Enriching Washington’s musical scene
Washington D.C. boasts one of the more robust classical music scenes in the country: we’re expanding it even further, programming works of unusual sizes, some unexpected combinations, and several under-explored composers. Be sure to check our performance pages for information about our upcoming concerts in February 2025, as well as information about donating.
Announcing our 2026 Festival: The Majesty of Finland
Our 2026 festival, the fifth we’ve produced, is dedicated entirely to works by Finnish composers. Despite having a population around the size of South Carolina, Finland has produced an outsized number of the 20th and 21st centuries most important classical musicians, including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kaija Saariaho, Osmo Vänskä, Susanna Mälkki, and Jean Sibelius, among many others. Over the course of three performances at Westmoreland UCC and three salon concerts, we will explore the role music plays in Finland’s cultural identity, and which attributes unite these remarkable compositions together. We will feature cultural mainstays like Sibelius’ 7th Symphony and tone poem Luonnotar alongside compelling but lesser-heard works, including Einojuhani Rautavaara’s stirring all a cappella Vigilia and Kaija Saariaho’s scintilating Quatre Instants.
More information about these performances is coming soon: please check back on this website to learn more about our concerts in January and February 2026.
Our Past Festivals
Each year, we devote time and thought to crafting unique programs centered around a specific theme. Please read more about our past four festivals below
Ravel, painted by Tanya Qu (2024)
Our 2025 Festival: Maurice Ravel’s France
Our 2025 festival was dedicated to the French composer Maurice Ravel, whose 150th birthday falls in March, 2025. Perhaps best remembered for his ubiquitous Boléro, Ravel unique and fastidious approach to harmony, orchestration, and form embody a particular time and place unlike any other. Over three concerts at Westmoreland UCC, we will explore not only some of Ravel’s lesser known works, but also the composers who surrounded him, both the famous and lesser-known. These concerts will explore not only who Ravel was a composer, but what factors shaped the environment in which he lived and worked, including international influences, and the remarkable success of women composers in early 20th century France. We invite you to read more about this immediately past festival by clicking below.
Performances
Read about our past series of three festivals in 2019, 2020, and 2024
About Us
Learn more about the festival as well as our director, Andrew Jonathan Welch, and our associate directors Laura Choi Stuart and Collin Power.