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Kennedy Center Education Virtual Performances

Engage your students with the arts and artists from Kennedy Center Education through our growing collection of on-demand virtual performances, presentations, and events. 

 

Click “Watch Now” or “Register” for additional information about each performance and to register your school where registration is required. 

National Symphony Orchestra Presto! The Case of the Vanishing Viola

Available Now

Oh no! Elizabeth’s viola is gone. Will our musician friends find it in time for their next big performance? Possibly, with the help of a magician who also pretends to be a detective—and you. Get ready to hear some great music as you solve this magical mystery.

No registration required; recommended for all grades

Icon for closed captioning. 36 Min.

National Symphony Orchestra The String Thing

Available Now

Step right up to this daring double act of classical fun! Bassist Paul DeNola and violinist Heather LeDoux Green take a break from the NSO to introduce young audiences to some of the greatest music ever written. This “silent” comedic tag-team presents a hilarious program of music and mayhem.

No registration required; recommended for all grades

Icon for closed captioning. 34 Min.

Hip-Hop Javier Starks

Available Now

Emcee, songwriter, and poet Javier Starks paves a unique path all his own with 100% curse-free Hip Hop music, showing the world that success can come without negativity. Join Javier in this video concert as he performs original songs with a live band and DJ.

No registration required; recommended for grades 5 and up

Icon for closed captioning.  Icon for American Sign Language. 25 Min.

Jazz Lucy Kalantari & the Jazz Cats in Concert

Available Now

What if supernatural creatures were real and have been walking among us in disguise? What if the days surrounding Halloween are their days to shine just as they are? Find yourself bedazzled by this bewitching video concert.

No registration required; recommended for all grades

Icon for closed captioning. 23 Min.

Interested in more digital resources?

Check out our extensive Digital Resources Library for art-related classroom lessons, media, and activities.

More Free Education Performance/Demonstrations to Explore

Media Understanding Arabic Music

Master musician and composer Simon Shaheen, along with his ensemble Qantara, demonstrates the unique sounds in traditional/classical Arab music.

  • Music
  • World Music
  • Musical Instruments
  • Arabic

Media slamKC

Explore the performances of young slam poets. Musical, lyrical, and provocative, these original spoken word pieces are supported by Hip Hop giants Questlove and Black Thought.

  • Comedy & Performance Art
  • Poetry & Lyrics
  • Young Artists
  • Sensitive Themes

Media Sogolon Puppet Theater

Sogolon is the puppet show and theatrical company created by Yaya Coulibaly in order to perpetrate and promote the Mali puppet tradition. The group's core mission is to contribute to develop and promote the Bamanan-Somono-Bozo puppet show.

  • Animals & Nature
  • Puppetry
  • Africa

Media Tambuco Percussion Ensemble of Mexico

Tambuco is a percussion quartet founded in 1993 by four Mexican musicians. Tambuco’s performances weave music, instruments, and playing techniques from all over the world into a colorful tapestry of sounds, some familiar and some completely new.

  • Music
  • Latin America

Media Andes Manta

The vibrant, energetic music of the Andes region of South America is performed in its most authentic form by Andes Manta, professional musicians and natives of the Ecuadorian Andes.

  • World Music
  • Latin America

Media Hip Hop to da Head

This performance explores the hip hop dance and music movement including beat boxing, breaking, locking, floor work, and top rock.

  • Hip Hop Culture

José Limón Dance Company: The Moor's Pavane

The Limón Dance Company demonstrates what to look for and how to interpret dancers' movements in the graceful and nuanced dramatic performance of The Moor's Pavane, based on an Italian legend—the same story Shakespeare used for his tragedy, Othello.

  • Contemporary Dance
  • Choreographers
  • Shakespeare

Miriam Lambert: Goldilocks & the Three Bears

Irish puppeteer Miriam Lambert presents “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” Lambert has been at the heart of the Irish puppetry industry since her childhood, having grown up with the Lambert Puppet Theatre in Dublin.

  • Puppetry

African Odyssey: Village Ki-Yi M'bock

In 1985 the Cameroonian artist Werewere Liking founded the Village Ki-Yi M'Bock (signifying "ultimate knowledge" in Liking's native Bassa language) in the bustling capital of Côte d' Ivoire.

  • Music
  • Discussion/Spoken Word
  • World Music
  • Africa
  • International

The Fisk Jubilee Singers

The Fisk Jubilee Singers are considered a landmark of Tennessee's artistic heritage and are instrumental in preserving the musical tradition known today as Negro spirituals.

  • Music
  • Young Artists
  • African-American History
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Vocal Concerts
  • Gospel

Sweet Honey in the Rock (Performance / Demonstration)

Join members of internationally renowned a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock and learn how the ensemble uses their collective voice as an instrument along with a variety of percussion instruments.

  • Music
  • African-American History
  • Women in the Arts
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Vocal Concerts
  • Gospel

Allan Harris: Cross That River

Go on a musical journey with Allan Harris and the Cross That River Band as they go back in time and explore America's West during the 19th century.

  • Music
  • History
  • Popular Music
  • Folk Music

Country Music: Styles and Traditions

Through performance, demonstration and discussion with country music Grammy winner Jerry Douglas and musicians Bryan Sutton, Dudley Connell, Sally Love, and Marshall Wilborn, students learn about the history, the styles, and the traditions of this truly American music.

  • Music
  • Discussion/Spoken Word
  • Popular Music
  • Country

Pianists Dr. Billy Taylor & Estela Olevsky

Legendary composer and jazz pianist Dr. Billy Taylor & classical pianist Estela Olevsky performing together at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1998.

  • Music
  • Musical Instruments
  • Jazz
  • Chamber Music

Imani Winds: A Musical Journey

Imani Winds is a woodwind quintet that focuses on illuminating the connection between culture from the African diaspora and the classical music repertoire.

