User:Saboukasm/Washington Performing Arts Society

Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) Founded in 1965, Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) is a non-profit arts presenter offering a wide-range of performances at multiple venues in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. These feature both established performers and emerging artists. WPAS presents numerous public performances and arts education activities each year. Its three-part mission is "to provide the Washington community with performing arts presentations of the highest quality and of varied content and tradition; support and nurture performing artists and their art forms, and provide lifelong learning opportunities through arts education, youth involvement, and community partnerships."

WPAS was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2012 by President Barack Obama “for bringing world-class performances to our Nation’s capital.” WPAS also received the 2012 Mayor's Art Award for Excellence in Service to the Arts.

History
WPAS was founded in 1965 by Patrick Hayes (1909-1998). Hayes had managed the National Symphony Orchestra in the early 1940s and also founded the Hayes Concert Bureau as a profit-making venture in 1947. Hayes had presented such performers as Arturo Toscanini, Marian Anderson, Vladimir Horowitz, and the Metropolitan Opera, at DAR Constitution Hall, The George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, Loews Capital Theater, the National Theater, the Washington Coliseum and other venues. According to his 1998 obituary in the New York Times, Hayes was “one of the last of the American impresarios and virtually the only presenter of musicians, singers and dancers in Washington before the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opened in 1971."

Among the world-class performers Hayes brought to Washington were the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein, dancers Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, Marian Anderson, Vladimir Horowitz, Janet Baker, Leontyne Price, Judy Garland and Louis Armstrong, as well as the Dance Theater of Harlem, Martha Graham Dance Company and others.

The Hayes Concert Bureau presented well-established performing artists, while also introducing and boosting the careers of promising up-and-coming artists. Actively striving to end segregation in Washington, Hayes “brought the business people together to desegregate the lunch counters and theaters downtown.”

In 1965, Hayes established WPAS as one of the nation's first non-profit, independent, professional arts organizations and named his friend, the baritone Todd Duncan, as chairman of the board. Duncan had been George Gershwin's personal choice as the first performer of the role of Porgy in Porgy and Bess in 1935. Duncan became the first African American to sing with a major opera company when he made his 1945 New York City Opera debut as Tonio in Leoncavallo’s “Pagiliacci”.

The organization expanded under the Presidency of Douglas Wheeler from 1982 to 2002 and under President Neale Perl, 2002 to 2013 and has been led by President and CEO Jenny Bilfield since April 2013.

Performance Venues
Each year, WPAS presents several subscription series at multiple venues the Washington, D.C. region including The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland; The Shakespeare Theatre Company; George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium; and Sixth and I Historic Synagogue.

Artists Presented
Classical performances: WPAS continues its tradition of presenting internationally acclaimed orchestras, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, The Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mariinsky Orchestra, as well as star classical singers such as Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Renée Fleming, and Joyce DiDonato.

Instrumental soloists such as András Schiff, Yo-Yo Ma, and Joshua Bell are also frequently presented by WPAS at both the John F. Kennedy Center Concert Hall and The Music Center at Strathmore.

WPAS’ Hayes Piano Series was established in 1966 in honor of WPAS founder Patrick Hayes’ wife, pianist and teacher Evelyn Swarthout Hayes. Maurizio Pollini, Murray Perahia, Alfred Brendel and Yefim Bronfman made their Kennedy Center debuts on the Hayes Piano Series, which continues to include some of the world’s most promising emerging pianists. The series is staged at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.

Begun in 1987 as the Kreeger String Series, the Virtuoso Series, features up-and-coming string musicians., Performers presented early in their careers included Gil Shaham, Hilary Hahn, and Alicia Weilerstein. A discussion with the artists sometimes follows performances.

Jazz performances: WPAS has a long history of presenting both up-and-coming and well-established jazz performers. Performers presented early in their careers have included Wynton Marsalis, Esperanza Spalding and Vijay Iyer. Pianists Herbie Hancock and Chucho Valdés,, trumpeter Chris Botti and Brad Mehldau have also appeared on the WPAS roster.

