Washington Musical Pathways Initiative

Our final senior spotlight for 2026 celebrates WMPI percussionist Ricky Cruz! 🥁🎓🙌 This fall, Ricky will attend The Juilliard School on scholarship as a Percussion Performance major, where he will study with Dan Druckman.

Ricky is a percussion student of Jeff Grant, percussionist with the U.S. Marine Band. In addition to his participation in WMPI, Ricky was a student of Juilliard Pre-College, Network for Diversity in Concert Percussion, and as Principal Timpanist of the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra (MCYO).

His summer festival experiences include the Tanglewood Music Festival, Juilliard Summer festival, and the National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA.

Some of Ricky's artistic accolades include:

★ Ricky is a valuable member in numerous ensembles in DC and NYC, including the DC Youth Orchestra, Inscape Chamber Orchestra, MCYO Percussion Ensemble, Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, and Juilliard Pre-College Percussion Ensemble.

★In 2025, Ricky was a member of Equity Arc's Wind Ensemble, featured on 60 Minutes.

★ This summer, Ricky will perform as part of the NYO-USA on a summer tour of Europe, performing at the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Konzerthaus (Berlin), and Edinburgh International Festival.

Congratulations Ricky! We're so excited to see where your journey takes you! ✨🎶👏👏

📸 Jorge Amaya Photography
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Let's kick off our Senior Spotlight series as we celebrate WMPI bassoonist Oscar José Machado Morón, who will attend the University of Maryland, College Park with scholarship, to pursue a double major in in Bassoon Performance and Electrical Engineering this fall! 🎓🙌

A graduate of Northwest High School in Germantown, MD, Oscar is a bassoon student of Joey Grimmer, principal bassoonist of the Washington National Opera and Professor of Bassoon at UMD. Oscar participated in the DC Youth Orchestra Program and Young Virtuosi as principal bassoonist, Kinhaven Music School, Eastern Music Festival, and Interlochen Arts Academy.

Some of Oscar's artistic accolades include:
★ 2025-26 Fellowship Recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship, earning a $10K scholarship and an opportunity to perform on NPR's "From the Top"
★ 3rd place in the Pershing's Own Young Artist Concerto Competition 2025
★ Winner of Bethesda Magazine's 2025 "Extraordinary Teens," recognizing Oscar for his musical and academic achievements.

Congratulations to Oscar! We're so excited to celebrate this exciting new chapter! ✨🪈🎶👏👏

📸 Jorge Amaya Photography
DC Youth Orchestra Program Levine Music National Symphony Orchestra Kinhaven Music School Interlochen Center for the Arts

WMPI at Equity Arc's 2026 National Pathways Festival! 🎶🎻🥁🪈📯

We celebrate the WMPI Artists who joined 71 Pathways fellows across the U.S. in Tysons, VA to take part in an inspiring weekend filled with rehearsals, student-led activities, meaningful conversations, and a powerful culminating concert featuring the Pathways Orchestra and Wind Symphony. A special shoutout to Jane Morrison (viola) for representing student voices on the fellow panel! We were so happy to reconnect with alumnus, Austin Adaranijo, as he wraps his sophomore year at Juilliard.

Students had the incredible opportunity to visit the U.S. Supreme Court and engage in an inspiring conversation with Justice Sonia Sotomayor — an unforgettable experience that highlighted the importance of leadership, perseverance, and using your voice and your art with purpose.

We are deeply grateful to our students’ families, dedicated faculty, and mentors who support our Artists every step of the way — helping provide not only exceptional musical training, but also experiences that build lasting friendships, community, and a sense of belonging. The festival also brought together pre-college and collegiate administrators, faculty, and supporters, who make the work we do possible. A big thank you to Equity Arc and their incredible faculty and staff for their mentorship, inspiration, and commitment to the next generation of musicians.

Congratulations to Bright Wang (violin), Chloe Robertson (bassoon), Collyn Wilcher (percussion), Ishaan Banerjee (cello), Jane Morrison (viola), Philip Weeks (viola), Zoie Chu (cello), and alumnus Austin Adaranijo (French Horn, ’24, Juilliard School)!✨🎶👏

Levine Music DC Youth Orchestra Program National Symphony Orchestra

WMPI cellists Andrew, Avril, Ishaan, and Zoie took the stage this past month for an inspiring masterclass with Rachel Young, performing works by Elgar, Boccherini, Shostakovich, and Bloch. ✨ We had a truly inspiring time at the cello master class with Rachel Young! 🎻⁠
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Levine alumna and National Symphony Orchestra cellist Rachel Young returned to lead a dynamic session featuring talented cellists from Levine’s Washington Musical Pathways Initiative. The class was filled with thoughtful music-making, growth, and collaboration, as students refined their artistry and learned from her expertise.⁠
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A special thank you to pianist Irina Kats for her partnership and guidance throughout the session.⁠
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Thank you to everyone who helped make this master class such a meaningful and inspiring experience ✨

