Fourteen Alexandria artists and groups have received nominations in a program recognizing musical talent across the D.C. area.
Alexandria’s nominees for the 37th Annual Wammie Music Awards represent several genres, from funk and folk and hip-hop and pop. The voting period for the 2026 awards is now open and will run through Jan. 15, ahead of the March 28 awards show in D.C.
The Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center is holding a free concert Thursday night (Oct. 23) with music created by youth residents.
The event is the culmination of three days of workshops with the nonprofit Sound Impact, and will be held at the NVJCD (200 S. Whiting Street) from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Grammy winner Macy Gray is performing her greatest hits at The Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria next month, and spoke with ALXnow for a few minutes.
Gray is performing across the country this and next month on the final leg of an international tour marking the 25-year anniversary of the release of her hit album “On How Life Is”. The Nov. 4 concert is her second appearance performing in Alexandria, after she sang at The Birchmere in 2023, and she says she’ll be performing the entire album, plus a few covers and new songs.
The Alexandria Choral Society is collaborating with the Alexandria Children’s Chorus later this month for a concert that invites audiences to listen “with your heart, mind, and spirit.”
The “Do You Hear What I Hear” concert will explore sound and silent spaces in musical pieces such as “The Sound of Silence” and “Ain’t No Grave” at Westminster Presbyterian Church (2701 Cameron Mills Road). The concert will be held on Sunday, Oct. 26, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Two Alexandria-based choruses have qualified to perform in the Barbershop Harmony Society’s international competition next year in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Alexandria A Cappella Collective’s choruses, the Harmonizers and Metro Voices, recently competed at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Mid-Atlantic District Competition in Cape May, New Jersey, qualifying to compete at the event, which will take place from June 28 to July 6.
A popular open mic night in Del Ray is celebrating its third anniversary next Wednesday (Sept. 17).
Greg Roth and Gabe Fry started the What-Have-You open mic at Evening Star Cafe (2000 Mount Vernon Avenue) in September 2022, and since then — with the exception of January — have hosted the event from 8:30 to 11 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. Next Wednesday’s event has a numbers, acronyms, and abbreviations theme, with musicians asked to perform hits from bands like R.E.M., AC/DC, INXS, and the B-52s, among others.
A Del Ray musician will premiere his latest musical next month in Bethesda, Maryland.
Neal Learner’s “French Cupcakes” will be performed Oct 10-12 and 17-19 at the Bethesda Writers’ Center (4508 Walsh Street). The Bethesda Little Theater is producing the play, which features a cast of 15 actors who tell the story of a legendary cafe similar to one in Learner’s college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
A Grammy-nominated quartet will perform this month at Virginia Theological Seminary.
The New York Polyphony will sing at a free concert at VTS’s Immanuel Chapel (3737 Seminary Road) at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
Get ready to dance, because the third annual Wilderness Kids Alexandria Music Festival is around the corner.
The free family-friendly event will be held Sunday, Sept. 28, from 12 to 5 p.m., at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square (2311 Mount Vernon Avenue). Local bands the MAYSUNS, the Derds (Del Ray Dads), Beachface, and Czars of Leisure will perform, and the fundraising event includes raffles, craft-making, and lawn games.
Get your tickets now, because the Alexandria Choral Society just announced its 2025-26 season.
It’s the 55th season for the ACS, and the five performances in this year’s program are being held at venues across the city. Season tickets cost $125, and individual event tickets are suggested $30 apiece.
Not long ago, Bruce Anderson and a handful of his boyhood friends from Alexandria decided to give back with a free community cookout.
The event was a bigger hit than the group anticipated, with hundreds of people showing up to the Nannie J Lee Memorial Recreation Center (1108 Jefferson Street). Now in its third year, the Southside Community Fest features free food, live musical performances, a DJ, special guest speakers, and more.
