The Kennedy Center - Concert Hall

Measure your life in love with the iconic music of RENT! The National Symphony Orchestra is ecstatic to present the world symphonic premiere of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical. Experience “Seasons of Love,” “Light My Candle,” “La Vie Bohème,” “Out Tonight,” “Take Me or Leave Me,” and all of your favorite moments accompanied by the soaring sounds of a live symphony and a stellar cast, to be announced.

“First Lady of Modern Gospel” Yolanda Adams takes the stage with the NSO and conductor Dr. Henry Panion, III to showcase her pioneering blend of modern gospel, R&B, and jazz! With 5 Grammy Awards, 5 BET Awards, and 12 million albums sold worldwide, the “gospel artist of the decade” (Billboard Magazine) has spent her career inspiring audiences with her powerful voice.

Journey through a galaxy far, far away with a selection of music from the original Star Wars films composed by John Williams and Rogue One composed by Michael Giacchino. Experience the soundtrack to your favorite movie moments from themes that embody cherished characters like Luke and Leia to edge-of-your-seat music from the most famous lightsaber duels.

Famed singer and songwriter Natalie Merchant brings her Keep Your Courage tour to the Concert Hall! Come experience her unique, lush folk-alternative sound with selections from her newest album, performed live with the National Symphony Orchestra. Keep Your Courage, Merchant’s ninth solo studio album and first of new material since 2014’s self-titled record, will be released in April 2023. Merchant writes in her album’s liner notes, “The songs contained within this album were written and recorded during the global pandemic that began in the winter of 2019 and is in its fifth wave as I write, in the autumn of 2022. It has been, and continues to be, a period of great flux and fear on every level: global, national, communal, familial, personal. But this is not an album about the coronavirus or the chaos it caused. For the most part, this is an album about the human heart.” She continues. “The word ‘courage’ has its root in the Latin word for heart, cor, and we see it over and over in many languages: le coeur, il cuore, o coração, el corazón. This is a song cycle that maps the journey of a courageous heart.” Over her forty-year career, Natalie Merchant has attained a place among America’s most respected recording artists. She has earned a reputation for being a songwriter of quality and a captivating stage performer, and has distinguished herself as a social justice and environmental activist. Merchant began her musical career as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the pop music band 10,000 Maniacs and released one platinum, two double-platinum, and one triple-platinum records with the group.

Far more than a guitar legend, 20-time Grammy®-winner Pat Metheny is a brilliant builder of bands. As a teenage prodigy, Metheny made remarkable creative strides by keeping company with older musicians. He created the payback project Side-Eye to offer younger players a similar experience, reinterpreting his classic compositions and exploring recently composed tunes inspired by his Side-Eye collaborators. Designed as an ongoing showcase featuring a rotating cast of players, the project’s first incarnation will be an unforgettable encounter spotlighting two sensational rising stars: pianist Chris Fishman and drummer Joe Dyson.

Led by pianist and musical director Rafael Ithier, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico is one of Puerto Rico’s greatest dance bands. Decades after its inception, the 13-piece salsa group continues to inspire dancers with its horn-punctuated Latin rhythms and lush vocal harmonies. This performance will be opened by salsa musician, trombonist, and bandleader Edgar Joel alongside vocalist Anthony Colón. About El Gran Combo Officially named “Ambassadors of Our Music” by the Puerto Rican Senate, El Gran Combo’s many hits include such classics as “El Menu” and “Timablero.” Their 1978 album, En Las Vegas, sold more than one million copies, while its follow-up, In Alaska: Breaking the Ice, was nominated for a Grammy Award.® A longtime member of popular Latin band Cortijo y Su Combo, Ithier formed El Gran Combo in 1962 with eight of his bandmates, including percussionist, dancer, chorus singer, and salsa bandleader Roberto Roena. The Puerto Rican release of the group’s debut album, Acángana, recorded two days before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, was delayed until it had already been released in Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, and the United States. El Gran Combo continued to expand its following in the early ’60s, performing to enthusiastic crowds in New York, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela.

Grammy-nominated singer and “polymath musician” (The New York Times) Devonté Hynes is joined by the National Symphony Orchestra as he performs contemporary classical music that confronts the complexities and ambiquities of 21st century identity. Raised in England, Devonté Hynes started in the punk band Test Icicles before releasing two orchestral acoustic pop records as Lightspeed Champion. Since 2011, Hynes has released four solo albums under the name Blood Orange: Coastal Grooves, Cupid Deluxe, Freetown Sound, and Negro Swan, as well as 2019’s Angel’s Pulse mixtape, all of which have been critically acclaimed. His songs and albums have explored memory, trauma, depression, and anxiety, as well as the triumphs of vulnerable communities, including people of color and queer and trans communities, and where they intersect. In addition to his solo work, Hynes has collaborated with pop music superstars including Mariah Carey, A$AP Rocky, Solange, P. Diddy, and many others. In 2018, Hynes was one of four pianists invited to play alongside Phillip Glass at the Kennedy Center, and in 2020, he was nominated for a Grammy® in the category of Best Chamber Music or Small Ensemble Performance for his work with Third Coast Percussion on their album Fields.

Legendary gospel singer and 15-time Grammy Award winner CeCe Winans joins the National Symphony Orchestra for one night only! As the best-selling and most-awarded female gospel artist of all time, Winans has long since cemented her status as one of the most accomplished and celebrated women in music history. Winans has released a myriad of solo and collaborative albums that crossed genres and influenced generations of gospel and secular vocalists. Her mantel today holds a staggering 15 Grammy® Awards, 23 Dove Awards and 15 Stellar Awards. Extraordinary accolades include being inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and receiving stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Nashville Music City Walk of Fame. In addition to being named a Trailblazer of Soul by BMI and garnering multiple NAACP Image Awards, Soul Train Awards, and ESSENCE Awards, the music pioneer continues to break through barriers. She has sold 17 million records world-wide, topping the gospel charts repeatedly while managing to cross over with smashes like “Count On Me,” her stunning duet with Whitney Houston, which sold two million copies and cracked the Top 10 on the Pop, R&B, and Adult Contemporary charts. With her most recent project Believe For It, Winans had added her first ever live album to her meteoric and expansive catalogue. Believe For It resonated with fans immediately and has reached over 10 million streams, received high critical praise and numerous award nominations since its release.

Jules Buckley, conductor and arranger British-Indian-American sitar player, producer, film composer, and activist Anoushka Shankar follows in her father Ravi Shankar’s footsteps with her own unique take on the Indian instrument. Led by conductor and arranger Jules Buckley, the innovative artist joins the National Symphony Orchestra to perform dazzling arrangements of her music, including works from her newest Grammy-nominated album Between Us… Immersed from a young age on the world stage, and with more than a quarter-century’s performing behind her, Shankar is a singular, genre-defying artist across realms—classical and contemporary, acoustic and electronic. With nine Grammy nominations under her belt, Shankar came to notable attention when her album Live at Carnegie Hall made her the first Indian woman and youngest-ever Grammy nominee in the World Music category.

On May 1, 1972, R&B soul master Marvin Gaye made history performing works from his seminal album What’s Going On in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. In honor of the album’s 50th anniversary, the NSO commemorates that legendary concert with a fresh look at Gaye’s powerful recording, featuring music performances and spoken word poetry. At the Kennedy Center’s 40th anniversary tribute to What’s Going On in 2012, special guests included John Legend and Sharon Jones.