Sixth Annual Banquet and Award Presentation
-   Saturday, June 19, 2004, at The Arts Club, Washington DC
The festive, convivial evening included presentation of the Society's Award to Saul Lilienstein, who has contributed so much to the study and enjoyment of Wagner's art. Previous awardees are Martin Feinstein, Thomas Stewart, Father M. Owen Lee, Placido Domingo, Maestro Heinz Fricke, and Evelyn Lear.

Our Fourth annual Wagner in der Wildnis
-   Friday through Sunday, June 4-6, 2004, at Cacapon Resort State Park in West Virginia
The focus this year was on Götterdämmerung and completed our weekend studies of the Ring. The event again featured Wagner lecturers: Pianist Jeffrey Swann and Professor Simon Williams. Board member Bill Pastor also spoke. A great time was had!

Eighth Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Concert
-   Friday, May 21, 2004, at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center, Northern Virginia Community College
Singers included Matt Lepold, baritone; Jennifer Roderer, mezzo soprano; Roy Stevens, tenor; and Jennifer Wilson, soprano. They were accompanied by the Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra, conducted by Maestra Sylvia Alimena.  See the scheduled concert program.

Irmgard Wagner, Where is Wagner's Faust?
-   Thursday, May 13, 2004, at Funger Hall, The George Washington University
Irmgard Wagner, Professor Emerita of German, George Mason University, and current President of the American Goethe Society, who made such a distinguished contribution to the joint Smithsonian Seminar in September, returned for a program, asking the question of why Wagner never composed music to Goethe's Faust and whether there are equivalents and parallels to Faust in Wagner's music dramas.  Read a copy of Professor Wagner's talk (on the American Goethe Society Web site).

Jeffrey Swann, on Tristan and the Mystic Experience
-   Thursday, April 15, 2004, at the German Embassy, Washington DC
Jeffrey Swann is well known and much appreciated by Members and Friends who participated in our last two Wagner in der Wildnis weekend retreats. His stimulating insights to Wagner's music were illustrated as he performed at the piano in a manner that was informative to both novices and specialists. (He will be enjoyed again this year at our Wildnis retreat, June 4 to 6.)   The concert was followed by a reception open to Members and Friends who registered in advance and attended.   See biographical information.

Edward R. Haymes, on The Two Rings: J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen -   Thursday, March 18, 2004, at The George Washington University
Edward R. Haymes, Professor of German and Comparative Literature at Cleveland State University, international lecturer, and author of the Nibelungenlied and co-author of Heroic Legends of the North spoke on the commonality between the two great "Ring Cycles" and showed the many ways that the two great works illuminate each other. Tolkienians and Wagnerians learned something about each other!

James McCourt, author
-   Thursday, February 19, 2004, at The George Washington University
James McCourt, author of the 1971 send-up of the opera world, Mawrdew Czgowchwz, now a cult classic and still in print, drew on his extensive knowledge of opera to tell why some Wagner heroines are really out to kill the men they seem to love!

Jeffrey Buller, Dean, Mary Baldwin College, on Siegfreid: The Wurm Turns
-   Thursday, January 22, 2004, The George Washington University
Jeffrey Buller, Dean, Mary Baldwin College, was warmly welcomed for his third appearance with the Society; his last appearance was at the joint WSWDC-Smithsonian Seminar in September.

Nicholas Vazsonyi, on The Wagner Industry and the "Audience of the Future": Another Look at Die Meistersinger
-   Thursday, December 11, 2003, at The George Washington University
Nicholas Vazsonyi, professor of German at the University of South Carolina, author, and editor of a new book on Wagner's masterpiece Die Meistersinger discussed his belief that Richard Wagner devoted years to creating a market for his unique musical works and an ideal audience for his "artwork of the future". The presentation included musical examples.

Wagner Night at the Movies!
-   Thursday, November 13, 2003, at The George Washington University
Excerpts from two films that are truly dear to Wagnerian hearts were shown:
    1) The Golden Ring, the BBC documentary about the making of the first-ever complete recording (Solti's) of Wagner's Ring; and
    2) A film of the world's favorite Wagner satirist, Anna Russell. Wagner Society members held a discussion before the films.

Die Walküre Opening Night at The Washington Opera
-   Wednesday, November 5, 2003, at the Kennedy Center Opera House
By special arrangement with The Washington Opera, The Wagner Society of Washington DC was pleased to offer tickets, in the Upper Tier prime, to its Members and friends for this special opening-night performance and to the cast party following the opera, which had a stellar cast headed by Plácido Domingo as Siegmund.
Read Tim Page's review, in the Washington Post, of the opening-night perfomance.

Cori Ellison,"A Ride with the Valkyries"
-  Thursday, October 30, 2003, at The George Washington University
Cori Ellison, Dramaturg for the New York City Opera, explored what Valkyries are, why they have imprinted themselves so indelibly upon our culture, and how Brünnhilde, the Valkyrie of Wagner's Die Walküre's title, is both similar to and different from her sisters.

Successful Fall Event
September 19-21, 2003 Seminar
Cosponsored by the Smithsonian Residents Program of the Smithsonian Institution
and the Wagner Society of Washington DC
Der Ring des Nibelungen:
Wagner's Epic Vision
Moderator: J. K. Holman, Chairman,
the Wagner Society of Washington DC
See our Seminar page.

The Smithsonian-WSWDC 3-day Seminar, held over the "Isabel" weekend was a smashing success, with close to 300 music lovers attending and participating. Presentations, music, slides, lively discussions, singing, and dining took place as planned, with only a few concessions being made to travel difficulties!