You can simply go to a concert at the Philharmonie, spontaneously, during your lunch break – and with free admission: every Wednesday at 13:00 between September and June. The programme lasts 40 to 50 minutes: chamber music, piano works or a percussion duo – everything from Tchaikovsky to tango. Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Karajan Academy regularly perform, as well as guests from the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Berlin music conservatories. As can be expected at a lunch concert, catering is available from 12 noon until shortly before the concert begins.

Lunch concert

Berliner Philharmoniker

The master guitarist and the winners of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition perform Baroque to Piazzolla to Broadway to The Beatles.

MILOŠ is one of the world’s most celebrated classical guitarists. His career began its meteoric rise in 2011, with the release of his international best-selling Deutsche Grammophon debut album Mediterraneo. Since then, he has earned legions of fans, awards, and acclaim around the world through his extensive touring, six chart topping recordings, and television appearances.

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Viano Quartet with MILOŠ, guitar

The Royal Conservatory of Music

Four varied works from the young British-Chinese violinist, who enjoys a busy international career. Appointed artist-in-residence with the London Mozart Players at the age of 14, in 2021 she gave a performance – streamed worldwide from Trafalgar Square – of Saint-Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso with the LSO under Sir Simon Rattle.

Leia Zhu violin; Noelia Rodiles piano

Wigmore Hall

This concert unites the poignant Mendelssohn siblings’ works—Fanny’s unduly neglected remarkable work and Felix’s stirring String Quartet, a reaction to her early passing—with compositions by artists silenced or oppressed during WWII. It embodies the spirit of perseverance and the unbreakable will of the human spirit through music.

Resilience

Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center

Grammy-nominated clarinetist Todd Palmer joins the Verona Quartet in Osvaldo Golijov’s celebrated quintet The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, an epic journey that invokes both the divinity of prayer and the freewheeling world of klezmer. The Verona then joins guitarist Łukasz Kuropaczewski for Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Guitar Quintet, which the composer described as a “melodious and serene work written almost in a Schubertian vein.” 

Golijov: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind

New Mexico Museum of Art

The Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. A former BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the quartet has performed at the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall and is a regular guest at Wigmore Hall. In its home town of New York, the ensemble serves as season artists of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

The 2021-2022 season finds the Escher Quartet touring the U.S. extensively, performing in numerous cities and venues including New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Rockefeller University, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, La Jolla Music Society, Savannah Music Festival, and Chamber Music Society of Detroit. Internationally, the quartet returns to Wigmore Hall in London and the Sociedad Filarmonica de Bilbao.

Escher Quartet w/ Jason Vieaux

Central United Methodist Church

Dedicated to emigre, composer, and long-time Los Angeles resident Walter Arlen, this program features premieres of works by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Walter Arlen, who both fled fascism and artistic repression in Europe and made their home in Los Angeles. The concert will include US premiere performances of quartets by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, including one written based on the name of Walter Arlen.

Recovered Voices: The Music of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Walter Arlen

Colburn School

Italy’s Beatrice Rana is one of the world’s top piano recitalists and a New York audience favorite. She begins the program with pieces that showcase her extraordinary sensitivity, including Scriabin’s delicate Fantasy in B Minor, Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s rarely heard Cipressi, and solo piano works by Debussy. In the second half of the concert, she performs Liszt’s formidable Piano Sonata, a pinnacle of the Romantic repertoire whose emotional journey is as deep and varied as its astonishing technical demands.

Beatrice Rana, Piano

Carnegie Hall

Join us for an unforgettable evening of classical music as Washington Performing Arts presents the acclaimed Italian concert pianist Beatrice Rana. This special recital will take place on Monday, February 26, 2024, at 7:30 PM in the intimate setting of the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.

Since clinching the Silver Medal at the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Beatrice Rana has emerged as one of the most sought-after pianists of her generation. Praised by The New York Times for her "calm command" and "refined, unpretentious pianistic approach," Rana has graced the stages of the world's premier concert halls, including performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.

This recital marks a significant return for Rana, following her debut with Washington Performing Arts on the Hayes Piano Series in 2014 and a recent performance at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall with the National Symphony Orchestra. The evening promises a rich program showcasing the breadth and depth of Rana's artistry, featuring works by Alexander Scriabin, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Claude Debussy, and Franz Liszt.