Celebrating Levine WMPI student Chloe Robertson and Honors pianist Neel Perdue! 🏆✨ Congratulations to Neel Perdue, piano student of Martin Labazevitch, and Chloe Robertson, bassoon student of Jimmy Ren, for their extraordinary performances as Grand Prize Winners of the 2026 Cogen Concerto Competition! 🎶🏆⁠
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Selected from among the first-place division winners, Neel and Chloe earned the distinguished opportunity to perform with an orchestra at Levine’s 50th Anniversary Student Showcase on May 30, an honor recognizing their exceptional artistry and achievement.⁠
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Join us in celebrating Neel and Chloe on this remarkable milestone, and don’t miss the chance to see them perform at the Student Showcase. ✨

Congratulations to WMPI bassoonists Chloe and Oscar! We can't wait to hear them on NPR's From the Top this spring - stay tuned! • We’re thrilled to celebrate two of our WMPI students, Chloe Robertson and Oscar Machado Moron, as 2026 Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Scholars! ✨⁠
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Each year, From the Top selects about 20 exceptional pre-collegiate musicians for this prestigious award. Recipients participate in From the Top’s Learning and Media Lab, completing a 6-week remote program, designing a community engagement project, and recording their appearance for the NPR broadcast and podcast.⁠
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Learn more and see the full list of award recipients at the link in our bio.

📸Jorge Amaya Photography

DC Youth Orchestra Program National Symphony Orchestra National Symphony Orchestra Musicians

Join us tomorrow, Thursday, December 11 at 6 pm at Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage as our WMPI Artists perform an exciting program featuring works by Pius Cheung, Weber, Francoeur, Hailstork, Bartók, Paganini, and Wynton Marsalis! 🎻🥁🎶

Attend this performance in-person by reserving complimentary tickets with the link in our bio, or enjoy the performance via livestream with the link at showtime.

Reserve your tickets and tune into the livestream here:
https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/millennium-stage/2025/december/washington-musical-pathways/

Levine Music DC Youth Orchestra Program National Symphony Orchestra

This past month, our WMPI Artists had an amazing workshop on practice techniques with musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra: Bob Rearden, (French horn, faculty at Peabody Institute) and Jamie Roberts (oboe, faculty at the University of Maryland).

Artists explored stretches and warm-ups, played musical examples, and learned strategies to make practice sessions more mindful, efficient, and effective. A huge thank you to the incredible NSO musicians for giving our Artists the opportunity to discover new—and tried-and-true—ways to practice with joy and purpose! 🌟

Levine Music DC Youth Orchestra Program National Symphony Orchestra Musicians

Pathways students and alumni - Don't miss this incredible opportunity - Apply by October 15! 🎶🎻🪈🥁📯

Applications for the Equity Arc Pathways Orchestra are due October 15! This exceptional ensemble brings together musicians from across the country for a tuition-free multi-day training residency. Eligibility for the Pathways Orchestra is open to BIPOC orchestral musicians who study at programs that are members of the National Collective for Musical Pathways. Pathways alumni are also eligible if they graduated from their program in good standing and are 21 years old or younger. Equity Arc covers travel and lodging costs for all accepted musicians. 🔗 Apply today at https://ow.ly/K4kI50WovNM

Our final Senior Spotlight is WMPI violinist Payton Everett, who’s headed to Spelman College as a Doris Duke Music Scholarship recipient this fall! 🎓🎻🙌

Payton is a student of Susan Katsarelis and will continue her studies with Tami Hughes at Spelman. She participated in the DC Youth Orchestra and the Philadelphia International Music Festival’s college audition prep program.

Highlights for Payton include:
★ Masterclasses with Jinwoo Lee, Rebecca Henry, Mahoko Eguchi, and Alessandra Cuffaro
★ Orchestral performances in Austria, Germany, and Czech Republic during the DCYOP summer tour

At Spelman, Payton will double major in violin and psychology with a strong interest in pursuing music therapy. We cannot wait to see you flourish in whatever the future holds for you, Payton!

📸 Jorge Amaya Photography

National Symphony Orchestra DC Youth Orchestra Program Levine Music The Kennedy Center Spelman College Spelman College Department of Music Philadelphia International Music Camp & Festival