The Bernstein Experience

Michael Barrett, music director; Julia Bullock, soprano; Amy Owens, soprano; Amanda Lynn Bottoms, mezzo soprano; Joshua Blue, tenor; Adrian Rosas, bass-baritone

The Library’s vast Leonard Bernstein Collection provides the world’s best vantage point to contemplate the career of this extraordinary man: composer, conductor, pianist, educator, and humanitarian. We see Bernstein as social observer, revealed in three major stage works. His musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue portrays sharp racial divides over 100 years of White House history. The operas Trouble in Tahiti and A Quiet Place paint a vision of a family’s struggles—and offer a glimpse of reconciliation. There will also be moments of discovery, with a few extraordinarily rare, still-unknown songs you won’t hear anywhere else.