Program Details:
- Alexander Scriabin: Fantasie in B Minor, op. 28
- Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Cipressi, op. 17
- Claude Debussy: Selections from Préludes, Books 1 & 2
- Franz Liszt: Piano Sonata in B Minor, S.178

Washington Performing Arts is dedicated to making performances accessible to all visitors. For specific accessibility information at Kennedy Center events, please visit the Kennedy Center's accessibility page or contact Washington Performing Arts directly.

Don't miss this opportunity to experience the extraordinary talent of Beatrice Rana in one of Washington D.C.'s most prestigious venues. Reserve your tickets now for an evening of exquisite music that promises to be both enriching and memorable.

Beatrice Rana, piano

Kennedy Center

Beatrice Rana attracted international attention in 2011, when she won first prize and all special prizes at the Montreal International Competition at age eighteen. Rana performs at the world’s most esteemed concert halls and festivals including Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and New York’s Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She collaborates with conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Leonard Slatkin, and Zubin Mehta. In 2015, Rana’s first album with Antonio Pappano and the Accademia Nazionale Santa Cecilia di Roma, featuring piano concertos of Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, received international acclaim, including the prestigious Gramophone Editor’s Choice and BBC Music Magazine’s Newcomer of the Year Award. In June 2013, Rana won Silver and the Audience Award at the prestigious Van Cliburn Competition.

Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall

Departmental Recitals showcase performance departments through its students. Featuring various students and repertoire, and curated by the faculty, performances in this recital highlight SFCM programs and the wide range of study. 

Guitar Department Recital

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Guest Artists visit SFCM to share their expertise with student musicians. 

Sérgio Assad, guitar

Bowes Center

Join the orchestra as we kick off our 2023-2024 Season with Guest Artist, Brad DeRoche, performing the Guitar Concerto No. 1 in D by Castelnuovo-Tedesco.  The orchestra will also be performing the Elgar Serenade for Strings and Schubert's 3rd Symphony. 

Sounds of Autumn

Gaylord High School

Join us at the enchanting Caramoor in Katonah, NY, for a mesmerizing evening of classical guitar under the stars. On August 3, 2023, at 7:00 PM, the Guitar in the Garden event will feature the extraordinary talents of Tengyue Zhang, a classical guitarist of international acclaim. Having clinched the First Prize at the 2017 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artists Competition, Zhang is celebrated for his unparalleled skill and musicality.

Set against the backdrop of Caramoor's Classical Sunken Garden, this concert promises an unforgettable experience. Zhang's program includes a diverse range of works from composers such as J.S. Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, Isaac Albéniz, and Jean-Philippe Rameau, showcasing the rich history and emotional depth of classical guitar music.

In case of inclement weather, the concert will be moved to the intimate setting of the Music Room inside the Rosen House, ensuring that the music and magic continue regardless of the elements.

Following the performance, attendees are invited to an All-Audience Afterglow Reception in the garden, weather permitting. This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the serene beauty of Caramoor's gardens while mingling with fellow music enthusiasts.

Transportation is made easy with a FREE shuttle service from Metro North’s Katonah train station to and from Caramoor, available before and after the concert.

Don't miss this opportunity to witness one of the most talented young guitarists of our time in a venue that complements the beauty and intricacy of classical guitar music. Buy your tickets now and add this event to your calendar for an evening of sublime music and garden splendor.

Tengyue Zhang, guitar

Sunken Garden

The Van Kuijk Quartet’s international accolades boast First, Best Beethoven, and Best Haydn Prizes at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet competition; First Prize, and an Audience Award at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition; as well as becoming laureates of the Aix-en-Provence Festival Academy. They join one of the most versatile guitarists performing today, Sean Shibe, to present a Spanish-inspired program, including two masterworks in the guitar quintet repertoire.

Quatuor Van Kuijk and Sean Shibe

Shining at the top of a new wave of guitarists, Sean Shibe creates imaginative programs aglow with innovation, new music, and passionate insights into classics. The Guardian enthused, “What’s really striking is the way in which Shibe sustains a world of intensity and introspection through playing that buzzes with vitality.” Named BBC New Generation Artists, the Van Kuijk Quartet’s “unanimity, tonal blend and intonation are close to flawless” (Gramophone).

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Events

Upcoming events

Nov 23, 2025

Sunday Matinee · Odense Symphony Orchestra

Past events

Feb 26, 2025

Lunch concert · Berliner Philharmoniker

Nov 17, 2024

Viano Quartet with MILOŠ, guitar · The Royal Conservatory of Music

About

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