Observe as emerging artists hone their craft under the guidance of acclaimed soprano Harolyn Blackwell.

Thursday September 12, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm EDT
Studio K

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

5:00pm EDT

Sound Health: Panel with Renée Fleming, Dr. Charles Limb, and Dr. Francis Collins

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Grammy®-winning soprano and Kennedy Center Artistic Advisor at Large Renée Fleming explores connections between the arts and wellness with renowned neuroscientist Dr. Charles Limb and Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health.

Sound Health is an initiative to expand our understanding of the connections between music and wellness: How music is processed by our brain, how it might impact our development, and how in some cases it might be used as a medical intervention for patients with a variety of conditions. Sound Health is a partnership between the Kennedy Center and National Institutes of Health, in association with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Featured Artists

Charles Limb, M.D.

Dr. Charles Limb is the Francis A. Sooy Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and the Chief of the Division of Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at UC San Francisco. He is also the Director of the Douglas Grant Cochlear Implant Center at UCSF and holds a joint... Read More →

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. was appointed the 16th Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate. He was sworn in on August 17, 2009. On June 6, 2017, President Donald Trump announced his selection of Dr. Collins to continue... Read More →

Renée Fleming

Renée Fleming is one of the most highly-acclaimed singers of our time, performing on the stages of the world’s greatest opera houses, theaters, and concert halls. Honored with the National Medal of Arts as well as four Grammy Awards, she has sung for momentous occasions including... Read More →

Thursday September 12, 2019 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Arts & Wellness

Audience Everyone
Experience Lecture/Discussion, Open Captioned

5:00pm EDT

UrbanArias

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Enjoy happy hour with a pop-up performance from UrbanArias combining opera and improv! UrbanArias is an opera company dedicated to producing short, contemporary operas written in the last 40 years. The company’s mission is to expose Washington, D.C-.area audiences to engaging, accessible, entertaining operas and to provide a venue at which both established and emerging composers can present their shorter works of 90 minutes or less.

Thursday September 12, 2019 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

6:00pm EDT

The Mellow Tones, Afro Blue, and Soloman Howard (Millennium Stage Event)

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Experience the power of the voice with this collaborative, multi-generational performance bringing together 2019 Marian Anderson Vocal Award Winner Soloman Howard, Howard University’s premiere vocal jazz ensemble Afro Blue, and the Mellow Tones of Duke Ellington School of the Arts.

Photo: Afro Blue

Featured Artists

Afro Blue

Howard University’s premier vocal jazz ensemble, Afro Blue, was formed by Professor Connaitre Miller in the spring of 2002. Singing music similar to the styles of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, The Manhattan Transfer and Take 6, while adding their own unique sound, this dynamic... Read More →

Soloman Howard

Thursday September 12, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

7:00pm EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Kevin Tien

Thursday September 12, 2019 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

7:00pm EDT

Music and the Voice: Brain Mechanisms of Vocal Mastery and Creativity

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What can the brain of an artist tell us about the nature of creativity? Join renowned neuroscientist Dr. Charles Limb in a conversation with acclaimed bass Solomon Howard, Freestyle Love Supreme's Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan, and Grammy Award-winning bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spaulding on the fascinating new science of musical creativity. Dr. Limb will present the results of fMRI scans relating to musicality, improvisation, and brain function.

Featured Artists

Charles Limb, M.D.

Esperanza Spalding

Soloman Howard

Thursday September 12, 2019 7:00pm - 8:15pm EDT
Studio K

Arts & Wellness

Audience Everyone
Experience Lecture/Discussion

8:15pm EDT

Renée Fleming, Angelique Kidjo, and Jason Moran in Concert

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Revel in the diverse musical influences of Beninese Grammy Award®–winning singer/songwriter and activist Angélique Kidjo, hailed as “Africa’s premier diva” by “Time” Magazine, when she joins Renée Fleming and Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran in concert.

Mark G. Meadows will serve as music director for his house band, Mark G. Meadows & The Movement.

Featured Artists

Angelique Kidjo

Three-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo is one of the greatest artists in international music today, a creative force with thirteen albums to her name. Time Magazine has called her "Africa's premier diva". The BBC has included her in its list of the continent's 50 most iconic... Read More →

Jason Moran

Renée Fleming

Thursday September 12, 2019 8:15pm - 10:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

10:00pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

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Thursday September 12, 2019 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

Iphigenia Workshop with Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter

Featured Artists

Esperanza Spalding

Friday September 13, 2019 10:00am - 1:00pm EDT
Studio F

Jazz, Classical Music & the Voice

10:00am EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

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Friday September 13, 2019 10:00am - 3:30pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

10:00am EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

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Friday September 13, 2019 10:00am - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

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Friday September 13, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

11:30am EDT

Collective Futures in Music: DJ Genie

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In a divisive political climate with much upheaval for black, LatinX, immigrant, gender equality, and trans rights, the future is dependent on self-created futures in social media and music to cope. Collective Futures in Music will feature five emerging artists (DJ Genie, DJ Trillnatured, DJ Toyo Mansi, Kotic Couture, and EN'B) who have used music as a vehicle of expression to endure the long lasting effects of slavery, imperialism, illness, and resistance movements. Later, the artists will gather for a panel to discuss how musicians in the DMV area, the epicenter of politics, and Baltimore, the epicenter of uprising and burgeoning Black Arts, are creating their own futures and justice through music.

Friday September 13, 2019 11:30am - 12:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Lecture/Discussion

12:00pm EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Johny Spero (Reverie Restaurant)

Friday September 13, 2019 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

12:30pm EDT

Collective Futures in Music: DJ Trillnatured

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Friday September 13, 2019 12:30pm - 1:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Lecture/Discussion

1:00pm EDT

Music Improvisation and Beatmaking Workshop with Baltimore Boom Bap Society

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Founded and hosted by multi-instrumentalist producers Erik Spangler (a.k.a. DJ Dubble8) and Wendel Patrick in 2011, Baltimore Boom Bap Society is a forum that provides a platform for experimentation and collaboration. DJ Dubble8 and Wendel Patrick will lead participants through a series of exploratory exercises in spontaneous music-making through group improvisation. With Hip Hop beats as a stylistic foundation, elements of classical and jazz composition and performance will be introduced and collectively shaped into a piece created by the participants and artist facilitators.

Friday September 13, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Electronica/DJ Culture, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Learn by Observing

1:30pm EDT

Collective Futures in Music: DJ Toyo Mansi

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Friday September 13, 2019 1:30pm - 2:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Lecture/Discussion

2:00pm EDT

Iphigenia Workshop with Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter

Featured Artists

Esperanza Spalding

Friday September 13, 2019 2:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Studio F

Jazz, Classical Music & the Voice

2:30pm EDT

Collective Futures in Music: Kotic Couture

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Friday September 13, 2019 2:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Lecture/Discussion

3:30pm EDT

Collective Futures in Music: EN'B

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Friday September 13, 2019 3:30pm - 4:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Lecture/Discussion

3:30pm EDT

Music Improvisation and Beatmaking Workshop with Baltimore Boom Bap Society

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Friday September 13, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Electronica/DJ Culture, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Learn by Observing

3:30pm EDT

"Selma, Lord Selma" with Charles Burnett (Film Screening)

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Join the pioneering independent filmmaker Charles Burnett for a screening of his 1999 film" Selma, Lord, Selma."

In 1965, during the turbulent early days of the right-to-vote movement, a young Alabama school girl is inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to resist the degradation that her fellow African Americans are suffering. Along with a white seminary student from the north, and against the threat of racial violence, she promises to do what she can to help Dr. King's efforts.

Friday September 13, 2019 3:30pm - 5:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

5:00pm EDT

TT The Artist with DJ Mighty Mark and TSU Dance Crew

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Engage with Baltimore-bred and LA-based Hip Hop, club, and pop sensation TT The Artist in performance with DJ Mighty Mark and TSU Dance Crew for a fusion of Baltimore club, Miami bass, electronic dance music, pop and Hip Hop.

Tedra Wilson, known professionally as TT The Artist, prepares to paint the world with visual language. Through art and music, TT The Artist creates a well-blended sound of Hip Hop, pop, club and EDM as a performer, filmmaker, creative director, community artist, and designer. Today, TT The Artist's music can be heard in regular rotation on local and international radio.

Featured Artists

DJ Mighty Mark

Born and bred in Baltimore City, Cherry Hill-native Producer and DJ Marquis Gasque AKA Mighty Mark, is the new torchbearer of the urban dance music genre known as Baltimore Club Music . Successfully bridging the gap between the intensity of old school club music and the futuristic... Read More →

TT the Artist

Tedra Wilson, known professionally as TT The Artist, prepares to paint the world with visual language. Through art and music, TT The Artist creates a well-blended sound of hip hop, pop, club and EDM as a performer, filmmaker, creative director, community artist and designer. The Baltimore... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Electronica/DJ Culture, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

5:00pm EDT

Code Listen Workshop

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Join Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow Shaw Pong Liu and Clarissa Turner, director of the homicide survivors' network, Legacy Lives On, in an interactive workshop on music and listening for healing. Liu and Turner collaborate on Code Listen, a listening-based project that uses music to build dialogue and healing on urgent issues of racism, violence, and police-community relations with police, teens, homicide survivors, musicians, and community members. Presented in collaboration with the Washington National Opera’s March 2020 production of “Blue.”

Friday September 13, 2019 5:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Studio J

Classical Music & the Voice, Arts & Wellness

Audience Everyone
Experience Lecture/Discussion, Learn by Observing

5:00pm EDT

DJ Divine

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DJ Divine is a nightlife industry veteran of more than 30 years in the Washington D.C. metro area. DJ Divine’s presentation will discuss the origins, elements, and history of House music within the club scene. Divine is the resident DJ at the Gaylord National Resort Pose Rooftop Lounge performing four to five nights a week. DJ Divine is also an integral of the Washington D.C. dance community by hosting and planning events for the past 13 years with the Daylight party, which plays music from the Disco and Club era 70's, 80's, 90's, and the latest soulful house music. Divine is also a contributor to the Dance and Music Festival in Silver Spring which caters to youth and features young DJ's like Kool Flash, DJ Ameer, and Jordan Pope.

