CLASSICAL

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The orchestra honors Mstislav Rostropovich a decade after his death with “A Salute to Slava,” a series of concerts highlighting pieces and composers associated with the legendary cellist and former NSO music director. Cellist Alisa Weilerstein plays Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto (March 9–11), and conductor James Conlon leads a program of works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and Britten (April 6–8), all of whom wrote pieces specifically for Rostropovich. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW, 202467-4600; kennedy-center.org/nso

THE WASHINGTON BALLET

The company’s new artistic leadership, Victor Barbee and Julie Kent, restages the classic Giselle. March 1–5, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW, 202-467-4600; washingtonballet.org

WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA

DC’s premier opera company offers two works that prove the vitality of 21st-century American opera. Jake Heggie’s enduringly popular Dead Man Walking (February 25 to March 11), adapted from Sister Helen Prejean’s memoir about her work with a death-row inmate, pairs a thoughtprovoking subject with a tonal, accessible score. Terence Blanchard’s Champion (March 4–18) is an “opera in jazz” that tells the real-life story of Emile Griffith and the demons he battled as a closeted gay boxer. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW, 202467-4600; kennedy-center.org/wno