Washington
The homeless in Washington state scatter as cities ban them from public spaces
Every morning, John Parke packs up his tent and sleeping bag, piles them onto his wagon, and hauls all of his belongings off the grass at Foster Park, before the sprinklers go off at 8 a.m.
Whitney Bryen / InvestigateWest
John Parke, known as “Cowboy,” is always ready to pack up and move. He stacks his black and blue tent, foam sleeping pad, and flannel-lined sleeping bag on top of a wagon that he hauls away every day at 7 a.m. before police arrive and order him and the other unhoused people of “camp town” to leave.
Moving has become part of Parke’s morning routine. He had to move when officials in Clarkston, a small town in southeastern Washington on the Idaho border, closed the park where he was living in October. He moved days later when the city erected fences around another park where he was preparing his shelter for winter. And he moved again when the mayor declared 75 people at an encampment behind Walmart a “state of emergency.”
Now, the 45-year-old has to move every day so police won’t ticket him.
“They’re making it harder to get a job and improve our situation,” Parke said. “They’re acting like bullies at school, and I’m not going to let them do that, so I’m standing up for the homeless community.”
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The city of about 7,000 recently restricted tents and other make-shift shelters used by unhoused people like Parke to one city park between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. and prohibited personal belongings that are “not essential to living.” Parke is part of an ongoing lawsuit against Clarkston arguing the ordinance is unconstitutional.
Smaller Washington cities like Clarkston are increasingly confronting the housing crisis more commonly associated with densely populated, urban areas.
That could be a preview of what’s to come, not just in Washington but nationwide, following a U.S. Supreme Court decision expected in June. Justices are considering whether to overturn lower-court rulings in Oregon and Idaho that protect homeless people from being ticketed, charged or arrested for sleeping on public property when there is no shelter available.
In the past year, at least five Washington cities and two counties responded to increased homeless populations with camping bans. In addition to Clarkston, the Northwest Justice Project, which provides free civil legal assistance to low-income people in Washington, recently sued two other cities, challenging the constitutionality of homeless restrictions.
Cities contend that these laws are necessary to control encampments, which are unsafe for inhabitants, the general public and the environment. In a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in, cities said they’re paralyzed by federal court rulings in Boise, Idaho, and Grants Pass, Oregon, that presume “temporary shelter beds are the solution to homelessness, channeling local resources away from longer-term solutions like permanent supportive housing, mental healthcare, drug rehabilitation, and low-income housing support.”
Civil rights attorneys said barring people from using tents or shelters on public property isn’t the answer either.
Those laws have forced unhoused people to scatter across the state. Where there are camping bans, constant movement becomes overwhelming for people without permanent shelter. Many seek refuge on public lands outside city borders and in nearby communities causing homelessness to spike there, often overnight. That’s what happened when the city of Lewiston, Idaho, banned camping in 2022, sending many of its unhoused residents across the bridge and into Clarkston.
John Parke and Tiffany Deen are among about 20 unhoused people who regularly sleep at Foster Park, the small space in the center of Clarkston that the city designated for camping.
Whitney Bryen / InvestigateWest
Howard Belodoff, the Idaho Legal Aid attorney who won the case against Boise, said a reversal would unleash cities to pass and enforce homeless bans.
“If they reverse it, every podunk town is going to take these ordinances criminalizing the homeless and adopt them,” said Belodoff. “These smaller cities have been trying to fly under the radar, but a reversal, well, they’re going to feel empowered to do it out in the open.”
Martin vs. Boise fallout
Since confining camping to a small park in the center of town in February, Clarkston’s “camp town” dwindled from 75 to about 20 people. One group set up a new camp in a wooded area about 20 miles northwest of town. Some walked back across the bridge to Lewiston. Others haven’t been seen in months.
A similar pattern has been playing out across the Northwest since the 2018 Martin vs. Boise ruling sided with homeless people who were cited by police in Idaho’s capital city when there were no shelter beds available. It was deemed cruel and unusual punishment.
