Why preserving Shakespeare is still important today

Follow 蜜桃视频app鈥檚 Matt Kaufax as he explores hidden gems, local landmarks and unique stories across the D.C. area every week. New episodes of 蜜桃视频app’s “Matt About Town” segment are released each Tuesday and Thursday.

Why Shakespeare?

The answer to that question is a deeper one than you think.

Over the past two weeks on “Matt About Town,” 蜜桃视频app’s Matt Kaufax took you behind the scenes at D.C.’s Folger Shakespeare Library 鈥� with videos looking at the earliest published collections of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, the library’s rare vaults where these works are stored, and even how these books are preserved.

But why put all this effort into preserving Shakespeare in 2026?

For the Folger Shakespeare Library’s founders, the answer was a no-brainer. In the series finale, Kaufax looked at how their efforts and the building’s history shaped Shakespeare’s massive influence and cultural relevance 鈥� even more than 400 years after his first works were published.

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

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But this year, there鈥檚 more than just books and authors being celebrated.

鈥淲e want people to understand the magic and the vastness of the collections at the Library of Congress,鈥� Clay Smith, literary director of the Library of Congress told 蜜桃视频app. His team puts the festival together each year.

The festival is aiming to give attendees a broader look at American culture beyond books and the written word, Smith said.

鈥淐ynthia Erivo is coming to talk about her life as an artist and musician,鈥� Smith said of the actress who recently starred in the 鈥淲icked鈥� film franchise. Erivo will also be presenting her new memoir.

Famed film director Martin Scorsese will be talking about the importance of film preservation, which is 鈥渁 major thing that we do here at the library,鈥� Smith said.

And actress and comedian Kate McKinnon will also be speaking at the daylong event.

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• Things to do in the DC area: 鈥榊okai Parade,鈥� National Book Festival 鈥� and more!
• Grammy-winner Ledisi brings Dinah Washington, her own music and a reverence for history to Strathmore
• National Symphony Orchestra will play at 6 DC-area venues next season as Kennedy Center shuts

Other non-literary speakers include NPR鈥檚 Kitchen Sisters and author Max Brooks, who will be presenting a radio play of his graphic novel, 鈥淭he Harlem Hellfighters.鈥� The book is about a unit of African American soldiers in World War I. Brooks also happens to be the son of actors Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft.

Altogether, the festival will feature over 80 speakers, family-friendly activities, interactive programs and workshops.

It all begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Tickets are required. To get your free tickets and see a complete rundown of speakers and events, go to the .

If you can鈥檛 make it in person, the events on the main stage .

蜜桃视频app’s Terik King contributed to this report.

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That will be particularly evident when the Grammy-winning singer brings her music 鈥� and her reverence for the artists who helped shape it 鈥� .

Audiences can expect the storytelling and vocal power that have defined Ledisi鈥檚 concerts, but with a significant addition: the music of Dinah Washington, the legendary singer she honors on her recent tribute album, 鈥淔or Dinah.鈥�

鈥淲hat you will hear is a spiritual experience inside of the blues, inside of my music, inside of the relationship between my influence with 鈥楩or Dinah,鈥欌�� Ledisi said in an interview with 蜜桃视频app.

The D.C.-area performances will give Ledisi an opportunity to bring together two sides of her artistry: the music she has created herself and the music she has spent years studying, absorbing and reinterpreting.

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鈥淭hey’re going to get the same that they always get with Ledisi 鈥� storytelling,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey’re going to get my music as well as Dinah. It’s not going to be one way or the other.鈥�

For Ledisi, that combination is important because she does not see 鈥淔or Dinah鈥� as an exercise in impersonation. Instead, she wants listeners to understand the connection between Washington鈥檚 music and her own.

鈥淚 am not trying to be Dinah,鈥� Ledisi said. 鈥淪o if you’re coming here to hear that, you’re in trouble. But I promise you, you’re going to go back and revisit her music and my music.鈥�

Washington has become the latest in a line of artists Ledisi has chosen to honor through full-length tribute projects. Her 2021 album 鈥淟edisi Sings Nina鈥� explored the work of Nina Simone.

The choice of Washington was rooted in more than musical admiration.

鈥淚’ve always admired her presence as an artist and her influence on other artists, some of our greats like Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin,鈥� Ledisi said. 鈥淚 mean, anybody you can think of, Dinah has (been) some part of their fabric.鈥�

Ledisi is particularly drawn to Washington鈥檚 independence and willingness to defy expectations.

