Newport Philharmonic has been selected to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. for the Capital Festival on President’s Day.

The orchestra was invited by the National Orchestra Festival Administrators and will travel to D.C. Feb. 16-20 to perform A Prayer for Peace by John Williams and Romeo and Juliet Overture by Tchaikovsky. During the trip, the students will also hear the National Symphony Orchestra perform the music from West Side Story, a 20th century adaption of the Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet.

“The Kennedy Center is one of the premiere performance venues in the world.  To be asked to perform there on Presidents’ Day for the Festival is an extreme honor for Newport’s Orchestra Program,” said Director Christine Gero. “We are thrilled to be performing with four other groups from around the country including the South Carolina Youth Orchestra and Central Washington University’s Symphony Orchestra!”

In addition to their Kennedy Center performance, Newport students will have the opportunity to visit many important sights in D.C. including the Holocaust museum, the newly opened African American Museum, and Arlington National Cemetery where students will be laying a wreath at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier.

The Bellevue School District acknowledges that we learn, work, live and gather on the Indigenous Land of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish and Snoqualmie Tribes. We thank these caretakers of this land, who have lived and continue to live here, since time immemorial.