Since then, cities have sought new ways to regulate homelessness, restricting when and where people could camp, sleep, lie or sit. Homeless advocates argue the restrictions make it more difficult for unhoused people to survive. Grants Pass, a city of fewer than 40,000, fined homeless residents for having blankets and pillows in public parks despite a shortage of shelter beds. A group of unhoused residents sued the city and, in 2022, an appellate court expanded protections for homeless people to include civil penalties.
Last year, Seattle and Spokane joined more than 20 cities, counties and organizations asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule those verdicts and give municipalities more authority to decide how to respond to homelessness. The Supreme Court heard arguments last week and is expected to make a ruling this summer.
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Some cities have ignored the rulings, citing and arresting people even when there was no available shelter. Others, instead, ticketed homeless people for disorderly conduct or urinating in public. Some identified loopholes like environmental protections to support prohibitions.
With a Supreme Court decision still pending, Washington cities have continued to pass restrictions. Yakima County in south-central Washington has been removing abandoned encampments along the Yakima and Naches rivers for years. In July, commissioners adopted a policy against the advice of the county prosecutor allowing for the removal of inhabited camps, too.
Last summer, council members in Everett, 30 miles north of Seattle, banned resting or placing items such as a blanket within two blocks of behavioral health, addiction or emergency housing services.
In November, the Vancouver City Council closed an additional 48 acres of public property to camping. The following day, the Clark County Council banned camping near bodies of water, in parks and natural areas, prohibited daytime camping, and restricted storage of personal property.
As these homeless bans spread into the suburbs or smaller cities in Washington like Clarkston, civil rights attorneys said some are violations of the Martin vs. Boise ruling.
Many of those smaller cities don’t have overnight shelters. And those that do can’t keep up with the need. In Washington, people in temporary or emergency housing or without shelter have increased 52% in a decade, according to state estimates. In 2023, on a single night, that number exceeded 28,000, which is generally considered an undercount.
Rents are rising in every corner of the state, not just in the Puget Sound region, pricing low-income residents out, said Tedd Kelleher, housing policy director for the Washington State Department of Commerce.
“For people in the margins, the math that worked for them five years ago doesn’t work for them anymore,” Kelleher said. “It’s making it harder and harder for them to stay inside.”
Unhoused residents of Burien are challenging an ordinance passed in March by City Council members banning daytime camping in the Seattle suburb. The ban on daytime shelters also is part of Parke’s claim against Clarkston.
One of Clarkston’s City Council members refused requests from InvestigateWest for an interview. The others did not respond. In its ordinance, city officials justified the restrictions by citing “unsafe and unsanitary conditions” at encampments that pose a threat to the community.
Jennifer Graham, who grew up in Clarkston in a small, white house kitty-corner from Foster Park, said her daughter’s family, who now live there, can no longer enjoy the playground across the street at Foster Park. That’s the half-acre park where residents of “camp town” were forced to move in February after City Council members made it illegal to camp anywhere else.
“None of the kids in the neighborhood can play in the park because we’re not sure if there are needles lying in the grass,” Graham said. “And the kids that have gone over to try to play, they get hollered at by the homeless people.”
Graham started a Facebook group in March where she posts calls to Clarkston police about Foster Park, arrest reports, pictures and videos meant to persuade city leaders to bar camping from all parks. Rather than a shelter, she supports a community court system that would offer beds at mental health and addiction treatment centers for those who need it. And jail for those who refuse to comply.
An ordinance passed in February designated Foster Park as the only place for overnight camping in Clarkston and made it illegal to have a tent or temporary shelter set up between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Since then, police have issued 11 citations for trespassing at the park.
Whitney Bryen / InvestigateWest
John Wolff, an attorney with the Northwest Justice Project who represents Parke and three other unhoused people, said Clarkston has as much of an obligation to his clients as it does to other residents. Attorneys on both sides are gathering evidence before arguing their case.
“My clients are all from Clarkston. They have families from there, and they deserve to be there, too,” Wolff said. “All they’re trying to do is assert their rights to basic survival that any human has the right to.”
A shrinking map
Parke’s breath turned to fog as he tugged on the strap that secures his tent to the top of his wagon on April 19. A nearby voice yelled, “Seven a.m. Everybody better get up!”
