The Christmas Revels

Christmas Revels is a cherished holiday tradition for over 70,000 people throughout the country. Every December, the Washington Revels community gathers in GW University’s Lisner Auditorium to celebrate the season through the traditional songs, dances, and stories of cultures from around the world. This year’s production will be performed live at Lisner Auditorium December 15 – 17 and will be followed by a virtual encore streaming option!

2023 Christmas Revels
The Magical Medieval Tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

2015 Christmas Revels - dancing with ribbon sticksFor our 41st annual production in The George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium, we journey to Camelot, to the time of King Arthur, Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table. Our mysterious tale will be woven together with music of the period and many opportunities for the audience to take part in the fun. Become part of the Round Table, joining the legendary ladies and gallant knights of Camelot—as Sir Gawain’s story unfolds, filled with pageantry, magic, and celebration!

Early priority sales begin:
 September 26 *

Public ticket sales begin:
October 24

* Your one-time gift of $100 or more will qualify you for early ticket priority. If you become a monthly donor (“VIP member”), you will receive even earlier ticket purchasing priority (learn more here).

Photo credit: 2015 Christmas Revels, Sheppard Ferguson, photographer.

IN-PERSON PERFORMANCES

Flags waving in the 2012 Christmas RevelsFriday, December 15, 7:00pm
Saturday, December 16, 2:00pm & 7:00pm
Sunday, December 17, 1:30pm & 5:00pm

GW Lisner Auditorium
730 21st St NW, Washington, DC 20052

TICKETS

In-person tickets:
$17-$70

Online streaming tickets:
$40

Early priority sales begin: September 26 *

Public ticket sales begin: October 24

* Your one-time gift of $100 or more will qualify you for early ticket priority. If you become a monthly donor (“VIP member”), you will receive even earlier ticket purchasing priority (learn more here).

Early priority group levels are as follows:
Group 1 – $1000+
Group 2 – $500+
Group 3 – $250+
Group 4 – $100+

Group 1 donors get early priority access as early as September 26!
Make your donations now to reserve your favorite seats!

Photo credit: 2012 Christmas Revels, Sheppard Ferguson, photographer.

2023 Guest Artists

Peter Walker

Peter Walker

Described as a “commanding” singer by a recent Boston Globe review, and “rich voiced” and “vivid” by the New York Times, Peter Walker performs with the GRAMMY-nominated Skylark Ensemble, GRAMMY-nominated Handel + Haydn Society, GRAMMY-nominated Clarion Society Choir, Kuhmo Kamarimusiiki, Staunton Music Festival, Early Music New York, Blue Heron, Texas Early Music, Pomerium, and other ensembles, and is a founder and member of Chapter House, a duo exploring the connections between storytelling and music. He is also active as a researcher of early music ranging from the Middle Ages through the eighteenth century, and has presented lectures of medieval and renaissance music at Vassar College and Case Western. Peter holds degrees from Vassar College and McGill University, where he studied with Drew Minter and Sanford Sylvan. He currently sings n the U.S. Army Chorus.

Brian Kay

Brian Kay

Brian Kay is a modern-day troubadour. He is the Artistic Director of the early music meets early theater group THEATRO, and is currently overseeing their international recording of music from the plays of William Shakespeare. He is an Artistic Leadership Fellow of Apollo’s Fire and in 2019, he won a GRAMMY® Award for his work on their Songs of Orpheus recording with tenor Karim Sulayman. He works as a consultant for the Netflix music lab and is a featured soloist on the soundtrack of their original series The Witcher. He has performed throughout the world at venues such as the National Concert Hall of Dublin, Belfast Castle (Ireland), Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Folger Theater. His live radio appearances include NPR, Baltimore’s WYPR, Baltimore’s 98ROCK, Boston’s WGBH, and Cleveland’s WCLV.  Brian is a founding member of THEATRO and Twa Corbies, a core member of Apollo’s Fire, and regularly performs with Hesperus, The Folger Consort, Early Music Access Project, and Trio Sefardi. Brian is on the faculty as teacher of historical plucked instruments at Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University. He has lectured on music and history at Yale University, The Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins University, The Folger Theater, The Kennedy Center, and Baldwin-Wallace College.

Dongmyung Ahn

Dongmyung Ahn

Early string specialist Dongmyung Ahn is a performer, educator, and scholar whose interests span from the twelfth to eighteenth centuries. Her research in music of the medieval and early modern periods in Europe centers around the liturgy and Jewish-Christian relations. She has published an article on medieval liturgy in the Rodopi series Faux Titre and her forthcoming chapter on the Bassanos and King Henry VIII will appear in Music and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Italy this spring (IU Press). Dongmyung also specializes in the performance practice of music from the medieval era to the eighteenth century. She is co-founder of Duo Custos, a medieval duo that focuses on music of the fourteenth century. She regularly performs with Green Mountain Vespers, Pegasus, Raritan Players, The Sebastians, and TENET Vocal Artists, and has played rebec in the critically acclaimed production of The Play of Daniel at the Cloisters. She can be heard on recordings of the Raritan Players and the Sebastians. A dedicated educator, Dongmyung has taught music history at Queens College, Rutgers University, and Vassar College, and is the director of the Queens College Baroque Ensemble. She studied baroque violin with Stanley Ritchie at Indiana University where she received her BM and MM in Early Music. She received her PhD in musicology at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Washington Revels Brass

The Washington Revels Brass lends its joyful, clarion sound to every Christmas Revels production. Current performers include trumpeters Les Linn and Fred Marcellus, French horn Andrew Houde and trombonists Bryan Bourne and Jeff Gaylord. The ensemble views itself in a certain sense as a microcosm of Revels everywhere: they have their own rituals, traditions, and personality. They differ from every other part of the Revels only in that their ways are largely invisible to all but themselves. (Photo by Alain L. Gutiérrez Almeida)

Our flagship production, The Christmas Revels, is a festive, fully staged celebration of the Winter Solstice and the return of sun and light after the “shortest day,” radiating hope and joy in the renewal of life and the circle of the seasons. Seen by over 10,000 people every December, it draws on traditions and rituals from many lands and peoples, focusing each year on a different culture or related cultures.

Select a link below to learn more about that production.

 The Christmas Revels On Demand

2011-2021

 Photos from the Thomas Hardy Revels

2001-2010

 Photo from African-American Revels

1991-2000

  • 2000: Celtic
  • 1999: Celestial Fools
  • 1998: Shepherd Alley – Washington, D.C.
  • 1997: Medieval – King and the Fool
  • 1996: Northlands
  • 1995: French
  • 1994: Victorian
  • 1993: Celtic
  • 1992: Celestial Fools
  • 1991: Russian and American
 Photo from an early Washington Revels production

1983-1990

  • 1990: Medieval
  • 1989: Storybook
  • 1988: Medieval
  • 1987: Celtic
  • 1986: French
  • 1985: Appalachian-American (featuring Jean Ritchie)
  • 1984: “Haddon Hall”
  • 1983: Medieval

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