“Music is the one time when my head isn’t filled with briefs and opinions… All that is put on a high shelf, and I just enjoy the glorious music.”

– Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Thank You!

Washington Performing Arts is grateful for the instrumental support from the following founding members of the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial Fund (As of March 31, 2024):

† deceased

More Information

About the Award and Recital

The Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial Award and Recital will be an ongoing celebration of the late Supreme Court Justice’s life, legacy, and passion for music. Washington Performing Arts will honor its friend, patron, and collaborator, Justice Ginsburg, by awarding a distinguished artist the opportunity to choose a musical talent deserving of wider recognition, to be presented in recital here in the nation’s capital.

The Award will go to an artist of stature (the Awardee) who exemplifies both the musical excellence Justice Ginsburg cherished and the principles to which she was dedicated—in the words of our Board Chair, Tom Gallagher, “her belief in the arts as a unifying force, a belief that’s echoed in the mission of Washington Performing Arts, and in the mantra of our founder, Patrick Hayes—‘Everybody in, nobody out.’”

The Recital is inspired by Justice Ginsburg herself, who reveled in presenting musicales at the Supreme Court, and who co-curated a vocal recital on our season in 2016 after being honored with the Washington Performing Arts Ambassador of the Arts Award. Thus, the Recital will establish a continuous, creative lineage between Justice Ginsburg’s love of music, the recognized artists she championed and befriended, and the future of the vocal and instrumental arts in which she took such delight. The Awardee will serve as a co-curator with Washington Performing Arts, and select and present an emerging talent—the Featured Artist—in a recital in Washington, D.C. The Recital will be hosted by the Awardee, with any number of possible added features: an artist-to-artist conversation; an educational component, such as a masterclass, listening party, or in-school appearance; a new commission; a performance collaboration; or a combination of any of the above. To design and enable these or other creative endeavors, an artistic enhancement reserve will be made available to the Featured Artist, in addition to their performance fee, with an honorarium to the Awardee.

About the Relationship Between Justice Ginsburg and Washington Performing Arts

Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Washington Performing Arts shared the values of excellence, access to the arts for all, and the importance of art in the education of young people. Fittingly, each Recital will invite wide public participation, with special ticket programs and outreach to students. In addition to those attending the live event, a broader audience will have access to the Recitals through publicly available video recordings and even television and radio broadcasts, if possible.

For more on our long-running relationship with Justice Ginsburg, including a photo gallery and our memorial video, The Muse and the Musicale, visit our “Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg” page.

About the Fund

To support the Award, Recital, and their associated programs, Washington Performing Arts has established the RBG Fund. Lead gifts of more than $365,000, secured from Spring to Fall 2021, lay the foundation for the campaign. Washington Performing Arts’s RBG Fund is a living memorial to one of the most beloved, influential, and exemplary figures in recent American History.