People sleeping in Foster Park have been cited by police if their shelters aren’t taken down by 7 a.m. Clarkston police have issued 11 trespassing citations at the park since the restrictions were passed, according to police records. Police cited seven people at 7:18 a.m. on March 11 — the day after clocks rolled forward one hour for daylight savings.
Even worse for some is the 8 a.m. deadline. That’s when the sprinklers come on. The park remains closed until noon, and tents and other temporary shelters are prohibited until 9 p.m.
But the city had some suggestions about where members of the encampment could relocate outside city limits: Hard-to-read black-and-white maps were handed out to residents, housed and unhoused, at a Feb. 6 meeting where the city acknowledged its lack of shelters. Hand-drawn black lines and barely visible computer-generated shapes encircled areas that the city said were available for camping. Many were along the river and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which quickly closed those areas to prevent overnight camping.
“We’ve identified multiple public properties in the area that we believe also fall under the auspices of Martin vs. Boise,” City Administrator Steve Austin said at the meeting. “Those are properties in Idaho, properties in Washington that anybody that does not have a home is able to reside on without criminal prosecution.”
Parke has been cited twice for trespassing. Both times, he said he overslept. Both of Parke’s citations are misdemeanors that could carry up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, a major setback as Parke works toward financial and housing stability. He won’t know the consequence until he goes back to court next month. He worries he will end up back behind bars due to his past mistakes.
Since camping and shelter restrictions were passed, Clarkston’s homeless encampment has dwindled from 75 people to about 20. Those who remain are forced to move their belongings, creating piles of supplies in an alleyway near Foster Park.
Whitney Bryen / InvestigateWest
In the late ‘90s, Parke began using methamphetamine to dull the symptoms of his undiagnosed mental illnesses, contributing to 20 years of criminal charges for bounced checks, driving violations, drug possession, failing to appear in court, unpaid fines and felony domestic abuse.
Parke said his mental health took a dive about two years ago, and he again turned to drugs. He lost his job and his home and ended up on the streets. He’s sober now and receiving treatment for borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and manic depression.
“I let my mental health get the best of me. Hell, I let life get the best of me,” Parke said. “I’m trying to get back up and do the right thing and make it work, and it’s just, they’re making it harder and harder to improve my situation. Sometimes it’s hard not to give up.”
Clarkston’s ban sent some searching for a place to sleep across the river in Lewiston, Idaho, which barred sleeping in public more than a year before. Clarkston’s homeless population rose “drastically” after that, the mayor stated as part of the emergency proclamation adopted at the February meeting.
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Emergency shelter in the Lewis Clark valley is limited to youth and women who are victims of domestic abuse, volunteers said. Weeks after Clarkston’s restrictions went into effect, the Union Gospel Mission broke ground on a homeless shelter in Lewiston. But rules require residents to be sober and complete daily chores, and they prohibit co-ed housing, excluding many in need. Other attempts to build a shelter in Lewiston have failed due to public opposition.
On a corner overlooking Foster Park is First Christian Church, home of the Red Door Kitchen, which serves seven free meals a week. Its pastor, David Carringer, said he invited the mayor, City Council members and police to attend one of the meals. No one accepted the invitation.
“No one wants these people, so someone complains and they’re passed on to the next, and then they complain and they’re passed on again, and it’s a cycle,” Carringer said. “Instead of trying to come together and compromise, we’re pitted against one another, and the poorest always lose.”
Waiting for a decision
City camping bans, legal challenges, and the fate of people like Parke hinge on the decision of nine Supreme Court justices.
Last week, the court heard from both sides. Asking for a reversal of the Grants Pass decision, the city’s attorney argued that the previous ruling was too vague and hampered cities that need camping laws to protect public health and safety. The opposing attorney argued that those laws punish people for being homeless and “turn the city’s homelessness problem into someone else’s problem” by forcing them into other jurisdictions.
Justices are expected to rule in late June, near the end of the session.
Like the U.S. constitution, Washington’s constitution protects people against cruel and unusual punishment. It also contains a provision protecting people’s right to travel. Carrie Graf, an attorney with the Northwest Justice Project, argued to the Washington Supreme Court in October that the town of Lacey violated that provision when it passed a law requiring vehicles being used as shelter to move every four hours. The court has not yet ruled on the case.
