Crafting a Season at The Barns

Oct 24, 2024

Building a season at The Barns at Wolf Trap is akin to assembling a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. Every year, Wolf Trap’s programming team creates a captivating lineup that reflects a variety of genres, piques audiences’ ever-changing interests, and accommodates artists’ availabilities. The search for the best performers and entertainment is the goal.

Diana Ezerins, Director of Programming, and Arianna Zukerman, Manager of Opera & Classical Programming, are two primary forces on the all-female team. Ezerins draws on years of experience from other DC area venues, and Zukerman calls upon the network she built as an international classical singer. The two know how to program for The Barns because they acutely understand the significance and versatility of the space.

A Special Venue

Each week, The Barns can seamlessly transition from housing a lively, general admission show on a Friday or Saturday night to showcasing timeless renditions of chamber music at a seated show, such as Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, on a Sunday afternoon. This season, the weekday lineup varies from big-name artists like rocker Jim Messina and cabaret crooner Ari Shapiro to Brazilian jazz and bossa nova queen Eliane Elias.

The magic of The Barns lies in its lofty ceiling and historic wood walls that naturally amplify sound. This unique architecture allows vocals and instrumental notes to linger in the air and resonate in a way that lets audiences pick up on the finest details. It’s in hearing “the big sniff” or breath that cues the downbeat for classical musicians to start together. And it’s in the energy that sparks when audiences stomp in time to bluegrass music or laugh in unison at a comedy show.

Building Community

At the heart of all these moments is Wolf Trap’s programming, carefully planned to represent a range of artists that entice prospective audience members.

While Ezerins most closely follows the Americana, folk, and bluegrass circuits, she credits her colleague Pauline Ragusa for her work on ensuring Latin artists, such as Pan American Symphony Orchestra and Mariachi Herencia de México, among other varied acts, are present in Wolf Trap’s programming.

“No programmer can be the knower of all things music. It’s just impossible. It helps when you have people with complementary and different musical passions that can come through in the programming,” said Ezerins.

The programming team cultivates and builds ongoing relationships with local groups to showcase the talents and diversity of the community. This leads to exciting collaborations such as DC Anthem Singers Shine for sports fans, Irish Masters of the DC Area with the Culkin School of Irish Dance, and Newmyer Flyer’s album tribute shows that assemble a superpowered array of DMV musicians.

Likewise on the classical side, Zukerman works closely with Artistic Advisor Wu Han—who is also Co-Artistic Director of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center—and Wolf Trap’s Vice President of Opera and Classical Programming Lee Anne Myslewski to select the most interesting programs and musicians for the chamber season.

“I have had to think about how a program works for my entire performing life—what makes it successful, boring, or interesting and how to create cohesion within the ideas of a program. Since I grew up around instrumentalists who played chamber music, it doesn’t feel foreign to me. There’s a lot of separation between the worlds of singing and instrumental music, but not in my case.”

Arianna Zukerman, Manager of Opera & Classical Programming

Keeping It Contemporary

The programming team is always thinking of ways to present shows that draw in audiences of all ages and backgrounds, especially in genres that have been around for decades and even centuries.

“I like to think of classical music as living history. This is as close as you can get to stepping back in time as you hear the same sounds that somebody heard in the 18^th or 19^th centuries. I love the traditional canon, but I’m also very excited to hear new pieces and music by underrepresented voices,” said Zukerman.

That’s why The Barns’ classical programs often feature rising artists, including the youthful Viano Quartet, up-and-coming pianist Jan Lisiecki, and countertenor and Wolf Trap Opera alum John Holiday, alongside established greats like violinist Julia Fischer and cellist David Finckel. Even time-honored works, such as Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet, can be given new sonic life when performed because of its unconventional combination of instruments.

For non-classical programming, Ezerins also keeps track of the crossovers between established legends and emerging artists. This season at The Barns, Broadway legacies like Norm Lewis and John Lloyd Young set the stage for funky musical theater cover group Third Reprise. Additionally, the leaders of the bluegrass renaissance, Del McCoury and T Bone Burnett, pave the way for Jess Williamson and the musicians of Nashville Emerging Artists Night.

“T Bone Burnett’s work has changed my life and helped set my career path. He’s the reason I’m doing what I am today and why I fell in love with all this music. It’s really such an honor to work with the legacy artists and the younger artists that are following in their footsteps.”

Diana Ezerins, Director of Programming

Of course, the final piece to the great programming puzzle is you, the audience. Our community’s eclectic collage of interests is what most inspires the programming selections each season. And every year, it’s what transforms this beloved venue from two rustic barns into a revered gathering place for all to enjoy live music and entertainment together.