Friday September 13, 2019 5:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Lecture/Discussion

5:00pm EDT

Eighteenth Street Lounge (Skylight Soundscapes Activation)

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The Eighteenth Street Lounge invites 5 local DJs to take over the Skylight Pavilion for an immersive live performance, featuring Sam Burns, DJ Stylus Chris, Farid, and DJ M DOT.

5:00-6:00 pm: DJ M DOT
6:00-7:20 pm: Stylus Chris
7:20-8:45 pm: Farid
8:45-10:00 pm: Sam "The Man" Burns

The Eighteenth Street Lounge opened its doors in April 1995 and unknowingly changed the face of DC’s dance music culture forever. The Lounge has been independently operated, and its music programming curated, under the auspices of Farid since its inception in 1995. Eighteenth Street Lounge is considered home to many internationally acclaimed local artists. Bands such as Thievery Corporation and Fort Knox Five, along with DJ Thomas Blondet, and Reggae outfit See-I, all trace their start within the walls of 1212 18th St.

Friday September 13, 2019 5:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Electronica/DJ Culture, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

6:00pm EDT

Congo Sanchez

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Founded in Washington D.C., Congo Sanchez is a funky group of musicians that represent the layered, complex, and progressive culture of D.C. that has long been rooted in jazz, funk, and political activism. Combining elements of conscious hip-hop and reggaeton, the three members—Jeff Franca, Flex Matthews, and Haile Supreme—use their passion for social advocacy along with their personal artistry to make Congo Sanchez a dynamic and reformist group musically and socially. Jeff Franca, the band’s drummer, also performs with Thievery Corporation.

Friday September 13, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Electronica/DJ Culture, Jazz

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

6:00pm EDT

Night Glitter (Millennium Stage Event)

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A dreamy psychedelic synth-pop band from Austin, Texas, Night Glitter consists of John Michael Schoepf (guitar, bass vi, vocals), Jonas Wilson (guitar), and LouLou Ghelichkhani (synthesizers, farfisa and vocals). Night Glitter’s atmospheric, ethereal sound invites audiences to step into the world they have created, and lose themselves in the synths and sonic effects. LouLou Ghelichkani also performs with Thievery Corporation, today’s headliners.

Friday September 13, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Studio K

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

6:15pm EDT

Horizontal Hostilities and Collective Liberation Panel

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In a divisive political climate, artists are creating their own futures and justice through music. EN’B, a Baltimore-based musician influenced by Korean and Black Diasporic sounds, will bring together D.C.-area musicians and DJs to discuss how they’ve used music as a vehicle of expression to endure the long lasting effects of slavery, imperialism, illness, and resistance movements.

Friday September 13, 2019 6:15pm - 7:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Electronica/DJ Culture, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Lecture/Discussion

6:30pm EDT

Baltimore Boom Bap Society with Shodekeh and J. Pope

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Founded and hosted by Erik Spangler (a.k.a. DJ Dubble8) and Wendel Patrick in 2011, Baltimore Boom Bap Society is a forum that provides a platform for experimentation and collaboration. Baltimore Boom Bap Society encourages local Hip Hop artists, emcees, beatboxers, DJs, instrumentalists—you name it—to work and create together, while placing Hip Hop in dialogue with other forms of music. Wendel Patrick & DJ Dubble8 will be joined by special guests to perform with them in diverse combinations and explore a hybrid of free improvisation and beat-based composition.

Friday September 13, 2019 6:30pm - 7:30pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Electronica/DJ Culture, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

7:00pm EDT

The Archives

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Founded by Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation, The Archives’s sound brings a fresh and profound perspective to classics; their reggae cover of Gil Scott-Heron’s classic song “Hatred” has been hailed by “Rolling Stone” as “poignant” and “gorgeous.” For their tribute performance, The Archives will be joined by members of Scott-Heron’s band, Amnesia Express, as well as Scott-Heron’s longtime musical collaborator, Brian Jackson.

Featured Artists

The Archives

The Archives began when Thievery Corporation’s Eric Hilton began a quest to explore the roots of reggae music. Led by producer/ keyboard ace Darryl “D-Trane” Burke, all members have recorded and toured internationally with acts like Eek-A-Mouse, Black Uhuru, Culture, Don Carlos... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

7:45pm EDT

Behind the Lens: "Dark City Beneath the Beat" (Panel Talk)

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Join TT the Artist and executive producer Rose DiFerdinando for a screening of select scenes of “Dark City Beneath the Beat,” a musical documentary that showcases Baltimore club music. Following the screening, TSU Terry of TSU Dance Crew will host “Rock off Shake Off,” a workshop that breaks down the top 5 essential Baltimore club dance moves.

Featured Artists

Rose DiFerdinando

Rose DiFerdinando is a true visionary. Bold, playful and cheeky Rose's body of work is filled with personality and emotion. Particularly inspired by real people and their stories she has a knack for scouting original 'characters' and a unique ability to discover what is special about... Read More →

TT the Artist

Friday September 13, 2019 7:45pm - 8:45pm EDT
Justice Forum

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

8:00pm EDT

Champion Sound Band

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Champion Sound Band blends their love for jazz, blues, funk, soul and Hip Hop to create something all their own. With passions for tried and true musicianship and exploration, their ever-evolving soundscapes feel both warmly familiar yet one of a kind. The Band, comprised of drummer Gudo, keyboardist Kareem “Reemz” Johnson, saxophonist John Eamon, bassist Jimmy Keith, guitarist Alex James, and vocalist Anastasia Antoinette, has a mission to create soundscapes for an experience geared towards empowerment and positivity, looking to inspire each other and those around them in music and in life.

Featured Artists

Champion Sound Band

Champion Sound Band blends their love for jazz, funk, soul and hip-hop, to create something all their own. The result is both tranquil and transformative, enchanting music you won't soon forget.The Washington Post describes them as “a sensitive soul-jazz sextet ... a tender touch... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
Studio K

Electronica/DJ Culture, Jazz

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

8:00pm EDT

ELIN

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Born in Sweden, and fluent in five languages, Elin (Eee-a-leen) is a multicultural, genre-crossing jazz vocalist. A headliner at the Blue Note and Jazz at Lincoln Center, Elin sings in more than seven languages, in the styles of Brazilian jazz, samba & bossa nova, classic jazz, and more. She has opened for Chaka Khan, George Benson, Stanley Clarke & George Duke at Miami’s Jazz in the Gardens Festival, and her debut album, “Lazy Afternoon,” topped the jazz charts upon release.

Friday September 13, 2019 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Electronica/DJ Culture, Jazz

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

8:30pm EDT

Thievery Corporation

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Thievery Corporation’s inventive integration of world music with electronica has pushed boundaries and influenced composers for more than two decades.

The D.C.-based duo has collaborated with such uniquely famed artists David Byrne, Perry Farrell, The Flaming Lips, Anushka Shankar, Femi Kuti, Seu Jorge, Bebel Gilberto, and have been featured on major film soundtracks such as Garden State. They’ve headlined top music festivals, such as Coachella and Lollapalooza, and have influenced a whole generation of electronic producers and DJs. Along their unique musical journey, they have virtually defined an entire sub-genre of electronic music. And now they’re ready to embark on yet another journey with the release of their new album, “The Temple of I & I.” Their musical style is influenced by dub, acid jazz, reggae, Indian classical, Middle Eastern music, electronica, and Brazilian music.

Featured Artists

Thievery Corporation

How many highly successful musical artists do you know that have thrived for 20 years without a radio hit, a big budget video, or major label backing? Moreover, have managed to do high-profile TV appearances, own and operate their own independent label since day one, sell several... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 8:30pm - 10:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

10:00pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

Pass Info

Friday September 13, 2019 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

DJing Workshop with Words, Beats & Life (Youth Session)

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Words, Beats & Life teaches the skills you need to become a real DJ, combining traditional methods with new technology in a casual, fun setting to develop super-star DJs! Led by DJ RBI, beginners and seasoned pros will learn the various aspects and practices under the umbrella of DJing, including production and related musicianship. Participants will be trained in skills such as scratching, beat matching, and blending, and will leave with the skills needed to perform live!

ADVANCED REGISTRATION REQUIRED: Register for this Master Class by clicking here.

Saturday September 14, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Active/Hands-On, Hip Hop

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Participating, Advanced Registration Required

10:00am EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

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Saturday September 14, 2019 10:00am - 1:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Experience Drop-In Activities

10:00am EDT

#Lifein5 Video Booth

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Building on the Top 5 concept, #Lifein5 is a digital story-telling initiative that sparks community conversation by inviting artists, creatives and audiences to create and share their “Hip Hop Story” through a five-song playlist. Come and share your story by recording your #LifeIn5 in our Community Video Booth!

Saturday September 14, 2019 10:00am - 6:00pm EDT
Welcome Pavilion

Active/Hands-On, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

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Saturday September 14, 2019 10:00am - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

Pass Info

Saturday September 14, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:15am EDT

"Dave Chappelle's Block Party" (Film Screening)

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D.C. native Dave Chappelle is an internationally recognized stand-up comedian and actor whose sharp, irreverent social commentary explores race, popular culture, sex, drugs, politics, and fame. The multi-Grammy, multi-Emmy winner – known for his iconic comedy sketch series “Chappelle's Show” – has performed more than 1,600 concerts worldwide in the past four years, selling out shows within minutes.

Celebrate with Chappelle as he throws the ultimate block party in this uncensored, hilarious hit documentary directed by Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Science of Sleep”). "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" features a mix of Chappelle's sketch comedy and musical interludes from artists like Yasiin Bey, Lauryn Hill, and Erykah Badu. Be a part of what Dave Chappelle calls "the best single day of my career!"

On October 27, 2019, an outstanding lineup of entertainers will gather in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall to salute Dave Chappelle as he receives the 22nd annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The program will be broadcast on PBS stations on January 6, 2020.

