FRIENDS and CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE PROGRAMS

The Friends and Chairman’s Circle are annual giving programs that sustain our wide-ranging artistic work that inspires, educates, and connects us. Join the Friends program today with a gift of $75 or more, or the Chairman’s Circle of our leadership supporters with a gift of $2,500 or more, to enhance your performance experience with special benefits.

We have planned a host of fabulous Friends events for the 2021/22 season, encompassing both in-person and virtual platform to complement your performance experience, encourage conversations, and bring us together. Events such as listening parties, rehearsals, and receptions surrounding a performance, not only highlight our core values, but also provide a way for us to say thank you to our dedicated Friends for their generous support.

View our 2021/22 Friends Brochure for detailed information about the benefits for each giving level.

Become a Friend

2021/22 Season Friends Events
(Offering as of September 24, 2021. Subject to change)

February 2022
Children of the Gospel Choir Open Rehearsal
(Date TBD)
Join us for an insider’s view of the Children of the Gospel Choir in action.
(Available to all Friends)

April
Post-Performance Reception
Sunday, April 24, 2022
Keep the night going with conversations and light bites after
mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato takes the stage with Il Pomo d’Oro for Eden.

Under the Tuscan Sun
(Virtual; Date TBD)
Spice up your life! Enjoy an Italian meal preparation demonstration led by
Christianne Ricchi, owner and chef of I Ricchi, one of our favorite local restaurants.
(Available to all Friends)

May
Post-Performance Reception
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Celebrate our Hazel Scott 101st Birthday Celebration this season,
immediately following the performance of pianist Michelle Cann.

June
Listening Party Celebrating Hazel Scott at 101, 2nd edition
(Virtual; Date TBD)
Back by popular demand!
Learn more about what we have in store for you as we
celebrate Hazel Scott in the 2022/23 season.
(Available to all Friends)

Friends Annual Celebration
(Date TBD)
Let’s celebrate YOU – Friends supporters of Washington Performing Arts –
who help make everything we do possible.
(Available to Friends at $250+)

Join the Friends or Chairman’s Circle programs today and start enjoying
great events and other special benefits (view our 2021/22 Friends Brochure).
Or increase your level of giving to participate in more of these unique experiences in the coming months!

Become a Friend

Past Friends Events

Washington Performing Arts offered numerous ways for Friends to connect with us in 2020/21. Take a look at the host of fabulous virtual events below held throughout last season that celebrated the art and the artists of our Home Delivery Plus 2021 series. Included are the recordings of the first two 2020/21 Friends events, the “Lift Every Voice: The Power of Music in the Fight for Social Justice” panel discussion, and the Listening Party Celebrating Hazel Scott at 101 for you to enjoy whether you missed the events, want to re-watch them, or want to share with your family and friends:

Mars Arts DC: Virtual Rhythm & Motion Pre-Premiere Happy Hour
Held October 19, 2020
(Open to all Friends at the $75 level and above)

Guests socialized virtually with President & CEO Jenny Bilfield and fellow Friends of Washington Performing Arts at our opennig event of fall 2020 and got the inside scoop on Mars Arts DC: Virtual Rhythm & Motion.

 •

The Juice: Conversations with Jenny, First Edition
Held October 30, 2020
(Open to all Friends at the $75 level and above)

A new series of conversations between Jenny Bilfield, our President & CEO, and inspiring entrepreneurs from around the world of arts and culture. They explored relevant and meaningful topics that illuminated what the arts mean to them.

In this first conversation, Jenny invited three dynamic leaders—Charlotte Lee, President and Founder at Primo Artists; Terri Allen, Executive Director at Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA); and James Ginsburg, President, Cedille Chicago, NFP—to share their thoughts on The Music that Makes Us: What Propels Us Forward?

•

Mars Arts DC: Virtual Dance in DC Pre-Premiere Happy Hour
Held November 30, 2020
(Open to all Friends at the $75 level and above)

President & CEO Jenny Bilfield, Mars Arts DC: Virtual curator and Chief Operating Officer & Director of Finance C. Lorenzo Evans III, and Women’s Committee First Vice President and guest mixologist Denise Rollins gave a festive introduction to our fall 2020 artistic series, Mars Arts DC: Virtual Dance in DC.

