Pianist

Music Director

Beethoven’s joyful wit and lyricism make his Piano Concerto No. 1 a perfect showcase for Garrick Ohlsson’s “fingers, fortitude, and freewheeling imagination” (The New York Times). To close, conductor Louis Langrée “draws a lithe, articulate and elegant performance” (The New York Times) of Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3, the mighty “Organ Symphony.”

EPSG:4326

Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony” Ohlsson plays Beethoven

Kennedy Center

Visionary impresaria Mary Cardwell Dawson fights and triumphs as she establishes the National Negro Opera Company in Carlos Simon and Sandra Seaton’s new play with music.

She trained hundreds of African American youth to sing. She founded the longest-running, all-Black opera company. She organized opera guilds in the country’s biggest cities. Mary Cardwell Dawson’s dream to bring music to African American audiences came true—and it changed the future of opera.

The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson makes its highly anticipated mainstage premiere to celebrate the remarkable founder of the historic and groundbreaking National Negro Opera Company, established in 1941. Starring acclaimed mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves in the title role, this play with music by Mark Twain Award-winning playwright Sandra Seaton includes selections from the repertory of the National Negro Opera Company and original music composed by Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence and 2023 Grammy nominee Carlos Simon.

The story starts in Washington, D.C. in 1943, where the company is set to perform on a floating barge to evade racially-segregated venues. But when bad weather threatens—pushing the performance to a segregated performance hall—Mary Cardwell Dawson must find a way forward.

Pianist, Music Director

Marvin Mills

Events

Past events

13 - 15 Nov, 2025

Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony” Ohlsson plays Beethoven · National Symphony Orchestra

20 - 22 Jan, 2023

The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson · Washington National Opera

Future and recently performed repertoire

Organ in Symphony No. 3 by Saint-Saëns

National Symphony Orchestra

About

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