Concerts

Experience Musical Excellence at the Bender JCC

2023-2024 POLINGER ARTISTS OF EXCELLENCE CONCERT SERIES | Sundays at 7:00 PM

Six outstanding concerts you don’t want to miss!
Join us for magnificent well-loved chamber works by Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Dvořák plus lesser-known works by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, George Walker, and Kati Agócs. Musicians perform in the Gildenhorn/Speisman Center for the Arts’ intimate Kreeger Auditorium.

Purchase your season tickets today and attend all six concerts for just $250! Season ticket packages are only available during our pre-sale (July 22 – September 27) and give you an exclusive chance to purchase your favorite seats before the general public has access.

Single concert tickets are $50, and go on sale Tuesday, October 3!

Marcie Blackman: (301) 348-3808 or mblackman@benderjccgw.org

Purchase Polinger Artists of Excellence Concert Tickets

CHEE-YUN AND AUDREY ANDRIST
Violin + Piano | October 22, 2023
BRAHMS Sonatensatz
FAURE Sonata No. 1 in A major, op.13
RAVEL Tzigane
GERSHWIN Three Preludes arranged by Jascha Heifetz
BEACH Romance
BERNSTEIN West Side Story Suite arranged by Jaimundo Penafort

JANICE CARISSA
Piano | November 12, 2023
BACH-BUSONI Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
RZEWSKI Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
BRAHMS Op. 119
GRANADOS Allegro de Concierto
SCRIABIN Sonata No. 3

GABRIEL MARTINS AND VICTOR SANTIAGO ASUNCIÓN
Cello + Piano | December 3, 2023
DEBUSSY Cello Sonata in D Minor, L. 135
BEETHOVEN Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69
WEBERN Drei Kleine Stücke, Op. 11
BRAHMS Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99

BRIAN GANZ
Piano | January 7, 2024 | 2:00 PM | Free
CHOPIN Rondo, Op. 16, 3rd Impromptu, Op. 51,
2 Nocturnes, Op. 27, 12 Etudes, Op. 25, and more

BRENTANO
String Quartet | March 10, 2024
MOZART Quartet IN D MAJOR. K. 499
SHOSTAKOVICH Quartet NO. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110
BEETHOVEN Quartet in B flat Major, Op. 130

ISRAELI CHAMBER PROJECT
April 14, 2024
SCHUMANN Three Fantasy Pieces, Op. 73
BARBER Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (arranged by Yuval Shapiro. ICP commission)
HAKIM The Dove
RAZAZ Flowing Down The Widening Rings of Being
DEBUSSY Sacred and Profane Dances for Harp and String Quartet
SHARON The Ice Palace*
*Commissioned for the Israeli Chamber Project by the Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund.

HORSZOWSKI TRIO
Piano Trio | May 5, 2024
HAYDN Trio in E Minor, Hob. XV:12
RAVEL Trio in A Minor
SMETANA Trio in G Minor, Op. 15

The Polinger Artists of Excellence Concert Series is made possible by the Geraldine and Howard Polinger Concert Endowment Fund.


The Mount Vernon Virtuosi

The Bender JCC is pleased to resume our partnership with the Mount Vernon Virtuosi to present exciting FREE chamber orchestra programs at the Bender JCC for their 2023-2024 season. Peabody Conservatory cello faculty artist Amit Peled established this chamber orchestra in 2018 to nurture, train and support local graduate music students during their auditions period, and offering concerts all across Maryland.


Questions about concerts at the Bender JCC? Contact us!

PARKING – Free parking is available in the Bender JCC parking lot

 

CoA Coffeehouse: Bacharach & Broadway Thursday, April 11th
Yom Ha’Shoah Concert: We Remember Thursday, May 9th
CoA Coffeehouse: Oldies but Goodies Thursday, June 20th

CoA Coffeehouse: Bacharach & Broadway

Thursday, April 11th
7:00 - 8:30 PM

Purchase Tickets
$32 | Bender JCC

The food. The ambience. The camaraderie. The MUSIC!

The Steve Washington Quartet presents music inspired by Burt Bacharach and his influence on Broadway. Popular music is forever changed by the impact of composer, arranger, and conductor Burt Bacharach and his songwriting partner and lyricist Hal David. In this intimate salute we will enjoy tunes by the iconic duo as well as music from beloved Broadway shows, such as South Pacific and Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along.

But first, let’s eat:

Heavy hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and wine precede the concert.


Who is Steve Washington? 

