Friday, May 31 | 10-11 am : City Choir + NSO Sound Health Friday
Join us FRIDAY, May 31 at the Skylight Pavilion of The REACH for a pre-concert interactive event focusing on singing and wellness!
Come enjoy some pre-concert entertainment and sing along with members of the City Choir of Washington.
Scroll down to meet Friday morning’s artists.
Singing is good for your health! Have your morning coffee in the uplifting atmosphere of The Reach and join the City Choir of Washington, Erin Freeman, Artistic Director, for an engaging exploration of some of the themes from Mahler’s Symphony No. 7, along with the music of some of Mahler’s British contemporaries, Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Erin will lead singers from City Choir in a brief performance, and through song—including audience singalongs—she will introduce some songs about night, relating to the “nightsong” themes of Mahler 7. Come early to the concert to learn, connect, listen, and even do a bit of singing! Then, head over to the concert hall to hear the NSO’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 7.
City Choir is thrilled to partner with the NSO in this innovative program, part of the NSO’s Sound Health Fridays initiative.
Please click HERE to learn more and register for the free morning sing.
Erin Freeman serves in multiple capacities throughout Washington, DC and Virginia, and maintains a national and international presence through guest conducting engagements. Erin is Artistic Director of the City Choir of Washington and Wintergreen Music, Resident Conductor of the Richmond Ballet, and Director of Choral Studies at the Corcoran School of Art and Design. She led the Richmond Symphony Chorus for 15 years and was also Associate Conductor from 2007-2014. Guest conducting includes the New York City Ballet, the Washington Ballet, Buffalo Philharmonic, Neglia Ballet, Orchestra Symphonique Bel’Arte, South Carolina Philharmonic, Savannah Philharmonic, and the Detroit, Toledo, Portland, Charlottesville, Virginia, and Williamsburg Symphony Orchestras. She has conducted at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Boston Symphony Hall, and La Madeleine in Paris, and was recently named nominee (2021) and finalist (2019) for Performance Today’s Classical Woman of the Year. Freeman holds degrees from Northwestern University, Boston University, and Peabody Conservatory. In 2023-24 Erin is leading ensembles at Wolf Trap, London’s Cadogan Hall, and Vienna’s Musikverein, in addition to several locations in the Nation’s capital. She will be back at the Kennedy Center June 19-21 , leading the 10,000 Dreams Festival with the Washington Ballet, Singapore Ballet, National Ballet of China, Goh Ballet and more, all with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.
Katie Jagielski is director of The City Singers, City Choir's engagement ensemble and Assistant Conductor of the City Choir of Washington. She earned her Bachelor’s of Music Education from Shenandoah University and her Master’s of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from The Catholic University of America. Since 2005, Katie has worked in the area actively as a singer and teacher and has directed choruses and vocal ensembles for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Barbara Ingram School for the Arts, and Charles County Public Schools, and is currently in her eighth year as the Choral Director at Trailside Middle School with Loudoun County Public Schools. Katie has served as the music director for many theatrical productions in Charles and Loudoun County Public Schools, and has helped to create music for many churches in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area.
Heather Adelsberger maintains an active career as a keyboard artist and conductor in the Washington, D.C. area. She holds an undergraduate degree in Piano Performance from the Catholic University of America and a Master of Music in Collaborative Piano from the University of Maryland. Heather currently serves as Director of Music Ministries at Grace Episcopal Church in Silver Spring, MD where she oversees a vibrant, inter-generational music program and concert series. Heather is the Artistic Director of the Georgetown Chorale.