Saturday September 14, 2019 10:15am - 12:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening, Comedy

Audience Families with Younger Children, Mature Audiences
Experience Learn by Observing

11:00am EDT

DJing Workshop with Words, Beats & Life (Youth Session)

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Saturday September 14, 2019 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Active/Hands-On, Hip Hop

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Participating, Advanced Registration Required

12:00pm EDT

“Q.U.E.E.N.S. = Quantam*, Unique, Energy and Essence of Nubian Sisters” presented in partnership with Hi-ARTS

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Witness sounds, rhythms, and words of Womanhood and divinity. "Q.U.E.E.N.S." is a musical meditation on the affirmation of healing past life experiences, traumas, and present issues while answering questions and exploring ways to move forward. This is a multi generational interdisciplinary performance mashup of sound design, spoken word, beats and bits, quasi Hip Hop, rock, and avant-garde movement. "Q.U.E.E.N.S." represents a work in progress created and performed by Nona Hendryx with Special Guests, Liza Jessie Peterson (poet and spoken word artist), Divinity Roxx (bassist and vocalist), and Be Steadwell (singer, songwriter, and filmmaker)

Saturday September 14, 2019 12:00pm - 12:30pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

12:00pm EDT

Breaking Master Class with Words, Beats & Life

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Students participating in the beginning B-boy/ B-girl classes will learn the basic history of the dance and the Hip Hop culture surrounding it, develop B-Boy/B-Girl etiquette, and receive instruction in the basic skills of top rocking, footwork, and freezes. Led by B-boy Toys R Us, students will be provided instruction as well as the open space to practice and develop artistically, in individual and group contexts. All participants will cipher alongside teachers and receive personalized help from the instructors.

Saturday September 14, 2019 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Studio J

Active/Hands-On, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Advanced Registration Required

12:00pm EDT

Paint Jam

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Words Beats & Life believes in beautifying our cities with the best public art. As a celebration of graffiti, street art, and mural art, WBL presents D.C.-based artists Shiro and Rei 21 creating live works of art at the REACH with music from local DJs.

Saturday September 14, 2019 12:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
TBA

Active/Hands-On

12:30pm EDT

"Fresh Dressed" (Film Screening)

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"Fresh Dressed" is a fascinating, fun-to-watch chronicle of Hip Hop, urban fashion, and the hustle that brought oversized pants and graffiti-drenched jackets from Harlem to high fashion runways and everywhere in between. Reaching deep to Southern culture, Black churches, and Hip Hop style icons, director Sacha Jenkins draws from vintage footage and conducts in-depth interviews with Pharrell Williams, Dapper Dan, Kanye West, Nasir Jones, André Leon Talley, and other cultural luminaries who’ve seen it all.

Saturday September 14, 2019 12:30pm - 2:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

12:45pm EDT

“Q.U.E.E.N.S. = Quantam*, Unique, Energy and Essence of Nubian Sisters” presented in partnership with Hi-ARTS

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Saturday September 14, 2019 12:45pm - 1:15pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

1:00pm EDT

Culture Talks: The Future Is Female - A Conversation on Women in Hip Hop with Maimouna Youssef, ill Camille, and Beverly Bond

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Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, activist, and emcee Maimouna Youssef aka Mumu Fresh; West Coast emcee Ill Camille; and DJ, culture curator, and founder of Black Girls Rock! Beverly Bond discuss their journeys and reflections on the state of Women in Hip Hop in this thought-provoking panel.

Saturday September 14, 2019 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing, Lecture/Discussion

1:00pm EDT

DJ Set: DJ RBI

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D.C.'s own DJ RBI doesn't just spin – he works in radio programming/production, stage performance, music production, and visual art. He DJs dance parties around the District, collaborates with local luminaries, and mentors youth through organizations such as The DC Commission of The Arts & Humanities and Words, Beats, & Life. In radio and in the nightlife circuit, he works as producer/DJ/host of 89.3 FM WPFW's ILL Street Grooves and Capitol ILL, and is a principle member of the DMV-based DJ collective Diamond Cutterz. If you love or are interested in experiencing the real flavor of D.C., don’t miss this "monster of a DJ and 20-year fixture on the scene" (Washington City Paper). @djrbi

Saturday September 14, 2019 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Hip Hop

Experience Performance

1:00pm EDT

Thhrift’s Thrift - A Clothing Swap and Young Artists Meet Up

Saturday September 14, 2019 1:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Studio F

1:00pm EDT

Social Practice Residencies - Sage Dolan Sandrino

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Thhrift’s Thrift - A Clothing Swap and Young Artists Meet Up

Open to young creatives, this meet-up invites young artists into a marketplace for ideas and artistry, but also provides a clothing and art swap that will provide a vibrant environment for networking.

As we open the REACH, the Kennedy Center will support 6 six-month social practice residencies to help inaugurate our expansion. These social practice residencies identify, amplify, and financially support six artists/organizations working to empower marginalized communities. Beginning in July 2019, these residencies affirm local heroes who are doing stellar work at the axis of the artistic and the civic.

Saturday September 14, 2019 1:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Studio F

Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

1:30pm EDT

Austin Dean Ashford: "Black Book"

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Poet, playwright, author, Hip Hop artist, and actor Austin Dean Ashford presents “Black Book,” his solo spoken word show that has garnered awards and praise – including a Kennedy Center Citizen's Award. “Black Book” focuses on gun violence and other obstacles ever-present in underrepresented education systems, and how taking part in activities like speech and debate can aid young people in navigating their community with resilience. Ashford's goal for this timely, powerful play is to “create a work that lessens the distance between human beings on the stage, page, and screen.”

Saturday September 14, 2019 1:30pm - 2:00pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Hip Hop

Audience Families with Older Children
Experience Performance, Learn by Observing

2:00pm EDT

Breaking Master Class with Words, Beats & Life

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Students participating in the beginning B-boy/ B-girl classes will learn the basic history of the dance and the Hip Hop culture surrounding it, develop B-Boy/B-Girl etiquette, and receive instruction in the basic skills of top rocking, footwork, and freezes. Led by B-boy Toyz R Us, students will be provided instruction as well as the open space to practice and develop artistically, in individual and group contexts. All participants will cipher alongside teachers and receive personalized help from the instructors.

Saturday September 14, 2019 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Studio J

Active/Hands-On, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Advanced Registration Required

2:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Saturday September 14, 2019 2:00pm - 8:30pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

2:15pm EDT

Austin Dean Ashford: "Black Book"

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Saturday September 14, 2019 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Hip Hop

Audience Families with Older Children
Experience Performance, Learn by Observing

3:00pm EDT

DJing Workshop with Words, Beats & Life (Adult Session)

Pass Info

Saturday September 14, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Active/Hands-On, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Advanced Registration Required

3:00pm EDT

"Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America" (Season Premiere Screening: AMC First Look)

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From Executive Producers Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, Alex Gibney, and directors Erik Parker and One9, each episode of AMC's new documentary series focuses on a groundbreaking song pivotal to the evolution of American music and culture.

Artists, their collaborators, and other influential cultural figures deconstruct compositions, revisit the impact the song had on them personally, and dissect the socio-economic/ cultural conditions that inspired the work and gave voice to a generation.

Some of the songs featured in the series include Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks,” Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright,” Run-D.M.C.’s “Rock Box,” Queen Latifah’s “Ladies First,” and more. In addition to Thompson, Trotter and Gibney, “Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America” is also executive produced by Shawn Gee, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, and Shea Serrano. Angie Day, Erik Parker, and One9 serve as co-executive producers.

Premieres October 13, 2019 on AMC.

Saturday September 14, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

3:00pm EDT

Culture Talks: Sound Architects – A Producer Conversation with Large Professor and 9th Wonder

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Experience an intimate discussion between renowned producers Large Professor and 9th Wonder. The Kennedy Center Hip Hop Culture Council Members will discuss their production catalogues and current projects with fellow Council Member Bobbito García.

Queens-bred producer, Main Source alum, and solo emcee, Large Professor, is best known for his work on classic tracks by artists including Eric B. & Rakim, Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo, Nas, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, Big Daddy Kane, and Mobb Deep. Patrick Douthit, better known as 9th Wonder is a Grammy Award winning producer, record executive, DJ, lecturer, and professor from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Highly praised for his production work as part of Hip Hop trio Little Brother, 9th has also produced for some of Hip Hop’s finest including Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Jean Grae, Wale, Murs, Drake, Rapsody, De La Soul, Black Thought, Anderson.Paak, Talib Kweli, Nipsey Hussle, Big K.R.I.T, Raekwon, Fat Joe, and David Banner. He is also the founder and CEO of Jamla Records.

Saturday September 14, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Lecture/Discussion

3:00pm EDT

DJ Set: DJ Miss H.E.R

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Miss H.E.R. has taken the world by storm and has never looked back. During H.E.R. eventful career, she’s built a resume worth bragging about with residencies at popular D.C. venues, DJ’ing live TV and numerous corporate gigs, and making club appearances all over the D.C. area. When she’s not sharpening her skills on the tables, she’s looking for the next hot artist/track to incorporate into her library for your listening pleasure. When she spins, she tells a story and connects to her listeners. DJ’ing has been a dream for most of “H.E.R.” life, and now she’s finally awake and living it. @iammissher

Saturday September 14, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

3:00pm EDT

ill Camille

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ill Camille is a native Los Angeles-based MC and writer who also represents Inland Empire. Straying away from the Hip Hop zeitgeist, her transparency, cleverly constructed rhyme style, rhythm, and choice of subject matter have earned her love and respect from both the underground and mainstream worlds alike.
She's worked alongside Patrice Rushen, Moby, Gabriel-Garzon Montano, Kendrick Lamar, Dr.Dre, Terrace Martin, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and frequent collaborator, Damani Nkosi, amongst others

Her 2017 full-length release, "Heirloom," was named "one of the most important albums" that year by NPR, and later performed on NPR's Tiny Desk televised concert series and Issa Rae's award-winning HBO series, "Insecure."

