Kennedy Center Announces Holiday Events

The Kennedy Center will host a variety of holiday events this coming season, including performances of The Nutcracker and A Jazz New Year’s Eve, in addition to many free concerts.

The series is set to kickoff Dec. 1 with a free concert featuring the U.S. Navy Brass Quartet performing a repertoire of classics and holiday songs. This concert, a division of the U.S. Military Music Ensembles series, starts at the Millennium Stage at 6 p.m. Concerts from this series will take place on Dec. 1, 6, 20, 21, 23 and 25.

The American Ballet Theater will perform The Nutcracker at the Opera House from Dec. 7-11. Performances will take place Wed.-Fri. at 7:30 p.m. and Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices vary between $47 and $112.

The National Symphony Orchestra Pops will continue the annual tradition with a program of classics including “O Holy Night” and “Sleigh Ride” from Dec. 8-11. The performance will be conducted by Marvin Hamlisch and will feature baritone Kevin Glavin and the Children’s Chorus of Washington. Tickets range from $20 to $80.

Dec. 9 brings the first jazz event of the holiday season, A Jazz Piano Christmas, the 16th annual holiday program produced by NPR. This year’s performance features Hank Jones, Marcia Ball, Hilton Ruiz, Dave Samuels and Pete Escovedo. The event will also be taped for later broadcast on NPR stations. Tickets are $30.

A free Hanukah Celebration will take place on the Millennium Stage on Dec. 12, 13 and 18. On Dec. 12, artists Ramon Tasat, Eugenia Shiuk, Steve Bloom and the Temple Shalom Choir will perform the music of Italy, Holland, Russia, Morocco, Turkey, Iraq and Israel with songs in English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino and Judeo-Arabic. Klezmer band Hot Kugel will perform Dec. 13, and Hagigat Naomi, under the direction of Cantor Aaron Marcus, will celebrate the life and music of Naomi Shemer on Dec. 18.

The Dance Institute of Washington will perform The Spirit of Kwanzaa on Dec. 28 and 29 at 8 p.m. Fabian Barnes and performers from his Washington Reflections Dance Company and the DIW Junior and Senior Youth Repertory Ensembles will come together to perform dance, poetry and song in honor of the holiday. Tickets are $12-$25.

Closing the year is A Jazz New Year’s Eve, with Grammy-winner and NEA Jazz Master Jon Hendricks (pictured) leading the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. Following the performance, the Salon Orchestra of Washington will perform tunes to dance the night away in high style, with waltzes, landlers and polkas alongside tunes from Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey. Tickets are $65.

A full holiday schedule can be found at the Kennedy Center’s website.

Originally Published November 30, 2005