From baroque brilliance to contemporary innovation, each Clarion concert is an adventure. Our Grammy Award-winning artistic director, Melissa White, curates programs that surprise, delight, and move audiences season after season.
On curating the 2025-2026 season…
As I shaped current this season, I found myself reflecting on several intertwined ideas: Clarion’s remarkable legacy; the legacy of Black artistry within classical music vernacular; the emergence of new voices; and my own evolution as artistic director. These threads guided both the spirit and the structure of this current season’s programming.
Each concert will, of course, feature either a work by a Black composer or a Black artist performing on stage. These moments will not be presented in isolation, but in dialogue across generations — bringing legacy and becoming into the same space. Throughout the season, established ensembles will appear alongside emerging ones, honoring mastery while making room for what is newly unfolding.
The repertoire itself will reflect this vision. We will present music that reimagines tradition, expands the canon, and invites audiences to hear familiar forms through a broader and more inclusive lens.
My hope is that the 2025–2026 season feels both rooted and forward-looking — a celebration of Clarion’s near-70-year history and a clear articulation of where we are headed next.
As always, thank you for your support.
~Melissa White, Artistic Director
Robert S. Duncanson (b. 1821 - d. 1872), Landscape with Family by Lake, 1858, oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
