Series regulars Zino Bogacek and Joseph Gotoff return for the season finale, lending their signature voices to an all-Beethoven trio program that puts on display the composer’s unparalleled technical brilliance and depth of feeling. The program is centered around the Archduke Trio, a work from Beethoven’s “heroic period” that pushes the piano trio to its limit, fusing an aristocratic sensibility with heartfelt passion. A major step towards the Romantic era in its sweeping scope and drama, the Archduke will be contrasted with an early-period work, the moody, mysterious Trio in C minor, Op. 1, No. 3, which showcases Beethoven’s early attempts at upending genre conventions, not to mention his formidable keyboard technique.

American violinist Stella Chen gained global recognition after winning the top prize in the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition. This accomplishment was followed by the 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award. She recently made debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and many others and appeared at the Vienna Musikverein and Berlin Philharmonie. Joining Stella is pianist Natalia Kazaryan, co-founder of the Washington Arts Ensemble.

Join us for a musical celebration of youthful vitality in our first-ever concert at Northern Virginia Community College’s exciting new recital hall. The award-winning saxophone quartet Project Fusion will combine forces with Jeff Stern, percussion and marimbist of the iconic icarus Quartet, in a program of dynamic works for saxophones and marimba created by classical composers all under the age of 45. Audiences get to experience a reimagined traditional piano quintet, with works written since 2010 that are rhythmically infectious, harmonically curious, playfully melodic, and vibrantly colorful, all written since 2010. Much of this music explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our artistic heritage, observing the growth, perspective, fortitude, personal reflection, and shared experience of this tumultuous period.

Tune in for WETA’s broadcast of our October concert, Conservation/Exploration, with clarinetist Zachary Good and pianist Natalia Kazaryan on Front Row Washington. This online audio broadcast is free and no registration is required.

The Washington Arts Ensemble is thrilled to announce its debut performance at the historic Atlas Performing Arts Center. This highly anticipated event will showcase a dynamic collaboration between two exceptional international soloists: cellist Gabriel Cabezas and classical guitarist Jordan Dodson. The duo will perform the D.C. premiere of a stunningly beautiful new collection of works written for them by NYC-based contemporary classical composer Elliot Cole, alongside Spanish and Brazilian classics arranged for this unique ensemble.

Join us for a celebration of Bohemian composers in a thrilling program featuring works by Dvořák, Smetana and Janáček. Stormy, dramatic piano trios by Dvořák and Smetana are paired with the potently compact Violin Sonata by Leoš Janáček, written at the onset of the First World War. WAE is thrilled to welcome back Siwoo Kim, an internationally acclaimed violinist and chamber musician, for this special program, as well as Loewi Lin, cellist from the National Symphony Orchestra, and Christopher Schmitt, pianist and co-founder of the Washington Arts Ensemble.

Join us on Thursday, November 9 for a composition and performance workshop on the music of South-African composer Andile Khumalo, featuring Carrie Henneman Shaw, soprano and member of the contemporary music group Ensemble Dal Niente. Andile and Carrie will discuss the relationship and interaction between composer and performer and how this influences the compositional process, how Andile Khumalo approaches writing for the voice as an instrument, and how performers approach the interpretation of contemporary works.

With a program that explores hidden gems and unexpected arrangements alongside one of Brahms’s most beloved chamber works, clarinetist Zachary Good of Eighth Blackbird fame brings his signature blend of Baroque-inspired nuance and quiet virtuosity to the Arts Club, joined by pianist and the Washington Arts Ensemble co-founder, Natalia Kazaryan. Good presents his own arrangements of Baroque keyboard works alongside Neoclassical works by the 20th-century composers Germaine Tailleferre and Olivier Messiaen, as well as Jessie Montgomery’s 2020 composition Peace, written in response to the first COVID-19 lockdown. The program is anchored by Brahms’s Clarinet Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 120.

Welcome to Season 3 of the Washington Arts Ensemble! Join us for our opening night with London's Kamaal Williams, renowned keyboardist, DJ, and record producer known for his blending of jazz fusion, funk, hip-hop and electronic dance music influences. Joining him will be Stephanie Yu, a Juilliard trained violinist, DJ, and composer, who is well known in Los Angeles’ vibrant music scene. Together, they will deliver an acoustic and improvisatory set on piano and violin, promising an exceptional musical experience in one of DC’s most vibrant art spaces.

The price of your ticket includes a concert by our co-founders, Natalia Kazaryan & Christopher Schmitt, and an elegant three course dinner in the Monroe Gallery of the Arts Club of Washington. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Washington Arts Ensemble as we further our mission to share classical music with the Washington DC community. We hope to see you there!

Amy Beach is not an especially well-known composer today; an utter tragedy considering her prodigious output, impeccable craftsmanship and expression, and considerable abilities as a concert pianist. The work of Johannes Brahms remains, deservedly so, one of the pillars of the classical music canon, but the cross-influence he shared with composers such as Beach is less often explored. In this concert of both composer's piano quintets side by side, one can hear that which is shared, and that which is unique; that which was steeped in the musical culture of the time, and that which represents the pinnacle of sovereign, subjective, self-expression. Cofounders and pianists Natalia Kazaryan and Christopher Schmitt will be joined by violinists Marta Krechkovsky and Elizabeth Fayette, violist Erika Gray, and cellist Joseph Gotoff.

Franz Schubert's song, “Die Forelle,” is a simple folk-like melody set to a poem depicting a “happy little trout” that is caught by a “cheating” fisherman. The song was so popular in its time that Schubert composed a beloved piano quintet of unusual instrumentation; swapping the second violin for a double bass. Enjoy the “Trout Quintet,” featuring cofounder and pianist Christopher Schmitt, violinist Ryo Usami, violist Erika Grey, cellist Char Prescott, and bassist Aaron Clay. The concert will also feature Schubert’s poignantly nostalgic Arpeggione Sonata, arranged for viola and piano.

