A Monthly Speaker Series Featuring Some of Our Neighborhood’s Most Fascinating People

Please note each individual needs to register separately

Stop by  Spices Asian Restaurant (3333 Connecticut Avenue NW) before or after the Talk for a 10% Discount off your Dine-In Bill.

April 18, 2023, 7 pm

Leslie Luxemburg, Singer and Cultural Leader

The Friday Morning Music Club

As part of the event, The Ashton Trio — Laura Benning, flute, Marion Richter, violin, and Valerie Matthews, cello — will perform London Trio #1 by Joseph Haydn and Maombi Asante by Valerie Coleman.

In person at the Cleveland Park Library

Masks strongly encouraged

Free but must register here: https://clevelandwoodleypark.helpfulvillage.com/events/1592

Cleveland Park resident Leslie Luxemburg will present an introduction to The Friday Morning Music Club, founded in 1886. The club is dedicated to presenting classical music, and not just on Fridays. It supports a full orchestra, a chorale, a composer’s group, at-home music groups, and outreach programs to retirement and nursing homes. The Club was one of 5 organizations/individuals to give $5,000 to found the National Symphony Orchestra in 1931.

Leslie spent her entire career as a professional singer, first with the New York City Opera during the Beverly Sills era, subsequently with the Washington National Opera, Wolf Trap Opera and a variety of other local companies. She maintained an active vocal studio for many years. Leslie keeps musically involved as President of the Friday Morning Music Club, a 137 year old Washington institution. She does occasional film and commercial work, and especially enjoys sharing programs of songs she loves in retirement homes and similar group settings.

 

May 9, 2023, 7:00 pm

Joe Alonso

Head Mason. National Cathedral “View from the Top”

In-person at the Cleveland Park Library

Masks strongly encouraged

Free but must register to attend:  https://clevelandwoodleypark.helpfulvillage.com/events/1593

Joe Alonso came to the Cathedral in 1985 as a young journeyman stonemason to work on the final phase of the Cathedral’s construction, the West Towers, with its Gothic arches and intricate tracery. In a ceremony attended by 20,000 people and President George H.W. Bush on September 29, 1990, he set the final stone on the Southwest Tower. It was 83 years to the day that President Teddy Roosevelt set the foundation stone for the Cathedral. Joe became the Cathedral’s Head Mason and worked on the preservation and maintenance of its stone fabric. Joe was one of the first people to enter the Cathedral after the earthquake of August 2011. The extensive damage from that event signaled a return to construction and reconstruction mode, a task that has lasted for nearly 12 years. 

 Joe will give an illustrated brief history of the construction of the Cathedral, including the years of construction, restoration, stone carving, and the earthquake damage and repairs.

Previous Talks

Miss a past event? Check out the previous recordings below.

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