Kept Under Glass: Unheard Women’s Voices

Metaphoric titles and COVID-19 reality collide this week at Kept Under Glass, an unconventional concert series at The Corner at Whitman-Walker Clinic on 14th Street NW. Three singers will each appear in bay windows between R and Riggs streets NW, singing live, but with their voices pumped through speakers to socially distanced listeners on the sidewalk. The repertoire? All music written by women hailing from what is now Germany and Austria, composers whose work has been “kept under glass” compared to males like Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart. The concert was spearheaded by the Goethe-Institut, which works to promote German language and culture, with contributions from three other area arts organizations: The Austrian Cultural Forum, IN Series Opera Theatre, and Spooky Action Theatre. Singers Teresa Ferrara, Gayssie Lugo, and Melissa Wimbish will begin with music by 12th century abbess Hildegard von Bingen, and wind their way to the 20th century. As they sing, D.C. theater design artist Jared Mezzocchi will beam projections onto the venue’s white walls. Two 30-minute performances are scheduled each night, giving sidewalk audiences four chances before the singers bid their glass cages adieu. The performances are at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. on May 5 and 6 at 1701 14th St. NW. More information is available at goethe.de. Free.