History of Music at Dumbarton Oaks

Layale Chaker blends musical techniques and disciplines to record memories and tell stories

2022 is the 75th anniversary of the music program at Dumbarton Oaks

David Crowell reflects on a virtual residency of composing, teaching, and connecting

David Crowell evokes ecological beauty with a new string quartet

Jessie Montgomery brings Black history to the operatic stage

Daniel Boomhower discusses the 1950 premieres of two compositions by Samuel Barber, and the links between Dumbarton Oaks and the New York Metropolitan Opera

Viet Cuong gives a behind-the-scenes look at the premiere of an unconventional piece

Viet Cuong makes relatable the seemingly magical process of composing music

Robyn Bollinger revives the macabre Paganini, “The Hot Canary,” and other touchstones of an indulgent musical tradition

April 30, 2020

Robyn Bollinger reflects on researching the history of musical dessert

Rising star violinist breaks down barriers to classical music

The annual Music at Dumbarton Oaks concert series returns this fall with an impressive season of performances.

For the first time ever, single-concert tickets are available for the Music at Dumbarton Oaks concert series, coinciding with an especially exciting season of performances

Third recipient of Early-Career Musician Residency

Established in 1946 as the Friends of Music, the concert program presents some of the most celebrated and promising musicians to Georgetown in the splendor of the Blisses’ former estate.

The Dover Quartet Performs at Dumbarton Oaks

Dumbarton Oaks’ mission to foster original research and publication in humanistic studies has found a parallel expression in the Friends of Music commissions and performances of contemporary music.

Many famous or soon-to-be famous musicians performed at Dumbarton Oaks over the years, and several have reminisced fondly about their concertizing there, in both the residential and institutional periods.

The Blisses ensured that music was given proper space in their homes, a commitment that was enhanced through their sponsorship of musicians and the commissioning of new works. Dumbarton Oaks continues this commitment through a concert series and commissioning new works from early-career musicians.

Jan Ziolkowski’s Welcome to a Concert by the Dover Quartet, with the World Premiere of Caroline Shaw’s Plan & Elevation (The Grounds of Dumbarton Oaks)

Mildred Barnes Bliss was an enthusiastic patron of the Musical Art Quartet. She supported the string quartet from soon after its inception in 1926 until it disbanded in 1944. The quartet performed in the Music Room each year between 1941 and 1944, and it was largely due to the success of these performances that Dumbarton Oaks decided to inaugurate a Friends of Music concert series in 1946.

Caroline Shaw at Dumbarton Oaks

James N. Carder (May 2015)

Kitka | December 7 and 8, 2014

Caroline Adelaide Shaw