Seein’ the DMV: Concerts and National Aquarium

Two Concerts

I don’t normally post about musical concerts I attend because I don’t like to write reviews. However, I’m going to spend a little time touching on three concerts I attended in July, but the bulk of the post will cover my second visit to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

Since my return to the DMV, I have taken as much advantage as I can of the stage events offered here. This summer, this has included concerts from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Summerfest schedule–an all-George Gershwin program and movie music by John Williams, plus the performance of Carl Orff”s Carmina Burana, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, soloists, Choral Arts Society of Washington and the Children’s Chorus of Washington.

The Gershwin concert started what was a very busy week on Sunday, July 20. The program included his Cuban Overture, excerpts from the opera Porgy and Bess, Rhapsody in Blue, and American in Paris. The BSO performance I attended was in The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland. Over my many visits, I’ve become pretty familiar with the better ways to negotiate my way around its facilities–though they really could use a second elevator to access the several levels–and parking and can usually do so successfully.

The real challenge is the drive from my place to the hall. I allow 1 1/2-hours to account for the Beltway rush hour traffic, which seems to be a constant no matter what day of the week or time of day. However, the performance experience is worth it every time.

On the following Friday, I ventured to the Filene Center at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia. Surprisingly to me, I haven’t been to Wolf Trap since one of my sisters and I went to hear soprano Leontyne Price give a recital there in 1979. I was too focused on Ms. Price’s performance to notice much about the hall, other than the door near the right side of the stage where my sister and I were allowed to enter after the recital and meet Ms. Price.

Anyway, back to the present. I didn’t realize that Wolf Trap was part of the National Park Service and automatically pull out my phone to snap a picture of the sign–a momentary thing with all the cars trying to get to the venue.There was an entire lot designated for handicap parking, but I still barely got one with all of the cars trying to secure a space. Additionally, the entry to the hall from that lot was an incredibly short walk. My only concerns, since the strong summer storm had ended in plenty of time to have no effect on the concert, were that I initially felt a long way from the stage and too close to the lawn sitters who took a while to quiet down. The sound guy made some adjustments in the system to handle the first, and I’ll get a seat closer to the stage next time to address the second.

Orff’s work is one of the few times I know of when the male voices–both the baritone soloist and the chorus–are so prominent. I pull out my personal copy of Carmina Burana just so I can here Sherrill Milnes and the men, especially on “O fortuna”–show their stuff. This leads to why I don’t write reviews. My ear and experience as a musician are my own, so I don’t press them upon others. I know what I like and what I don’t. As for this performance, I’ll simply say that I enjoyed it very much.

Oh, two more things: I respect other performers enough not to take pictures during performances, rather I do so before or after the presentation. In this case, however, a lot of audience members were taking pictures, so I joined in. This will be one of the few times where I have multiple shots of a concert in progress. Second, I was amazed at the relative short drives each way. I took the toll route going to save valuable time, but even the drive back was faster.  I certainly am inclined to make concerts at Wolf Trap a more regular part of my schedule from now on.

I’ve selected a handful of pictures below:

The reminder are available at: https://singin1.pics/piwigo/index.php?/category/Seein-the-DMV-Two-Concerts-July-2025.

Back to Baltimore

The next day, I was feeling adventurous. Why, I don’t know, because between the two concerts earlier that week and spending two days watching tennis, I probably should have only gone to the BSO concert that evening. Still, it was impossible for me to come that close to the National Aquarium yet again and not pay a visit, especially now that I have a membership there.
It’s hard to believe that more than a year has passed since my first visit to the aquarium, although I’ve been to the Inner Harbor at least twice since then, including a dinner cruise that started across from the aquarium. The familiar jaws are still there immediately after the first floor of exhibits, requiring me to get an updated picture.

Since this is my second trip, I’m not going to spend a lot of time describing with words, rather I will let the pictures below speak for themselves.

Like before, the aquarium was crowded with visitors, especially children. It’s great to see them there, and I hope many of them are from the Baltimore area so they can see the displays up close.

The administration spends out regular notices to members announcing members-only events. I’ll post when I attend one, which I’m now going to make it my business to do.

BTW, I shot a short video of the tank that most reminds me of what I’d love to have in my home if I could. It’s only 40 seconds long–the longest I was willing to block others’ views–but it gets the idea across. Oh, and one of the speakers in the background was a staff person talking about the work involved in maintaining the tank:

Some of the pictures from the afternoon follow:

Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall was a very short drive from the Inner Harbor. This was my first visit there, and that visit nearly ruined what had been a wonderful performance–works by John Williams from motion pictures Superman, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, etc.– experience. I have rarely had to work that hard to access a facility and paid for the privilege–from the parking challenges to the walk to the hall, to the broken accessible bathroom, etc. I will only finish with the comment that I have promised myself not to return there again. If BSO doesn’t offer the concert at Strathmore, I’ll simply miss the concert.

That’s too bad because the music program itself was so entertaining that I wouldn’t have been surprised if storm troopers had marched onto the stage!

As always, I thank the Lord for granting me the stamina to make the trip, the damn good reflexes to steer the Silver Bullet (SB) as she needed to be guided, and the ability to enjoy His handiwork as it whizzes by my windshield.

Driving the Beltway is like being on a perpetual rush hour. Unfortunately, I have to decide to be a part of it if I want to attend any of the concerts in the DMV. It would be great if more (anything?) was scheduled in the county where I live.