Concerts
Our 2026–27 Season
Resonance
20 Years of Light, Memory, and Majesty
This year, the City Choir of Washington embarks on a two-year celebration of our 20 years of music-making, and reflects on some of the key moments that have shaped our evolution.
We salute our Artistic Director Emeritus Robert Shafer with the world premiere of his newly commissioned work, and present the East Coast premiere of Critical Mass by Tarik O’Regan. We celebrate our connection to the music of Mozart by performing his stunning Vesperae solennes de confessore. We honor Maestro Shafer’s direct musical lineage to legendary French pedagogue Nadia Boulanger with a unique pairing of French and American artistry.
We revisit our 2010 performance of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, juxtaposed with the passionate music of Ralph Vaughan Williams. And we present audience favorites by Reena Esmail, Aaron Copland, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, all while introducing a thrilling touch of the unexpected!
Whether you’re a longtime City Choir fan or joining us for the first time, this milestone season promises to deeply resonate, honoring the bedrock of our past while championing the bright future of choral music.
We hope to see you often this season!
A LIVING FOUNDATION: Shafer, O’Regan & Mozart
Featuring
SHAFER: Hymn to God the Father (World Premiere)
O’REGAN: Critical Mass (East Coast Premiere)
MOZART: Vesperae solennes de confessore, K. 339
With: The City Choir of Washington, Soloists from the Wolf Trap Opera Studio, and The City Choir Orchestra
Join us as we celebrate our 20th season by honoring the bedrock of our past and championing the bright future of choral music. The celebration opens with the world premiere of a new commission by our Artistic Director Emeritus, Robert Shafer, followed by the East Coast premiere of Tarik O’Regan’s kaleidoscopic Critical Mass, a work that began as a commission for the coronation of King Charles III.
The concert concludes with the pure, transcendent majesty of Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore, featuring soloists from the Wolf Trap Opera Studio. You won’t want to miss this spectacular concert—the perfect, inspiring launch for our 2026–27 season!
Featured Artists
Getting There / Parking
National Presbyterian Church is on the corner of Nebraska Avenue NW and Van Ness Street, near American University, and features abundant free parking behind the church.
By Metro, the Tenleytown Station on the Red Line is about a ten-minute walk from the church (from the Metro, walk south on Wisconsin and turn right onto Nebraska at Tenley Circle; the church is two blocks from the circle).
From the church’s main entrance, take the stairs or elevator to the third floor to reach the sanctuary for the concert.
A LEGACY OF LIGHT: A Franco-American Journey from Boulanger to Runestad
Featuring
DEBUSSY: Trois Chansons
BARBER: Sure on this Shining Night • Agnus Dei
FAURE: Cantique de Jean Racine
RUNESTAD: The Lighthouse Keeper
GRESHAM: The Young Galileo
FOREST: Lux: the Sun Never Says
LILI BOULANGER: Hymn to the Sun
DUNPHY: Canticum Novum
With: The City Choir of Washington, The City Choir Chamber Singers, and The City Choir Chamber Orchestra
Discover the luminous musical lineage that extends from the legendary studio of French music teacher, conductor and composer Nadia Boulanger to the vanguard of modern American song. We celebrate this enduring inheritance with a radiant program of warmth and hope, joining French masterpieces by Claude Debussy and Lili Boulanger with powerful American works by Samuel Barber, Jake Runestad, and Melissa Dunphy. From timeless classics to brilliant contemporary voices, this concert will chase away the winter chill and fill your January with transcendent inspiration.
Getting There / Parking
The Church of the Epiphany is located in downtown DC, a half a block from the Metro Center Station on the Red, Orange, Silver and Blue Lines; from the G Street and 13th Street exit, on the southeast corner of G and 13th, cross to the northwest corner and walk a half block west to the church.
Metered street parking in DC is typically free on Sunday (but be sure to read all posted signs), and there is a parking garage to the immediate left of the church, at 1325 G Street.
PARTY WITH A PURPOSE: Our Annual Benefit and Party
Our Annual Benefit and Party
Our high-spirited annual benefit party bubbles with creativity, mixing good food and drink, good music and good people together with prizes and surprises, and a chance to widen our circle of friends.
