In Tuesday’s (11/24) Washington Post, Joe Heim interviews Jenny Bilfield, president and CEO of Washington Performing Arts. The Washington, D.C.-based organization presents classical music (including the Philadelphia Orchestra on Dec. 7), jazz, gospel, dance, world music and art, and is active in education and commissions. “Q: How would you describe D.C.’s artistic temperament? A: People are really engaged listeners and viewers…. I see … increasingly in the music community a real interest in exploring new voices. … Q: Would you want WPA to have a dedicated venue? A: Yes and no. We need more rehearsal space in the city, that’s for sure. But with a venue comes the operating costs…. One of the things that I love about our nimbleness is that we can be at Sixth and I or Strathmore or the Kennedy Center … so we can present our artists in a 600-seat venue or in a 2,400-seat venue. Q: How difficult is it to expand the audience for your programming? A: There’s a challenge that [all] arts presenters and producers face.… How do we build a community of arts lovers for live performance? We do that by making the art touchable and palpable and compelling.”
Posted November 25, 2015