An ordinance passed in February designated Foster Park as the only place in Clarkston where people who are homeless can sleep at night, but people must move all of their belongings every morning before the sprinklers go off, or risk being ticketed by police.
Whitney Bryen / InvestigateWest
Graf said these and other provisions of the state constitution could insulate Washington from the fallout if the U.S. Supreme Court dismantles the 9th Circuit decisions.
While he waits for a local judge to decide his fate, Parke is applying for disability income. If that’s approved, he’ll apply for housing assistance. Until then, he’ll continue sleeping at Foster Park as long as the city permits.
“None of us want to be here, to be pointed at and laughed at and yelled at by people driving by,” Parke said. “The city put us front and center on purpose to create a circus and put us on display.”
Parke pulls his wagon toward an alleyway across from the park. The plastic tires on Parke’s wagon scrape against the gravel as he pushes it against a garage in an alleyway across from the park.
He makes three more trips from the park to the alley and back, each time with an armful of someone else’s belongings. Only a couple of tents remain when Parke glances up at the sun and mutters, “I hope it warms up soon.”
Surveying the grounds one more time, he crosses the street and takes a sip of Mountain Dew from a bottle he’d been toting around since the day before. He starts walking. He doesn’t know where he’s going, just that he can’t be there.
InvestigateWest (invw.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Reach reporter Whitney Bryen at whitney@invw.org.
After DSA candidates roiled traditional Democrats with wins in New York City last week, Tuesday’s primary in a Denver-centered district tested whether the left wing’s appeal could prevail elsewhere.
It turns out the democratic socialists’ reach extends well beyond New York — and it may well grow before the year is out.
Melat Kiros, backed by the national Democratic Socialists of America and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, upset Rep. Diana DeGette, who has held her reliably blue seat for almost 30 years.
“What we’re seeing right now is the response to voters feeling like the party has not actually been fighting for working people,” Kiros told MS NOW last week.
The result is that Kiros, a critic of the Israeli government and high-ranking Democratic leaders, will likely be a member of Congress come next year. That happened even as DeGette cast the race as a warning, with President Donald Trump’s second term continuing to upend governance from the nation’s capital.
“Now is not the time to gamble and send somebody with no experience to Washington,” DeGette said during a recent candidate forum. “We need a strong, bold, hardened leader who will hold Trump accountable.”
The result was one of several Colorado results Tuesday to test incumbents or prominent statewide officials navigating a turbulent moment in Democratic politics — one in which voters have shown an appetite for untested fighters over familiar faces who’ve served in Washington’s halls of power.
The night’s theme wasn’t clear-cut; the three marquee races diverged on everything from ideology to questions of approach and clout. But each pitted an incumbent whose Congressional ties became fodder for a challenger.
In 2020, Democrats’ ability to woo former Gov. John Hickenlooper into the Senate race was seen as a boon for a party trying to unseat incumbent GOP Sen. Cory Gardner, one of the last Republicans left representing a blue state in the Senate. That move came after Hickenlooper’s 2020 presidential primary campaign fizzled. Even so, he faced a somewhat-competitive primary that year, taking 58.7% to his challenger’s 41.3%. Hickenlooper went on to win the seat that November by a little over nine points.
Photo by Elman Studio.
June 30, 2026 (Washington, D.C.) – The Washington Chorus (TWC), DC’s most dynamic choral ensemble, celebrates its 65th anniversary during the 2026-2027 season. Through thought-provoking pairings of classic major choral works, artistic collaborations, and groundbreaking premieres, TWC celebrates its history of providing an inclusive community where choral music connects, reflects, and inspires everyone while continuing its mission of creating transformative musical experiences that bring people together through the joy of choral music.
“Our 65th season showcases TWC’s commitment to honoring choral tradition while embracing the living voices shaping American music today,” said TWC Artistic Director Eugene Rogers. “We look forward to serving the entire D.C. community, bringing new audiences into our special anniversary celebration through this repertoire and outstanding guest artists.”
