National Symphony

Cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, former conductor of Washington's National Symphony Orchestra, celebrated his 70th birthday in Paris surrounded by world-famous fans including Yehudi Menuhin, Gregory Peck, Elton John and Prince Charles.The pianist Van Cliburn returned to Paris after a 31-year absence, Rostropovich's daughter Elena came with her children to sing a prayer, and actor Peter Ustinov gave a comical tribute.Rostropovich was music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington until retiring in 1994.

In a rehearsal room at Morgan State University, Nathan Carter slaps at wobbly pitches as if he were swatting mosquitos."C'mon ladies!" he says. "One, two, sing! Sopranos and altos, sing!"Carter is transforming students slouched in Boss and Hilfiger chic into the precise and powerful instrument he needs to conquer Carnegie Hall. As the singers enter the brilliance of the spiritual "Great Day," the notes fall in line, clean and bright as the righteous marching to heaven.The Morgan State University choir is a week from a concert in New York that will mark another achievement in its distinguished history under Nathan Carter.

David Del Tredici took his first musical trip "down the rabbit hole" in 1968, and didn't emerge fully again for another 27 years, only after composing eight substantial pieces based on Lewis Carroll's enduring classic of inspired nonsense, Alice in Wonderland. It would be hard to find a more "curiouser" case in music history. It's not that Del Tredici didn't produce other things over that time span, or since -- among the 71-year-old composer's recent works is Rip Van Winkle, premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra in 2005.

Brass concert -- National Symphony Orchestra music director and conductor Leonard Slatkin will make his Annapolis debut at 7:30 p.m. Monday, conducting the Washington Symphonic Brass in its first concert of the group's anniversary season. The performance, presented by the Annapolis Chorale, will take place at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 Chase St., Annapolis. Admission is $33 for adults and $18 for students. 410-280-5640 or www.marylandhall.org.

Ulysses Kay 78, a prolific classical composer whose works often focused on fellow African-Americans and were performed by top orchestras throughout the United States, died Saturday at his home in Teaneck, N.J.He produced more than 135 works, including five operas, 20 large orchestral works, more than 30 choral compositions and 15 chamber works. Among the orchestras that played his music were The New York Philharmonic, The National Symphony and The Dallas Symphony.

WASHINGTON -- The journey of the beleaguered Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra from the barbed wire of the Baghdad "Green Zone" to the United States' largest performing arts center began with the symphony's deeply emotional performance of the Iraqi national anthem after the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein last spring. It brought the orchestra's plight and potential for reviving Iraq's cultural and artistic life to the attention of two people in a position to do something about it: Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Patricia Harrison, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs.

Mstislav Rostropovich, the world-renowned cellist, conductor and human rights activist, will receive the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music, the highest honor the Peabody Conservatory can bestow.The Russian-born Rostropovich will receive the medal at Friedberg Hall Thursday during the intermission of an all-Russian program by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra. The program will be conducted by Leon Fleisher and feature piano soloist Stephen Prutsman.Rostropovich, who is in his last year as the music director of Washington's National Symphony, will spend the earlier part of the day rehearsing the Peabody Camerata and several Peabody cast members for the world premiere performances of the chamber opera, "Ligeia," at the Evian Festival in France.

National Symphony Orchestra music director Leonard Slatkin was among 10 arts professionals awarded the National Medal of Arts yesterday. Others include country singer George Strait, childrens' author Beverly Cleary, dancer Suzanne Farrell, choreographer Tommy Tune and director Ron Howard. Considered the government's major honor in the arts, the medal goes to U.S. individuals or groups making outstanding contributions to the enhancement and growth of the arts. "The arts are an invaluable source of this country's vast creative output.

Composers don't often get to deliver a calling card as compelling as the one that introduced James Lee III to the region. Last October, acclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin led the National Symphony Orchestra in the premiere of Lee's Beyond Rivers of Vision, a remarkably assured, brilliantly orchestrated work written the year before as a doctoral dissertation at the University of Michigan. That performance at the Kennedy Center served notice of a major talent. If you go The Morgan Chamber Players will perform a free concert at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Murphy Fine Arts Center, Morgan State University, 2201 Argonne Drive.

Seeking an escape from the at-long-last cold front? You need head no farther south than Washington, where the National Symphony Orchestra is offering a sizzling concert version of Richard Strauss' Salome. Thursday night's performance at the Kennedy Center easily added up to one of the season's hottest events, and the repeats today and Monday have "don't miss" written all over them. Salome will be repeated at 1:30 p.m. today and 8 p.m. Monday at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Virginia and New Hampshire avenues Northwest, Washington.