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
Levine Music DC Youth Orchestra Program National Symphony Orchestra The Juilliard School The Juilliard School Pre-College Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras Tanglewood Music Festival

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

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. ✨

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