by Chad Campbell, senior producer
I had lived in the Washington, DC area for 14 years before finally making my way to Wolf Trap. I liked it so much I’ve been back ten times just in the past three years. My original trip was with Bob for an interview with Tony Bennett and I was astounded by the grounds, the parking lots, the amphitheater, the surroundings and the sound. Musicians especially love to play there. In case you don’t know, Wolf Trap is “America’s National Park for the Performing Arts.” It started with an act of Congress in 1966 and a very generous gift of now prime real estate from Catherine Filene Shouse.
Since 1996, Terre Jones has been the man responsible for putting on the more than 250 concerts, performances and events at the park. He’s the president and CEO of the Wolf Trap Foundation and has made many changes there. Jones has greatly increased Wolf Trap’s recycling and overall “green” efforts, improved the park’s community outreach and educational services and he has commissioned more than 70 new works since 1996. Most prominent are the series of Face of America performances. They feature modern dance performed in some of the country’s iconic National Parks. The latest episode called “Spirit of South Florida” debuts on a big screen and on stage at the Filene Center Saturday, September 8th. The multi-media presentation will feature live music from Tiempo Libre and new contemporary dance choreographed by David Parsons. Jones has decided to step down form his leadership roles at Wolf Trap which will give him more time to write another book and take more photographs. He’s the author of Road Trip: A Photographer’s Journey to America’s National Parks.
In 2008, Jones took a three-month sabbatical from Wolf Trap to visit 88 parks, driving 19,000 miles criss crossing the country all alone. Next year, Jones hopes to spend more time at his Santa Fe, New Mexico ranch (where the light is always perfect to capture the beautiful scenery and perhaps a followup visit from me and Bob?). Jones also wants to make another extended trip through our National Park system, this time with his wife along for the ride. He wants her to write the story of their trip to accompany his photographs for a new book.
Click here to watch a PBS special which samples past Face of America episodes.