Felix Mendelssohn's older sister of three years, Fanny Mendelssohn, was a prolific composer, and the source of much of her brother's inspiration. Both siblings wrote piano trios and songs, as well as especially lyrical pieces for piano solo entitled “Songs without Words.” Enjoy the lesser known Fanny Mendelssohn's meticulously crafted work and unique brand of melody and expressiveness alongside those of Felix. Cofounders Natalia Kazaryan and Christopher Schmitt will be joined by Associate Concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra, violinist Ying Fu, and series regular, cellist Joseph Gotoff.

Program:

Fanny Mendelssohn - Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 11

Felix Mendelssohn - Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49

The pre-concert reception begins at 6:30, followed by the concert at 7:30.

Celebrate a Second Valentine's Day with the lush warmth of the cello nestled in the piano's loving embrace. The triumphant resonance and heartfelt yearning of Brahms' second cello sonata pairs beautifully with Francis Poulenc's juxtapositions of delicate French effervescence, satirical intensity, and luxurious lyricism. Cofounder and pianist Christopher Schmitt will be joined by series regular, cellist Loewi Lin of the National Symphony.

Reception begins at 11:30 am, followed by the concert at 12:00 pm.

Join renowned duo, Soprano Danielle Talamantes and Bass-Baritone Kerry Wilkerson for an evening of operatic delights, celebrating Valentine's day with the romance of Mozart's arias, the familiarity of Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, the American spirit of Duke Ellington, and a newly composed jazz ensemble by Bob Misbin. Escorting us on a tour through the ages, Danielle and Kerry, in collaboration with pianist and cofounder Christopher Schmitt, will highlight the uniquely expressive qualities of the voice across the full gamut of roles, flirtatious coquetry, possessive jealousy, passionate desperation, and the sublime tranquility of love's true understanding.

The pioneering voices of African-American women and the men who supported them, the collaboration between the sexes in poetry and song, and the progressive integration of thematic content and musical texture provide the essence of this artistic tribute to such a relevant piece of American history. Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Chrystal E. Williams returns from the Metropolitan Opera to offer a program of Art Songs with pianist and cofounder Natalia Kazaryan. H.T. Burleigh's “Five Songs of Laurence Hope” will be performed alongside Ottorino Respighi's “Quattro Canzone,” based on a text by Ada Negri. The program will also include a pairing of “Troubled Waters” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Margaret Bonds, featuring the original text by Langston Hughes, as well as Spirituals by Undine Smith Moore, “The Dean of Black Women Composers.”

The evening will begin at 6:00 pm with a discussion, followed by a book signing by a Washington Arts Ensemble sponsor, Dr. Robert Misbin. All sale profits of INSULIN: History from an FDA Insider will be donated to the Washington Arts Ensemble.

The pre-concert reception begins at 6:30, followed by the concert at 7:15.

In keeping with holiday celebrations around the globe, our December concert will explore how various composers found meaning in music, whether it be through tradition, worship, or simply gratitude and purpose. Pianist and cofounder Natalia Kazaryan will open the concert with the Second Keyboard Partita by the great J.S. Bach, and several selections from the Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus of Olivier Messiaen, who was a prisoner of war during WWII in France. Pianist and cofounder Christopher Schmitt will perform Isaac Albeniz's masterpiece, Fête-Dieu à Seville, commemorating the Corpus Christi festival in Sevilla, Spain. The concert will close with Felix Mendelssohn's Second Piano Trio, an homage to the role of the spiritual in his life. Pianist and cofounder Christopher Schmitt will be joined by series regular cellist Joseph Gotoff, and the young prodigious talent of Bulgarian/Japanese descent, violinist Julia Angelov.

Reception begins at 6:30, followed by the concert at 7:15.

Reception begins at 6:30 pm, followed by the concert at 7:15 pm.

For this month of gratitude, we will celebrate George Walker's centennial through the performance of his cello sonata among a cornucopia of other American music. Leonard Bernstein’s clarinet sonata brings youthful spirit, jazzy rhythms, and lyricism reminiscent of Copland, who called the sonata perfection. The intensity and passion with which Polish-American composer Robert Muczynski composed his Fantasy pieces for piano, clarinet and cello offer a stark contrast to the Trio of Hilary Purrington. Pianist and cofounder Natalia Kazaryan will be joined by the principal clarinetist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Michael Rusinek and cellist Rosanna Butterfield.

Looking for a night with unlimited food and drink as part of your experience? On Saturday, 10/29, you’re invited to join us for the same collection of music at the Arts Club, where your ticket will include access to all libations on site. This night’s performance will also include additional conversation from our performers, who will go into detail about the pieces you’re enjoying.

You’ll have two opportunities to join us in celebrating Halloween 2022. On Friday, 10/28, we’ll gather at DuPont Underground where you can grab a drink from our on-site bartender who will be whipping up spooky cocktails. Purchasing a drink is optional, as the cost of drinks are not included in your ticket.

Welcome to our season’s opening night! The concert begins with Mélanie Bonis' tone poems for piano trio, Soir and Matin, as well as her Piano Quartet Op 69, a revolutionary and underrepresented work by one of the most gifted composers of the era. Culminating with Gabriel Fauré's piano Quartet in c minor Op 15, the concert showcases the French musical vocabulary, bringing to mind aspects of movement and light emphasized in Impressionist visual art. Pianists and cofounders Natalia Kazaryan and Christopher Schmitt will be joined by the New York based virtuosa violinist Amelia Dietrich, violist Allyson Goodman of the National Opera Orchestra, and cellist Loewi Lin of the National Symphony Orchestra.