June 23, 2014 | People
Wolf Trap is bringing top artists from the pop charts to DC ’s premiere outdoor performance venue this summer.
Acts this summer may perform for capacity crowds of 7,000 at Wolf Trap.
The summer concert season is underway, and one of the best places to catch a show in the area is sitting outside on a cozy blanket under the stars at the beautiful Filene Center at Wolf Trap.
Each year, the park hosts a wide range of acts, and this summer is no exception—comedian Jim Gaffigan, former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, and this season’s top-10 American Idol finalists are among the performers slated to take the stage.
The Fray.
Wolf Trap is also hosting some unique pop acts this season. Perhaps the most well-known performer will be Ben Folds, the front man for Ben Folds Five, who will play a new piano concerto and orchestral arrangements of pop hits with the National Symphony Orchestra. And Steven Reineke, principal pops conductor for the NSO, will lead the orchestra through such Folds hits as “The Luckiest,” “Army,” and “Battle of Who Could Care Less.”
His appearance at Wolf Trap is the latest stop on Folds’s global symphonic tour, which includes collaborations with other world-class orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Wednesday, June 25, 8:15 pm
Sara Bareilles.
The cool and melodic Sara Bareilles is bringing her piano and pop hits to Wolf Trap in mid-July. The fivetime Grammy-nominated singer first came on the scene with her 2007 breakthrough single “Love Song,” which she’ll perform, along with “Brave” and her powerful love song “I Choose You.” Bareilles will touch on music from her new album, The Blessed Unrest, whose songs are familiar to radio listeners the world over. Monday, July 14, 8 pm
Two nights after Bareilles plays Wolf Trap, the poprock group The Fray, a band from Denver best known for dreamy and passionate tunes like “How to Save a Life” and “Over My Head (Cable Car),” will serenade the crowd. In late February the four-time Grammy nominated group released its fourth album, Helios, which includes the single “Love Don’t Die.” Wednesday, July 16, 7 pm.
This summer Wolf Trap features an array of talent to suit a range of musical tastes.
Saturday, June 28: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra
Sunday, June 29: Diana Ross
Thursday, July 3: Crosby, Stills & Nash
Saturday, July 5: Counting Crows
Sunday, July 6: American Idol Live!
Monday, July 21 & Tuesday, July 22: Lionel Richie with special guest CeeLo Green
Saturday, August 2: Yo-Yo Ma, National Symphony Orchestra
Friday, August 8: Pink Floyd performing Dark Side of the Moon
Saturday, August 16: ABB A The Concert
Tuesday, August 19 & Wednesday, August 20: Josh Groban with the Wolf Trap Orchestra
For a full lineup and to purchase tickets, visit wolftrap.org/filene_center
photography by Paul Drinkwater nbc/nbcu photo bank via getty images (bareilles); Theo Wargo/wireimage (gaffigan); Rob Shanahan 2014 (Starr); jack vartoogian/getty images (Reineke); courtesy of wolf trap (American Id ol); robert Llewellyn (crowd); Mike Lawrie/getty images (folds)
