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WMPA would like to express its warmest gratitude to our growing family of donors demonstrating a commitment to the arts and uplifting our community. The following list reflects gifts received from December 31, 2024 through February 16, 2026. Levels honor American composers whose works feature in our concerts.
$25,000+ Leonard BernsteinMargaret M. Ballard
Leonard Bernstein (1918–90) was an American conductor, composer, and educator whose work helped shape classical music in the United States. He rose to national fame in 1943 after a last-minute debut with the New York Philharmonic, and later became the orchestra’s music director (1958–69). As a composer, he is best known for West Side Story (1957), Candide (1956), and On the Town (1944), alongside major concert works including the Chichester Psalms (1965) and his three symphonies (1942–63). He brought music to millions through the televised Young People’s Concerts and his widely admired lectures and writings. At the time of his death, his recordings as conductor and pianist—spanning a broad repertoire—were central to his enduring international legacy.
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$15,000-$24,999 Philip GlassGalena Yorktown Foundation
Philip Glass (1937–2022) was an American composer who helped define late-20th-century musical minimalism. Known for driving rhythms and repeating patterns that evolve gradually, he wrote influential works across opera, orchestral, film, chamber, and solo repertories. His breakthrough opera Einstein on the Beach (1976), created with director Robert Wilson, brought him international attention. Popular concert works include Glassworks (1982), the Violin Concerto No. 1 (1987), and several later symphonies. By the end of his career, his works had become staples for contemporary ensembles and orchestras worldwide.
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$10,000-$14,999 Samuel BarberAnonymous In honor of pianist and piano instructor Stella Terrill Stover
Lawrence & Lynn Ries Samuel Osmond Barber II (1910-81) was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. He is one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. His Adagio for Strings (1936) has earned a permanent place in the concert repertory of orchestras. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music twice: for his opera Vanessa (1955-57) and for the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1962). Also widely performed is his Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947), a setting for soprano and orchestra of a prose text by James Agee. At the time of Barber's death, nearly all of his compositions had been recorded.
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$5,000-$9,999 Florence PriceGordon & Sheila Soper
Warren Zwicky Florence Price, 1887-1953. A 1906 graduate of the New England Conservatory, Price was the first African American woman to have her music played by a major orchestra — the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which performed her first symphony after she took first place in the Wanamaker Foundation Awards. She incorporated American folk tunes and material from the African American religious tradition in her native South in expressive, accomplished works.
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$2,500-$4,999 Jennifer HigdonHelenmarie Anderson Corcoran
John Kean^ Gary & Phoebe Mallard Robb McDonald** & Brittany Pemberton** Nancy West Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962) is one of America’s most acclaimed and frequently performed living composers, celebrated for her brilliantly colored orchestral writing. Her works are programmed by major orchestras worldwide, and her tone poem blue cathedral has become one of today’s most frequently performed contemporary orchestral pieces. Higdon’s orchestral catalogue includes concertos that have entered the repertory, notably her Pulitzer Prize–winning Violin Concerto (2010) and Grammy-winning Percussion Concerto (2010), Viola Concerto (2018), and Harp Concerto (2020).
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$1,000-$2,499 Aaron CoplandMary W. Ballard
Anna Binneweg** Samuel & Patricia Boglio Inés Garcia Karl Hovey** Ulysses James Joseph Keum** Pediatric Associates of Alexandria* In honor of WMPA Youth Orchestras Deidre Pistochini In honor of Sandra Hall Carole A. Pyle Donna J. Ruess David & Suzanne Schwark Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York, and went on to study piano and composition and studying in Europe for some time. He became one of the century’s foremost composers with highly influential music that had a distinctive blend of classical, folk and jazz idioms. Some of Copland’s most prominent pieces included Fanfare for the Common Man, El Salon Mexico and Appalachian Spring, for which he won the Pulitzer. An Oscar-winning writer of film scores as well, Copland died on December 2, 1990.