Featured Artists

ill Camille

ill Camille is a native Los Angeles-based MC and writer who also represents Inland Empire. Straying away from the hip-hop zeitgeist, her transparency, cleverly constructed rhyme style, rhythm, and choice of subject matter have earned her the love and respect from both underground... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Hip Hop

Experience Performance, Open Captioned

4:00pm EDT

DJing Workshop with Words, Beats & Life (Adult Session)

Pass Info

Saturday September 14, 2019 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Active/Hands-On, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating, Advanced Registration Required

4:00pm EDT

DJ Set: Beverly Bond

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A dynamo in true form, Beverly Bond, has blazed trails in the music, entertainment, and social entrepreneurship industries. Her body of work, across sectors, has made her one of the most celebrated DJs and social innovators of our time. Over the last decade, Bond, a former Wilhelmina model, has brought her versatile talents to the most highly exclusive events and to myriad celebrity clients, including Prince, Alicia Keys, Sarah Jessica Parker, Erykah Badu, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Derek Jeter, Jay Z, Martha Stewart, and others.

In 2006, Bond founded BLACK GIRLS ROCK! a youth empowerment mentoring organization. Bond simultaneously created the annual BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Awards to celebrate the accomplishments of exceptional women of color who have made outstanding contributions in their careers and stand as inspirational and positive role models. In 2010, Beverly Bond partnered with BET to share her BLACK GIRLS ROCK! vision with the rest of the world. The premiere of BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Awards on BET was magnanimous in regards to its motivational impact as well, drawing an impressive 2.7 million viewers and commanding the No. 1 spot on the chart for Black households. Adding to its success, the BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Awards received an NAACP Image Award for outstanding Variety Series or Special.

Beverly’s work as a businesswoman, mentor, philanthropist, and community leader has earned her a number of prestigious recognitions. Ebony magazine listed Bond among their “Power 100 list” from 2008 to 2012, making five consecutive years that Bond was recognized as one of Ebony’s “Most Influential Blacks in America.” Bond is also one of Essence magazine’s “40 Fierce and Fabulous Women Who Are Changing the World.” Beverly Bond has created a niche for success, determined to make a difference in the lives she touches – a true testament to reaching for the stars.

Featured Artists

Beverly Bond

Saturday September 14, 2019 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Hip Hop, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

4:00pm EDT

J.PERIOD Presents The Live Mixtape [The Healing Edition] feat. Maimouna Youssef aka Mumu Fresh

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J.PERIOD and Maimouna Youssef (aka Mumu Fresh) present a journey through American musical history from gospel to blues to jazz to soul – with a particular focus on iconic female voices – remixed through the lens of Hip Hop. “The Live Mixtape [The Healing Edition]” merges music and narrative, exploring themes of soul, struggle, spirituality, activism, and music’s healing power.

Saturday September 14, 2019 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Studio K

Hip Hop

4:30pm EDT

DJ Set: Large Professor

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A fixture of New York City's Hip Hop scene for over two decades, Queens-bred producer/MC Large Professor has made his mark collaborating with a lengthy list of legendary artists from his borough and beyond. From being a founding member of veteran Hip Hop crew Main Source to producing Nas's debut album “Illmatic,” Large Pro has proved integral to any overview of the genre’s golden era. @plargepro

Saturday September 14, 2019 4:30pm - 5:30pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

5:00pm EDT

Culture Talks: Hip Hop Listening Session—Native Tongues Edition

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Hip Hop Listening Session: Native Tongues Edition
Celebrating the times when people used to gather to listen to music in community, Hip Hop Listening Sessions are collaboratively generated musical experiences that provide instigators and audiences with the opportunity to engage in deep dives into an artist’s album and discography or generate live soundtracks centered on a theme.

Join ethnomusicologist Dr. Fredara Hadley, Kennedy Center Hip Hop Culture Council member Xavier Jernigan, DJ Miss H.E.R, DJ Face, and event host & producer Frank Brown Jr. as they explore the discography of the iconic Native Tongues Collective as part of the Hip Hop Block Party. Come prepared to discuss your favorite tracks by The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Leaders of the New School, Black Sheep, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, Chi-Ali, and more. The listening session will feature a live soundtrack spun by DJ Raydar Ellis.

Saturday September 14, 2019 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Lecture/Discussion

5:00pm EDT

Kokayi & Friends

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D.C.'s own Grammy–nominated rapper, producer, and educator Kokayi returns with some of his favorite musicians. Always coloring outside the lines of tradition, Kokayi blends Hip Hop, folk, funk, jazz fusion – even sounds from the streets of D.C. – to create versatile and ground-breaking music.

Featured Artists

Kokayi

Preeminent Improvisational Vocalist, GRAMMY-nominated musician, Creative consultant for projects with Grammy-nominated artist Goldink and artist/musician Guillermo Brown (James Corden Show). He can be heard on Whose Hat is This? Everything’s Ok, Goldlink’s At What Cost, MTV's... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Hip Hop, Jazz

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

5:30pm EDT

Shaolin Jazz: Can I Kick It? "Blade" with DJ 2-Tone Jones (Film Screening)

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This innovative film experience pushes the envelope of sound syncing, where classic films are remixed live by 2-Tone Jones, accentuating specific scenes with well-timed DJ techniques. For this special presentation of Can I Kick It?, SHAOLIN JAZZ focuses on the 1998 superhero film "Blade," starring Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire.

Saturday September 14, 2019 5:30pm - 7:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening, Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

6:00pm EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Tim Ma (American Son)

Saturday September 14, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

6:00pm EDT

DJ Set: Beverly Bond

Pass Info

Featured Artists

Beverly Bond

Saturday September 14, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Hip Hop, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

6:00pm EDT

J.PERIOD Presents The Live Mixtape [The Healing Edition] feat. Maimouna Youssef aka Mumu Fresh (Millennium Stage Event)

Pass Info

J.PERIOD and Maimouna Youssef (aka Mumu Fresh) present a journey through American musical history from gospel to blues to jazz to soul—with a particular focus on iconic female voices—remixed through the lens of Hip Hop. The Live Mixtape [The Healing Edition] merges music and narrative, exploring themes of soul, struggle, spirituality, activism, and music’s healing power.

Saturday September 14, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Studio K

Hip Hop

6:00pm EDT

DJ Set: Bobbito Garcia

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DJ Bobbito Garcia is the critically acclaimed author of “Where’d You Get Those? NYC’s Sneaker Culture: 1960-1980.” As an award-winning filmmaker, Garcia has directed “Doin' it in the Park: Pick-Up Basketball, NYC, and Stretch” and “Bobbito: Radio that Changed Lives.” Recently, "Kool Bob Love" directed his autobiographical documentary film “Rock Rubber 45s,” which premiered at the Kennedy Center last year.

Saturday September 14, 2019 6:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

7:00pm EDT

TH1RT3EN featuring Pharoahe Monch, Marcus Machado, and Daru Jones

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Kennedy Center Hip Hop Culture Council member and Grammy-winning lyrical genius Pharoahe Monch forms a new band TH1RT3EN with guitar virtuoso Marcus Machado (Rolling Stone Magazine 'Young Gun' recipient) and drum legend Daru Jones (Jack White/Black Milk). Armed with a combination of brilliant musicianship, great songwriting, and aggressive rhymes and vocals, the trio will begin to release music this year with a full project slated for early 2020. Monch describes the sound simply as “HARD!!!!”

Featured Artists

Daru Jones

Daru Jones is one of the most respected drummers of his generation. Born to two professional musicians, he began playing the drums at the age of four. Though he got his start in the church, Jones has been influenced by musicians from a wide range of genres. These eclectic musical... Read More →

Marcus Machado

From Rolling Stone’s 2016 “Next Top Gun” and considered to be a “Smoking Gun” on today’s best musical feature presentations these days this former child prodigy is absolutely on fire as one of the world’s preeminent guitarist on the rise. With Marcus most recent musical... Read More →

Pharoahe Monch

Pharoahe Monch is an Emcee/Recording Artist from Queens, NY who is regarded as one of the standard bearers for lyricism in hip-hop today. His career spans over 2 decades and has produced several hit records, including “Simon Says” which is widely considered a classic anthem.As... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

8:00pm EDT

DJ Set: Beverly Bond

Pass Info

Featured Artists

Beverly Bond

Saturday September 14, 2019 8:00pm - 8:30pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Hip Hop

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance

8:30pm EDT

De La Soul

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In 1987, a trio known as De La Soul formed from Long Island, NY roots and changed the landscape of Hip Hop as we knew it. Now, for over 20 years they have rocked us with their De La songs full of inscrutable samplings, whimsically irreverent lyrics, social commentary, light rhythm and laid back rhymes. They have gained respect within and outside the hip hop community with their contributions to rap, as well as jazz, funk, soul and alternative genres. Not only are their musical innovations acclaimed and respected worldwide, but they paved a path for many alternative rap groups to come after them. Today, De La continue to the tour globe and released their most recent studio album “And The Anonymous Nobody”, in 2016.

Featured Artists

De La Soul

In 1987, a trio known as De La Soul formed from Long Island, NY roots and changed the landscape of hip-hop as we knew it. Now, for over 20 years they have rocked us with their De La songs full of inscrutable samplings, whimsically irreverent lyrics, social commentary, light rhythm... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 8:30pm - 9:30pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Hip Hop

Experience Open Captioned

8:30pm EDT

Soul in the Horn with Natasha Diggs and Dprosper

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Based in New York City, Soul in the Horn is a dance party, social gathering, and music showcase presented by DJ Natasha Diggs and curator DProsper, who aim to bridge the gap between all music and culture. Sound in the Horn events feature horn-infused sounds from around the globe – from jazz and funk, to disco and Hip Hop, to Latin, groove, reggae and more. Sets are played by world-renowned DJs and the best up-and-coming and legendary musicians. Guest performers and DJs at past events include Bilal, Pharoahe Monch, Theo Croker, DJ Scratch, D-Nice, Erykah Badu, Large Professor, and many more.