鈥淪he was a rebel and I love that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 love women who are in times ahead of themselves and can sing. She sang down, honey.鈥�

That same admiration informs Ledisi鈥檚 approach to musical history. She said she wants her tribute projects to serve as invitations to rediscover artists whose contributions can sometimes be overlooked or diminished by time.

鈥淚’m not 鈥榙oing鈥� or 鈥榖eing鈥� them. I’m just reminding you, hey, don’t forget to go revisit this,鈥� she said.

That mission became particularly important with Washington, Ledisi said, after her tribute projects initially failed to attract the support she expected. Ledisi ultimately financed the “Ledisi Sings Nina” and “For Dinah” projects herself, believing Washington鈥檚 influence in particular was too significant to allow contemporary audiences to overlook her.

鈥淚 was like, 鈥楢re you kidding? She’s everywhere. You put her in film and television everywhere. Her name is at the end of the credit,鈥欌�� Ledisi said. 鈥淏ut you say the Queen of Soul (Aretha Franklin). Why not say the Queen of the Blues too?鈥�

For Ledisi, Washington belongs in the lineage of some of the most important figures in American popular music.

鈥淒inah influenced Aretha. We wouldn’t have Quincy (Jones) without Dinah. We wouldn’t have all these. She’s part of the line,鈥� she said.

That instinct to preserve history runs through Ledisi鈥檚 own artistic identity. She said she has repeatedly been told by industry insiders what she should not do and says she has responded on recent projects by embracing precisely those things.

鈥淚’ve been told don’t cover. Don’t scat. Don’t do this 鈥� I rebel against what you tell me I can’t do,鈥� she said.

That rebellion is particularly audible on 鈥淔or Dinah,鈥� where Ledisi said she has rediscovered a vocal freedom that had been pushed aside during her career.

鈥淚’m finding a voice that I forgot I had, and I had it years ago, but I left it behind for radio,鈥� she said.

The experience has changed the way she approaches the stage.

鈥淭o come back to this raw, uninhibited, fun singing, the blues, and then sing my music, it gives it a levity that I haven’t had in a long, long time, and we need it right now,鈥� Ledisi said.

That freedom is also a continuation of a lesson she said she learned early in her career: Never diminish what makes you distinctive simply to make other people comfortable.

鈥淚 used to dim my light so that I could fit in with everybody, so they won’t feel intimidated,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow I don’t care. Like I am a beast, and if I’m coming in, be ever ready for what God has given me to display.鈥�

Ledisi said the goal is not competition, it is contribution.

鈥淚 don’t do it to compete because once you do it to compete, you’re going to always be at a certain level, and I’m trying to keep rising,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 use it to give to other people to empower others. I sing life. I give life.鈥�

That philosophy extends beyond music to the women who helped shape her career. Ledisi named Rachelle Ferrell, Anita Baker and Dianne Reeves among the artists who have mentored her, describing Ferrell and Baker as 鈥渂ookends鈥� who prepared her for the artist she has become.

She also remembers a time when simply asking for help was difficult.

Early in her career, Ledisi said, Ferrell once invited her to open a show in Oakland and later paid for her entire band to travel to Los Angeles for another performance. Ferrell also promoted Ledisi on the radio and introduced her to artists including Prince.

鈥淎ll you need is one person to believe in you, and she was the one person that showed there’s action behind her movements and her support,鈥� Ledisi said. “I didn鈥檛 realize that Rachelle was training me. She was preparing me for something.鈥�

Those experiences have influenced how Ledisi thinks about her own legacy 鈥� and about the responsibility of artists to make sure the people who came before them are not forgotten. She sees that responsibility as especially urgent when considering artists such as Washington and Simone, both of whom died relatively young.

鈥淚 want to make sure their voices and their names are reminded in history,鈥� Ledisi said.

That does not mean she is planning to make another tribute album. 鈥淚 think this will probably be my last tribute. On my list was Mahalia, Dinah and Nina,鈥� she said.

But Ledisi also knows better than to make absolute promises about where her future artistic instincts may lead. 鈥淚 listen to what my body says, what the ancestors say, what my energy says,鈥� she said.

For now, that energy is carrying her into Strathmore 鈥� where audiences will hear the music she has made, the music that influenced her and, perhaps most importantly, the connection between the two.

鈥淚t’s been a spiritual experience singing for Dinah. I cannot explain it to you. You have to see it when you’re in the room,鈥� Ledisi said.

鈥淚’m always blowing myself away,鈥� she added. 鈥淎nd the band is playing different and it’s very spiritual. You can tell when the ancestors are in the room.鈥�

For Ledisi, the point of looking back is ultimately to keep moving forward.