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$500-$999 William Grant StillGary Bravy
Philip Corcoran Bruce Davies** The Flute Section of WashMetPhil** The Kirby Family In memory of Joseph L. Kirby Joan Leonard William McDaniel Dennis Murphy** Ralph & Nancy Schuetz Phillip & Eileen Thompson Patricia Williamson William Grant Still, (born May 11, 1895, Woodville, Mississippi, U.S.—died December 3, 1978, Los Angeles, California), American composer and conductor and the first African American to conduct a professional symphony orchestra in the United States. Though a prolific composer of operas, ballets, symphonies, and other works, he was best known for his Afro-American Symphony (1931).
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$250-$499 Jessie MontgomeryJessie Montgomery (b. 1981) is an American composer and violinist whose music has become a significant presence in today’s orchestral repertory. Blending classical forms with folk and African American influences, she writes rhythmically vibrant, highly colorful works that orchestras program for their immediacy and expressive directness. Her widely performed Starburst (2012) helped bring her national attention, and major orchestral pieces such as Banner (2014) and Hymn for Everyone (2021) have further established her as a leading voice in 21st-century American orchestral music.
Reinaldo Luis Andujar
Suzana Basaric Ilic In honor of Slavica Ilic** David Bates** Thomas Boudreau Charles Carron Richard & Kathleen Fonda Sallie Forman Gay Gardner Julie Gershunskaya Kay & David Green In honor of Caroline Mousset Phyllis Gron Sophia Hoagland** Ann Houpt David Labovitz Jennifer Ngai Lavallee Amy Medearis** John Reiser Nancy Sage Mark Whitmire |
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$100-$249 Caroline ShawCaroline Shaw (b. 1982) is an American composer, violinist, and singer whose work spans contemporary classical and wide-ranging collaborations, with an expanding orchestral profile. She first gained international attention as the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music for Partita for 8 Voices (2012). Shaw’s orchestral music is noted for luminous textures, crisp detail, and fresh reimagining of older styles and gestures; works such as Entr’acte (2011; later expanded/orchestrated) and subsequent orchestral commissions have made her an increasingly prominent figure on symphonic programs.
Anonymous (x2)
Annemarie Anderson** In honor of Joe Anderson Robert Aquilino Kacey Baker In honor of the WMPA musicians Richard Baker Susan Bairstow Susan Bardenhagen Kacy Barker David Bates** Stephanie Bisson Grazina Blekaitis Bernadette Borja Richard Brook Susan Brook Carter Bryan, II Hillary Burchuk** Kathleen Burns Wesley Caine Marie Carr Margie Chadwick Rosan Choi** Bryan Cook Hal Craft and Susan Murphy In honor of their daughter Sarah Taylor** Richard Darilek Kristin Dillon Shannon M . Dubicki John Sutherland Earle^ In honor of Ulysses James Maravene Edelstein Rebecca Edelstein** Christopher Epinger** Randall Eyles** David Fields^ Rita Frank Melissa Franger Eliot Girsang Carol Goodloe Julia Greenway June Hajjar Barbara Haley Gregory Hammond Joshua Heit Gary & Christel Hignett S & J Hosfelt Katelyn Howell Richard Hunt Anthony Iannaccone Charles & Gail Irish David Jourdan In honor of his wife, Kathy Noel Kaupinen Carol Anne Kelly Linda Kosich Cathy & Will Kunz John & Vivian Lieb Barbara R. Lowrey Betty Marie & Clifford Fields John Matzner** Carol & Robert McGinnis Martin Menez Lisa Motley Lynn Mueller** Joanne Parker-Braxton In honor of Sophia Bouwsma** George & Jean Parks Chuck Pemberton & Dolly Oliva Barbara Polhemus David Pritzger Gail Richmond In honor of Ulysses James Marilyn Schimpf Sherri Stephan Cheryl Stickley** Gregory Stolp Kim Tran Stu & Ruth Tucker Amy Vilela Edward P. Walker & Brenda L. Kurlansik Patricia Washington Gayle & Joe White Jaimie White In honor of Ulysses James Sheri & Raymond Wolfe Jeannette Wong Katherine Wood Marisa Wright** Jaqueline Zins |
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* Local Business Partner
** Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic musician
^ The Ulysses James Legacy Fund
** Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic musician
^ The Ulysses James Legacy Fund
