On September 10, 2021, National Symphony Orchestra will present “Concert of Remembrance,” in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and in tribute of those who have served on the front lines during the pandemic.
Conducted by NSO music director Gianandrea Noseda, the concert will feature “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, along with acclaimed mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard. The program will feature songs by Leonard Bernstein, William Grant Still, Kennedy Center’s new Composer-in-Residence Carlos Simon, Aaron Copland, and more. There will be representatives and guests from Washington, and remarks from notable participants.
The concert will also see the word premiere of James Lee III’s “An Engraved American Mourning,” a new work commissioned by the NSO and inspired by a quote made by former President George W. Bush in 2011.
The performance will be free to attend, with tickets being reserved on a first-come first-served basis. The Kennedy Center will require all audience members to be fully vaccinated, with children under 12, patrons with medical conditions or religious beliefs that prevent vaccination being required to provide a negative PCR COVID-19 test result to be allowed inside. Masks will be required for all visitors regardless of vaccination status.