Featured Artists

Soul in the Horn, Natasha Diggs and Dprosper

Saturday September 14, 2019 8:30pm - 10:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Hip Hop

10:00pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

Pass Info

Saturday September 14, 2019 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

Family Yoga Session led by Circle Yoga

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Spend quality time with your little ones at an All-Family Yoga session guided by Circle Yoga! Circle Yoga's Family Yoga is a playful class designed for kids to experience yoga with a parent or caregiver. The class will incorporate yoga poses for kids and adults to enjoy together, as well as yoga and mindfulness games and breathing and relaxation techniques.

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:00am - 10:45am EDT
Bluestone Stage

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Christylez Bacon: The Human Beatbox

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Christylez Bacon, D.C.’s own Grammy-nominated progressive Hip Hop artist, combines rhyming, storytelling, and interactive call and response choruses with diverse instrumentation to deliver a message of cultural acceptance and unification, blending traditional elements of musical styles from jazz to Hip Hop.

Featured Artists

Christylez Bacon

Christylez Bacon (pronounced: chris-styles) is a Grammy–nominated Progressive Hip Hop artist and multi-instrumentalist from Southeast, Washington, D.C. As a performer, he multi-tasks between various instruments such as the West African djembe drum, acoustic guitar, and the human... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Studio K

Hip Hop

Audience Families with Older Children
Experience Performance

10:00am EDT

Baby Rave

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Baby Rave is a kid-friendly dance party that is sure to get you and your little one moving and shaking to the music together! Join us for a morning of lively music, featuring the beats of DJ Beauty and the Beatz. All ages welcome, but most enjoyed by ages 0-6 and their families.

About DJ Beauty and the Beatz
Born Sierra Roundtree, DJ Beauty and the Beatz's turntable prowess has never disappointed her audience. She has performed for or alongside many greats like Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Meagan Good, Big Sean, Doug E Fresh, and Academy Award and Best Actress nominee Quvenzhane’ Wallis of Beasts of the Southern Wild. Her journey has allowed her to add to her client list companies like Sony, Target, Colgate, Toyota, The Source Magazine, B.E.T, VH1's Save The Music, ESSENCE Music Festival, Verizon, US Women's Soccer, The Hilton, Macy's, The Washington Wizards, Smithsonian, and more.

Featured Artists

DJ Beauty and the Beatz

Born Sierra Roundtree, DJ Beauty and the Beatz' turntable prowess has never disappointed her audience. Her style ranges from Hip Hop to Pop to Top 40's to various EDM genres, Reggae, R&B, and World Music. DJ Beauty and the Beatz was born in Las Vegas and moved to the Nation's Capital... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities

10:00am EDT

Composition Quest

Pass Info

An adventurer is on a quest to write a song with every kid in the world—but they need your help! Step up and learn the basic elements of composing your own music and help spread the joy of silly song writing. Participants will be guided through the creation of a song, start to finish. Find Composition Quest in various locations.

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:00am - 12:30pm EDT
Presidential Grove

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Take a Break Space

Pass Info

Take a break from the noise and crowds in this space designed to welcome all families, including those with children with autism or other sensory sensitivities. Staff trained to be inviting and accommodating of families’ needs are on-site and able to provide fidgets and noise cancelling headphones in this comfy decompression space.

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:00am - 7:00pm EDT
Studio J

Arts & Wellness

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

10:00am EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:00am - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:15am EDT

Cantemos y Bailemos

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¡Vamos a cantar y bailar todos juntos! Join Levine Music’s First Music program as they share selections from Cantemos y Bailemos, a series of early childhood music classes in Spanish for ages 0-5. The First Music program combines the best of early childhood music education practices with fun, dynamic, and creative programs to deliver engaging musical learning experiences for children and families. You and your child will sing, chant, bounce, dance and play simple instruments in a morning of music-making in Spanish!

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:15am - 11:00am EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Performance

10:15am EDT

The String Thing

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A “silent” comedic tag-team—bassist Paul DeNola and violinist Heather LeDoux Green—takes a break from the NSO to introduce young audiences to some of the greatest music ever written in a hilarious program of music and mayhem.

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:15am - 11:00am EDT
River Pavilion

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Observing

10:15am EDT

Hoops, Health & Healing

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The Sampson Bros., Lumhe & Samsoche Sampson (Seneca/Mvskoke), have been Hoop dancing for more than 27 years, visiting and teaching various indigenous communities throughout Turtle Island (North America) and beyond. Witness and experience Indigenous Hoop Dance from their unique perspective, enlighten your mind, and invigorate your spirit. Along their journey, "H3"--Hoops, Health, and Healing--was originated by Lumhe as a means to maintain and hone a healthy physical lifestyle that incorporated indigenous knowledge and practices. Often done at one's own pace, it can range from deep slow engaging movements to a dynamic high intensity interval circuit that truly invigorates both mind and body. With variances for each movement, it is a suitable workout for all body types and capabilities.

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:15am - 11:15pm EDT
Upper Lawn

Arts & Wellness

Audience Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Observing

10:45am EDT

"Jim Henson in Washington, D.C." (Film Screening)

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Media visionary and creator of The Muppets, Jim Henson, began his career in Washington, D.C. when he was a student at the University of Maryland in the mid 1950s. Join us for a screening of some of his earliest work, including rare local D.C. commercials and episodes of his WRC-TV show, Sam and Friends. Hosted by Craig Shemin, President of The Jim Henson Legacy and author of an upcoming book about Sam and Friends, this event is presented by The Jim Henson Legacy in celebration of Inspired! Jim Henson at Maryland, an exhibit of Henson’s early work currently open at The Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library at University of Maryland.

Photo: Jim and Jane Henson shooting a Wilkins Coffee commercial at Rodel Studio in Georgetown, 1959. Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company.

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:45am - 11:45am EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

11:00am EDT

Kennedy Center Scrollathon with the Ladd Brothers

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The REACH is an immersive learning center, a public incubator, and a set of dynamic, collaborative spaces where art happens so close that audiences can reach out and touch it. The Kennedy Center Scrollathon invites and encourages each participant to tap into their own creativity and artistic mindset, and to embody the principals of artistic expression and freedom that President John F. Kennedy valued so deeply. The Kennedy Center Scrollathon sessions will include discussions and deeper dives into our five Kennedy Center Ideals—courage, justice, service, freedom, and gratitude.

Sunday September 15, 2019 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Visual Art/Installation, Active/Hands-On

11:00am EDT

Squonk Opera: "Hand to Hand"

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Join Pittsburgh, PA’s Squonk Opera in the D.C. premiere of “Hand to Hand.” In this Kennedy Center co-commission, Squonkers manipulate gargantuan puppet hands (the size of houses!) to tell a spectacular and comic story. Featuring original chamber rock music and an opportunity for audience members to come together to grab the rigging, “Hand to Hand” encourages shared discovery and making a community of the imagination.

Sunday September 15, 2019 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Lower Lawn

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Families with Older Children, Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Performance

11:30am EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 11:30am - 12:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

11:30am EDT

Documentary Workshop with Steve James

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Steve James, director of Hoop Dreams, America to Me, The Interrupters, Life Itself, and more, is one of America's most acclaimed documentary filmmakers. His films are vivid portraits of individuals, but also of American society, many exploring issues of race and community. In this hour-long session, James will show excerpts from his films and talk about his approach to telling nonfiction stories.

Sunday September 15, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone, Families with Older Children
Experience Learn by Participating

12:00pm EDT

"MO-a-PALOOZA LIVE!"

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The Kennedy Center’s first-ever Education Artist-in-Residence, Mo Willems, will host “MO-a-PALOOZA LIVE!,” a rockin' concert featuring songs from Mo's popular stage adaptations, “Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical,” “Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience,” “Elephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play!,” and the Kennedy Center's upcoming production of “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (The Musical).”

Author and illustrator Mo Willems has been awarded the American Library Association’s Caldecott Honor three times for his picture book illustration. Additionally, he is the recipient of two Theodor Geisel Medals and five Geisel Honors for his Elephant & Piggie early readers. Willems began his career as a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he garnered six Emmy Awards. Other television work includes four seasons as head writer for Cartoon Network’s Codename: Kids Next Door. His art has been exhibited around the world, including solo retrospectives at the High Museum in Atlanta and the New-York Historical Society. Over the last decade, Willems has written three musical theater works based on his books, two of which were commissioned and toured by the Kennedy Center. His papers reside at Yale University’s Beinecke Library.

Featured Artists

Mo Willems

Author and illustrator Mo Willems has been awarded the American Library Association’s Caldecott Honor three times for his picture book illustration. Additionally, he is the recipient of two Theodor Geisel Medals and five Geisel Honors for his Elephant & Piggie early readers. Willems... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Theater, Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Performance, Sign-Language Interpreted, Open Captioned

12:15pm EDT

CityDance POP! Workshop

Pass Info

CityDance POP! will teach a creative movement class for ages 5 & under. Get ready to explore balance, coordination, and imagination through dance. Parents are welcome to join in on the fun!

CityDance is a nationally recognized nonprofit arts education leader serving the nation’s capital. Touching thousands of lives in the DC-metropolitan area each year, CityDance’s programming also includes: CityDance DREAM, providing tuition-free dance training and wrap-around support services for students ages 8-18 living in DC’s lowest-income neighborhoods; CityDance School and Conservatory, a tuition-based dance program preparing talented students for professional dance careers; and CityDance Presents, partnering with area presenters to bring world-class dance to DC-area venues.

Sunday September 15, 2019 12:15pm - 1:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Dance

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Participating

1:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

1:00pm EDT

"America to Me" with Steve James (Film Screening and Discussion)

Pass Info

A Q & A with award-winning director Steve James, creator of the celebrated documentaries Hoop Dreams and America to Me. Poignant and funny, epic and intimate, America to Me spends an academic year at Chicagoland's elite Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), allowing its students, families, faculty and administration to tell stories of the pressures and challenges teens face today in their own words.

