Yes, it's playing the Kennedy Center, but Fort Worth Symphony has more plans in D.C.
A couple of years ago, the Star-Telegram reported that the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra would be one of four orchestras performing in SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
The festival takes place April 9-15, with the FWSO performing on April 10 at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. But there's more to the orchestra's trip than that.
On April 9, the symphony will perform Caminos del Inka in a free concert at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. According to a YouTube video, the Caminos del Inka Project was created by Miguel Harth-Bedoya, the symphony's music director and conductor, "to discover, preserve, expand, and disseminate the musical legacy of the Americas." Harth-Bedoya is a native of Peru.
As previously reported, the main event of the orchestra's tour will be the April 10 Kennedy Center date, which will feature the East Coast premiere of Jimmy Lopez’s "Bel Canto: A Symphonic Canvas" (a co-commission of the FWSO, Atlanta Symphony, and Bremen Philharmonic, based on a 2001 novel by Ann Patchett); and Anna Clyne’s "RIFT for orchestra," performed by the full orchestra and six dancers from Texas Ballet Theater, choreographed by Kitty McNamee, artistic director of the Hysterica Dance Company.
Lopez and Clyne are former visiting composers with FWSO.
The symphony will also perform Leonard Bernstein’s "Serenade" with the orchestra’s current artistic partner, violinist Augustin Hadelich. The performance is part of the orchestra’s celebration of the Bernstein Centennial this year.
If you can't make the trip, the symphony will perform the same program April 6-7 at Bass Hall.
On April 11, the orchestra will conduct a private performance for invited local schools, featuring "Peter and the Wolf" with dancers and bilingual narration, at the Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Center. In 2008, the orchestra performed the kid-friendly work at Carnegie Hall, with narration by actor John Lithgow.
The Albany Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra will also participate in the festival, which is co-presented by Washington Performing Arts. Pianist Joyce Yang, silver medalist in the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will perform with the Albany Symphony.
This story was originally published March 9, 2018 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Yes, it's playing the Kennedy Center, but Fort Worth Symphony has more plans in D.C.."