•

Sips & Songs: Virtual Holiday Party
Co-hosted by Washington Performing Arts Junior Board
Held December 9, 2020
(Open to Friends at the $250 level and above)

Guests enjoyed an evening with friends and music; learned to make Oven-Broiled Oysters Rockefeller with founding Junior Board member Ebony Thomas; got their game on in some friendly, virtual competitions, including an Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest; and capped off the evening with a festive mix of holiday favorites and pop classics by The String Queens, in a sneak preview of their December 11, 2020 debut on Home Delivery Plus.

•

Children of the Gospel Choir Open Rehearsal
Held January 11, 2021
(Open to all Friends at the $75 level and above)

This virtual event gave a unique insider’s view of the Children of the Gospel Choir in action. Guests met our amazing, dynamic Washington Performing Arts Gospel Music Programs team and heard updates on the Gospel Music Programs. Then, they visited the virtual rehearsal room to observe the choir members participating in a virtual masterclass and receiving feedback from their peers and choir faculty. Finally, guests were invited to join the choir in a sing-along!

•

Lift Every Voice: The Power of Music in the Fight for Social Justice
A Panel Discussion with Michele Fowlin, Theodore Thorpe III, and Anthony Walker
Moderated by Raynetta Wiggins-Jackson, Ph.D.
Held February 5, 2021
(Open to all Friends at the $75 level and above)

In anticipation of the 2021 presentation of Living the Dream…Singing the Dream, the 33rd annual choral tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with Choral Arts, our Gospel Music Programs directors explored gospel and African American music and their relationship to social justice. Their discussion was moderated by Dr. Raynetta Wiggins-Jackson, Washington Performing Arts’s Manager of Choir Curriculum and Performance.

•

Movement workshop with Brinae Ali, dancer and vocalist
Held February 24, 2021
(Open to Friends at the $500 level and above)

Virtuoso tap dancer, choreographer, and vocalist Brinae Ali showed us how to shake off the “zoom fatigue” and stay active in advance of her March 2021 performance on Home Delivery Plus with trumpeter Sean Jones.

•

Listening Party with J’Nai Bridges, mezzo soprano
hosted by Elizabeth Racheva
Held March 10, 2021
(Open to all Friends at the $75 level and above)

Our Chief Advancement Officer, Elizabeth Racheva, who has nurtured a parallel career as an acclaimed classical vocalist and programmer, hosted a listening party (and wine tasting) with J’Nai Bridges, in connection with Ms. Bridges’s March 2021 performance exploring themes of uplift and community on Home Delivery Plus. Guests were invited to enhance their listening party experience with a trio of vintages from Theopolis Vineyards. The tasting was co-presented in partnership with Woman-Owned Wineries (more details here!).

•

The Juice: Conversations with Jenny, Second Edition
Held March 20, 2021
(Open to all Friends at the $75 level and above)

Jenny Bilfield, our President & CEO, invited four dynamic producers in the industry—Janet Cowperthwaite, Executive Director, Kronos Performing Arts Association and Manager, Kronos Quartet; Rika Iino, Founder/Producer, SOZO Artists (and recent Patrick Hayes Award recipient from the International Society of Performing Arts); Beth Morrison, President and Creative Producer, BMP (Beth Morrison Projects); and Anthony “Tony” Walker, Music Director, Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs—to share how they “make it happen” from the vantage point of producer.

•

Masterclass with Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Held April 12, 2021
(Open to Friends at the $500 level and above)

Friends had front-row seats to observe Alisa Weilerstein, one of the foremost cellists of our time, work with student artist Ethan Oh, one of the winners of the Advanced Cello category of the 2020 Joseph and Goldie Feder Memorial String Competition, in a masterclass held in advance of Ms. Weilerstein’s May 2021 performance on Home Delivery Plus.

•

Embassy Adoption Program signature event:
Mini United Nations Simulations
Held June 4, 2021
(Open to all Friends at the $75 level and above)

A unique element of the Embassy Adoption Program, a partnership with D.C. Public Schools, Mini United Nations Simulations feature select 5th and 6th grader student delegates convening in a General Assembly situation to debate and vote on resolutions relating to global challenges, like climate change, on behalf of their adopted country.