鈥淚 am one who always honor what was before, either as is or as I (artistically) see it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s so much fun to show your colors and I want to leave behind a legacy that’s filled with that, but also with my own music.鈥�

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鈥榊okai Parade鈥� exhibition explores Japanese supernatural monsters

In the United States, there are tales of cryptids like Bigfoot or the Mothman. Japanese folklore tells stories of yokai: supernatural monsters that range from shape-shifters to tricksters to comical creatures that have influenced popular culture.

A new traveling exhibition celebrates yokai at the Japan Information & Culture Center of the Embassy of Japan

Organized by The Japan Foundation, is arranged in four chapters, exploring picture scrolls, woodblock prints, games, sculptures and other mediums. A video also details the history and influence of yokai.

“We see from at the beginning of the exhibition, yokai were something truly to be feared,” Gabrielle Headly, the center’s exhibition coordinator, said. “But then you also see how they have very cartoon-like illustrative properties, or how they’re very friendly.”

Yokai Parade runs through Sept. 18 at the center at 1150 18th Street NW, Suite 100, in D.C. Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. through 5 p.m.

“Not all yokai represent a negative emotion or a negative kind of connotation, but they’re just something that people have grown to love and accept as a part of everyday life, and as a reflection of their society,” Headly said.

Check back every Thursday for a roundup of Things to do in the DC area.

Here’s what else is happening in the D.C. area:

DC

Music returns to the Carter Barron Amphitheater
After a decade-long closure, the Carter Barron Amphitheater in Rock Creek Park is hosting live musical performances with the help of a temporary stage. 蜜桃视频app’s Mike Murillo has all the details on the lineup for the concerts this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Improvapalooza
Studio Theatre is hosting — a marathon of experimental improv shows running now through Sunday. Nightly passes are around $25 each with first-come-first-served seating, and an “All Palooza Pass” is available for $80 for those who want to yuk it up each night.

National Book Festival
This Saturday, the returns with best-selling authors taking part in talks, panel discussions and book signings. This year’s featured authors and speakers at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center include Cynthia Erivo, Martin Scorsese and Kate McKinnon. While the event is free, tickets are required.

Chuck Brown Day
To honor the life, legacy and music of the godfather of go-go, D.C. is hosting this Saturday at Fort Dupont Park. Guests can bring lawn chairs and snacks to enjoy live musical performances by go-go bands. The event is free and open to the public.

Freedom 250 Grand Prix
Downtown D.C. is set to transform into a racetrack this weekend as part of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. Several IndyCars will drive at speeds around 200 mph on Sunday. Find details on the schedule, location and road closures in 蜜桃视频app’s guide here.

Mt. Pleasant Pollinator Fest
Celebrate bees, butterflies and other creatures that help gardens come alive on Sunday. The is hosted at Lamont Plaza, featuring live music, hands-on science activities, face painting, honey tastings and more family fun.

“The Archive” pop-up
The team at Dupont Circle’s cocktail and record bar, known as Press Club, are partnering with D.C.-based record shop, Cool Kids Vinyl, and local portrait journalist Phresh for The event, which runs Sunday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., allows guests to have film portraits taken on-site by “Phresh Portrait Pull-Up Pop-Up.” Cool Kids Vinyl is also inviting guests to flip through records in the space. Find more pop-ups in the “DMV Foodie Guide” on 蜜桃视频app News.

Latte Art Throwdown
Chef Tim Ma’s Navy Yard cafe and restaurant, called Any Day Now, is hosting a . This event, which is free to watch and $10 to compete, challenges baristas to prepare the most creative latte art. Enjoy the sights, the sounds and the sips next Wednesday.

Maryland

Chile Pepper Festival
For fans of hot sauces and all things spicy, the is coming to Berlin, Maryland, this Saturday. Expect a pepper eating competition, a trivia competition, several food vendors and live music from the “Hot Sauce Band.”

Nitro Circus 2.0 Tour
This Sunday, elite athletes and daredevils are headed to Annapolis, Maryland, for the . At the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, several stuntmen in FMX, BMX and more plan to host a thrill-seeking show that includes a record-breaking attempt to do a 75-foot backflip breaking through a 35-foot wall of fire. Other shenanigans include a high dive off a 40-foot-tall ramp into a 3.5-foot body of water, plus snowmobile stunts and a “flying couch.” Tickets start at roughly $49 per person.

