India Abroad - May 22, 2015

Two years into his tenure as the first Indian- American president and chief executive officer of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts — the premier performing arts organization in the Washington, DC area — Arvind Manocha, has emerged as one of the foremost cultural ambassadors in the nation’s capital, and his ‘get’ of A R Rahman to kick off Wolf Trap’s Summer 2015 festival this month is yet another manifestation of his impressive outreach.

But while getting the Oscar and Grammy winner to
headline the Filene Center at Wolf Trap has excited con-
noisseurs of the arts and culture in the Indian American
and mainstream communities so much that the Rahman
concert is already sold out, this is just one of Manocha’s
achievements among several that have propelled Wolf
Trap’s membership and ticket sales to unprecedented
heights.

Since Manocha took over, membership growth (number of people who make a donation as a Wolf Trap supporter), has recorded a 17.3 percent increase. Also, average per show attendance has increased by seven percent and average per show sales has gone up by 19 percent. And, as a testament to Manocha’s leadership, while the current season hasn’t even started yet, it already has five sell-out shows, including Rahman’s performance.

Two former board members of the Wolf Trap — philanthropists Ranvir Trehan and Dr Ashok Kaveeshwar — told India Abroad that Manocha was doing the community proud and had introduced an amazing diversity to Wolf Trap.

Trehan said, “Arvind is doing a bang-up job. In just two
short years, he’s introduced several new and fresh acts
that speak to a broad swath of the greater Washington
community, while also honoring the traditions that make
Wolf Trap such a special place. As a member of the com-
munity and a former Wolf Trap board member, I’m so
incredibly proud that Wolf Trap is making Indian music a
priority, and I can think of none better that A R Rahman
to represent the very finest in Indian culture.”
Kaveeshwar, said, “Wolf Trap has such a long and rich
tradition, dating back to the visionary philanthropist Mrs
(Catherine Filene) Shouse, who donated her farmland so
that music lovers of all kinds could come together. Arvind
is building on Mrs Shouse’s vision... with more diverse
programming than ever before.”
He added, “I’m a big supporter of Arvind because he’s
making positive changes that keep Wolf Trap relevant to
those who have always loved the venue.”
Manocha, with patrons and Ranvir and Adarsh Trehan,
will host a pre-performance celebration dinner — with
patron tickets at $500 apiece for the dinner and concert
admission — to help raise funds for the Foundation’s edu-
cational activities.

Explaining the rationale for this celebration dinner,
where the guests will mingle with Rahman and then after
dining in the Associates Deck make their way to the
Filene Center to watch the maestro perform, Manocha
said, “I see the Rahman concert as being magnificent on a
couple of different levels. Artistically, of course, we know
that people will be there to have a great artistic experi-
ence... It’s going to be a moment for the community. This
is going to be a moment that people will hopefully
remember and mark the beginning of a new relationship
to Wolf Trap. To that end, we thought putting together a
dinner ahead of time for some of our key supporters
would be a way to mark that occasion and also raise
awareness of the venue — to build a relationship with
Wolf Trap and, to your point, support our education pro-
grams philanthropically.”
In further conversation...

How much of a ‘get’ was it to convince Rahman to per-
form? I believe it’s his first time at this venue?

Yes, A R Rahman will be the first South Asian performer to headline the Filene Center at Wolf Trap. We are in our fourth decade and so, obviously for us, it’s a very big deal. He’s on a limited tour of the United States, so we are very happy that he’s making his Wolf Trap debut this year.

How did it come about and what was the background
to it?

He and his people have been talking about a tour of
America for a few years now. It’s been five years since the
last American tour and we made it very clear from a cou-
ple of years back that when the tour is ready to come
together, we would make him a very attractive home for
Arts in conversation with Aziz Haniffa/India Abroad.

PART OF WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO IS TO CREATE A RELATIONSHIP — TO LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT, IN YOUR BACK- YARD, THERE IS A CULTURAL RESOURCE THAT CAN REALLY FULFILL MANY DIFFERENT BOXES IN YOUR LIFE. MY FEELING ABOUT OUR VENUE AND OUR GREAT NATIONAL PARK FOR THE ARTS IS THAT WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY AS A VENUE THAT IS QUITE LITERALLY OWNED BY THE PEOPLE... AND, WHEN YOU HAVE AN ARTIST LIKE RAHMAN, WHO CLEARLY IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT ARTISTS, IT’S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BRING ARTISTS LIKE THAT TO OUR VENUE.