Wolf Trap Announces 35 Additions to its Summer 2012 Schedule: Idina Menzel, Norah Jones and More

Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts announced yesterday 35 new shows to its summer schedule at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Tickets are on sale now to members and go on sale Saturday, March 24 at 10am to the public.

Wolf Trap welcomes back Emil de Cou as the NSO@Wolf Trap Festival conductor, joined by conductors Eimear Noone and Steven Reineke in guest appearances. National Symphony Orchestra performances include a screening of the iconic West Side Story, featuring the full score conducted by de Cou, and a rendition of Gustav Holst’s The Planets, with captivating HD film featuring new NASA images. Reineke, one of the nation’s most coveted pops conductors, will conduct the NSO in a performance with Broadway superstar Idina Menzel, a Tony Award-winner for her acclaimed roles in Wicked and Rent. Noone will conduct a spirited performance of music with footage from the legendary video game franchise The Legend of Zelda.

The GRAMMY-nominated, nationally renowned Wolf Trap Opera Company (WTOC) will present its summer program featuring the finest rising talent in the field: the Filene Young Artists. The Company will present two full-length opera productions at The Barns at Wolf Trap, plus a recital and an afternoon of audience chosen aria favorites. The repertoire includes Mozart’s Don Giovanni;Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress; From Bel Canto to Can Belto, a recital with GRAMMY Award-winning pianist Steven Blier, andAria Jukebox, a Filene Young Artist Showcase of opera highlights. The Company will also join the National Symphony Orchestra and The Washington Chorus for a performance of Beethoven’s 9^th at the Filene Center.

True to its mission, Wolf Trap delivers on presenting top-quality artists representing a diverse array of genres from pop-rock, classic-rock, Motown, country, folk, and more in an almost non-stop performance schedule from late May through September. Within these categories, the 2012 summer line-up, thus far, features the legendary Crosby, Stills & Nash performing their greatest hits and new material; award-winning classical-crossover group Il Divo; the ultimate showman in standards singer-songwriter Barry Manilowperforming for two nights at the Filene Center; country-music powerhouse Martina McBride with special guest David Nail; Bonnie Raitt with special guest Mavis Staples; Steve Winwood; and country megastar Alan Jackson. The angelic voice of Norah Jones will breeze through the open air pavilion of the Filene Center when Jones returns for her second performance at Wolf Trap. Additional featured pop and rock debuts include Barenaked Ladies, Cracker, Ben Harper, and Dead Can Dance.

For a trip through one of music’s most identifiable decades, the hit musical ROCK OF AGES revisits chart-topping songs of the ’80s from Journey, REO Speedwagon, Poison, and many other iconic bands. Leading bands of the ’90s come together for the first time on the Filene Center stage for the Summerland tour featuring Everclear, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms, Lit, and Marcy Playground. 

Additional spotlight performances coming to Wolf Trap this summer include local favorite Mary Chapin Carpenter with special guestLoudon Wainwright III; the unmatched jazz styling’s of Diana Krall; Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Buddy Guy with special guest John Mayall; George Thorogood & The Destroyers with special guest Delbert McClinton; and the prog-rock double bill of TheB-52s and Squeeze.

Other notables include Johnny Mathis, John Tesh, Big Head Todd & The Monsters, Gipsy Kings, the Dukes of September withDonald Fagen, Michael McDonald, and Boz Scaggs, Straight No Chaser, The Clarke/Duke 4 and Boney James, Al Green, andk.d. lang and The Siss Boom Bang.

For the full summer 2012 calendar to date, visit http://www.wolftrap.org/Filene_Center.aspx.

Tickets for Wolf Trap’s 2012 performances can be purchased via the Wolf Trap Box Office located at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts at 1551 Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia; by calling

1(877)WOLFTRAP; or online at www.wolftrap.org. For more information, please call Wolf Trap at (703) 255-1868.