After a weekend full of concerts, there is not much to mention this week, for obvious, turkey-related reasons. Still, if you find yourself in town this week, there will be a few things to hear, although tickets may be hard to find. >> On Monday (November 19, 7:30 p.m.), French violinist Nicolas Dautricourt will be hosted by his country's embassy, La Maison Française. The attractive, all-modern program is bookended by the Poulenc and Debussy violin......

On Monday night, the Library of Congress series of free concerts hosted the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, on their latest North American tour. The score of musicians from Prague, playing without a conductor, got a rough start on the opening work, Antonio Rosetti's Sinfonia in G Minor. Still, it was a welcome discovery from the ensemble's homeland (it turns out that Rosetti was born in Bohemia as Franz Anton Rössler), with fast and sinuous outer......

Any D.C. resident with a laptop who regularly makes a trip to New York or Philadelphia on Amtrak has probably longed for wireless internet access on their journeys. On Monday, Amtrak announced it has installed wireless internet, but just in their stations. Sadly it's not awesome, free internet, but regular old T-Mobile Hot Spots, which costs money. The hot spots will be available at Union Station, Baltimore Penn Station, Wilmington Station in Delaware, Philadelphia......

On Monday morning at a little after 11 a.m., we noticed a pair of beat cops walking along U Street NW near 12th Street. In many other cities, this would certainly be nothing to take note of, but in D.C., the cries from neighborhood associations and individual residents for more officers to patrol on foot have been heard for years. Police Chief Cathy Lanier thus rightly made a big deal out of increasing the number......

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Repertory: The Great Punch-Out: A Hard Hitting Week of Boxing at the Pickford Theater Those of you with an interest in the pugilistic arts may want to camp out at the Library of Congress next week. The library is doing a series of boxing features, shorts, and classic fights that lasts all week long. There's a......

After waiting all summer, and oh, nearly 30 years since the last time a D.C. voting rights bill made it to the Senate floor, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has scheduled the cloture vote on S. 1257, the DC House Voting Rights Act of 2007, for Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. But whether the bill has the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster is still unclear, so voting rights activists are asking supporters to rally......

Good morning, Washington. Does your commute include the Wilson Bridge? If so, enjoy this morning's trip — it's the last speedy one you're likely to have this week. As Fox 5 details, some of the traffic around the bridge will be redirected beginning at 10 a.m. this morning. But the worst will be saved for overnight on Friday, when traffic will be reduced to a single lane. Hateful Vandalism Galore: What the hell is going......

It's now been a year since the murder of Robert Wone, the prominent D.C. attorney who was slain while he slept in a guest bedroom at the home of friends on the 1500 block of Swann Street NW. Wone, 32, was stabbed three times in the chest with a butcher knife that police have said came from the kitchen. Three other men were in the house at the time of the murder, and yet no......

>> Tonight, Baltimore-based funk/fusion act Basshound comes to DC9 for a night of highly danceable grooves. With Hello Society and DJ Robinson. 8:30 p.m., $8. >> On Thursday, the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage presents Ecuador's Jazz Envoys, a group that blends the indigenous sounds of its homeland with jazz to create a unique groove. The free show begins at 6 p.m. >> Latin jazz legend Paquito D'Rivera comes to Strathmore on Thursday to play with......

It's a slow week in jazz land because of the holiday, but there's still some great music happening. Happy 4th of July, everyone! >> Smooth jazz saxophonist Walter Beasley comes to Blues Alley for a four night stand, beginning this Thursday, with daily 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. sets. $35. >> This week's top pick is legendary drummer Andrew Cyrille (pictured), who brings a group to Twins Jazz this Friday and Saturday. This man has......

You heard it here first: The bloom is officially off the rose of the Fenty administration. On Monday, the Mayor held an opening ceremony for the District's public swimming pools, at which he failed to fulfill our simple request that he make sure somebody did a cannonball. The Examiner was there yesterday afternoon to witness the pitiful display of showmanship where Fenty opened the city's pools, not with a dive, but with a whistle. While......

I was at a wedding last year on June 16 when the maid of honor gave a touching toast to the couple, noting the fact they were celebrating their union on the same day as “Bloomsday”, the annual Irish celebration marking the mythical events in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The maid of honor artfully worked in Molly Bloom’s famous “yes I said yes I will yes” soliloquy into her speech, as a demonstration of eternal......

The 2006-07 season of the Washington National Opera comes to a close next week, with a concert appearance by several of its singers at the Music Center at Strathmore (May 31, 8 p.m.) and the last performance of its final production, Macbeth (June 2, 7 p.m.). It is time to take stock of the company's achievements this season and look forward to what it will offer the city next year. Four productions this season were......

Dine Out for Eastern Market on Monday The outpouring of support for Eastern Market continues. On Monday, May 21, several restaurants on Capitol Hill will participate in Dining Out for Eastern Market, a "Dining Out for Life" style charity event where the restaurants will donate a portion of their proceeds to the Capitol Hill Community Foundation's Eastern Market fund, which has raised $238,000 so far to assist the South Hall merchants while a temporary market......

On Monday we told you about a bill before the D.C. Council that would lift restrictions such as mandatory driving and written tests for District drivers over the age of 75. Now the Mayor's office has released a statement that Mayor Adrian Fenty has temporarily lifted the driving test without waiting for action from the Council. "We need to make sure all of our drivers are safe on the road,” said Fenty. “At the same......