• 

Washington Performing Arts: Then and Now
Celebrating Milestones with Doug Wheeler and Jenny Bilfield
Friends Annual Celebration
Held June 25, 2021
(Open to the Public)

Guests heard reflections and visions for celebrating Washington Performing Arts’s milestones and five decades of resilience and creativity with Douglas Wheeler, our President Emeritus, and Jenny Bilfield, our President & CEO—plus an update on the plans for our 2021/22 Season and a celebration of our dedicated Friends of Washington Performing Arts who make all our work possible!

•

 Listening Party celebrating Hazel Scott at 101
hosted by Murray Horwitz
Held July 30, 2021
(Open to Friends at the $1,500 level and above)

We joined Washington Performing Arts Artist-in-Residence Murray Horwitz for a sneak peek of our special production next season, Hazel Scott at 101, which will commemorate unsung American cultural powerhouse Hazel Scott (June 11, 1920–October 2, 1981) and celebrate her 101st birthday.

2021/22 Season Friends Events Kick Off
Post-Performance Sidewalk Celebration
Held Friday, October 15
(Available to all Friends)

Celebrate the return of live performances and kick off our Friends events at the wine bar, Barkada, immediately following the performance* by keyboard Phenom Matthew Whitaker and our Children of the Gospel Choir. (Open to all Friends)

Thank you to those who joined us.
It was such a wonderful way to kick off the Friends events this season.

Fall for Piano
Virtual; Held Wednesday, November 17, 5-6pm ET
(Available to all Friends)

Hosted by Anastasia Tsioulcas, Reporter, NPR Arts Desk, Featuring pianists Tiffany Poon, Michelle Cann, and Martin James Bartlett
Join us for an evening of intimate conversation with three of the pianists who will appear in our 2021/22 season: Tiffany Poon, Michelle Cann, and Martin James Bartlett.

Learn about their artistic interpretations and inspirations as we look forward to their upcoming Washington Performing Arts performances and celebrating piano on stage this autumn and beyond.

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Music & Merriment Holiday Party
Virtual; Held Friday, December 17, 7-8pm ET

Hosted by the Washington Performing Arts Junior Board
Featuring special guests from our upcoming presentation of English with an Accent: Migguel Anggelo, Lead Artist, Jaime Lozano, Musical Director, and David Stark, Chief Creative Officer.

Take part in a joyful evening with friends and music - get your game on with some friendly trivia, enjoy a brief musical presentation and conversation with our special guests, and cap off the evening with our fan-favorite ugly sweater contest!

Help us bring Washington Performing Arts’s mission to life and to deepen your connection with other arts lovers and the artists and students who we serve, partner, and present by joining the Friends or Chairman’s Circle programs today!

Become a Friend

Thank you for your generous support!

QUESTIONS?

For questions about the Friends or Chairman’s Circle programs, or to join by phone, please call Meiyu Tsung at (202) 533-1880 or email her at Friends@WashingtonPerformingArts.org.

Interested in other ways to give to Washington Performing Arts, or giving vehicles that we accept? Learn more about ways to give here.

Banner images - (clockwise from top left) Pianist Lara Downes and collaborator Rhiannon Giddens greet past Washington Performing Arts Board Chair Lydia Micheaux Marshall and guests backstage; jazz organist Matthew Whitaker poses with Honorary Board member Jake Jones and wife Veronica Nyhan Jones; Hilary Hahn poses with Board member Christina Co Mather and Honorary Board member Dr. Gary D. Mather at a private event; cellist Yo Yo Ma with Board member Daniel Heider and guests.

Images above - (from left) Washington Performing Arts President & CEO Jenny Bilfield with special guests: Charlotte Lee, Terri Allen, and James Ginsburg in The Juice: Conversations with Jenny; longtime supporter and subscriber Susan Angell visits jazz pianist Chucho Valdés backstage; Junior Board member Manasi Tirodkar and husband Ajay Tirodkar pose at a Washington Performing Arts event; Washington Performing Arts Virtual Holiday Party, Sips & Songs, co-hosted by the Junior Board, featuring The String Queens and Junior Board member Ebony Thomas.