Sigma Alpha Iota

Spring 2021 26 26 P A N P I P E S The Kennedy Center is planning a year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary for its 2021-2022 season, featuring extended artist residencies, commissions of new works, interactive exhibitions commemorating the center's history, and a new outdoor statue of John F. Kennedy. In an overview of the planned celebration, the center shared its thinking in planning the events: "President Kennedy challenged us to ask not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country. For the past 50 years, we've carried his challenge forward as the nation's cultural center, fostering creativity on our stages and in communities around the country. As we look to the next 50, we're asking: what can we do together?" at theme of working together is evident in each aspect of its plan, including hosting a number of artists-in-residence. Composer Carlos Simon will begin his three-year residency in 2021, acting as the leading ambassador for new music, participating in ongoing music education activities, and composing and presenting works for the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and Washington National Opera (WNO). Jacqueline Woodson, an award winning author of children's and adult literature, will be the next Education Artist-in-Residence, working on new books with music and staged plays of her works. e new For the Culture Artist Residency celebrates the Center's Hip Hop Culture Program with the award winning band e Roots for a two-year residency. e We the Peoples Before program is a collaboration between the First Peoples Fund and the Kennedy Center, designed to know, honor, and share the cultural fabric of the Indigenous United States. It includes a two-day celebration in February 2022 a series of educational activities to serve schools and community centers across the nation. A number of new works have been commissioned by the center's performing organizations for the celebration. e WNO has commissioned four teams of world- renowned artists and musicians to create a series of short works — Written in Stone — to be performed together in March 2022. Inspired by Washington D.C.'s monuments, Written in Stone will celebrate the diversity and acknowledge the struggles of today's America. e teams include Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran, Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang, Kamala Sankaram and A.M. Homes, and Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Carlos Simon. e 2021-2022 NSO season will feature a new commission from 2018 Kennedy Center Honoree Philip Glass. Glass's Symphony No. 13 will receive its world premiere in March 2022, conducted by NSO Music Director Gianandrea Noseda. Additional commissions and co-commissions will include works by recent Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates; a world premiere by Missy Mazzoli for violinist Jennifer Koh; an East Coast premiere by composer Angélica Negrón; an East Coast premiere by Joan Tower for cellist Alisa Weilerstein; a work to mark the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 by composer James Lee III; and a work by composer, orchestrator, and conductor Peter Boyer. THE KENNEDY CENTER The National Symphony The National Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Orchestra, led by Music Director Gianandrea Director Gianandrea Noseda, will perform a Noseda, will perform a Concert of Remembrance. Concert of Remembrance. 50th Anniversary of the Kennedy Center

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