WoCo Fest 2026: Transcend
OPENING CONCERT
Fri, April 24, 7:30pm at The Mansion at Strathmore
The festival opens with a free evening concert featuring musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra and the newly renamed Washington National Opera Orchestra. These extraordinary artists gather at WoCo Fest as a sanctuary—providing these Kennedy Center musicians a place to make music freely and joyfully together. The program includes the string quartet Bluestone Strings performing works by Hildegard von Bingen, Andrew Yee, and Rhiannon Giddens, a wind trio with works by Madeleine Dring and Thea Musgrave, and a flute/harp duo, performing works by Stella Sung and Juhi Bansal.
The evening concludes with Luminous Being, a transcendent project by New York Philharmonic violinist Audrey Wright, paired with responsive, wearable light sculpture by visual artist and technologist Geoff Robertson, embodying the renewal and spirit at the heart of Transcend.
Reception following the concert.
Boulanger Initiative and WoCo Fest 2026: Transcend is co-presented by Strathmore and supported in part by funding from the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County, the Maryland State Arts Council, The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The Alice M. Ditson Fund, LSWG, MPTF, George Wenchel, and The Carl and Beryl Tretter Charitable Fund.
The Music Performance Trust Fund (MPTF) was established in 1948 as a nonprofit independent public service organization whose mission includes contributing to the public knowledge and appreciation of music, as well as making music a part of every child’s life experience. Headquartered in New York City, the tax-exempt MPTF, operating under section 501(c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code, evolved from a landmark collective bargaining agreement between the American Federation of Musicians and the major recording companies of the day. Today the MPTF is a vital organization that brings music to the public and supplements the income of musicians, all at no cost to those receiving this precious gift of music.
