'Duke Ellington' in free concert, Feb. 4, St. John's, Lafayette Square

Lena Seikaly by Leah Appel

Just in time for Valentine's Day, jazz vocalist Lena Seikaly and the Dan Dufford Trio will play some of Duke Ellington's works at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square on Wednesday in a free noon concert.

On the program are Ellington's "Azure," "Heaven," and "Tell Me It's The Truth"; "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing" by Billy Strayhorn; "Blue Moon" by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart; and "God Bless The Child" by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr.

Ms. Seikaly, a native of Falls Church, Virginia, who began her training at age four, is "one of Washington's preeminent jazz singers," according to the  Washington Post.  She has performed around the world, including, locally, at the Kennedy Center, Strathmore, and Blues Alley.

Assisting Ms. Seikaly will be Blake Meister on bass, Andrew Hare on drums, and Mr. Dufford on the keyboard.

St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

St. John's, known to many Washington residents as the yellow church at Lafayette Square, is often called the “Church of the Presidents.” Beginning with President James Madison, who was president from 1809 to 1817, every president has been a member of St. John's or has attended services at the church. A plaque at the rear of St. John's designates the pew where President Abraham Lincoln often sat when he stopped by the church during the Civil War.

All concerts start at 12:10 p.m. (with an exception in April), and last about 35 minutes. Food trucks are located at Farragut Square, two blocks away, for those on lunch break.

Who:  Lena Seikaly and the Dan Dufford Trio play Duke Ellington + Friends

What: First Wednesday Concerts

When: 12:10 p.m., February 4, 2015

Where: St. John’s, Lafayette Square, 1525 H Street, NW, at the corner of 16^th, Washington, D.C. 20005

How much: No charge

Duration: About 35 minutes

Wheelchair accessible

Metro stations: McPherson Square (White House exit), Farragut North, or Farragut West

For more information: Contact Michael Lodico, St. John's associate organist and choir director, at 202-270-6265 or 202-347-8766

Future dates and artists of the First Wednesday Concerts are:

March 4: Jared Denhard, bagpiper, assisted by Michael Lodico, St. John's organist and choirmaster, performing Pipes and More Pipes

April 19 (Sunday), 4 p.m.: Spring Concert by St. John's Choir

May 6: The U.S. Air Force Strings accompanied by Benjamin Hutto performing a Handel organ concerto and other pieces

June 3: Benjamin Straley, organist at the Washington National Cathedral


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Skies light up after timpanist plays at the Kennedy Center

At the Kennedy Center guests who attend performances by the National Symphony Orchestra see and hear shows indoors and out/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At intermission Tuesday night, guests attending the National Symphony Orchestra performance streamed out onto the veranda at the Kennedy Center to catch a breath of fresh air, to sip beverages, admire the scenery, and praise the performance of timpanist Jauvon Gilliam who had just finished, in vigorous fashion, Timpani Concerto No. 1, "The Olympian," by James Oliverio (b. 1956).

Jauvon Gilliam/Photo from blogs.Kennedy-Center.org

At the conclusion of the piece moments earlier in the Concert Hall, the composer came up on stage and joined Mr. Gilliam and guest conductor Thomas Wilkins to receive enthusiastic applause and shouts of "Bravo!" from the audience.

Mr. Gilliam, the NSO's principal timpanist and also guest principal timpanist for the Budapest Festival Orchestra, had pounded the eight kettledrums which encircled him at the front of the stage, swirling in his chair and making music with what seemed like four hands.  He waved his sticks like a juggler tossing flames, with arms that sometimes flashed behind him.

The combinations of jazz, dance, Duke Ellington, and George Gershwin made for a spectacular presentation in the inauguration of the NSO's series "New Moves:  symphony + dance," the latter expertly supplied by members of Katie Smythe's New Ballet Ensemble from Memphis. 

Now in its eleventh year, the New Ballet comprises children from different social and economic backgrounds, those who cannot afford to pay for dance training and those who can, to learn professional dance on their way to stage careers.  Several alums have already made it up.

Thomas Wilkins, conductor of the Omaha National Symphony and principal guest conductor for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, had no trouble leading the NSO. Indeed, every time he turned around to face the audience, a broad smile brightened his face.

Thomas Wilkins/Photo from the Omaha Symphony Orchestra

Selections from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin (1898-1937) with arrangement by Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981) got the show off to a stellar start, leading me to wonder if the best was saved for first, but it was an introduction to all the evening's finery which lay ahead, including the fantastic Martin Luther King from a ballet composition, Three Black Kings by Duke Ellington (1899-1974) and arranged by Luther Henderson (1919-2003). Ellington died before he finished Kings, and his son, Mercer, completed the piece. 

(Up against the night's competition, Souvenirs, Op. 28 by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) was a trifle uninteresting.)

All this served to build anticipation for the night's climax, the debut of Ellington's Harlem ballet, commissioned by the NSO and the Kennedy Center.

New Ballet Ensemble dance Harlem with the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts/Photo by Scott Suchman

Dressed in Sunday clothes for Harlem's streets (except for one lass wearing a long dress who may have just stepped off the train from Kansas), the young performers exuded confidence and grace that belied their years and made viewers aware of their futures as career performers.

The choreography had some gaps, namely, the frequent freezes-in-positions which left the majority of the nine dancers stationary and motionless while one, two, or three colleagues twirled around them.  The ballet was far more enjoyable when all nine danced, like the old-fashioned way.

I wondered what a Porgy and Bess ballet would be like and discovered the Dallas Black Dance Theatre brought it to the Kennedy Center in 1998.

The combination dance and music series continues this weekend with compositions by John Adams and Aaron Copland and performances by violinist Leila Josefowicz and Jessica Lang's Dance Company.

This summer will find Maestro Wilkins, a Norfolk, Virginia native, in the area again when he conducts the NSO at Wolf Trap August 2 with guest artist, Yo-Yo Ma.  At last check, only lawn spaces remained.  Take your back brace.

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