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Contact: Chris Guerre,
 Director, Public Relations
(703) 255-4096 or chrisg@wolftrap.org
Graham Binder, Manager, Public Relations
(703) 255-1917 or grahamb@wolftrap.org

Vienna, VA

Education has been central to Wolf Trap’s mission throughout its history. Every year, Wolf Trap hosts several major events to support its Education Programs, including the Wolf Trap Gala, the Wolf Trap Ball, and the Annual Invitational Golf Tournament and Auction for Education.

Proceeds directly benefit Wolf Trap’s nationally acclaimed Education Programs, including the Wolf Trap Opera Company and the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. In classrooms across the country and around the world, the Wolf Trap Institute is offering teachers innovative and creative ways to teach, while providing children with engaging ways to learn. The goal of the Institute is to coach early childhood professionals in the use of drama, music, movement, and puppetry to help children learn literacy and academic concepts, as well as life skills.

Funds raised at these events also benefit and expand programs at the Center for Education at Wolf Trap, a national arts-in-education resource center for children, parents, educators, and performing artists.

Wolf Trap’s 36th Anniversary Gala for Arts and Education, featuring Mary Wilson of The Supremes, is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22, 2007. The annual black-tie affair is a highlight of the Washington DC area’s social scene and offers Wolf Trap supporters, as well as political and cultural leaders, an evening of fine cuisine and music in the unique surroundings of America’s Only National Park for the Performing Arts. Wolf Trap Board of Directors member Michael N. Harreld and his wife Susan will chair the event. The 2007 Wolf Trap Gala will kick off the summer season with a cocktail reception and elegant dinner in a beautifully decorated tent in the Lower Meadow of the National Park for the Performing Arts. After dinner, the evening culminates with an exclusive performance by Wilson and a night of dancing under the stars.

The Wolf Trap Ball will take place on Saturday, September 15, 2007, on the second largest theatrical stage in North America. Wolf Trap Associates Board of Directors member Michael J. Rebibo and Board of Directors member Jacqueline M. Indelicarto will co-chair this exciting event that welcomes over one thousand guests to the Filene Center. This year, Wolf Trap is proud to partner with the Embassy of Greece to produce a Ball that will be rich in both history and culture. In past years, the Wolf Trap Ball has saluted many nations, including: Austria, France, Italy, Jordan, Thailand, Morocco, Sweden, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Australia, and India. These partnerships have fostered many lasting friendships and increased cultural understanding and appreciation among all nations involved.

The Wolf Trap Auction for Education Dinner will take place on Sunday, October 14, 2007, at The WolfTrap Center for Education, and will feature exciting silent and live auctions items from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. The next morning, Monday, October 15, the 10th Annual Invitational Golf Tournament tees off atLansdowne Resort in Lansdowne, VA. Wolf Trap Foundation Board of Directors member Dennis Doughty and his wife Dawn will chair the event. As in years past, the tournament welcomes professional entertainers and athletes who wish to demonstrate their support for Wolf Trap education programs. Wolf Trap encourages local golf enthusiasts of all levels to come out and spend a day on the course for a good cause. Golf Tournament/Auction for Education packages may be purchased at a variety of levels, with special benefits accruing at each level.

For more information about Wolf Trap Special Events, please call (703) 255-4030, or email events@wolftrap.org.

The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Catherine Filene Shouse (1896-1994) that presents and produces a full-range of performance and education programs in the Washington, DC area, as well as nationally and internationally. Wolf Trap is home to two performance venues, the Filene Center, located at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, and The Barns at Wolf Trap; the Wolf Trap Opera Company, one of the country’s outstanding resident ensemble programs for young professional singers; and the Center for Education at Wolf Trap, which serves as home to Wolf Trap’s Education programs (including the nationally acclaimed Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, scholarships, master classes and internships), and Wolf Trap’s Foundation staff. The Filene Center, operated in partnership with the National Park Service, is a 7,028-seat outdoor pavilion that showcases an extensive list of diverse artists, ranging from pop, country, folk and blues, to orchestra, dance, musical theater, and opera, and multimedia presentations, from May through September each year. Visit the Wolf Trap Web site at www.wolftrap.org for more information. Terrence D. Jones is president and CEO of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.