Sunday September 15, 2019 1:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing, Lecture/Discussion

1:30pm EDT

"123 Andrés"

Pass Info

Move, sing, and play in “123 Andrés," in which Latin Grammy®-winning teaching artists Andrés and Christina get kids and families excited about learning and dancing together in both Spanish and English.

Sunday September 15, 2019 1:30pm - 2:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Participating, Sign-Language Interpreted

1:30pm EDT

FazaFam by Dance & BMore

Pass Info

FazaFam is a get down family jam for all ages, packed with original music, classic grooves, lively games, and easy playful moves. Parent and kids can jam to Caribbean, salsa, Hip-Hop, Motown, and more for the ultimate family jam!

Sunday September 15, 2019 1:30pm - 2:00pm EDT
Upper Lawn

Dance

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Performance

1:30pm EDT

Squonk Opera: "Hand to Hand"

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Lower Lawn

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Families with Older Children, Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Performance

1:30pm EDT

Composition Quest

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 1:30pm - 4:00pm EDT
Welcome Pavilion

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

1:30pm EDT

Infinite Monster

Pass Info

Be amazed at all the wacky results created from “Infinite Monster,” developed by Australia’s Terrapin Puppet Theatre. Step into a space with two other people, where you will collectively create an ever-changing giant monster without seeing what your collaborators are drawing. Come out the other side to see what your combined “monster” looks like! Each creature is uploaded to a website documenting all the fantastical creations.

Sunday September 15, 2019 1:30pm - 7:30pm EDT
Studio F

Visual Art/Installation, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

2:00pm EDT

Christylez Bacon: The Human Beatbox

Pass Info

Featured Artists

Christylez Bacon

Sunday September 15, 2019 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Studio K

Hip Hop

Audience Families with Older Children
Experience Performance

2:00pm EDT

Journey to Africa: Sharing Family Experiences

Pass Info

This family workshop introduces many exciting ways to adapt songs, rituals, and activities from other cultures to every family’s daily routine. Participants will take an imaginary journey to share in the movements, sounds, and instruments of different West African traditions.

Sunday September 15, 2019 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Indigenous Cultures

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Participating

2:00pm EDT

Kennedy Center Scrollathon with the Ladd Brothers

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Visual Art/Installation, Active/Hands-On

2:30pm EDT

CityDance POP! Workshop

Pass Info

CityDance POP! will teach a Jazz class for ages 6–11. Get ready to explore balance, coordination, and imagination through dance. Parents are welcome to join in on the fun!

CityDance is a nationally recognized nonprofit arts education leader serving the nation’s capital. Touching thousands of lives in the DC-metropolitan area each year, CityDance’s programming also includes: CityDance DREAM, providing tuition-free dance training and wrap-around support services for students ages 8-18 living in DC’s lowest-income neighborhoods; CityDance School and Conservatory, a tuition-based dance program preparing talented students for professional dance careers; and CityDance Presents, partnering with area presenters to bring world-class dance to DC-area venues.

Sunday September 15, 2019 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Dance

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Participating

2:30pm EDT

Hoops, Health & Healing

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT
Upper Lawn

Arts & Wellness

Audience Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Observing

3:00pm EDT

Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs

Pass Info

Join an exciting gospel performance combining Washington Performing Arts' Men and Women of the Gospel Choir and Children of the Gospel Choir.

Since the early 1990's, Washington Performing Arts' Men and Women of the Gospel Choir has been performing annually at prestigious venues within the Washington Metropolitan area. Washington Performing Arts' Children of the Gospel Choir (COTG) is a destination ensemble for D.C.-area students who seek dynamic vocal training and performance experience with renowned faculty and guest artists.

Featured Artists

Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir

For over 25 years, Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel (COTG) Choir has celebrated the heritage of gospel music and nurtured aspiring musicians while bringing messages of hope to the most prominent stages in the region. Ranging from ages 9 to 18, young vocalists from... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned, Sign-Language Interpreted

3:00pm EDT

DJ Family Dance

Pass Info

Jump! Turn! Shimmy! Shake! Find your way to the River Pavilion for this Dance Hall made especially for kids and families, featuring the beats of DJ Beauty and the Beatz.

Featured Artists

DJ Beauty and the Beatz

Sunday September 15, 2019 3:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Dance

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities

3:30pm EDT

Journey to Africa: Sharing Family Experiences

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Indigenous Cultures

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Learn by Participating

3:30pm EDT

Art for All: Make Dance Puppets with Marquetta Johnson

Pass Info

Stop in, play around, and get creative. Marquetta Johnson is a multi-sensory teaching artist from Atlanta who creates inclusive art programming for people of all abilities and ages. Try a new technique, tool, or texture with materials that encourage everyone to make art in their own way. Come make a puppet that moves when you dance, and then go find the music!

Presented with the Kennedy Center’s Office of VSA and Accessibility, a Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program.

Sunday September 15, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Active/Hands-On

4:00pm EDT

Squonk Opera: "Hand to Hand"

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 4:00pm - 4:30pm EDT
Lower Lawn

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Families with Older Children, Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Performance

4:00pm EDT

Story Pirates

Pass Info

The Story Pirates aren't your typical swashbuckling sailors. They don't steal gold, pillage villages, or claim land. They're searching for a different kind of treasure: kids' wildest, most imaginative stories. Stories by children from NYC and beyond will be brought to life and staged by the Story Pirates' professional improvisational and comedic actors, replete with music, costumes, and sets. During the show, the Story Pirates will also take story ideas from the audience and turn them into hilarious musical sketch comedy.

Featured Artists

Story Pirates

Story Pirates is a media company founded in 2004 to celebrate the words and ideas of kids. It all started in a Harlem school auditorium when a group of friends put on an absurdist sketch comedy show based on stories written by kids. Since then, we’ve launched a hit radio show, the... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Studio K

Theater

4:00pm EDT

Kennedy Center Scrollathon with the Ladd Brothers

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Sardar Classroom

Visual Art/Installation, Active/Hands-On

4:30pm EDT

FazaFam by Dance & BMore

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 4:30pm - 5:00pm EDT
Upper Lawn

Dance

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Performance

4:30pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Sunday September 15, 2019 4:30pm - 10:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

5:30pm EDT

Art-Making with Capitol Hill Arts Workshop

Pass Info

Join a hands-on workshop facilitated by Capitol Hill Arts Workshop.

Sunday September 15, 2019 5:30pm - 6:30pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Learn by Participating

6:00pm EDT

Dan + Claudia Zanes with Friends (Millennium Stage Event)

Pass Info

Discover “the gold standard in kids’ music” (NPR) when Grammy Award® winner Dan Zanes, his wife Claudia Zanes and Pauline Jean—both Haitian American jazz vocalists—and Mexican percussionist Yuriana Sobrino perform Dan’s greatest hits, as well as folk and blues classics from “Dan Zanes’s House Party!: A Family Roots Music Treasury,” Dan and Claudia’s new songbook. Sing and dance along to this highly interactive concert that will also include selections from the Kennedy Center–commissioned 2017 folk opera “Night Train 57.”

Featured Artists

Dan and Claudia Zanes and Friends

Grammy Award-winner Dan Zanes occupies a unique place in American music - where sea shanties, English Music hall, play party songs, the spirit of early rock-n-roll, soul, North American and West Indian folk music collide. For the past 15 years, he has toured the world with his band... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Families with Younger Children
Experience Performance, Open Captioned, Sign-Language Interpreted

6:00pm EDT

"Hoop Dreams" with Steve James (Film Screening and Discussion)

Pass Info

Join award-winning documentary director Steve James for a screening of his Academy Award-nominated documentary "Hoop Dreams." It follows the story of two African American high school students in Chicago and their dream of becoming professional basketball players.

Sunday September 15, 2019 6:00pm - 9:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

7:00pm EDT

Muppet Trivia

Pass Info

Test your knowledge of Jim Henson's Muppets with this fun and interactive trivia game hosted by Craig Shemin, president of The Jim Henson Legacy.

Sunday September 15, 2019 7:00pm - 7:30pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

7:30pm EDT

Sing-Along with "The Muppet Movie" (Film Screening)

Pass Info

Your favorite characters are back! Enjoy a 40th year-anniversary screening of “The Muppet Movie” on the Video Wall. After Kermit the Frog decides to pursue a movie career, he starts his cross-country trip from Florida to California. Along the way, he meets and befriends Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Gonzo and rock musicians Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.

In the Sing-Along with The Muppet Movie, IBEX Puppetry leads an audience of cheering, singing fans to renew their Rainbow Connection with our fleecy friends who started it all! Hosted by Heather Henson and Davey ‘Rocker’ Schweizer, Sing-Along with The Muppet Movie is full of interactive surprises like bubbles, streamers, kites, confetti pops, and characters coming right out of the screen into the audience. Children and adults alike are urged to yell out famous lines, blow bubbles, dance, and of course, sing along with the movie!

Sunday September 15, 2019 7:30pm - 9:10pm EDT
Video Wall

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

8:00pm EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Gil Welsford & Sandra Tran (Nicecream)

Sunday September 15, 2019 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

9:10pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

Sunday September 15, 2019 9:10pm - 9:25pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

Kennedy Center Field Trip

By Invitation Only

Washington, DC Partnership Schools representing Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 2 students and educators will have an extended field trip experience on the theme “Exploring Literature through the Performing Arts” kicked off with a performance by Squonk Opera, followed by a rotation through four participatory workshops.

The Field Trip Experiences are by-invitation, in-depth extended learning experiences for local schools with established partnerships with the Kennedy Center.

Monday September 16, 2019 10:00am - 2:00pm EDT
TBA

Active/Hands-On

Experience Invitation Only

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

Pass Info

Monday September 16, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

11:00am EDT

"America to Me" Episode 1 (Film Screening)

Pass Info

"America to Me" by the award-winning documentary director Steve James chronicles the daily life of twelve students at Chicagoland's elite Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), allowing its students, families, faculty, and administration to tell stories of the pressures and challenges teens face today in their own words.

