The Kennedy Center’s National Symphony Orchestra brought their “In Your Neighborhood: Uptown” free concert series to Busboys and Poets in Takoma, Washington, on Feb. 15, where a brass quintet performed for the community during brunch.
The concert series is the Orchestra’s “longest-running community engagement initiative” and ran from Feb. 13-19 this year, according to the Orchestra.
The series featured two full orchestra performances, smaller chamber concerts, guest performances from visiting conductors and vocalists, community workshops and world debuts of compositions such as “Fanfare for Common Heroes,” a symphony by Farhad Poupel, and new pieces from “The Cartography Project” by composers Catherine Elizabeth and Charles Lumar II.
The Orchestra’s brass quintet Chamber Concert performance on Feb. 15 at Busboys and Poets in Takoma was a more refreshing, casual event than a normal Kennedy Center performance. Senior citizens, reporters, musicians and other community members filled high-top tables and booths, eating sweet potato pancakes and omelets as the classical performers set up on stage. Families also brought their young children, who gleefully ran around and danced during the show.
“It’s very special every year when we do the ‘In Your Neighborhood’ [concert series] because we get to take this love of our music, the love of telling stories, the love of communicating through art into various pockets of D.C. and spread that feeling throughout the whole District,” David Murray, a trombonist in the Orchestra, said in an interview with The Eagle.
The brass quintet performed a variety of pieces during their set, including “Adoration” by award-winning composer Florence Price. Price was the first Black female composer to have her composition Symphony No. 1 in E Minor played by a group of musicians as prestigious as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
The quintet also played pieces from Disney’s “Fantasia,” a piece by classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and a few songs from “West Side Story” such as “Maria” and “I Feel Pretty.”
“Whether it’s the full orchestra … or if it’s a smaller ensemble like this brass quintet here at Busboys and Poets, the communication and the transfer of energy and good vibes is something that we thrive on,” Murray said.
“In Your Neighborhood: Uptown” performances were hosted in partnership with venues such as schools, churches, recreation centers and restaurants like Busboys and Poets, a combined bookstore and restaurant that hosts community gatherings on the stages in their event room.
Kate Wyman, a public relations coordinator for the Kennedy Center who attended the performance, said in an interview with The Eagle that the mix of generations at the “In Your Neighborhood” appearance “really does give the performances more of a community feel. You see crowds that you may not see at a traditional Kennedy Center concert. I think [it’s] a really special opportunity to see all generations come together and enjoy a performance.”
Alongside classical orchestra and chamber concert performances, the “In Your Neighborhood: Uptown” programming featured other free events for the public, such as in-school ensemble performances, masterclasses and sectional workshops for musicians in D.C. communities.
“In Your Neighborhood: Uptown” concluded with a chamber concert performance at the Cultural Office of The Embassy of Spain on Feb. 19.
This article was edited by Jessica Ackerman, Marina Zaczkiewicz and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Olivia Citarella, Emma Brown, Ella Rousseau and Hannah Langenfeld.
