For Immediate Release
April 9, 2007
Media Contact:
Melissa Wood (703) 799-5203
mwood@mountvernon.org
MOUNT VERNON, Va. – Mount Vernon invites visitors to a special performance of George Washington’s favorite music at George Washington: Music for the First President on Saturday, April 21. The free concerts will take place at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and will be performed by David and Ginger Hildebrand in the Robert H. and Clarice Smith Auditorium at the Mount Vernon Inn Complex. The duo will play a collection of music inspired by and played for Washington on reproduced 18th-century instruments. Audience participation and questions will be encouraged throughout the performance. David and Ginger Hildebrand will autograph their cds, available for purchase in Mount Vernon’s Gift Shop, after each performance.
David and Ginger Hildebrand have researched the music that was played during Washington’s lifetime. George Washington: Music for the First President will highlight songs that were composed in Washington’s honor and songs that he heard and danced to while living at Mount Vernon. Musical compositions by the composers Francis Hopkinson, Henry Carey, Pierre L. Duport, and a New York fiddle player named Mr. Hoffmaster will be performed as part of George Washington: Music for the First President concert. David and Ginger Hildebrand perform musical programs across the country educating people of all ages on colonial life and music.
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Events, programs, and activities are subject to change. Public Information: 703-780-2000; 703-799-8697 (TDD); www.mountvernon.org Since 1860, over 80 million visitors have made George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens the most popular historic home in America. Through thought-provoking tours, entertaining events, and stimulating educational programs on the Estate and in classrooms across the nation, Mount Vernon strives to preserve George Washington’s place in history as “First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen.” Mount Vernon is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, America’s oldest national preservation organization, founded in 1853. A picturesque drive to the southern end of the scenic George Washington Memorial Parkway, Mount Vernon is located just 16 miles from the nation’s capital. Hours of operation: April-August, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; March, September, October, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; November – February, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Regular admission rates: adults, $13.00; senior citizens, $12.00; children age 6-11, when accompanied by an adult, $6.00; and children under age 5, FREE. Admission fees, restaurant and retail proceeds, along with private donations, support the operation and restoration of Mount Vernon.
