Dear Adam:

        At this point you figure that all of the usual and customary, well-known performance venues (Kennedy Center, the museums, WDC city venues, etc.) are pretty much already booked. Ditto for those venues in the suburbs, such as the beautiful new Strathmore Hall in North Bethesda, Md, or the Black Rock Center for the Arts in Germantown, as well as other venues in northern Virginia or Prince George's County.

        DAR / Constitution Hall would be a spendid place for a performance, but I know for a fact that it is all booked up for most of early June... since most of the High Schools in Montgomery County (Md.) hold their graduation exercises in there.

        You could grab a local WDC phone book, or check the Internet, and call or send an e-mail message to each of the performance sites yourself, but it would be alot better for you to get someone in the WDC area that knows of your group, or knows of your high school... and who might know the performance venues in the WDC area. 

        Who better to act as your local WDC rep than the office of your local Congressional representative or Senator!! It is called "constituent service", and they do this sort of thing all the time. 

        Have the local office in your area contact their WDC office, or contact the WDC office yourself, and have one of their staff members make the arrangements for you. They would probably have alot of "pull" if they were to call the booking offices on your behalf, than for you to do it yourself...

        The worst that could happen is that you might have to be interviewed by the media and pose for a picture with the representative or senator... Sounds like a win-win.

        You may also check with your hotel, or whomever is making the room/board reservations for your group, and see if they can book your group an additional gig somewhere.

        Best of luck, and let us know on choralnet what transpires. I'm sure that other choral groups planning a trip to WDC will want to know about your experiences, and we choralnet folks in the WDC area would like to come and hear your group!! 

 

        Ron Isaacson

        Germantown, Md.

My wife and I took a group to Washington D.C. many years ago and did a performance at the U. S. Soldiers and Airmen's Home in Washington.  The venue was decent and the retired members of the armed services were an excellent audience.  I am not sure if this would fit your requirements, but it is difficult to find a better audience.

 

 

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Rob