Breaking just now: The DC Voting Rights Act (now H.R. 1905) is scheduled to return to the House Floor tomorrow, Thursday for a vote. The move comes after a week of speculation that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had removed the bill from this week's schedule for unclear reasons. Today it is now definite: the bill will come to a vote tomorrow. The bill originally stalled on the House Floor last month after three Republican......

Last year's celebration of the 100th birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich, on September 25, fizzled out somewhat here in Washington. This week, dedicated listeners had the chance to take their fill of the Russian composer's music. After a thundering concert performance of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by the Kirov Opera on Sunday, it was the Emerson Quartet who brought the early half of their complete cycle of Shostakovich's fifteen string quartets, played to great acclaim in......

Joe Lally should need no introduction. As one half of one of the most rock-solid and inventive rhythm sections in rock and roll, he spent the better part of two decades playing the part of unshakeable anchor for Fugazi's storms of dueling guitars. His fluid, rolling bass lines have been often imitated, and, in one case, appropriated for the unlikely purpose of rallying fans at sporting events. With his former band in the midst......

Good morning, Washington. Need something to warm your funny bone (or at least your sense of outrage) on this appropriately cold winter morning? Well, look no further that the hijinks of Virginia's legislators. We thought that Virgil Goode's silly attacks on Rep. Keith Ellison were all the entertainment that the commonwealth was likely to offer in the short term. But, as NBC4 reports, state representative Frank Hargrove has come to the rescue, committing two enormous......

Ruh-roh. There's been some indication for a little while now that Mayor-elect Fenty's official campaign war chest has continued to grow even after he had won the election, and today the WaPo reports that the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance will review nearly $45,000 donated to Fenty after Nov. 7 to determine if the contributions violated city regulations. On Monday, Fenty (D) submitted a report that lists contributions and expenses from Oct. 11 to Dec.......

After several feverish weeks of wall-to-wall concerts, the approach of Thanksgiving puts the Classical Music Agenda into a temporary lull this week. Not to worry: we have some concerts for you even this week, and next week we will come back out swinging. LA MUTTER: >> We mentioned this on Thursday, but it really is the main event of the week. Anne-Sophie Mutter, one of the leading violinists on the world stage, will give a......

On Monday, one of the great modernist composers, Dmitri Shostakovich, would have been 100 years old. All around the world, classical musicians and audiences will be celebrating with performances of his music. The major Washington concerts in honor of the Shostakovich centennial, with the National Symphony Orchestra, are scheduled for November. However, there are a few concerts, Shostakovich and otherwise, to tell you about this week. DSCH: >> If you really love Shostakovich, you might......

Incoming Nationals President Stan Kasten has made it abundantly clear that his strategy for winning in Washington begins with rebuilding the team's farm system, which is barely left intact after years of MLB ownership. On Monday night, the Nats laid a stone in the foundation, by signing 17-year-old slugger Chris Marrero of Miami. He played 3rd base in high school, but with Ryan Zimmerman projected there long-term in the big leagues, the team anticipates a......

Soon, the Washington heat and humidity will mean that we take a hiatus from classical music. Your Classical Music Agenda will even take a couple weeks off next month when there is just not that much to report. However, for the time being, we have some things to tell you about. Mainly, this is the final week of the Washington Early Music Festival, and there are usually two concerts a day just with that. I......

What a difference four days make. On Monday, the Nationals were surging. They had just taken two out of three from the Phillies and were four games under .500 for the first time since April. But then the Rockies came to town. When the dust settled, bullpen coach John Wetteland may have been the only one to lose his job, but the damage had been done. For the first time since arriving in Washington,......

On Monday, the U.S. suffered a sobering 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic. Monstruous forward Jan Koller scored in the 5th minute of play, putting the U.S. on its heels. The Czechs did not look back, out-hustling, out-muscling, and out-classing the U.S. for the remainder of the game. How does a team maintain a positive attitude coming from a game in which it was so thoroughly beaten? Apparently with a rededication to the original......

Good morning, Washington. WaPo relays that the debate over D.C.'s cab fares is getting feisty, while WJLA tells us that the film industry is bringing some bucks to Virginia. On that note, for all of you documentary film buffs out there, today is the start of the fourth-annual SilverDocs film festival over in Silver Spring. From today until June 18, you can revel in the glory of the documentary. From one that follows the inspiring......

When it comes to fighting for District voting rights, activists face two main challengers -- the U.S. Congress and themselves. Members of Congress just either don't care much about whether or not the District's 600,000 residents have voting representation, or believe its a constitutional mandate written in stone that they shouldn't. They can be swayed. But many District-based voting right activists differ sharply on what the best approach to gaining voting rights is -- some......

The following is the first in a two part point/counterpart series by DCist Sports regarding Alfsonso Soriano and his future with the Washington Nationals. Today Matthew Bourque argues for trading him. Jeff Beam will provide the case for keeping Soriano tomorrow. When Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals landed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique muscle, baseball lost its most prolific hitter. On Monday, an inconclusive MRI had experts believing that......

A decade ago, conductor Lorin Maazel and his wife started the Châteauville Foundation, based at Castleton Farms in Rappahannock County, Virginia. On Monday night, rather than have Washingtonians go down to the Shenandoah Mountains, Maazel brought his young musicians to the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater. A cast of talented singers and a finely honed small ensemble of instrumentalists gave an exquisite performance of Benjamin Britten's chilling and yet beautiful chamber opera The Turn of the......