Program areas at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
In 2022, the filene center summer season fully reopened for the first time since 2019, due to the covid-19 pandemic. Wolf Trap lost its entire 2020 summer season, which represents 90% of its earned revenue in a given year. In 2021, restrictions loosened slightly, but throughout the covered period restrictions only allowed for a maximum of 1,000 people, revised up from a prior maximum of 250. Although, Wolf Trap was permitted to hold performances for an audience of 1,000, the main venue, the filene center, can hold 7,000 people. the filene center venue is located on federal property and Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and the national park service partner in providing concert and performance programming within the park. the filene center at Wolf Trap is the only national park dedicated to presenting the Performing Arts. From late may to early september almost 341,000 patrons at 68 performances were in attendance at shows that included pop, rock, musical theater, symphony & film, dance, opera, and more with an average ticket price of $62. the filene center has the second largest theatrical stage in the country; seats 7,028, nearly 4,000 of which are covered with open sides and views of the tall trees and rolling hills in the park. the remainder of the seating is uncovered on a sloping lawn where patrons can bring picnics to enjoy before & during performances. the barns at Wolf Trap presents approximately 63 performances from october to early may at our 382 seat indoor venue. Almost 21,000 patrons enjoy legendary artists and exciting up-and-coming talents in a diverse array of musical genres with an average ticket price of $43. the theater was built from two restored 18th century barns and was a gift from our founder, catherine filene shouse.
Each year, Wolf Trap education delivers high quality arts-learning experiences to 91,000 children and adults, locally, nationally, and internationally. In addition, through education-related digital content Wolf Trap education achieved over 119,592. At the heart of Wolf Trap's education outreach for more than four decades, the Wolf Trap institute for early learning through the Arts (institute) is recognized nationally as a model for incorporating the Performing Arts into early childhood curricula. Conducting early childhood education through Arts integration in 30 states and the district of columbia, including 23 Wolf Trap institute affiliate sites across the us and in singapore, the institute provides direct services to children birth through 6 years of age and multiplies its impact through professional development for early childhood educators, parents, and caregivers. the institute seeks to address two primary concerns: (1) the learning and development of children who live in economically disadvantaged circumstances; and (2) access to effective professional development for teachers who work with these children. By integrating Performing Arts strategies into early childhood standards-based instruction, the institute enhances children's cognitive, physical, and social/emotional development, as well as language and literacy, science, technology, engineering, and math (stem) skills development. During the summer of 2022, Wolf Trap education served 15,157 children, parents, and other caregivers through Wolf Trap children's theatre-in-the-woods (ctitw). Building on four decades as a beloved community institution, this program comprises seven weeks of performances with nationally acclaimed professional musicians, actors, and dancers at an outdoor venue situated in the woods near the filene center at Wolf Trap national park for the Performing Arts. This unique, family-friendly venue offers the perfect environment for lively adventures in music, dance, theater, and puppetry. Wolf Trap's field trip fridays returned this year as a virtual alternative for in-person field trips. Wolf Trap education also manages the organization's internship and apprenticeship program, a highly competitive program consistently ranked among the nation's best. Valuing a commitment to diversity and the power of the Arts to change society, Wolf Trap broadens access and entry into the Arts management profession by offering multicultural and economic diversity initiatives as a part of the internship and apprenticeship program. In 2022, the Foundation hired 45 interns and apprentices to work in departments across the organization. Wolf Trap education annually acknowledges and awards the work and achievements of seven outstanding Performing Arts teachers from school districts in the dc/md/va metro area through grants for high school Performing Arts teachers.
Wolf Trap opera (wto), created in 1971, is a highly regarded residency program for opera singers. It offers emerging artists one of the best training and Performing experiences in the nation. Our primary tier of filene young artists have completed advanced degrees and are already established singers on the verge of professional careers; studio artists are talented student singers considering a career in the field. Alumni have gone on to careers Performing with some of the leading opera companies in the world. Wto provides both career guidance and a chance to polish skills needed to advance to the next level and offers an opportunity for our nation's most talented young performers to experience the demands of a professional career in the Performing Arts. Highly acclaimed performances are held at both the filene center and the barns. In 2022, Wolf Trap opera returned to full-scale productions for the first time since 2019, and mounted highly successful productions of weber's der freischtz, floyd's susannah and verdi's la traviata. Performances of der freischtz and susannah were captured for delayed streaming.