The season begins with TWC’s guest appearance with the National Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center on Friday, August 14, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. On Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at Joseph Myerhoff Symphony Hall; Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. at Music Center at Strathmore; and Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. at Meyerhoff TWC joins Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for John Adam’s On the Transmigration of Souls as part of the BSO’s Alsop Conducts Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique concert.
The Washington Chorus’s own season kicks off with two weekends of A Candlelight Christmas concerts in December, continuing its beloved holiday tradition now reimagined in new venues across the city. This cherished program brings together The Washington Chorus with the National Capital Brass and Percussion Ensemble, alongside award-winning music director, organist, and conductor Paul Byssainthe Jr., soprano Colleen Daly, and jazz-mezzo Christie Dashiell. The program will also feature the premiere of a new work by Evelyn Simpson-Curenton. Blending timeless carols with vibrant new voices, A Candlelight Christmas offers a warm and luminous celebration of the season – honoring tradition while embracing the rich musical spirit of our community. Venue and performance info are listed below.
In the new year, The Washington Chorus presents A Song Flung Up to Heaven: Honoring 65 Years of TWC on Sunday, February 28, 2027 at 3:00 p.m. at DAR Constitution Hall. The program juxtaposes two major works from contrasting origins – Nkeiru Okoye’s When the Caged Bird Sings and Poulenc’s Gloria – that treat sacred themes with a striking blend of reverence and theatricality. Together, these two major works meld European and American musical traditions into a powerful, life-affirming concert experience with a deep connection to spiritual rituals, while each composer’s innovation imbues them with new discoveries and uncovers mysteries of the human condition.
The centerpiece of this performance is the East Coast premiere of Dr. Nkeiru Okoye’s dramatic work When the Caged Bird Sings – a “musical ceremony” fusing many genres, including opera, musical theater, spoken word, and choral singing, and American musical styles including gospel, spirituals, traditional anthems, and jazz. Okoye’s evocative new piece celebrates the spirit of rising above expectations and transforming adversity into triumph through the milestones in the life of one Black woman. Partly in tribute to the activist and poet laureate Maya Angelou, the work celebrates and explores the transformative ability of the human spirit, commemorating those who have paved a path for future generations. The concert opens with a cornerstone of 20th-century sacred music, Francis Poulenc’s Gloria, which first premiered in 1961, the same year as TWC’s founding.
In May, TWC partners with the National Philharmonic to present Requiem and Renewal featuring Mozart’s monumental Requiem. This will be preceded by Jocelyn Hagen’s large-scale symphonic work, What the Soul Already Knows, on Saturday, May 8, 2027 at 7:30 p.m. at Music Center at Strathmore. Jointly commissioned by Pacific Chorale under the direction of Robert Istad and The Washington Chorus, the work will have its East Coast premiere as part of TWC’s 65th Anniversary Season.
Rooted in an exploration of the sacred – in both the physical world and the unseen – the work invites listeners to reflect on the deep interconnectedness of all life. At its core, What the Soul Already Knows is a meditation on our shared humanity and the potential for beauty that arises when we live in alignment with gratitude, unity, and service. The title received inspiration from the book Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul by Celtic spiritual teacher John Philip Newell, whose writings illuminate the sacred as present not only in heaven, but within the earth and all living beings. Both Hagen’s and Mozart’s works are meditations on the soul in a program that asks: What is the soul, what is sacred, and how should we live – before and beyond death?
Closing the season is a theatrical version of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and conducted by its Artistic Director Jonathon Heyward on Friday, June 11, 2027 at 8:00 p.m. at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall; Saturday, June 12, 2027 at 6:00 p.m. at Music Center at Strathmore; and Sunday, June 13, 2027 at 3:00 p.m. at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. This staged performance of Verdi’s masterpiece is our third collaboration with Heyward and the BSO’s multi-year Verdi Opera Initiative.
Performance Information
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
Friday, August 14, 2026 at 8:00 p.m.
Filene Center, Wolf Trap | 1551 Trap Road | Vienna, VA 22182
Tickets: $57 – $132
Link: wolftrap.org/show/26filene/081426/
Program:
Beethoven – The Consecration of the House – Overture
Beethoven – Elegiac Song, Op. 118
Beethoven – Symphony No. 9
Artists:
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
Tessa McQueen, soprano
Cecelia McKinley, alto
Demetrious Sampson, tenor
Jonathan Patton, baritone
The Washington Chorus
Eugene Rogers, artistic director
_______________________________
Alsop Conducts Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique
Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall | 1212 Cathedral Street | Baltimore, MD 21201
Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 8:00 p.m.
Music Center at Strathmore | 5301 Tuckerman Lane | North Bethesda, MD 20852
Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall | 1212 Cathedral Street | Baltimore, MD 21201
Tickets: Subscriptions are on sale now, with single tickets on sale August 2026
Link: my.bsomusic.org/20342/20381
Program:
Barber – Adagio for Strings
John Adams – On the Transmigration of Souls
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique”
Artists:
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor
The Washington Chorus
Eugene Rogers, artistic director
_______________________________
A Candlelight Christmas
Saturday, December 11, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 12, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.
Cramton Auditorium, Howard University | 2455 6th St NW | Washington, DC 20059
w/Howard University Chorale
Friday, December 18, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 19, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. & 3:00 p.m.
Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University | 730 21st St NW | Washington, DC 20052
Monday, December 21, & Tuesday, December 22, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Music Center at Strathmore | 5301 Tuckerman Lane | North Bethesda, MD 20852
Link: thewashingtonchorus.org/2026-27-season
Program:
Evelyn Simpson-Curenton – NEW WORK (World Premiere)
Artists:
Eugene Rogers, conductor
Christie Dashiell, soloist (Dec. 11, 12, 21 & 22)
Howard University Concert Choir (Dec. 11 & 12)
Eric Poole, conductor
National Capital Brass and Percussion Ensemble
Paul Byssainthe Jr., organ & piano (Dec. 18 -22)
Reservoir High School (Dec. 18 & 19)
Gregory Knauf, conductor
South Loudon Youth Chorale (Dec. 21 & 22)
Laura Lazarevich, conductor
_______________________________
A Song Flung Up to Heaven: Honoring 65 Years of TWC
Sunday, February 28, 2027 at 3:00 p.m.
DAR Constitution Hall | 1776 D Street NW | Washington, D.C. 20006
Link: thewashingtonchorus.org/2026-27-season
Program:
Poulenc – Gloria
Nkeiru Okoye – When the Caged Bird Sings
Artists:
Eugene Rogers, conductor
Denyce Graves, narrator
Cyrus Chestnut, piano
Angela Brown, soprano
Christie Dashiell, jazz mezzo
Issachah Savage, tenor
Michael Preacely, baritone
The Washington Chorus
Howard University Chorale
Dr. Eric Poole, director
_______________________________
Requiem and Renewal
Saturday, May 8, 2027 at 7:30 p.m.
Music Center at Strathmore | 5301 Tuckerman Lane | North Bethesda, MD 20852
Tickets: Single tickets are on sale beginning Thursday, July 23, 2026
Link: nationalphilharmonic.org/event/what-the-soul-already-knows-requiem-renewal/
Program:
Jocelyn Hagen – What the Soul Already Knows
Mozart – Requiem in D Minor
Artists:
National Philharmonic
The Washington Chorus
Eugene Rogers, conductor
Rabihah Dunn, soprano
Ashley Dixon, mezzo-soprano
Brian Giebler, tenor
Alan Williams, baritone
_______________________________
Heyward Conducts Verdi’s Requiem
Friday, June 11, 2027 at 8:00 p.m.
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall | 1212 Cathedral Street | Baltimore, MD 21201
Saturday, June 12, 2027 at 6:00 p.m.
Music Center at Strathmore | 5301 Tuckerman Lane | North Bethesda, MD 20852
Sunday, June 13, 2027 at 3:00 p.m.