Steve Washington has been performing for more than 40 years with humble beginnings in Princeton University singing groups and theatrical productions. After Princeton, Steve performed professionally in local and regional theatre. A highlight was working under the direction of world-renowned producer Cameron Mackintosh himself in a production of “Hey, Mr. Producer.” Shifting focus to music, Steve began cultivating a jazz-infused body of work including standards, big band, R&B, funk, Latin & Brazilian presenting at the area’s most popular venues including Blues Alley, the Atlas Theater, the Carlyle Club, Mr. Henry’s, the Katzen Arts Center, AJACs, etc. In the last 15 years or so, Steve sharpened his focus on jazz & big band, and in late 2015 released “Right to Love” featuring the Thad Wilson Jazz Orchestra which still enjoys international airplay and attention. A full-house CD Release at the famed Metropolitan Room in NYC followed and resulted in an invitation to perform quarterly the following year. In 2018, appearances beyond the DMV included a couple of month-long tours in Russia which resulted in “SkyLark,” a 2018 CD recorded in Moscow with the Sergey Vasiliev Trio.

In 2020, Steve performed three live-stream concerts courtesy of Blue House Studio’s “Covid Sessions” series. More recently, Steve was invited to perform at the 2023 Wilmington NC Jazz Festival as the opening artist, and the following week Steve joined the Thad Wilson Jazz Orchestra at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival in Rockville, MD, as featured vocalist. Steve recently appeared at the Barns at Wolf Trap, the Birchmere Music Hall, and Hamilton Live as one of the featured lead vocalists with Newmyer Flyer productions in concerts paying tribute to the music of Burt Bacharach and Hal David and DC’s legendary Cellar Door. With four-plus decades of entertaining behind him, Steve Washington is perhaps busier than ever and continues to share his music with audiences throughout the DMV and beyond. Steve looks forward to more adventures in music and entertainment.


For more information, call or email:
301.348.3832 | fenoch@benderjccgw.org

Iris Piano Trio

Thursday, May 9 | 2:00 PM | $15
Leisure World Clubhouse I Ballroom, 3700 Rossmoor Blvd., Silver Spring, MD 20906

Join the Iris Piano Trio and Yiddish vocalist Frieda Enoch for an afternoon of music in commemoration of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). The musicians present beautiful music that showcases the power of the human spirit despite the darkest of days. Against all odds, faith, hope and music have always strengthened and uplifted us!

Iris Piano Trio:
The Iris Piano Trio, composed of pianist Jiyoung Oh, violinist Joanna Owen and cellist Lauren Latessa, is the core ensemble of Iris Music Project, representing the organization on stages across the Mid-Atlantic. As individuals, they are talented musicians, holding advanced degrees from Indiana University, Eastman School of Music and Northwestern University. They perform at the Bender JCC, the Charles E. Smith Life Communities, as well as at other venues, bringing joy to the community with their music.

Frieda Enoch:
Frieda Enoch is the Director of Bender JCC’s Coming of Age (COA) – Adult Engagement Program. Both of Frieda’s parents were survivors of the Holocaust and Yiddish was the primary language spoken at home when she was growing up. She sings today in honor of her parents’ legacy. She is on a mission to keep this beautiful language and musical tradition alive!

Questions? Contact Frieda or Lindsay at 301.348-3832, or email fenoch@benderjccgw.org.

All Bender JCC programs are open to everyone. Contact Kate Falls, Director of Inclusion, at kfalls@benderjccgw.org or 301.348.3767 to discuss support and accommodations.

Oldies, but Goodies, featuring the Daryl Davis Trio

$32 | Bender JCC Social Hall
The food. The ambiance. The camaraderie. The MUSIC!

Join us for Boogie Woogie, Blues, and other classic tunes. The joint will be jumpin’ with the Daryl Davis Trio.

Chicago native, Daryl Davis graduated from Howard University with a degree in Jazz. He is an international recording artist who has toured all 50 States and around the world. Davis has received rave reviews for his music, as well as winning several WAMA (Washington Area Music Association) awards for Best Artist in the Roots and Blues categories. In addition to being a vocalist, guitarist, and composer, Daryl is a keyboardist extraordinaire. He has performed with such iconic artists as Chuck Berry, The Legendary Blues Band, Elvis Presley’s Jordanaires, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Coasters, The Drifters, Bo Diddley and Percy Sledge, to name a few.

But first, let’s eat:
Heavy hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and wine precede the concert.


For more information, call or email:
301.348.3832 | fenoch@benderjccgw.org