We took our homeschool Music Mondays to the Kennedy Center today with a local homeschool group and it was fun! We attended the Family Theatre for a performance of Beauty and the Beat – an educational performance conducted by two musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra – Marissa and Scott. Marissa plays the violin and Scott is a percussionist and together they played and taught the kids about melody and rhythm. They made it fun and engaging for everyone by using a few different instruments, showing how two different musical instruments could be different yet similar in many ways. They performed some beautiful pieces together and the audience participation was 
. When the performance was done, they stayed back for ten minutes answering questions. It was a wonderful experience! I love homeschooling in the nation’s capital!
In 1958, President Eisenhower signed bipartisan legislation to create a National Cultural Center, and fundraising began in earnest, with John F. Kennedy being one of its most passionate advocate and lifelong supporter.
In 1962, President Kennedy led the fundraising efforts for the new National Cultural Center holding special luncheons and receptions, and appointed his wife, Jacqueline, and Mrs. Eisenhower as co-chairwomen. Then, tragedy struck and Kennedy was assassinated.
Two months after this, Congress passed and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law, the renaming of the center to be a living memorial to Kennedy. It came to be known as the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. The Center opened on September 8, 1971 with a huge gala opening.
Many nations all over the world have bestowed gifts to the Center – the marble inside and outside the building was a gift from Italy, brought from the same Carrara quarries that Michelangelo used for his sculptures. 3,700 tonnes of it worth at least $1.5M . Sweden donated the Orrefors chandeliers and matching scones in the grand foyer. Austria gifted the Sunburst chandeliers and other lighting fixtures in the Opera House. France gifted two tapestries by Henri Matisse. The list goes on. The Kennedy Center is doing what it was intended to do all along – it is a living memorial of the performing arts, and I am grateful to have the privilege to partake of it.