Plan to join us for a memorable evening in support of the City Choir and all its activities. Don’t wait too long to get your tickets, though – they’re a bargain, and this event is expected to sell out!
Getting There / Parking
Conveniently located a mile inside the Beltway on Connecticut Avenue, the Woman’s Club is a terrific spot for a party, with great facilities and ample free parking on-site.
A VOYAGE OF THE SOUL: Music of Beethoven and Vaughan Williams
Featuring
BEETHOVEN: Choral Fantasy
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: A Sea Symphony
With: The City Choir of Washington, The Washington National Opera Orchestra, Vocal Soloists from the UMD Faculty, and the UMD student Winner of UMD/City Choir Beethoven piano competition
Experience the sheer scale of true choral majesty at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s largest concert space, the spectacular Dekelboum Concert Hall, with a performance featuring two masterpieces that redefined the limits of the art form. The journey begins with Beethoven’s innovative Choral Fantasy, a visionary fusion of solo piano, orchestra, and chorus that proclaims the unifying, transcendent power of the arts and community.
This boundary-breaking work paved the way for Ralph Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony—a dramatic tale of human exploration and the infinite ocean. Featuring musicians from the University of Maryland School of Music and the Washington National Opera Orchestra, this concert will transport you on an unforgettable voyage of the soul.
The Dekelboum Concert Hall at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
Getting There / Parking
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is at 8270 Alumni Drive in College Park, MD, on the University of Maryland campus near the intersection of University Boulevard and Stadium Drive.
Weekend parking is free in Parking Lots 1B and Z, located just beyond The Clarice on Alumni Drive.
QUEEN FOR THE NIGHT: From Whitacre to Mercury
Featuring
Selections by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Eric Whitacre, Reena Esmail, Imant Raminsh and Jake Runestad
TOLGA KASHIF: Queen Symphony
With: The City Choir of Washington and the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra
Our milestone 20th season continues with a spectacular, genre-defying performance that combines the ethereal beauty of classical choral music and the epic power of rock royalty. Artistic Director Erin Freeman takes the podium for a spellbinding first half, conducting an atmospheric selection of “music of the night” for chorus and solo cello with works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Eric Whitacre, Reena Esmail, Imant Raminsh, and Jake Runestad.
The energy then rebounds as we partner with the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra to present Tolga Kashif’s magnificent Queen Symphony—a sweeping, orchestral tribute to Freddie Mercury and Queen, led by MCYO Artistic Director Kristofer Sanz. We will (we will) rock you!
Getting There / Parking
Parking for the Strathmore Music Center Concert Hall is located in the adjacent Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro Garage, just off Tuckerman Lane. Sunday parking is free. Take the stairs or elevator to the 4th level and walk across the sky bridge to the Music Center’s main entrance.
The Metro Garage is also adjacent to the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro Station, on the Red Line. Follow the walkway from the Metro station to the left entrance of the garage. Take the stairs or elevator to the 4th level and walk across the sky bridge to the Music Center’s main entrance.
ECHOES FROM THE WALL: Honor, Remembrance and Unity
Featuring
TIBERIO: The Wall
Selections by Barber, Copland, and more
With: The City Choir of Washington and additional artists to be announced
The City Choir honors Memorial Day at the beautiful Schlesinger Concert Hall with a special, free admission concert dedicated to remembrance, reflection, and unity. The afternoon features Albert Tiberio’s evocative The Wall—a stirring tribute to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for narrator, soloists, and orchestra—alongside moving American classics by Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, and more.
Join us for this powerful tribute to those who serve, and for an inspiring final community sing-along for the entire audience. (Further details forthcoming.)
Getting There / Parking
Free parking on Sunday is available directly across Campus Drive from the Schlesinger Concert Hall in the Beauregard Street Parking Garage.
The Schlesinger Concert Hall is not only easily accessed from Northern Virginia, but is also an easy 15-minute drive from DC – take the 14th Street Bridge across the Potomac onto I-395, and after about five miles take exit 5 onto King Street/Route 7 West. Follow Route 7 for about a half mile, and turn left onto N. Beauregard Street, then after about a quarter mile turn right onto Campus Drive. The garage will be on your left, and the Schlesinger Concert Hall will be on your right.