Review: Ann Hampton Callaway with Billy Stritch at Dumbarton Concerts

Sometimes the most unlikely venues produce the most incredible night of music.

Dumbarton United Methodist Church is an unassuming building on a side street in Georgetown. It isn’t the place you would necessarily think of as a concert venue. Never assume anything though because the Dumbarton Concerts series has been going strong for 48 years and shows no signs of stopping.

This past Saturday evening the series played host to singer/songwriter and powerhouse performer Ann Hampton Callaway and her accompanist the equally talented pianist/singer/arranger Billy Stritch for a program primarily made up of songs from Callaway’s latest recording called Finding Beauty: Inspired Classics and Originals.

The evening started off with the album’s title track “Finding Beauty” and just got better and better from there. Other superb Callaway originals included “Hold You In This Song”, “New Eyes” which Callaway wrote the lyrics for with Melissa Manchester providing the music, and “The Moon Is a Kite” which is based on a poem written by Callaway and was commissioned as a song by Deborah DeMartini as part of Callaway’s pandemic a song a day challenge.

No Ann Hampton Callaway concert is complete without a medley of her biggest hit. With Billy Stritch singing Ann’s sister Liz Callaway’s part “The Nanny Named Fran” reminded us that no matter if she is writing a serious song or a TV theme that endures many years after the end of the series, Ann Hampton Callaway is a musical treasure of all genres. It’s no wonder why she was recently inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Besides the many original compositions there were also songs included that inspired Ann Hampton Callaway to become a songwriter. A prime example of this was when Callaway went into a local record store (remember those?) as a teenager and picked up Carole King’s legendary album Tapestry. This was the set up for the best interpretation of “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” that I’ve ever heard. Between Callaway’s haunting vocal, and Billy Stritch’s simple but powerful piano accompaniment, it made for a moment that you don’t get very often where you couldn’t move after the final note. You just needed to take it in and let it sit for a second.

I want you to realize something about this performance. Not only did Callaway hit every song as wonderfully as ever but she did it on only 90 minutes of sleep due to some very unfortunate flight delays in getting to DC. I am not sure how this was possible but then I always have said that she is of another universe.

With all that is going on in the world right now, Callaway’s pairing of John Lennon’s “Imagine” and her own anthem for world piece “At The Same Time” was the perfect ending for an evening of music that was full of joy and hope.

Ann Hampton Callaway and Billy Stritch truly delivered a performance for the ages and for those of us lucky enough to attend, it was the concert we all needed and that my fellow readers is what made for a truly divalicious night in Georgetown.

Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission.

Finding Beauty: Inspired Classics and Originals Ann Hampton Callaway with Billy Stritch was a one night only engagement on March 14th, 2026, at Dumbarton United Methodist Church as part of the Dumbarton Concerts series. The venue is located at 3133 Dumbarton St NW, Washington, DC.

Lead photo credit: L-R Ann Hampton Callaway and Billy Stritch. 

Ann Hampton Callaway photo by Bill Westmoreland.