Quinn Kelsey, Erika Grimaldi, Juliet Schlefer, Deborah Sternberg, Melissa Cregger Headline The Washington Chorus’ 2025-26 Season

The Washington Chorus has announced its 2025-26 season. First up on the slate is “One Song: Exultávit!” The concert, conducted by Dr. Eugene Rogers, features vocal soloists including Juliet Schlefer, Heather Petrie, Jacob Perry and Edmund Milly as they take on works by Bach and Rena Esmail. Performance Date: Oct. 25, 2025 ”A Candlelit Christmas” will also be led by Dr. {…}

Gianandrea Noseda to Conduct Beethoven’s ‘Missa Solemnis’

From May 15 to 17, 2025, the National Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director, Gianandrea Noseda, will conduct Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. The concerts will mark his final appearance with the orchestra in the 2024-25 season. The Washington Chorus will be featured alongside acclaimed soloists soprano Erika Grimaldi, bass-baritone Marko Mimica, mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, and tenor Saimir Pirgu. The concert is part of {…}

Q & A: Gianandrea Noseda & Nicole Heaston on Performing Barber’s ‘Vanessa’ With the National Symphony Orchestra & Aspects of Live Recordings

 (Photo credit: Tony Hitchcock) Despite winning a Pulitzer Prize and receiving great acclaim following its Metropolitan Opera premiere in 1958, Barber and Menotti’s “Vanessa” is not regularly programmed as a full work. Arias such as “Must the winter come so soon?” and “Do not utter a word” are frequently heard in recitals, but this does not do justice to this {…}

Nicole Heaston Leads National Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Vanessa’

The National Symphony Orchestra is set to present Samuel Barber’s “Vanessa” on Jan. 30 and Feb. 1, 2025. The opera, which will be conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and will star Nicole Heaston in the title role, replacing Sondra Radvanovsky, who withdrew for personal reasons. Heaston will be joined by tenor Matthew Polenzani, mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, and baritone Thomas Hampson. These performances of Barber’s “Vanessa” {…}