A professional choir and orchestra hopes to hit the right note as it debuts at an Alexandria venue this week.
The Thirteen will open its fifteenth season, titled “In Our Time,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16 at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall (4915 E. Campus Drive). The same show will follow in D.C. and Bethesda, Md. on Saturday, Oct. 17 and Sunday, Oct. 18, respectively.
A spokesperson said this is the musical group’s first performance in Alexandria and that it received funding from a city grant. One of the choir members — Hannah Baslee — is also an Alexandria resident.
The show features Johannes Brahms’ “Ein deutsches Requiem” and Margaret Bonds’ “Credo” with artistic director and conductor Matthew Robertson, pianists Brian Ganz and Eric Conway and soloists Edmund Milly and Andréa Walker. The latter composition sets music to W.E.B. Du Bois’ 1904 poem on racial equality, dignity and hope.
“Brahms and Bonds wrote in different centuries and from very different experiences, but both works are grounded in hope,” Matthew Robertson said. “Brahms wrote a Requiem for the living, offering consolation to those who grieve. Bonds and Du Bois insist on the dignity and equality of human beings and on the possibility of a more just world.”
Robertson founded The Thirteen in 2012 with a vision of having 12 musicians and one conductor, but today its numbers can range from five to 50. The Thirteen’s upcoming season will also include a Nov. 13 “Reincarnations” performance and Feb. 5, 2027 “Path of Miracles” performance at Alexandria’s Virginia Theological Seminary (3737 Seminary Road), as well as “US in Our Time” on April 30, 2027 at Trinity United Methodist Church (2911 Cameron Mills Road).
Individual performance tickets and season subscriptions are available. The group is offering a new Kids Come Free initiative to provide a free children’s ticket for ages 5 to 17 when purchased with each adult ticket.
