WASHINGTON - Continuing its annual series of free community concerts, the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) will perform at Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium on Friday, October 25 at 8 p.m.

Guest conductor Michelle Merrill leads the NSO in a concert that celebrates the upcoming centennial of the 19th amendment (women’s suffrage) with a program dedicated to women in music that features two women as soloists and music composed by women. Howard University Lecturer of Piano Natalia Kazaryan performs as soloist in the third movement from Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto, and NSO Principal Second Violin Marissa Regni performs part of a Baroque concerto by French composer Elizabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, who holds the distinction of being the first woman in France to compose an opera. In addition, the University’s a cappella group, Afro-Blue, will perform a set during the NSO program.

“Howard University is delighted to welcome back to the campus the National Symphony Orchestra for this community concert," says Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Music Anthony Randolph, DMA. "It has been more than five years since Howard collaborated with the NSO on a project like this, and we look forward to introducing a new student body and our neighbors to a great live performance by an orchestra of their caliber. This will be a night to remember."

Other distinguished composers represented on the program include Florence Price, the first African American woman to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra; Latin Grammy®-winner Gabriela Lena Frank; Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw; Lili Boulanger, the first woman to win the Prix de Rome, in 1913; Pulitzer Prize and two-time Grammy®-winner Jennifer Higdon; and Grammy®-winner Joan Tower.

The NSO’s free community concert series began in 2017 with new music director Gianandrea Noseda’s commitment to bring live orchestral music to audiences around Washington outside of the Kennedy Center. Since that time, the Orchestra has performed twice at Union Station, at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts, at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, and, most recently, this past spring for an audience of more than 6,000 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

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ABOUT THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The 2019–2020 season marks the National Symphony Orchestra’s 89th, and Gianandrea Noseda’s third as its music director. The Italian conductor serves as the Orchestra’s seventh music director, joining the NSO’s legacy of such distinguished leaders. Its artistic leadership also includes Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke and Artistic Advisor Ben Folds. Founded in 1931, the Orchestra has always been committed to artistic excellence and music education. In 1986, the National Symphony became an artistic affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs year-round. The NSO’s community engagement projects are nationally recognized, including NSO In Your Neighborhood, an annual week of approximately 50 performances in schools, churches, community centers, and other unexpected venues; Notes of Honor, which offers free performances for active, veteran, prior service, and retired members of the military and their families; and Sound Health, a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its affiliated organizations. Career development opportunities for young musicians include the NSO Youth Fellowship Program and its tuition-free Summer Music Institute. For more information, visit www.nationalsymphony.org.

ABOUT THE HOWARD UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

The music program at Howard University has a rich history dating back to 1870. In 1892, the program was organized as a stable Department of the Normal School, and in 1914 it was established as an independent conservatory. Howard University's Department of Music, with its long list of accomplished alumni including Jessye Norman, Adolphus Hailstork, Roberta Flack, Geri Allen, Harold Wheeler, Langston Fitzgerald, and Benny Golson continues to educate a student body of musicians destined to become the elite performers, composers, educators, and musical trendsetters of the future. For more information, visit https://music.howard.edu. 

Media contact: Ramzey Smith, Office of University Communications, ramzey.smith@howard.edu