The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Announces Events in February

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has announced its upcoming events for the month of February.

The Center's Focus on Russia continues with ballet from Mariinsky and Bolshoi, pianist Denis Matsuev playing Rachmaninoff, and concert performances by Mariinsky Opera

Join Bill Conti and the NSO Pops for And the Winner Is...

Nobody knows the music that accompanies the flicker of the film projector better than Oscar and three-time Emmy winner Bill Conti. He has composed cinematic scores to match some of Hollywood's biggest roles and served as Music Director of the Academy Award ceremonies more than a dozen times. Join Conti in a thrilling orchestral salute to Hollywood as he raises his baton to his music for the hit movies Rocky, The Right Stuff, and For Your Eyes Only, as well as classic themes from E.T., the Extraterrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pinocchio, Mary Poppins, Star Wars, and more!

Feb. 11-13 | Concert Hall
 
A fairy tale valentine from Mariinsky Ballet's The Sleeping Beauty

Russia's world-renowned Mariinsky Ballet returns to perform Konstantin Sergeyev's full-length 1952 staging of the beloved fairy tale ballet, The Sleeping Beauty. Sergeyev's choreography follows from the Petipa original but packs more dance into every act, telling the story from evil curse to romantic awakening through big and beautiful movements.

Feb. 9-14 | Opera House

Power and spectacle: Bolshoi Ballet's Spartacus

Bolshoi Ballet performs former director Yuri Grigorovich's Spartacus, a "cinematically paced adventure yarn" (The New York Times) that showcases "a great company at the absolute peak of its form" (The Telegraph).

Feb. 16-21 | Opera House

Matsuev plays Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2

Denis Matsuev, whom The Washington Post calls "an absolute powerhouse of a pianist," performs fellow Russian Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. Conducted by young, rising star Maestro James Gaffigan, the National Symphony Orchestra also plays Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and contemporary Russian composer Lera Auerbach's haunting Requiem for Icarus.

Feb. 18-20 at 7:30 p.m. | Concert Hall

Revel in Alvin Ailey's Revelations

For its annual Kennedy Center engagement, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater presents a week of mixed programs that promise audience favorites as well as new works by today's most inventive choreographers. And to further delight the company's devoted fans, each program features Revelations, Alvin Ailey's "ever-touching" and "enduring megahit" (The Washington Post).

Feb. 2-7 | Opera House

Have a Fortas Valentine's Day

The youthful and energetic East Coast Chamber Orchestra's program covers a wide variety of classical music with works by Purcell, Elgar, Britten, and Villa-Lobos. And capping the performance is Tchaikovsky's lovely Serenade--a fitting end to this Valentine's Day concert.

Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. | Terrace Theater

Fortas Favorite: Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio