Wolf Trap
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating America's only National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia, running three venues that host concerts, opera, and family programming while delivering arts education to over 100,000 learners annually across the US and Singapore.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1971
- HeadquartersVienna, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Wolf Trap does
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1971 by Catherine Filene Shouse, operating America's only National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia, under a formal partnership with the National Park Service. The organization runs three distinct venues: the 7,028-seat Filene Center outdoor amphitheater hosting 80+ performances each summer; the intimate 382-seat Barns at Wolf Trap for folk, chamber music, jazz, and Wolf Trap Opera; and the 700-seat Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods for family programming. Wolf Trap Opera operates a summer residency program that has developed over 1,000 emerging singers across 180+ productions since 1971, supported by an artistic team including Renée Fleming as Artist Development Advisor and Daniel Hope as Artistic Advisor for Chamber Music.
The business model combines five revenue streams: ticket sales through the wolftrap.org website, two box offices, phone, and group sales channels; a 13-tier annual membership program ranging from $55 (Fan) to $100,000 (Individual Benefactor) with presale access and exclusive benefits; philanthropic donations from individuals, corporate partners (with PNC as two-decade premier sponsor), and foundations; facility rentals of nine event spaces including The Barns, Pavilions, and Center for Education; and food and beverage revenue from Ovations Restaurant, concessions, and bar services. Supporting programmatic extensions include the Center Lines Online digital program book and an opera streaming service distributed through Blue Land Media and Classical WETA 90.9. Wolf Trap Education reaches over 100,000 children, educators, and families annually across the US and Singapore through the Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, teacher grants, and professional development.
Wolf Trap primarily serves DC metro area consumers (concertgoers, families, opera enthusiasts), with a national and international education footprint and a donor base that includes both individuals and corporate sponsors such as PNC and General Dynamics. The organization operates as a private nonprofit with no parent company, venture capital, or public funding backing, governed by a Board of Directors with Dan and Gayle D'Aniello listed as the 2026 Season Underwriters.
Wolf Trap firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Wolf Trap
- Legal name
- Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
- Website
- https://wolftrap.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1971
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating America's only National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia, running three venues that host concerts, opera, and family programming while delivering arts education to over 100,000 learners annually across the US and Singapore.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Wolf Trap industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Performing Arts Venue
- NAICS
- Performing Arts Companies (7111), Musical Groups and Artists (71113)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Performing Arts Centers & Presenters (Programming/Booking) (MPAGABAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Performing Arts & Cultural Event Venues (Theaters, Museums) (THAHAAAG), Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB)
Keywords
Where Wolf Trap is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Vienna
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices4 records
Markets served
Wolf Trap business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Ticket Sales: Primary revenue stream from ticket sales for performances at the Filene Center, The Barns at Wolf Trap, and Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods. Includes both lawn and in-house covered seating options.
- Memberships: Annual membership program with tiers ranging from $55 (Fan) to $100,000 (Individual Benefactor), providing presale access, discounts, and exclusive benefits.
- Donations and Contributions: Philanthropic contributions from individuals, corporate partners, and foundations supporting arts and education programs.
- Facility Rentals: Rental of event spaces including The Barns, Pavilions, and Center for Education for weddings, corporate events, and private functions.
- Food and Beverage: On-site dining at Ovations Restaurant ($55 adult buffet), concessions, and bar services at performances.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Fan membership at $55 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Friend membership at $100 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Curtain Raiser at $175 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Soloist membership at $350 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Conductor membership at $700 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Director membership at $1,750 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Producer membership at $5,000 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Executive Producer at $7,000 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Great Performer at $12,000 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Virtuoso at $17,000 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | President's Circle at $25,000 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Chairman's Circle at $50,000 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Individual Benefactor at $100,000 annually |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Ovations Restaurant buffet dining |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Wolf Trap Shuttle transportation |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels5 records
Wolf Trap product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts operates three performing arts venues—the 7,028-seat Filene Center outdoor amphitheater, the 382-seat Barns at Wolf Trap, and the 700-seat Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods—hosting more than 80 summer performances plus year-round programming in classical, rock, pop, country, jazz, opera, and family genres. The organization runs Wolf Trap Opera, a prestigious summer residency training program for emerging professional singers, and Wolf Trap Education, which delivers arts-integrated learning to over 100,000 children, educators, and families annually across the US and Singapore. Revenue is generated through ticket sales, a 13-tier membership program ($55–$100,000), facility rentals, dining at Ovations Restaurant, and philanthropic contributions.
Product overview
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts operates as a unified performing arts ecosystem centered around three distinct venues: the 7,028-seat Filene Center outdoor amphitheater, the intimate 382-seat Barns at Wolf Trap theater, and the 700-seat Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods. The organization offers Wolf Trap Opera, a prestigious summer residency program for emerging opera singers with Filene Artists, Studio Artists, Fellows, and Apprentices tracks. Supporting programs include Wolf Trap Education reaching over 100,000 learners annually, the Center Lines Online digital program book, facility rentals, Ovations Restaurant dining service, and tiered membership programs. Chamber Music at The Barns and the Opera Streaming digital service extend the classical music experience beyond live performances.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Filene Center The 7,028-seat outdoor amphitheater that hosts more than 80 performances each summer by world-renowned artists across genres including rock, pop, country, jazz, and classical, with both lawn and in-house covered seating. Serves as the summer home of the National Symphony Orchestra and is the flagship venue for Wolf Trap's summer season programming.
- The Barns at Wolf Trap An intimate 382-seat theater hosting legendary folk singers, chamber music, jazz performers, and Wolf Trap Opera during summer months. Open October through May for the regular season and serves as the home for the Chamber Music at The Barns series.
- Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods
Quantifiable outcome
- 100,000+ children, educators and families served annually through Wolf Trap Education
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Wolf Trap
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Wolf Trap technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Wolf Trap partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- Hello in There FoundationcorePartnership with the Prine family and Hello in There Foundation for the benefit concert 'Songwriters Salute John Prine'. The foundation has distributed $1.4 million in grants supporting isolated individuals including veterans and students. Future expansion planned including an October event in Chicago with Illinois governor's office.
- PNCflagshipPNC is the Premier Sponsor of Wolf Trap's 2026 Summer Season, marking two decades as premier sponsor of the summer season.
- Prine FamilycorePartnership with John Prine's family for benefit concerts tied to America's 250th birthday celebration.
- Chamber Music Society of Lincoln CentercoreKey artistic partner bringing performances to The Barns. CMS musicians perform concerts showcasing repertoire from Baroque to contemporary works, exclusively at The Barns.
- National Park ServicecoreWolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is operated in partnership with the National Park Service. NPS staff manage parking, accessibility services, and park operations.
- Fairfax ConnectorminorOperates Route 480 Wolf Trap Shuttle providing roundtrip service from McLean Metro Station (Silver Line) to Filene Center for all summer performances.
- Daniel HopecoreInternationally acclaimed violinist serves as Artistic Advisor for Chamber Music at The Barns, curating the series with bold artistic leadership.
- Renée FlemingcoreWorld-renowned soprano serves as Artist Development Advisor for Wolf Trap Opera, contributing to artist training and development.
- Illinois Governor's OfficeminorPlanned collaboration for October event in John Prine's hometown of Chicago, tied to America's 250th birthday celebration.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Wolf Trap competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Kennedy Center: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC is Wolf Trap's most direct local peer, operating multi-format performance venues (opera house, concert hall, theater) and serving as a national presenting institution for the performing arts with a major education mandate.
- Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts: New York's Lincoln Center is a multi-venue performing arts campus that, like Wolf Trap, presents across opera, orchestral, chamber, and contemporary genres; Wolf Trap's Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center partnership reinforces the direct operational comparability.
- Ravinia Festival: Ravinia (Highland Park, IL) is the oldest outdoor music festival in North America and summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Its outdoor pavilion + lawn model, classical-plus-popular programming mix, and education/outreach focus closely mirror Wolf Trap's Filene Center positioning.
- Tanglewood (Boston Symphony Orchestra): Tanglewood is the BSO's summer home in Lenox, MA — an outdoor classical venue with a residency model, education programs (Tanglewood Learning Institute), and mixed-genre summer programming that closely parallels Wolf Trap's relationship with the National Symphony Orchestra.
- Strathmore: Strathmore (Bethesda, MD) operates a concert hall and education center in the Washington DC region with a similar mix of presenting, education, and community programming, making it the closest regional direct competitor for DC-metro audiences.
- Santa Fe Opera: Santa Fe Opera is a summer opera festival with an open-air theater and acclaimed young-artist apprenticeship program — directly analogous to Wolf Trap Opera's residency/apprentice training model and outdoor operatic presentation.
- Glimmerglass Festival: Glimmerglass (Cooperstown, NY) is a summer opera festival that combines professional productions with a young-artist training program, making its model and mission comparable to Wolf Trap Opera's presenting-plus-development structure.
- Merola Opera Program: San Francisco's Merola Opera Program is a premier young-artist training opera fellowship that competes directly with Wolf Trap Opera for emerging talent and overlaps in its opera-artist-development mission and summer-residency structure.
Broad incumbents
- Carnegie Hall: Carnegie Hall is an iconic presenting venue for classical, jazz, and popular music with global brand recognition and a robust education program, comparable to Wolf Trap in its presenting (rather than producing) function but with a much larger institutional scale.
Regional players
- Arena Stage: Arena Stage is a Washington DC-based regional theater producing and presenting new and classic plays; it competes with Wolf Trap for DC-metro arts audiences and philanthropic dollars, though it focuses on theatrical drama rather than music performance.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Wolf Trap social profiles
Digital presenceWolf Trap financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Wolf Trap leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Wolf Trap funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Wolf Trap M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Wolf Trap
What does Wolf Trap do?
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts operates three performing arts venues—the 7,028-seat Filene Center outdoor amphitheater, the 382-seat Barns at Wolf Trap, and the 700-seat Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods—hosting more than 80 summer performances plus year-round programming in classical, rock, pop, country, jazz, opera, and family genres. The organization runs Wolf Trap Opera, a prestigious summer residency training program for emerging professional singers, and Wolf Trap Education, which delivers arts-integrated learning to over 100,000 children, educators, and families annually across the US and Singapore. Revenue is generated through ticket sales, a 13-tier membership program ($55–$100,000), facility rentals, dining at Ovations Restaurant, and philanthropic contributions.
Is Wolf Trap a public or private company?
Wolf Trap is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Wolf Trap founded?
Wolf Trap was founded in 1971. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Wolf Trap based?
Wolf Trap is headquartered in Vienna, United States, in the North America region.
How does Wolf Trap make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Ticket Sales are the primary driver. The others are memberships, donations and Contributions, facility Rentals and food and Beverage.
Who are Wolf Trap's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Ravinia Festival, Tanglewood (Boston Symphony Orchestra), Strathmore, Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Festival and Merola Opera Program. Carnegie Hall is listed as a broad incumbent. Arena Stage is listed as a regional player.
Does Wolf Trap have an API?
No public API is recorded for Wolf Trap.
What industry is Wolf Trap in?
Wolf Trap's product category is Performing Arts Venue. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGABAM, Performing Arts Centers & Presenters (Programming/Booking), with a secondary code of THAHAAAG, Performing Arts & Cultural Event Venues (Theaters, Museums). Its NAICS code is 7111 and its SIC code is 7311.