Washington Folk Festival
Enjoy bluegrass, Celtic, Americana, blues and other folk music from around the world this Sunday at the . The free event hosts hundreds of performers and several food trucks, with this year’s event featuring a “Middle Eastern Spotlight.” Families can also enjoy a stage dedicated to the little ones, called “Song for All Ages,” to enjoy programming for children throughout the day.

Virginia

Falls Church Summer Restaurant Week
Running Friday through Aug. 30, approximately 80 restaurants are participating in this year’s . Diners can enjoy deals and discounts across 10 days, with the option to fill out a “Restaurant Week Passport,” where those who visit at least eight participating restaurants can earn the chance to win one of three $100 gift cards.

Leesburg Festival of Kites & Crafts
Families and kite-flying fanatics can head to Ida Lee Park in Leesburg, Virginia, this Saturday for the . This free rain-or-shine event promises a variety of artist vendors, crafters and colorful kites for some outdoor fun. The event is on Saturday.

Northern Virginia Reptile Expo
Fans of reptiles and amphibians should check out the this Saturday at Fredericksburg Fairgrounds in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The event costs $10 to attend.

ALX South Block Party
Enjoy a free, community celebration this Saturday in Alexandria, Virginia, behind Bryant High School. The features live music and performances throughout the day, as well as food trucks, local vendors for shopping and a “Family Fun Zone” with kids’ crafts and face painting. While admission is free, those who register ahead of time can enter for a chance to win a free iPad.

Have an event you鈥檇 like featured in 蜜桃视频app’s Things to do in the D.C. area weekly guide? Let us know!

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The NSO made its delayed 2026-27 season announcement Tuesday, 5 1/2 weeks before its opening concert on Sept. 26 and five months later than the release of its 2025-26 schedule.

The Kennedy Center, named by Congress after President John F. Kennedy, was taken over in 2025 by a board of Trump loyalists who added his name to the complex, only to be . The board said last week it intends to close the complex for a two-year renovation and so it would read 鈥淭he John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.鈥�

NSO tickets sales declined from 72% of capacity in 2024 to 58% in 2025 to 41% last season, The Washington Post reported. The NSO did not confirm the figures.

鈥淔or us to perform and to be somehow disconnected with the Kennedy Center probably will convince some of the audience who stayed away from the center to come back to our concerts, and not only that, even to increase the number of the audience,鈥� music director Gianandrea Noseda said in an interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淎t least this is my hope.鈥�

Noseda was the only NSO official who commented on the record about the season announcement. Trump’s name was included twice in the joint statement by the NSO and the Kennedy Center, which cited his 鈥渟trategic direction鈥� as Kennedy Center chair and 鈥渧ision for a revitalized institution.鈥�

Entering his 10th season as music director, Noseda is signed through the NSO鈥檚 100th anniversary season in 2030-31.

Tickets go on sale Aug. 28, leaving little time to start rebuilding an audience.

There are 64 scheduled NSO classical concerts in the upcoming season, including 56 in the D.C. area and eight on a U.S. tour from April 20-30. The total matches 2025-26, when there were 62 at the Kennedy Center鈥檚 Concert Hall and two on tour.

Next season will include 24 concerts at George Washington’s Lisner Auditorium in D.C. (1,350 available seats), 13 at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland, (1,925), nine at Northern Virginia Community College’s Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Alexandria (900), eight at George Mason’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax, Virginia, (1,850), and two each at the University of Maryland鈥檚 Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park (1,050) and D.C.’s Lincoln Theatre (1,150).

鈥淲e鈥檒l increase the ability of the orchestra to adjust very quickly to the acoustics. I鈥檇 like to think of this year of the National Symphony Orchestra as a regional touring orchestra,鈥� Noseda said. 鈥淪o we will be on tour and we will take and bring the music where the people are instead of inviting them to where we perform.鈥�

Capacity of the venues will be below that of the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, which had up to 2,465 available seats.

The orchestra still intends to rehearse at the Kennedy Center during the reconstruction and keep its office and music library there.

Noseda will conduct 20 concerts at five of the venues during his 10 weeks in the D.C. area starting with a gala Sept. 26 at Strathmore, and he also will lead the tour performances. He said just two of his programs were changed from his original plans, substituting Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 for Gioachino Rossini鈥檚 鈥淲illiam Tell鈥� overture and one Ottorino Respighi composition for another, both to account for a smaller stage that could accommodate fewer musicians.

Five holiday performances of George Frideric Handel鈥檚 鈥淢essiah鈥� are the only concerts that require a chorus.

鈥淚 honestly would have preferred not to go through this, but the situation is the way it is and we have to be proactive,鈥� Noseda said.

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