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall | 1212 Cathedral Street | Baltimore, MD 21201
Tickets: Subscriptions are on sale now, with single tickets on sale August 2026
Link: my.bsomusic.org/overview/20358
Program:
Giuseppe Verdi – Requiem
Artists:
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jonathon Heyward, conductor
The Washington Chorus
Eugene Rogers, artistic director
___________________________
About The Washington Chorus
The Washington Chorus (TWC) is one of the foremost symphonic choruses in the nation and a cultural leader in our nation’s capital—creating joyous and transformative choral music since 1961. TWC is noted for the superb artistry of its performances and recordings of the entire range of the choral repertoire. A three-time nominated and two-time Grammy Award-winner, the 220-voice Chorus presents performances annually across the DMV region. TWC is also a longtime artistic partner and collaborator with many of the nation’s leading organizations and artists, including the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), National Philharmonic (NatPhil), Washington Performing Arts (WPA), and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO). TheWashingtonChorus.org
About Eugene Rogers
Lauded for leading performances of “pure magic” (Washington Post), conductor Eugene Rogers is at the vanguard of American musicians, recognized for his musical and educational leadership around the world. Rogers is a committed conductor, teacher, arranger, and industry thought leader, championing timely new works, bringing historically overlooked music to life, and supporting next-generation talents.
Rogers is a two-time Michigan Emmy Award winner, a 2017 Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2015. Musical America magazine has named him one of the top music industry professionals, and his work has been profiled on CNN, PBS, and on radio stations and in print and online publications across the world.
Since 2020, Rogers has served as Artistic Director of The Washington Chorus. He is also the Founding Director for EXIGENCE, a professional vocal ensemble affiliated with the world-renowned Sphinx Organization, highlighting artistry within Black and Latinx communities. Alongside his own appearances as guest conductor for orchestra, chorus, and opera, he has also proudly acted as chorus master to leading conductors including Gianandrea Noseda, Marin Alsop, Jonathan Heyward, Joe Hisaishi, and James Conlon.
Rogers is a Professor of Music and the Director of University Choirs at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. He is a former board member of Chorus America and is the former national chair of the Diversity Initiatives Committee for the American Choral Directors Association. Rogers is also active as an arranger, with publications including the Eugene Rogers Choral Series with ECS Publishing and the EXIGENCE Choral Series for Mark Foster Publishing.
WASHINGTON (7News) — D.C. is looking forward to an economic boost from added tourists this summer.
Tourism numbers for the America 250 celebration are looking positive. Hotel bookings are up, as D.C. prepares to celebrate America’s birthday.
The National Mall is ground zero for the 4th of July festivities, with the Folklife Festival, the 4th of July Parade, fireworks and free museums. Plus, this year, there is an extra emphasis on historic and cultural exhibits. 50 million visitors are estimated to inject millions into the local economy.
SEE ALSO | ‘Packed to the brim’: Trump says 45K guests attend Great American State Fair rally
“It’s very hard right now for us to tell you exactly what the economic impact is. overall, events like this, we typically don’t know the impact until after the event has taken place,” said Elliott Ferguson, Destination DC CEO.
According to Destination DC, 27.2 million people visited D.C. in 2025, up 20,000 visitors from the year before. They spent almost $12 billion, bringing in $2.5 billion in tax revenue and creating more than 114 thousand jobs.
SEE ALSO | World Cup delivers win for America’s economy, image
International visitation declined by 4%.
This summer of 2026, hotel bookings are up. More than two dozen hotels have DC250 packages, hoping to attract overnight guests. Luxury hotels are reporting record packages.
Visitors to the District pump billions directly into the local economy, accounting for over $11.4 billion in recent annual visitor spending and generating $2.3 billion in local tax revenue. And there’s a strong demand for the July 4 period.
D.C. has also secured 18 conventions for 2026, estimated to bring in $317(m) according to Exhibitor Online. This influx saves the average D.C. household more than $3,600 in taxes.
“As we look at the events with America’s 250 and the events that this Trump administration is bringing to the city, it has been positive for the industry,” Ferguson added.
Major openings are adding to the expected summer tourism boom, including the National Geographic Museum, renovations to the Air and Space Museum, and the new Lincoln Memorial Undercroft exhibit. The Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., will take place Aug.22 to 23, 2026, marking the firstever IndyCar series race on the National Mall.
These tourism dollars are critical, saving the average D.C. household more than $3,600 in taxes, as D.C. is facing headwinds from reductions to the federal workforce and commercial real estate challenges.
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