Kennedy Center will offer limited live concerts in phase three of reopening
The Kennedy Center has announced plans for some scaled-down, on-site performances in the remaining months of 2020. According to a press release today, the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, and other series will not return to their previously announced seasons, now further revised, until January 14. 2021.
Live performances will take place in the Kennedy Center only when the District of Columbia reaches phase three of reopening, leaving dates and program details unspecified for now. Tickets for limited in-house seats will be offered for purchase, and some events will be live streamed to the public as well. Performances will be around an hour in length and without intermission.
Concerts are envisioned for the Opera House, with an audience of no more than 200 people in appropriately distanced seats on the stage. A stage extension built into the front of the orchestra seating level of the house would feature performances by soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Will Liverman among others. Fortas Chamber Music Concerts artists like the Takács Quartet, the Dover Quartet, and the Escher Quartet could also perform there.
The National Symphony Orchestra hopes to return to the Concert Hall in December 2020. Music Director Gianandrea Noseda will lead two concerts on December 4 and 11, with surprise programs to be announced from the stage. A limited number of ticketed seats, physically distanced, will be available for purchase. These performances will also be live streamed.
Other smaller-scale performances will be available through the Kennedy Center’s existing streaming platforms. Some live performances will be offered around the city, including members of the NSO in an expanded In Your Neighborhood program, focusing on the city’s medical community and first responders. Singers from Washington National Opera will also perform on the Pop-Up Opera Truck, a mobile stage that will visit all eight wards of Washington, D.C.
For further details about the rest of 2020 and the changes to the 2021 season, go to the Kennedy Center website.
Leave a Comment