Episode 1: The school year begins at OPRF for freshman Grant, sophomore Tiara, and juniors Charles, Terrence and Ke’Shawn. Controversy over a Black Lives Matter assembly still reverberates as the school confronts years of racial inequities.

Monday September 16, 2019 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

12:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Monday September 16, 2019 12:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

12:30pm EDT

"America to Me" Episode 2 (Film Screening)

Pass Info

"America to Me" by the award-winning documentary director Steve James chronicles the daily life of twelve students at Chicagoland's elite Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), allowing its students, families, faculty, and administration to tell stories of the pressures and challenges teens face today in their own words.

Episode 2: Teacher Jess Stovall intervenes in Ke’Shawn’s academic struggles. His mother shares her own troubled history at OPRF. Senior Kendale and junior Chanti grapple with identity. Homecoming Dance is very special for Grant.

Monday September 16, 2019 12:30pm - 1:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

3:30pm EDT

Educator Open House Registration

Educator Open House is an invitation-only event for educators from select Kennedy Center partnerships.

Educators are invited to a special event featuring a keynote conversation with Mo Willems, inaugural Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence, and Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress. They will also experience all the spaces of the REACH through music, storytelling, visual art, dance, and media workshops and performances, and learn about education opportunities in the Moonshot Studio.

Monday September 16, 2019 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Experience Invitation Only

3:40pm EDT

Squonk Opera: "Hand to Hand"

Pass Info

Monday September 16, 2019 3:40pm - 4:40pm EDT
Lower Lawn

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Families with Older Children, Families with Younger Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Performance

4:30pm EDT

Educator Open House: Conversation with Mo Willems and Dr. Carla Hayden

Monday September 16, 2019 4:30pm - 5:55pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Experience Invitation Only, Lecture/Discussion

6:00pm EDT

DC Public Schools Educator Showcase (Millennium Stage Event)

Pass Info

The Kennedy Center is honored to partner with DC Public Schools to support arts education for students. Join a showcase of music educators from DC Public Schools who are recognized as outstanding musicians that perform across the greater DC metro area, nationally, and internationally.

Monday September 16, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing, Open Captioned

6:05pm EDT

Educator Open House: Concurrent Sessions

Educator Open House is an invitation-only event for educators from select Kennedy Center partnerships.

Educators are invited to a special event featuring a keynote conversation with Mo Willems, inaugural Kennedy Center Education artist-in-residence, and Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress. They will also experience all the spaces of the REACH through music, storytelling, visual art, dance, and media workshops and performances, and learn about education opportunities in the Moonshot Studio.

Monday September 16, 2019 6:05pm - 7:30pm EDT

Active/Hands-On

Experience Invitation Only

8:00pm EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Jerome Grant

Monday September 16, 2019 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

8:00pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

Monday September 16, 2019 8:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

Kennedy Center Field Trip

By Invitation Only

Washington, DC Partnership Schools representing Grade 3–5 students and educators will have an extended field trip experience on the theme “Acknowledging and Celebrating African American Culture.” The day will kick off with a performance by step teams from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, followed by a rotation through four participatory workshops.

The Field Trip Experiences are by-invitation, in-depth extended learning experiences for local schools with established partnerships with the Kennedy Center.

Tuesday September 17, 2019 10:00am - 2:00pm EDT
Upper Lawn

Active/Hands-On

Experience Invitation Only

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

Pass Info

Tuesday September 17, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

11:00am EDT

IMPROVment®: Improvisational Movement for Brain and Body Health

By Invitation Only

As we age, our balance sometimes feels compromised and the ability to multi-task can become a challenge. How can we safely move in this busy world with confidence and purpose? IMPROVment® is a unique movement class that challenges participants to spontaneously create movement based on cues or prompts that come from visual images, rhythmic sensibility, breath, and music. This fun and inclusive class will encourage problem-solving tactics through movement in fun and effective ways. In this workshop, we will nurture a strong community environment where each person's expressive and spontaneous movement contributions are valued and celebrated. We will share fall and recovery techniques in safe ways, promote physical and cognitive decision making, and bring spontaneity back to our lives in meaningful ways. No previous dance experience is necessary. Participants with movement challenges are encouraged to take this class.

This event is invitation only, in coordination with the community partners through the Kennedy Center's School and Community Partnerships department. A public version of this workshop is offered Tue., Sep. 17 at 5 p.m.

Tuesday September 17, 2019 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

Arts & Wellness

Experience Invitation Only

12:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Tuesday September 17, 2019 12:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

12:30pm EDT

"America to Me" Episode 3 (Film Screening)

Pass Info

"America to Me" by the award-winning documentary director Steve James chronicles the daily life of twelve students at Chicagoland's elite Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), allowing its students, families, faculty, and administration to tell stories of the pressures and challenges teens face today in their own words.

Episode 3: Kendale wrestles to become a starter, while Chanti wrestles with emotional trauma. Jess Stovall takes on the principal, and senior Jada takes on a teacher. OPRF’s football team has a big game and a score to settle with an archrival.

Tuesday September 17, 2019 12:30pm - 1:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

2:00pm EDT

"America to Me" Episode 4 (Film Screening)

Pass Info

"America to Me" by the award-winning documentary director Steve James chronicles the daily life of twelve students at Chicagoland's elite Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), allowing its students, families, faculty, and administration to tell stories of the pressures and challenges teens face today in their own words.

Episode 4: Jada’s conflict with a teacher grows more intense. Ke’Shawn’s run-in threatens his grade. Grant pursues first love. Terrence loves Halloween much more than school. Charles and Chanti audition at intense tryouts for the poetry slam team.

Tuesday September 17, 2019 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

3:00pm EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

Pass Info

Tuesday September 17, 2019 3:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

3:00pm EDT

Infinite Monster

Pass Info

Tuesday September 17, 2019 3:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Studio F

Visual Art/Installation, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

5:00pm EDT

Community Jam hosted by Dance and BMore

Be part of a live music, movement, and spoken word jam with Dance & Bmore. This Baltimore-based ensemble of singers, musicians, and dancers create an interactive creative space to share stories and songs with their signature community jams for all ages.

Tuesday September 17, 2019 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Participating

5:00pm EDT

IMPROVment®: Improvisational Movement for Brain and Body Health

Pass Info

As we age, our balance sometimes feels compromised and the ability to multi-task can become a challenge. How can we safely move in this busy world with confidence and purpose? IMPROV-ment is a unique movement class that challenges participants to spontaneously create movement based on cues or prompts that come from visual images, rhythmic sensibility, breath, and music. This fun and inclusive class will encourage problem solving tactics through movement in fun and effective ways. In this workshop we will nurture a strong community environment where each person's expressive and spontaneous movement contributions are valued and celebrated. We will share fall and recovery techniques in safe ways, promote physical and cognitive decision making and bring spontaneity back to our lives in meaningful ways. No previous dance experience is necessary. Participants with movement challenges are encouraged to take this class.

Tuesday September 17, 2019 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Studio J

Arts & Wellness

6:00pm EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Marcelle Afram (Bluejacket Brewery)

Tuesday September 17, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

6:00pm EDT

Leftist (Millennium Stage Event)

Pass Info

If the Roots met the Red Hot Chili Peppers in N.E.R.D's studio, they'd form the mighty Leftist, the Universal hip-hop band that began its journey in 2009. Described by their fan base (Lefties) as Hip-Hop, Alternative, Rock and Soul wrapped up in one, Leftist consists of the diverse talents of Nurideen Bashir, Mouhamad Diabate, Mahir Maruf, Ebadullah Ebadi, and Mark Hatcher. While many performers may boast of having eclectic styles, the Maryland natives are the truest essence of diversity and uniqueness. This unique sound has led to them sharing the stage with a myriad of artists from Grammy-nominated soul singer Maimouna Youseff to hip-hop acts like Brother Ali and recent Def Jam signee, Logic all the way to psychedelic rock group MGMT. Leftist has officially released their first single ‘Glory’ from their forthcoming album on all digital streaming platforms. But it’s more than just music. The first $4,000 dollars of ‘Glory’ will be donated to the care and wellness of women and youth in Sudan. Leftist draws inspiration from the likes of Michael Jackson, Outkast, Nas and Stevie Wonder; among others, as they create socially conscious music and dynamic live performances to ensure that when nothing else goes right we are "all that's left".

Tuesday September 17, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Dance

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

7:30pm EDT

The Time Machine Roast

Inspired by the the line-crossing energy of comedy roasts, The Time Machine Roast hurls its hilarious flaming arrows at history. Nationally touring comedians get into character & costume for the meanest, funniest, most historically accurate jokes you've ever heard.

Taking a critical modern look at the legacy of monumental historical figures & roasting their hypocrisies, mistakes (and of course, their outfits), The Time Machine Roast sets its sights on Hall of Fames & Mount Rushmores in uproarious fashion. From emperors to inventors, from artists to entrepreneurs, no reputation is safe! Created by Benjy Himmelfarb and Dylan Meyer.

Recommended for ages 16 and up.

Tuesday September 17, 2019 7:30pm - 9:00pm EDT
Studio K

Comedy

Audience Mature Audiences

8:00pm EDT

"Black Panther" (Film Screening)

Pass Info

Witness the kingdom of Wakanda on the Video Wall! Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” follows T’Challa who, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king. But when a powerful old enemy reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king—and Black Panther—is tested when he is drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk.

Tuesday September 17, 2019 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

Tuesday September 17, 2019 10:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

Kennedy Center Field Trip

By Invitation Only

Washington, DC Partnership Schools representing Grade 6–8 students and educators will have an extended field trip experience on the theme “Honoring Hispanic Heritage and Culture.” The day will kick off with a performance from Gala Hispanic Theatre, followed by a rotation through four participatory workshops.

The Field Trip Experiences are by-invitation, in-depth extended learning experiences for local schools with established partnerships with the Kennedy Center.

