The Mouse That Roared -- Outpacing Kennedy Center And Library Of Congress, Phillips Collection Opens Second 'Leading Composer Portrait' Concert Season

For those tired at the idea of watching Dudamel conduct John Adams, Bernstein, Chaikovsky, and Brahms at the local Cineplex:

"Debuting in November 2009 at the Phillips Collection, in downtown Washington, D.C., is an innovative new evening offering, the Leading European Composers concert series. Three European nations have selected their most distinguished composers to speak about their works and to present performances by musicians personally selected by the composers.

The Leading European Composers concerts are held on selected Thursday evenings from November to May. They begin promptly at 6 pm and are expected to end at about 7:30 pm. Admission is $20, $8 for members, free to Patrons and Circle members."

This year's cycle begins on Thursday, November 18, 2010, and features Pēteris Vasks from Latvia; and is followed by Erkki-Sven Tüür from Estonia.

Later in the spring, the season concludes with *** from Portugal.

Yesterday afternoon, the Phillips Collection Sunday Afternoon music series featured two works for cello and piano by leading American composer Michael Hersch, along with a solo cello suite of J.S. Bach.

Photo credit: Pēteris Vasks via Wikipedia.