Best music
1. Quartetto Gelato
3133 Dumbarton St., NW
Quartetto Gelato serves a savory concoction of classics by Ravel, Weber, Brahms, Handel, Lehar and Kodály as it breezes along the Orient Express route from London to Bucharest.
Founding member Peter DeSotto on violin and mandolin, Shalom Bard on clarinet, cellist Elinor Frey, and International Accordion Competition three-time first-place winner Alexander Sevastian on accordion, piano and bandonéon bedazzle audiences with passion and virtuosity.
Witty discourse, irrepressible energy and DeSotto’s operatic tenor voice top off the effervescent presentation.– Emily Cary
Where: Georgetown’s Historic Dumbarton Church
When: 8 p.m. Saturday Tickets: $30 Info: 202-965-200
2. Lord of the ‘Ring Cycle’
Washington National Opera
Plácido Domingo is Siegmund in “Díe Walküre,” the most popular of the four operas in Richard Wagner’s “Ring Cycle.”
When: Through April 17 Tickets: $45 to $300 Info: dc-opera.org
3. From Russia with love
National Philharmonic of Russia
D.C. welcomes conductor Vladimir Spivakov, the National Philharmonic of Russia and 2001 Van Cliburn winner Olga Kern.
When: 4 p.m. Saturday Tickets: $40 to $85 Info: kennedy-center.org
4. Coming of age
Washington Performing Arts Society
Violinist Sarah Chang, former child prodigy, has matured into a major artist. Her program features Richard Danielpour’s debut.
When: 4 p.m. Sunday Tickets: $25 to $85 Info: kennedy-center.org
5. Sax education
Three Tenors
NEA Jazz Master James Moody shares the KC Jazz Club stage with tenor sax men Nathan Davis and Quamon Fowler.
When: Saturday night Tickets: $25
Info: kennedy-center.org
Best outdoors
1. National Marathon
RFK Stadium
2. Manna’s 5K Fun Run
Rock Creek Park
3. Scope It Out 5K
West Potomac Park
4. Washington After Dark Tour
Union Station
5. Battery Kemble Park
MacArthur Boulevard NW
– www.Washington.org
Best galleries
1. My Tender Muse: Murman Kuchava’s oil paintings show love for life. Creative Partners Gallery.
2. Your 2 Cents: Cool project by video virtuosos. Warehouse Art Complex.
3. The Visual Vanguard: Spring into the figments of Heather Levy’s imagination. Breakwell’s.
4. Business: Andy Moon Wilson’s micro slices of life fill 1,000 business cards. Curator’s Office.
5. Saturday Bookcase: Weekly series kicks off with artist William Dunlap. National Gallery of Art.
Best gatherings
1. Environmental Film Festival
dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org
2. Flamenco extravaganza
Taberna del Alabardero
3. D.C. Contact Improv Jam
GMU’s Marvin Center
4. Super Diamond
9:30 Club
5. Rediscover Northern Ireland
rediscoverni.com
– www.Washington.org
Best family
1.Kites of Asia
National Air & Space Museum
2. Ringling Brothers and
Barnum & Bailey Circus
Verizon Center
3. Identity by Design
National Museum of the
American Indian
4. Back on the Block Company
Atlas Performing Arts Center
5. The Da Vinci Academy
The Kennedy Center
– www.Washington.org
Best Home & Garden
1. Suburban Maryland Spring Home Show
Germantown; www.mdhomeshow.com
2. Washington Gardener Photo Contest Art Show
Silver Spring; www.washingtongardener.com
3. Invasive Species Pull
3104 Russell Road, Alexandria; www.nvct.org
4. Native Trees for the Mid-Atlantic Region
Brookside Gardens; www.brooksidegardens.org
5. Spring Perennial Series Talk
Green Spring Gardens; www.greenspring.org
– Kathy Jentz, www.washingtongardener.com
Best brain food
1. Beading circle demonstration: National Museum of the American Indian
2. Investigating aesthetics in handmade paper via craft, science and art: Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
3. Festival: La Grande Fete de la Francophonie: Maison Française of the French Embassy
4. Fresh Flavas New Works Showcase: “Billy Be Home Soon”: Atlas Performing Arts Center
5. South Side Stories: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
– CulturalTourismDC.org
Best Movie
‘Shooter’
Starring: Mark Wahlberg
Gnarly chase scenes and gunplay make this excitingly wrought if not way-over-the-top conspiracy thriller pretty darn cool.
Rating: R Running time: 124 mins.
Best theater
1. ‘The Tempest/La Tempête’: Montreal’s 4D Art’s incredible multimedia version of Shakespeare’s stormy classic. The Kennedy Center.
2. ‘Insurrection: Holding History’: American history has never seemed more bizarre — or entertaining. Theater Alliance.
3. ‘After Darwin’: Exploration of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play about survival of the fittest. Church Street Theater.
4. ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’: Rick Hammerly and Jeffrey Johnson are the cat’s meow. Source Theatre.
‘Free Jujube Brown!’ Show some love for MuseFire Productions and Psalmayene 24’s one-man hiphopapalooza. DCAC.
– Jolene Munch
Best day trips
1. Williamsburg, Va.
www.historyisfun.com
2. Wilmington, Del.
www.wilmcvb.org
3. Prince William County
www.nps.gov/mana
4. Charlottesville, Va.
charlottesvilletourism.org
5. Baltimore
www.baltimore.org
