Concert Series
2008-2009 Season Schedule
The Washington College Concert Series—now in its 57th season—will host an exciting 2008-2009 line-up of performances. All concerts are held at the College's Norman James Theatre in William Smith Hall. Single tickets can be purchased at the door, $15 for adults and $5 for youth and students. Season tickets are available for $50 per person in advance or at the box office on performance nights.
The 2008-2009 season will feature:
Musica Pacifica
Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
Led by artistic directors Judith Linsenberg and Elizabeth Blumenstock, Musica Pacifica has been performing, touring and recording since 1990. They have been described by the press as "some of the finest baroque musicians in America" (American Record Guide) and "among the best in the world" (Alte Musik Aktuell). At home in the San Francisco Bay area, the artists are members of Philharmonia Baroque, and they appear with many other prominent early music ensembles nationally and abroad. Musica Pacifica's stylish, high-energy and virtuoso performances have consistently received enthusiastic reviews from critics and audiences alike, and their six CD releases have won national and international awards, including the highest ratings in several CD magazines and each one being chosen as "CD of the Month" by the early music journal Alte Musik Aktuell (Regensburg).
Rittenhouse Jazz Quintet
Saturday, November 15, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
From the "City of Brotherly Love," The Rittenhouse Jazz Quintet was born in Philadelphia and named after the heart of the city. Consisting of professional musicians from the Philadelphia area, some of whom are graduates or current students at The Curtis Institute of Music, the RJQ has presented programs around the region, including the Kimmel Center. It is their mission to share the musical process through jazz with their audiences, while preserving the rich heritage of jazz performing. The members of RJQ are Stanford Thompson, trumpet; Matt Davis, guitar; Patricia Franceschy, vibraphone; Gabe Globus-Hoenich, drums; and David Brodie, bass.
ViM Saxophone Quartet
Saturday, January 24, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
The award-winning ViM Saxophone Quartet has been thrilling concert audiences across the U.S. and Canada over the past two concert seasons. ViM made their Kennedy Center debut at the Terrace Theater in May 2007 and most recently appeared as finalists in the 2008 Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition in Easton, MD. ViM was awarded the Gold Medal at the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in Notre Dame, IN, America's premier educational chamber music competition, as well as the 2006 Music Teachers' National Association Chamber Music Competition. ViM has also appeared as soloists with the Eastman Wind Ensemble and has been active as performers and clinicians across the country.
Louise Toppin, Soprano
Friday, February 13, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
A finalist in the Munich International Competition and winner of the Metropolitan Opera regional auditions, Louise Toppin received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, and oratorio performances in the United States and abroad. Recent opera roles include: title role in the world premiere of the opera Luyala by composer William Banfield, Treemonisha in Scott Joplin's Treemonisha, Mary in William Grant Still's Highway One, Lucy in Menotti's The Telephone, both Clara and Bess in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, and Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Ms. Toppin performed Mozart's Impresario (Goldentrill) at The Kennedy Center, to rave reviews from the Washington Post. Among her more recent productions she sang Clara in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess for Opera Carolina and Piedmont Opera companies. She also sang Mrs. Clancey in The Italian Lesson by Lee Hoiby (one woman opera), Maria in the world premier of Joel Feigin's opera Twelfth Night for Long Leaf Opera Company, Elisa in Mozart's Il Re Pastore and The Queen of the Night in Mozart's Magic Flute.
Attacca String Quartet
Friday, April 17, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
Winner of the Alice Coleman Grand Prize at the 60th annual Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in 2006 and one of ten quartets chosen to compete in the semi-finals of the 9th Banff International String Quartet Competition, the internationally acclaimed Attacca Quartet is well on its way to becoming one of America's premier young performing ensembles. Comprised of violinists Amy Schroeder and Keiko Tokunaga, violist Gillian Gallagher, and cellist Andrew Yee, the Attacca Quartet was formed at the Juilliard School in 2003 and gave its debut recital in 2007 as part of the Artists International Winners Series in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. The members of the Attacca Quartet graduated in May, 2008 with both bachelor's and master's degrees from the Juilliard School. The New York Times wrote of their July 2008 performance at MOMA's Summergarden concert series, "the concert was, in a word, sensational."
Film Series
As a public service, admission is free to students, faculty, staff, and members of the college community. All films will be shown in the Litrenta Auditorium of Toll Science Center at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sunday, and Monday evenings.
January 30, Feb. 1, 2
W
Pronounced "dub-ya" and loosely based on the life and presidency of George W. Bush. Produced and directed by Oliver Stone, starring Josh Brolin.
Feb. 6, 8, 9
Tyler Perry's: The Family That Preys
Starring Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates, the film focuses on "two families from different sides of the tracks that become intimately involved in love and business."
Feb. 13, 15, 16
Cadillac Records
Biopic about Chicago-based record executive Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody) and the musicians he recorded: Willie Dixon (Cedric the Entertainer), Chuck Berry (Mos Def), Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright), and Etta James (Beyoncé Knowles).
Feb. 20, 22, 23
Freedom On My Mind
A chronicle of the Mississippi voter registration struggles of 1961 to 1964 and the shared vision of a generation who believed in and fought for democracy.
Feb. 27 March 1, 2
Twilight/Let The Right One In
(double feature) Twilight, based on the bestselling novel by Stephenie Meyer, is the story of Bella, who risks everything when she falls for vampire Edward.
Let the Right One In, based on a Swedish novel, centers on the relationship between 12-year-old Oskar and 200-year-old vampire child Eli.
March 6, 8, 9
4 Weeks, 3 Months, 2 Days
A ferocious, unsentimental, often brilliantly directed Romanian film about a young woman who helps a friend secure an abortion.
[ Spring Break ]
March 20, 22, 23
Frozen River
A trailer park mom is lured into illegal immigrant smuggling by a girl who lives on a Mohawk reservation that straddles the US-Canadian border.April 3, 5, 7
Rachel Getting Married
Anne Hathaway as a young woman who has been in and out from rehab for the past 10 years and must return home for her sister's wedding.
April 10, 12, 13
Brick Lane
The story of a young Bangladeshi woman who arrives in 1980s London, leaving behind her family for an arranged marriage and a new life.
April 17, 19, 20
I've Loved You So Long
A story of familial struggles and redemption in which a woman moves in with her younger sister after being banished from the family for 15 years.