AMS Lecture: “Music, Disputes, and the Silent Western: The Yaqui (1916),” Mariana Whitmer, PhD
Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
James Madison Building, Mumford Room
101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540
Reserve Tickets Here
Mariana Whitmer speaks at the Library as part of the long-running series of American Musicological Society lectures hosted by the Music Division. Whitmer's talk will use the scenario cue sheets created by Max Winkler and Ernst Luz, part of the Music Division’s collection, to discuss the musical representation of "the West" in silent films. The program includes works by Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Henry Cwell, Ruth Crawford, David Diamond, George Walker, and Vivian Fine.
Part of the Library’s commemoration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
An Evening with Composer John Adams and the Washington National Opera
Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
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John Adams is the guest of honor at a special event celebrating the John Adams Papers at the Library and previewing Washington National Opera’s (WNO) upcoming production of "Nixon in China." The evening will include an interview with Adams and a panel discussion with members of the cast and artistic team for Nixon.
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Musicians from the Teatro Real of Spain
Monday, October 19, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
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Musicians from the Teatro Real of Spain present a program in commemoration of America's semiquincentennial, featuring Antonín Dvořák's Quartet no. 12, op. 96, "American" and Amy Beach's String Quartet. The Teatro Real is considered the leading institution of the performing arts in Spain, the foremost national opera house and one of the most important Spanish cultural institutions.
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“The President’s Own” United States Marine Band Chamber Orchestra
Wednesday, October 21, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
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Drawing on the Library’s collection, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band Chamber Orchestra presents a survey of American music for chamber orchestra as part of the Library’s America 250 celebration. The program includes works by Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Henry Cwell, Ruth Crawford, David Diamond, George Walker, and Vivian Fine.
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Founder's Day: Attacca String Quartet
Friday, October 30, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
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Grammy Award–winning Attacca Quartet presents a program featuring the Washington, D.C. premiere of John Adams’s most recent string quartet "Iron Jig," co-commissioned by the Library of Congress and dedicated to the memory of former Music Division Chief Susan Vita.
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Live! At the Library: Edmar Castañeda, harp
Thursday, November 5, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
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Colombian-born Edmar Castañeda has emerged as the preeminent virtuoso of the jazz harp. With a singular technique that seamlessly blends bass lines, harmony, and melody, Castañeda brings unbridled attention to an instrument rarely heard in jazz, expanding its expressive possibilities.
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Lecture: "Miles Davis at 100," Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr, PhD
Friday, November 6, 2026, 6:30 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Whittall Pavilion
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
No Tickets Required
Join the Music Division for a lecture celebrating Miles Davis at 100 with acclaimed music historian, pianist, composer, and University of Pennsylvania Professor Emeritus Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr.
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Unlimited Miles: John Beasley's Miles Davis at 100
Friday, November 6, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
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The Library of Congress celebrates the all-time giant trumpet player, composer, bandleader, painter, and cultural icon, Miles Davis, with a performance led by Davis’s one-time collaborator John Beasley.
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Study Day: Miles Davis at 100
Saturday, November 7, 2026, 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
James Madison Building, Mumford Room
101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540
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Spend a day exploring the legacy of Miles Davis. This five-part study day, featuring collection displays, panel discussions, a film and lectures, offers audiences the opportunity to discover, listen, learn and reflect on the transformative legacy of an artist who revolutionized not only music, but also art.
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Anthony Roth Costanzo on “Countertenor”
Monday, November 9, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
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Grammy-winning countertenor and President and General Director of Opera Philadelphia Anthony Roth Constanzo comes to the Library for a special event that will include a short recital and intimate conversation about his new book "Countertenor," which highlights his celebrated international career as well as his innovative approach to opera.
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Bennewitz Quartet with Arsentiy Kharitonov
Friday, November 13, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
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The Bennewitz Quartet is joined by pianist Arsentiy Kharitonov for an evening of music by Medtner, Suk and Dvořák.
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Live! At the Library: Sistastrings
Thursday, November 19, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
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Sister duo Sistastrings, featuring Chauntee and Monique Ross, return to the Library of Congress to perform on the Library’s Stradivari instruments, featuring the world premiere of Larissa Maestro's McKim Fund commission. The duo appeared in the Gershwin Prize concert honoring Joni Mitchell and performed the national anthem with Brandi Carlile at Superbowl LX.
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Graindelavoix
Friday, November 20, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Great Hall
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
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Belgian period vocal ensemble Graindelavoix presents a bespoke program highlighting the Laborde Chansonnier and other treasures from the Music Division’s Renaissance collections.
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AMS Lecture: “John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls and 9/11 Memorialization,” Abigail Shupe, PhD
Tuesday, December 1, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
James Madison Building, Mumford Room 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540
Reserve Tickets Here
Abigail Shupe speaks at the Library as part of the long-running series of American Musicological Society lectures hosted by the Music Division. Shupe's talk focuses on interpretational challenges related to John Adams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning "On the Transmigration of Souls," written in response to September 11, 2001.
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Live! At the Library: Lizz Wright
Thursday, December 10, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
Reserve Tickets Here
Acclaimed vocalist and songwriter Lizz Wright brings a powerful and soulful voice to the Coolidge stage, offering a reflection of America’s rich cultural fabric. With her newest duo project, Nearness, Wright celebrates her more than two-decade musical collaboration with pianist Kenny Banks Sr.
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Ensemble Correspondances
Friday, December 11, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
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Ensemble Correspondances, led by Sébastien Daucé and featuring mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot, returns to the Library with a program selected from J.S. Bach’s earliest cantatas, composed during his brief appointment at Mühlhausen.
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Stradivari Anniversary: Brentano Quartet with Hsin-Yun Huang
Friday, December 18, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 19, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
10 First Street SE. Washington DC 20540
Reserve Tickets Here for December 18
Reserve Tickets Here for December 19
The Brentano Quartet (joined by violist Hsin-Yun Huang) performs two of Beethoven’s middle quartets and Mozart’s Quintet in C Major, whose manuscript is one of the Music Division’s treasures. The artists will perform on four of the Library’s original Whittall Stradivari instruments, as well as the recently acquired 1690 Fulton, ex-Baird, Tuscan-Medici Stradivari viola.
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Etix
RUSH Passes
Guests without assigned seats are welcome to attend, space permitting, and may register for a numbered RUSH pass upon arrival. Guests with RUSH passes will be seated five minutes before showtime, pending availability of unclaimed seats. Advance registrants who arrive after that time will be seated at the discretion of the House Manager space permitting. RUSH pass distribution starts two hours prior to the concert.
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