We are thrilled to announce our 78th concert season and unveil the 2018/2019 Phillips Music concerts. The visceral thrill of live music that our audiences experience is quite extraordinary. Musicians relish the atmosphere in our Music Room—they appreciate its intimacy, the surrounding artworks, and the ease of communicating with those present. We have found nothing more rewarding and are very grateful to each of you who come to our concerts. The Phillips Music team is eager for you to join us this season as we return to a refreshed Music Room. Following one year of renovation, we can now enjoy improved acoustics, new artwork (now including sculpture), an impressively quiet HVAC system, and. . . seat cushions!
CONCERT SCHEDULE
Concert sold out? Standby tickets may become available (credit card only) near the House entrance to the Music Room starting at 3:30 pm.
PostClassical Ensemble explores the parallels between Schoenberg's development of non-tonal music and Kandinsky's ethos of non-representational painting. The program also explores Schoenberg and Kurt Weill's experience as émigré composers in the US through their musical responses to Pearl Harbor.
PostClassical Ensemble examines the transformation of black spirituals into songs for the white concert stage through the musical adaptations and arrangements by composer Harry Burleigh. Readings of W.E.B Du Bois, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Thurston explore the tensions and questions of the fate of the spiritual in the context of the Harlem Renaissance.
A music documentary about Olivier Messiaen’s transcendent masterpiece, that he composed in a World War II prison camp, and debuted there on January 15, 1941. This film was completed on the 75th Anniversary of that historic premiere, and features “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band Ensemble performing in rehearsal and at The Phillips Collection. Created by H. Paul Moon.
Some of the world's leading pianists have played The Phillips Collection's Steinway Concert D 542016, but they started hearing something wrong with it: the soundboard. This half-hour documentary—named for the spruce wood that replaced the soundboard—tells the story of tearing the piano apart and bringing it back to life. Along the way, we learn how a piano works and witness the consummate art of restoration by PianoCraft. Rising international star Olivier Cavé puts it to the test in this cinematic music documentary by filmmaker H. Paul Moon.