  • Discussion/Spoken Word
  • World Music
  • Musical Instruments
  • Africa
  • Women in the Arts
  • Chamber Music

Time For Three (Lecture / Performance)

Time for Three performs music from Brahms to the Beatles and beyond and demonstrates how engaging music of all genres can be when played with spontaneity, enthusiasm, and technical virtuosity.

  • Music
  • Young Artists
  • Chamber Music

Connections: History & Music (Lecture / Demonstration)

What do Mozart, Marie Antoinette, and Benjamin Franklin have in common? That question and many others will be answered in this fast-paced, multimedia program developed by NSO cellist Yvonne Caruthers

  • Music
  • History
  • Discussion/Spoken Word
  • Chamber Music
  • Musical Instruments

African Odyssey: The Song & Dance Company of Mozambique

Founded in 1979, The Song & Dance Company of Mozambique collects, preserves, and presents arts and artists representing the various ethnic groups of this southern African nation.

  • Music
  • Dance
  • World Music
  • World Dance
  • Africa
  • International

Los Danzaq de Ayacucho: Peruvian Scissor Dancers

Los Danzaq de Ayacucho, a folk ensemble of dancers and musicians from the Central-Southern Andes of Peru, present a breathtaking performance the ancient art form of scissor dancing.

  • Dance
  • Folk Music
  • World Dance
  • Latin America
  • International

Grupo Corpo Brazilian Dance Theater (Performance / Lecture)

Fusing Brazilian spirit with African rhythm and the grace of classical ballet, the company explains and demonstrates these cultural influences and performs excerpts from the company's repertoire

  • Contemporary Dance
  • World Dance
  • Latin America
  • International

Shanghai Song & Dance Ensemble (Demonstration & Performance)

Drawing from various traditional Chinese genres, artistic director Doudou Huang seeks to reinvent Chinese dance, skillfully weaving East and West, old and new, and interpreting history through a modern filter.

  • Dance
  • Discussion/Spoken Word
  • Contemporary Dance
  • World Dance
  • China
  • International

José Limón Dance Company: The Traitor

Limón Dance Company returns to the Kennedy Center with The Traitor, one of modern dance’s most significant works of the 1950s.

  • Contemporary Dance
  • Myths, Legends, & Folktales
  • International

Urban Bush Women: Shadow's Child

The award-winning performance troupe Urban Bush Women and the National Song and Dance Company of Mozambique join together to present a program that demonstrates the rich and complex music and dance of Southeast Africa.

  • Contemporary Dance
  • Africa

Ballet Hispanico: ¡Viva Las Americas!

Ballet Hispanico is a dance company that blends modern, ballet, and Latin dance forms. The mission of the company is to demonstrate the vibrancy of Latin American cultures through dance.

  • Contemporary Dance
  • World Dance
  • Latin America

Jason Moran & The Bandwagon (Performance / Demonstration)

Award-winning pianist, composer, and Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran is known for challenging "the same old thing" in jazz and confronting contemporary audiences' notions about the classic jazz trio.

  • Music
  • Discussion/Spoken Word
  • Young Artists
  • Jazz

Jazz & The New Generation 2 (Performance / Demonstration)

Host Chip Jackson presents an ensemble of young and emerging jazz artists, featuring Crystal Torres (vocals), Matt Marantz (sax), Caley Monahon-Ward (violin), Marcus Gilmore (drums), Philip Kuehn (bass), and Eldar Djangirov (piano).

  • Music
  • Young Artists
  • Jazz

Nnenna Freelon & Harolyn Blackwell: Ellington Voices

Two of today’s top vocalists and an internationally-known composer and pianist explore how classical sounds intertwine with improvisational jazz in the music of Duke Ellington, one of DC’s native sons.

  • Music
  • Vocal Music
  • Women in the Arts
  • Jazz

The Billy Taylor Trio: Cool Jazz with Jimmy Owens

Join legendary jazz pianist, composer and educator Dr. Billy Taylor and his trio (Chip Jackson on bass and Steve Johns on drums) with special guest trumpet/flugelhorn player Jimmy Owens as they explore the Cool style of jazz.

  • Music
  • Discussion/Spoken Word
  • Jazz

The Billy Taylor Trio: What Is Improvisation?

Join legendary jazz pianist, composer and educator Dr. Billy Taylor and his trio as they explore "America's classical music" and answer the question "what is improvisation?"

  • Music
  • Discussion/Spoken Word
  • Jazz

Turtle Island String Quartet

The Turtle Island String Quartet presents an engaging program that explores non-traditional repertoire and musical styles and sounds you would not expect to hear from violin, viola, and cello.

  • Music
  • Musical Instruments
  • Chamber Music

The Billy Taylor Trio: Jazz & The Young Performer

Join legendary jazz pianist, composer and educator Dr. Billy Taylor and his trio with special guest young artists as they explore the process of becoming a jazz performer.

  • Music
  • Discussion/Spoken Word
  • Young Artists
  • Jazz

Dr. Billy Taylor & Estela Olevsky: It's All Music!

Join legendary jazz pianist, composer and educator Dr. Billy Taylor and classical pianist Estela Olevsky as they explore the differences and similarities in jazz and classical piano music.

  • Music
  • Discussion/Spoken Word
  • Jazz
  • Classical Music

The Turtle Island String Quartet: The Art of the Groove

Unconventional musical ensemble The Turtle Island String Quartet presents an engaging program that explores non-traditional repertoire and musical styles you would not expect to hear from violin, viola, and cello.

  • Music
  • Jazz
  • Chamber Music

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Sponsors

Kennedy Center Education

Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;

Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Volkswagen Group of America; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; Wells Fargo; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..

The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.