Chamber Dance Violinists Will Perform and Discuss Life in Shutdown Via Zoom

Chamber Dance Project (CDP), Washington's premier contemporary ballet company, continues its popular Virtual Chat series on June 23 at 5 p.m. EDT with CDP violinists Claudia Chudacoff and Chaerim Smith offering a snapshot of their lives/work since the shutdown. They will also perform pieces they have been rehearsing. The two have performed with CDP since its D.C. debut in 2014. CDP commissions and performs new and contemporary works by outstanding choreographers and composers in collaboration with dancers and musicians (who appear together onstage). Chudacoff is the principal musician and concertmaster of the National Gallery Orchestra and the Alexandria Symphony. Smith is currently a member of "The President's Own" United States Marine Chamber Orchestra. To receive the link for the Zoom session, email rsvp@chamberdance.org. For more information, visit https://chamberdance.org/virtual-chats or call 202.499.2297.

Chudacoff, CDP principal musician and violinist, recently retired as concertmaster of the U.S. Marine Band's White House Chamber Orchestra. She is currently enjoying a temporary full-time contract with the National Symphony Orchestra. She is the Director of the College Park Youth Orchestra's Chamber Ensemble, and coach of the MCYO string quartet. She was a teaching assistant to Sylvia Rosenberg while at the Eastman School of Music, where she earned both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees.

Smith, received her Bachelors of Music Degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She is currently a member of "The President's Own" United States Marine Chamber Orchestra performing regularly at the White House and other high profile government venues. She is also co-founder of the New Orchestra of Washington. Smith also performs the National Symphony, Richmond Symphony, The National Philharmonic and the Virginia Chamber Orchestra. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, The Verizon Center, Strathmore and the National Cathedral.

About Chamber Dance Project: Award-winning choreographer and Artistic Director Diane Coburn Bruning founded Chamber Dance Project upon her conviction that dance should be a collaboration between dancers and musicians, and that when artists' share the creative process with audiences, it deepens the audience's experience. The company commissions and performs new and contemporary works by outstanding choreographers and composers in collaboration with dancers and musicians (who appear together onstage). In past years, CDP performers shared their creative process with open rehearsals; this year's virtual series aims to provide the same connection between audience and artist. Most ballet companies in the U.S. hire their dancers for only 35-40 weeks per year; Chamber Dance Project hires it dancers during the January and June-July lay-off periods bringing dancers from all over the country to work in D.C. with CDP musicians.

Chamber Dance Project is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Bloomberg Philanthropies, DC Commission on Arts and Humanities, KPMG, The Share Fund, Macy's and Google.