The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (officially known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It was named in 1964 as a memorial to assassinated PresidentJohn F. Kennedy. Opened on September 8, 1971, the center hosts many different genres of performance art, such as theater, dance, classical music, jazz, pop, psychedelic, and folk music. It is the official residence of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera. read more…
Teatro La Fenice (“The Phoenix“) is a historic opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of “the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre” and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice became the site of many famous operatic premieres at which the works of several of the four major bel canto era composers—Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi—were performed. read more…
The Royal Concertgebouw (Dutch: het Koninklijk Concertgebouw) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term “concertgebouw” translates into English as “concert building”. Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in the world, along with Boston’s Symphony Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna. read more…
The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: Frankfurter Buchmesse) is the world’s largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. The five-day annual event in mid-October is held at the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The first three days are restricted exclusively to professional visitors; the general public attend the fair on the weekend. read more…
The Theater des Westens (Theatre of the West) is one of the most famous theatres for musicals and operettas in Berlin, Germany, located at Kantstraße 10–12 in Charlottenburg. It was founded in 1895 for plays. The present house was opened in 1896 and dedicated to opera and operetta. Enrico Caruso made his debut in Berlin here, and the Ballets Russes appeared with Anna Pavlova. In the 1930s it was run as the Volkstheater Berlin. After World War II it served as the temporary opera house of Berlin, the Städtische Oper (Municipal Opera). In 1961 it became the first theatre in Germany to show musicals. Since then it has become the “German equivalent of Broadway extravaganzas”, putting on plays and musical comedies. read more…
The National Library of Israel (NLI; Hebrew: HaSifria HaLeumit), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; Hebrew: Beit Ha-Sfarim Ha-Le’umi ve-Ha-Universita’i), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Jewishheritage. The library holds more than 5 million books, and is located in the Government complex (Kiryat HaMemshala) near the Knesset. The National Library owns the world’s largest collections of Hebraica and Judaica, and is the repository of many rare and unique manuscripts, books and artifacts. read more…
The National Gandhi Museum or Gandhi Memorial Museum is a museum located in New Delhi, India showcasing the life and principles of Mahatma Gandhi. The museum first opened in Mumbai, shortly after Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. The museum relocated several times before moving to Raj Ghat, New Delhi in 1961. read more…