Little City Concerts Pairs Innovative Classical Music with Themes of Social Justice

Looking for a soothing and stimulating dose of high-quality live classical music in the City of Falls Church? 

Well, now Little City Concerts – recipient of multiple local arts grants including one from the Falls Church City Arts and Humanities Council – has launched its second season in the Little City, pairing social justice themes with intimate, innovative, and exaltant local performances.

“Founded by composer Stephen Gorbos in the summer of 2023, Little City Concerts seeks to present musical performances of depth and distinction in Falls Church City,” the group’s website says. “Rooted in a contemporary/experimental aesthetic, concerts will focus on newly composed music, alongside refreshing takes on older repertoire. Each event will be connected with a social justice theme, and a portion of ticket sales will be donated to a specific charity connected with that theme.”

“Little City Concerts is committed to presenting artists and repertoire that reflect the diversity present in Falls Church City: artists presented will have some connection to the larger Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.”

And in terms of compositional quality and arrangement, Little City Concerts’ founder and director Stephen Gorbos, DMA, is no joke. 

With a doctorate of music arts from Cornell University, Dr. Gorbos serves as Chair of the Department of Music Theory, History, and Composition at Catholic University. 

“American composer Stephen Gorbos composes concert music for a range of ensembles and soloists. His music, described by The Washington Post as ‘lyrical… warm and richly drawn,’ and by Chicagomusic.org as ‘pulsating with a sense of urban life,’ navigates a wide palette of disparate traditions, creating a synthesis between styles as diverse as American rhythm and blues, western classical music, and Javanese gamelan,” Gorbos’ university bio reads. “Whether composing for traditional ensembles, electronic media, or a mixture of both, Stephen tries to find and exploit the unique variables at play: this can be the technical abilities of his collaborators, or distinct features in communities with which he might be engaging on a particular project. Stephen has had his works performed in concert halls across the U.S. and in Europe…”

“I moved here with my family a little over two years ago, having lived further out in Fairfax County for the previous nine years,” Gorbos told The Falls Church Independent. “We love this community, and I wanted to build something here that contributed back. Being a composer, I immediately got the idea for a concert series.”

“The mission of Little City Concerts is to put on awesome concert events that mix music and social justice,” Gorbos continued. “Each one of our concerts is themed around a particular issue, and we partner with a nonprofit that aligns with that issue, donating 50 percent of ticket sales to them.”

“We’re largely funded by donations from community members and businesses, along with local grants from ArtsFairfax and The Falls Church City Arts and Humanities Council,” Gorbos said. “Because of this support, we've been able to make all of our events free for anyone with a student ID and youth.”

In their opening season last summer, Little City Concerts presented three concerts featuring: “Balance Campaign presenting Texture, Terrain, Transformation, an environmentally-inspired program that was paired with EcoAction Arlington; soprano Celine Mogielnicki and pianist Tatiana Loisha presenting SPEAK, a program devoted to voices connected with the LGBTQ+ community that was paired with SMYAL; and David Kim and Friends presenting The Artistry of Clara Schumann: Composer and Performer, which was paired with Doorways.”

Now in their 2024-2025 season, Little City Concerts is expanding its offerings “to include a fourth concert,” putting on their first chamber opera, and presenting their first Little City Concerts Commission.” 

So, what’s up next? 

Partnering with The News Literacy Project – a “fantastic organization that works with schools on educating students in media literacy,” Gorbos said — Little City Concerts’ first event of the new season will be an “immersive chamber opera in one act” (approx. 75 min.) called ‘Waking the Witch,’ which “focuses on the issue of people in power believing in conspiracy theories.”  

“Just in time for Halloween, this show considers how people in power respond to conspiracy theories and misinformation,” Little City Concerts says. “The audience is invited to assume the role of an accused witch, while the singer, a countertenor, acts as witchfinder general conducting an interrogation. Members of the ensemble, a sextet, accompany the action and frequently act as animal familiars of questionable reality.”

A preview will be held Oct. 9 at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, 120 N. Virginia Ave. where the composer and director will talk about the piece and their creative process and the audience will have a chance to hear excerpts from the show and ask questions. The full show will then be on Saturday, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m. at The Falls Church Episcopal. For parking, go to 166 E. Broad St. in the City of Falls Church. Cost: $25 general admission, free for students/youth. Fifty percent of proceeds will go to The News Literacy Project.

Donations to Little City Concerts are fully tax-deductible and the group is ”always looking to partner” with local businesses. “We will roll out a crowdfunding campaign in a few weeks, but our general donation fund is open now,” Gorbos said. 

Little City Concerts Season Tickets are also available here for just $80.

By Christopher Jones