Dance and Movement: WPAS has presented major contemporary dance troupes, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. In 2009, WPAS partnered with Dance/MetroDC and the Shakespeare Theater Company to present the first VelocityDC Dance Festival. Designed to support and promote the artistic and financial health of the dance community at large, the VelocityDC Dance Festival has attracted sold-out audiences and features local dance artists throughout a series of performances over several days.

Show music: WPAS also presents such performers as Audra McDonald, Michael Feinstein, Barbara Cooke, and Brian Stokes Mitchell; Roseanne Cash and Kathy Mattea and Suzanne Vega.

World and Gospel performances: W: Each season, WPAS presents performances by its two gospel choirs, Men and Women of the Gospel and Children of the Gospel Choirs and recently has also co- presented performances by Choral Arts Society. World music performances have included concerts by Zakir Hussain, Kodo Drummers and Anoushka Shankar.

Educational Programs
WPAS runs educational programs for children and adults including Concerts in Schools, Enriching Experiences for Seniors, The Capitol Jazz Project®, Capitol Voices, Capitol Strings and Capitol Dance Projects, and the Embassy Adoption Program (in conjunction with the District of Columbia Public Schools).

WPAS was the first D.C. area institution to offer a comprehensive program of free performances and workshops in local schools. WPAS Summer Performing Arts Academy each year runs a tuition-free summer performing arts academy with a Capitol Jazz Project summer camp, Children of the Gospel Vocal Workshop and a Summer Steps camp taught by D.C. stepping group Step Afrika! A Playful Rhythms camp caters to children ages four through seven.

WPAS organizes and sponsors two gospel choirs, the WPAS Men and Women of the Gospel Choir and the Children of the Gospel Choir. The WPAS Men and Women of the Gospel Choir has performed at D.C.-area venues such as The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall and Millennium Stage, Harman Center for the Arts, and The Music Center at Strathmore since the early 1990s. The choir has performed with an array of musical artists such as Beverly Crawford, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Ramsey Lewis Trio.

The WPAS Children of the Gospel Choir was established in 1993 and has performed with numerous musical artists such as Kiri Te Kanawa, Kathleen Battle, and Yolanda Adams. The choir has performed twice on NBC’s Today program and at the Inaugural Prayer Service for President Barack Obama at the Washington National Cathedral on January 21, 2009. COTG alumnus Soloman Howard,, is currently a member of the Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist program and has performed on opera stages from New York to Denver.

WPAS organizes the annual Joseph and Goldie Feder Memorial String Competition which gives monetary awards to D.C. area music students to be used for further instruction.

Lectures
In 2008, WPAS, in partnership with The Smithsonian Associates, began bringing What Makes it Great© with Rob Kapilow to Washington, D.C. This series of lectures by musicologist Rob Kapilow, captures the musical phrases, dynamics, and overall mood of a piece by adding insightful commentary. These lectures have featured works by Beethoven, Vivaldi, Schubert and Gershwin and are accompanied by musical illustrations. Lectures are followed by a full-length performance of the work.

Commissions
WPAS has a long tradition of commissioning new works by composers and performers such as William Bolcom, John Corigliano, Mark-Anthony Turage, Wynton Marsalis, and Sweet Honey in the Rock. Let Freedom Sing; The Story of Marian Anderson, an opera about the life of singer Marian Anderson by composer Bruce Adolphe and writer Carolivia Herron, was premiered at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C. on  Thursday, March 19, 2009.

Organization
WPAS continues to operate under the leadership of a President who is advised by a board of local business and arts leaders. Support committees include the all-volunteer Women’s Committee. Executive Committee, Artistic Directions Committee, Finance Committee, Audit Committee, Pension Committee, Development Committee, Marketing Committee, Governance Committee, Nominating Committee, Lawyers’ Committee, and Legal Society Committee.

WPAS presents an annual fundraising gala in the spring and occasional fundraising events. Funding also comes from subscriptions, private donations and grants.