(yawn)

WPAS (the Washington Performing Arts Society) has announced their schedule for the upcoming season. To this I say, "oh." Followed by a big yawn and a scratch of the head. The acronym may as well stand for White Pretentious And Safe -- clearly these are the criteria for their programming choices.

An article in the Post today, attributed to chief classical music critic Tim Page, was probably written in its entirety by the WPAS marketing department. And it even concludes with a fundraising pitch from WPAS executive director, Neale Pearle. Advertisement or article? you decide.

Woo hoo! more events in Bethesda (where those rich white people live... now they don't have to come into the big scary city to attend events at the Kennedy Center. Phew, Foggy Bottom is a rough neighborhood!). And those events in Bethesda, at the massive Strathmore Hall, are largely chamber music events. What could be better? A small chamber recital in a two-thousand seat hall! Tickets only a zillion dollars each! Sign me up! Oh, did I mention the boring standard repertoire? That's all we'll be hearing! Yay! Nap time for wealthy seniors!

Of course the photo with the article is of Step Afrika - so a casual glimpse looks like they have a nice diverse season. These "diverse" events are patronizing at best... Eartha Kitt, Wynton Marsalis with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (I heard this last season... great players playing boring standards in the most conservative manner possible. Nice that jazz is on stage at the Kennedy Center, but does it have to be so stale in order to qualify for this "honor"?) Now, of course I'm delighted that WPAS is presenting Step Afrika... I think I'm playing in that show, and getting paid for it. And thankfully it's not in February. They'll do their annual gospel blowout at the Kennedy Center for black history month.

But seriously... the season is almost completely standard rep. classical music played by big name celebrity soloists ("celebrities" in the classical music world... which means less and less in the grand scheme of things). Snooze. I guess their plan is to try and work their way into the estate planning of as many old, rich, white folks as possible? So I guess taking the show to Bethesda is the way to go. They could save themselves some money and take me off their mailing list. I ain't buying tickets to any of this boring crap.