Concerts From the Freer Gallery Tickets

They were great as always. The venue has great acoustics and the performances maximize that attribute.

Schubert, China Song, Bartok, Beethoven. This was a great performance by truly professional musicians. I don't remember the Schubert very well but the Chin Song consisted of three Chinese songs adapted to Western instruments. Most memorable to me was the Lullaby. Bartok uses Hungarian folk music in his piece and while you didn't notice it so much, except for string plucking, it was really great. The Beethoven piece was just great. I kept thinking the notes are so varied, almost uncontrolled, yet it sounded completely harmonious and mellifluous. If I could tell you one thing about this show and all these shows, is that it's unbelievable how great, and totally professional, they are, for almost no cost.

The Bardic Divas: Women's Songs from Kazakhstan was great. There were three women singers, and each played a stringed instrument. They were incredible. Commanding and joyful were the words that came to my mind. Thankfully, there were translations of the songs on a large screen. However, I think for a few songs there were no translations, and that was disappointing. But to my recollection, it's rare to have translations, so it was a most desirable treat. And as far as I know, these translations were line by line, complete translations. But the main thing was these three women's singing and stringed instrument playing. It was so powerful yet touching, deeply moving but never overwhelming. I can't describe it.

he is a powerful, commanding pianist. he wasn't even the principal in the concerts but dominates anyway.

amazing skill, great vision, beautiful performance!

I joined it fully. The instument was like part of his body. He is such a master. Unforgetable.

This concert was great and if it happens again, I will participate.

Music is heavenly, his skill and technique are unmatched.

Beautiful music and an amazing performance. Kayvan moves his hands with passion and dedication shows through with every note. My only wish is that there was a screen that would show his hands up close while he played.

Monika is simply amazing. Her beautiful voice gives such life and depth both to Iranian folk songs and to the popular songs of the pre-revolution decades. She has improved her arrangements to bring out more of the subtleties and the hidden beauties of the music and the words.

We enjoyed the performance very much. She is amazing.

It was amazing ! her voice is beautiful,the lyrics are amazing and peaceful and lovely,the traditional music is great.............and the combination is phenomena.

Monika Jalili has an amazing voice and it just gets better and better as the performance continues.

Monika Jalili was great. She trained in Western classical music and has an amazing voice. It was great to hear old Persian songs and Iranian folk songs sung with an American accent and with her classical voice. Her repertoire included very popular Iranian songs from the 1940's through 70's, as well as Iranian folktunes in Persian and Iranian regional languages. It was a bit annoying that she kept introducing her ensemble members, but they were great and added a lot of flavor to the concert.

Smithsonian venue great...only charged handling fees so ticket $5. Meyer auditorium very close to Metro. Enjoyed music very much...they explained music before each piece and one piece with clever video accompaniment. Wonderful evening for this out-of-town visitor!

Calefax Reed Quintet was amazing! It was great to be introduced to new composers (Noncarrow), and to hear their own wonderful arrangements of classical pieces. Beautifully played and the short videos were a great addition.

The Calefax Reed Quintet are excellent musicians with a desire to entertain. The "studies" of melodies and choice of non-mainstream works provided for a different but pleasing experience.

Great, very diverse from classical to contemporary

Highly enjoyed the Korean and Jazz fusion, which bridged the old and new world of music in many ways. Hope to see more performances like this!

Brought back memories of living in Korea and a good blending with Jazz!