Wednesday September 18, 2019 10:00am - 2:00pm EDT
Studio K

Active/Hands-On

Experience Invitation Only

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

Pass Info

Wednesday September 18, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

10:30am EDT

"America to Me" Episode 5 (Film Screening)

Pass Info

"America to Me" by the award-winning documentary director Steve James chronicles the daily life of twelve students at Chicagoland's elite Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), allowing its students, families, faculty, and administration to tell stories of the pressures and challenges teens face today in their own words.

Episode 5: White students Caroline and Brendan join the story. Jada’s film draws mixed reviews. Terrence’s grade hangs in the balance. Christmas lights up Kendale’s home, while Ke’Shawn’s family may lose theirs. Chaos reigns at an OPRF basketball game.

Wednesday September 18, 2019 10:30am - 11:30am EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

11:45am EDT

"America to Me" Episode 6 (Film Screening)

Pass Info

"America to Me" by the award-winning documentary director Steve James chronicles the daily life of twelve students at Chicagoland's elite Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), allowing its students, families, faculty, and administration to tell stories of the pressures and challenges teens face today in their own words.

Episode 6: Spring semester brings fresh challenges. Jada clashes with junior Diane over her new film. Brendan recalls a racially charged basketball past. Tiara and the cheerleading squad go for the gold. Charles’s poetry slam team faces an epic challenge.

Wednesday September 18, 2019 11:45am - 12:45pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

12:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

Pass Info

Wednesday September 18, 2019 12:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

1:00pm EDT

"America to Me" Episode 7 (Film Screening)

Pass Info

"America to Me" by the award-winning documentary director Steve James chronicles the daily life of twelve students at Chicagoland's elite Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), allowing its students, families, faculty, and administration to tell stories of the pressures and challenges teens face today in their own words.

Episode 7: Jess Stovall gives her all to engage Ke’Shawn, whose situation has turned dire. Kendale fights to advance in the playoffs, while star teammate Gabe faces unexpected challenges. Terrence rebounds with his mother’s help. Anger erupts over a new swimming pool.

Wednesday September 18, 2019 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

3:00pm EDT

Infinite Monster

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Wednesday September 18, 2019 3:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Studio F

Visual Art/Installation, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

4:00pm EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

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Wednesday September 18, 2019 4:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

5:00pm EDT

Hip Hop and Social Justice with Olmeca

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Sharing personal stories as a Hip Hop artist, activist, and scholar, Olmeca examines U.S. art, culture, and politics as they relate to marginalized communities and low-income families with access barriers. With humor, sincerity, and art, he examines the notion of identity while challenging the idea of “belonging” and what it means to “be” and “become” “American.” Olmeca shares his experiences on being a first generation U.S born, homelessness, his motivation for becoming a community activist, and eventually living in the jungles of Chiapas.

Wednesday September 18, 2019 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Studio K

Active/Hands-On

Audience Mature Audiences
Experience Learn by Participating

5:00pm EDT

Collecting our Stories Across All Five Senses

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Participants will be guided step-by-step in the process of documenting life stories through the senses. Participants will learn about the practice of oral history collection and use story prompts to collect stories that contextualize life rituals, reconstruct the details of lived experiences, and reflect on the meaning these poignant experiences hold for us.

Wednesday September 18, 2019 5:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Macaroni Classroom

Active/Hands-On

Audience Mature Audiences
Experience Learn by Participating

5:30pm EDT

The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor in conversation with actress Rosdely Ciprian

The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, talks with Rosdely Ciprian, the 14-year old actress featured in Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me.

Wednesday September 18, 2019 5:30pm - 6:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Audience Everyone
Experience Lecture/Discussion

6:00pm EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Johanna Hellrigl (Doi Moi)

Wednesday September 18, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
River Pavilion

6:00pm EDT

After School Dance Fund and DC Casineros (Millennium Stage Event)

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Please join us for an exciting showcase by the of Latin dance performances featuring youth and adult teams from the D.C. metropolitan area. After School Dance Fund develops youth leadership and promotes wellness, heritage, and unity through Latin dance education. DC Casineros is a world-renowned dance company that performs Cuban dance styles, including Rueda de Casino, Afro-Cuban Rumba, Cha Cha Chá, Mambo, Danzón, and Yoruba Orisha dance.

Wednesday September 18, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Theater

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

7:00pm EDT

Installation: Slow Dancing

Wednesday September 18, 2019 7:00pm - 11:00pm EDT
Video Wall

Dance, Film/Screening

Experience Learn by Observing

10:00am EDT

Meet and Greet your Local Chef: Chef Scott Drewno and Chef Danny Lee (CHIKO)

Thursday September 19, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
River Pavilion

10:00am EDT

Kennedy Center Field Trip

By Invitation Only

Washington, DC Partnership schools representing Grade 9–12 students and educators will have an extended field trip experience on the theme “Celebrating Youth Voice.” The day will kick off with a performance from Split This Rock, followed by a rotation through two participatory workshops.

The Field Trip Experiences are by-invitation, in-depth extended learning experiences for local schools with established partnerships with the Kennedy Center.

Thursday September 19, 2019 10:00am - 2:00pm EDT
Upper Lawn

Active/Hands-On

Experience Invitation Only

10:00am EDT

Virtual Reality Lounge

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Thursday September 19, 2019 10:00am - 10:00pm EDT
PT-109

Active/Hands-On, Visual Art/Installation

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

12:30pm EDT

"America to Me" Episode 8 (Film Screening)

Pass Info

"America to Me" by the award-winning documentary director Steve James chronicles the daily life of twelve students at Chicagoland's elite Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), allowing its students, families, faculty, and administration to tell stories of the pressures and challenges teens face today in their own words.

Episode 8: Chanti discovers a devastating truth about her grandparents. Brendan’s parents make him an offer he can’t refuse. Caroline’s anxiety exacts a heavy toll. Kendale and his team pursue their dream for the ultimate victory.

Thursday September 19, 2019 12:30pm - 1:30pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

2:00pm EDT

"America to Me" Episode 9 (Film Screening)

Pass Info

"America to Me" by the award-winning documentary director Steve James chronicles the daily life of twelve students at Chicagoland's elite Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), allowing its students, families, faculty, and administration to tell stories of the pressures and challenges teens face today in their own words.

Episode 9: Kendale goes on a college visit, while Terrence goes to court. Tiara and her mother fall out over grades. Jess Stovall pushes the administration to adopt her teacher support program. Prom arrives and Kendale’s mother loves it.

Thursday September 19, 2019 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

3:00pm EDT

Infinite Monster

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Thursday September 19, 2019 3:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Studio F

Visual Art/Installation, Active/Hands-On

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

3:15pm EDT

"America to Me" Episode 10 (Film Screening)

Pass Info

"America to Me" by the award-winning documentary director Steve James chronicles the daily life of twelve students at Chicagoland's elite Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), allowing its students, families, faculty, and administration to tell stories of the pressures and challenges teens face today in their own words.

Episode 10: It’s now or never for Tiara in chemistry. Chanti boxes, and Ke’Shawn pulls no punches. Terrence looks to the future. Diane tries to overcome the past. Caroline wrestles with perfection, while OPRF grapples with imperfect leadership. Kendale, Jada, and Gabe celebrate graduation.

Thursday September 19, 2019 3:15pm - 4:15pm EDT
Justice Forum

Film/Screening

Audience Everyone
Experience Learn by Observing

4:00pm EDT

Moonshot Studio: Drop-in Activity Space for Families

Pass Info

Thursday September 19, 2019 4:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Moonshot Studio

Active/Hands-On

Audience Families with Younger Children, Families with Older Children
Experience Drop-In Activities, Learn by Participating

5:00pm EDT

Outside In with Hakim Bellamy

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Outside In will engage participants in an imaginative, performative, and narrative practice of embodied compassion through storytelling.

The work begins even before the participants arrive by engaging literary arts and performing arts organizations that currently engage with the DC-area adult and juvenile corrections system. The consensual offering of these stories (scrubbed of identifiers) is the centerpiece of this workshop. Giving these stories life through a deep dive writing workshop into a critical component of the select narratives, followed by a sharing through performance, takes the participant from a space of cerebral empathy to a place of embodied compassion. The resulting performances leave the participants with perspective as the product of a guided writing exercise that helps the participant personally access the subject (and/or subject matter) by weaving their own experience into the the resultant performance narrative.

As the Inaugural Poet Laureate of Albuquerque, New Mexico (2012-2014), Hakim Bellamy is a national and regional Poetry Slam Champion and holds three consecutive collegiate poetry slam titles at the University of New Mexico.

Thursday September 19, 2019 5:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Justice Forum

Active/Hands-On

Audience Mature Audiences
Experience Learn by Participating

6:00pm EDT

Kennedy Center Youth Showcase (Millennium Stage Event)

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Join a showcase of music organizations supporting youth artistic development. This evening will include a concert featuring Children’s Chorus of Washington, Duke Ellington School of the Arts Vocal Music, and the Washington National Opera’s Institute, prior to the broadcast of WNO's Showboat.

Thursday September 19, 2019 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
REACH Plaza Mainstage

Classical Music & the Voice

Audience Everyone
Experience Performance, Open Captioned

6:00pm EDT

Skylight Soundscapes

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Thursday September 19, 2019 6:00pm - 9:30pm EDT
Skylight Pavilion

Visual Art/Installation, Electronica/DJ Culture

Audience Everyone
Experience Drop-In Activities

7:00pm EDT

Robert Glasper Acoustic Trio - Featuring Vicente Archer and Justin Tyson with DJ Jahi Sundance

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Grammy-winning Hip Hop jazz singer/pianist/producer Robert Glasper brings his spontaneous spirit of adventure to the REACH Opening Festival. Experience his genre-defying sound, reminiscent of jazz legends like Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, with a twist of Hip Hop, R&B, and rock. @robertglasper

Robert Glasper, piano
Justin Tyson, drums
Vicente Archer, bass
DJ Jahi Sundance, DJ

Featured Artists

Robert Glasper Trio

Thursday September 19, 2019 7:00pm - 9:30pm EDT
Studio K

Hip Hop, Jazz

7:15pm EDT

"Show Boat" Washington National Opera Broadcast (Film Screening)