Washington Performing Arts and Tregaron Conservancy Co-Commission Shimmers in the Field

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact: Amanda Sweet, Bucklesweet
amanda@bucklesweet.com

Washington Performing Arts and Tregaron Conservancy Co-Commission Shimmers in the Field

New Soundwalk app by Chromic
Premieres Saturday, October 17 at Tregaron Conservancy

The joint commission honors Washington Performing Arts's 60th anniversary and Tregaron Conservancy's 20th anniversary; the free, GPS-guided listening experience is available to visitors for a full year following its premiere

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. [September 22, 2026] - Washington Performing Arts and Tregaron Conservancy announce the world premiere of Shimmers in the Field, a new soundwalk created by Chromic (Lucy Yao and Dorothy Chan) for the wild woodland gardens of Tregaron Conservancy in Northwest Washington, D.C.

The two organizations co-commissioned the work in celebration of Washington Performing Arts's 60th anniversary season and Tregaron Conservancy's 20th anniversary. The soundwalk debuts on Saturday, October 17, 2026, during Tregaron Unplugged–the free outdoor concert festival featuring DMV musicians in listening areas located throughout the landscape, co-presented each October by the two organizations. At the event, guides will lead guests through the experience every 30 minutes. The app will be available to visitors to explore independently, free of charge, for a full year.

Blending original music, narration, storytelling, and sound design, Shimmers in the Field transforms a visit to Tregaron into a guided act of listening. Using GPS technology, the free mobile app locates each listener within the park and layers music and stories keyed to specific areas along the trails, fading each element in and out as the listener moves through the landscape. The walk follows no fixed route: visitors chart their own paths, linger where they choose, and encounter the work differently on every visit and in every season.

Yao and Chan composed the work as a love letter to a park they knew long before the commission: Chan lives nearby, and the duo often walk Tregaron's trails to brainstorm and reflect. Their soundwalk invites listeners to breathe, to immerse themselves in the woodland setting, and to consider the cycles of seasons, growth, loss, and renewal that shape their lives. Along the way, listeners encounter original music, narrated stories, poetry, and threads of folklore nested throughout the park's distinct areas.

“This is such a perfect way to mark the anniversaries of our two organizations–with a newly commissioned work that anyone with a cellphone or tablet can experience,” said Washington Performing Arts President & CEO Jenny Bilfield. “The project began when one of the artists received an award from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities; she approached Tregaron Conservancy Executive Director Lynn Parseghian, who also serves on the Washington Performing Arts Board of Directors, about creating a soundwalk at Tregaron.”

“I have long hoped to identify artists to compose an original soundwalk tailored to Tregaron’s parklands,” said Tregaron Conservancy Executive Director Lynn Parseghian. “Chromic’s soundwalk shares their distinct experience, while at the same time inviting listeners walking our paths to engage with the composition in their own unique ways. We’re grateful to Chromic for bringing their artistic vision to Tregaron and to Washington Performing Arts for this wonderful expression of our partnership.”

“We hope that this Soundwalk will bring you a piece of the joy and inspiration that we found while exploring the Tregaron conservancy over the years, said Chromic’s Yao and Chan. “Walking is an act of breathing. And when you walk, you start to notice the cycles of breath and moments of decay — the renewal that defines these moments.” 

On October 17, the premiere of Shimmers in the Field anchors Tregaron Unplugged, the beloved free festival featuring musicians from across the DMV in listening areas located throughout the landscape.

 

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Mars Arts D.C.
Tregaron Unplugged
Music, Movement, & Discovery Throughout Tregaron
Saturday, October 17, 2026, 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
Tregaron Conservancy3100 Macomb St NW, Washington, DC)
Free

Please register for the October 17 event

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How to Experience the Soundwalk

The soundwalk app arrives in October as a free download for both iOS and Android devices. Visitors download the app via QR codes posted at each entrance to Tregaron Conservancy or through Tregaron.org and WashingtonPerformingArts.org, enable location services, put on headphones, and press play. The GPS-triggered audio does the rest—no fixed route, no need to look at the phone. Visitors can experience the walk in 10 minutes or an hour, from any starting point, and return across the seasons to discover new layers. The artists recommend headphones for the fullest experience. The soundwalk remains available for one year following the premiere.

 

About Chromic

Chromic, comprised of artists Lucy Yao and Dorothy Chan, blends classical music, toy piano, and electronics into genre-fluid performances, immersive installations, and AR (Augmented Reality) soundwalks. Drawing from their experiences as immigrants and the Asian-American diaspora, they create concerts and experiences that invite listeners to slow down and wonder. Together, their award-winning work has a rich portfolio of concerts commissioned and presented by the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, the New York Philharmonic, the National Gallery of Art, and the Baryshnikov Arts Center. This work expands the boundaries of how concerts and stories are presented, connecting audiences to see beyond the surface of what is reflected in these stories. Previous projects involve Innovators-in-Residency at Purdue to bridge the Arts, Immersive Technology, and Mental Health in a campus-wide installation. They won the 2022 Grand Prize Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) and Concert Artists Guild (CAG) Victor Elmaleh Competition. Upcoming highlights include returning to Washington D.C. in the Spring of 2027 to perform at the Philips Collection, and engagements with Yale and 92Y. Learn more at chromic.space.

About Tregaron Conservancy

Tregaron Conservancy stewards a historic woodland garden in Northwest Washington, D.C., open to all, free of charge, every day of the year from dawn to dusk. Pioneering landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman designed the landscape roughly a century ago in partnership with renowned architect Charles A. Platt, who designed the estate's main buildings. Today the community-powered Conservancy restores and rehabilitates the historic landscape while hosting wellness activities, children's programs, summer camps, and public events for the whole community. In 2026, the Conservancy celebrates its 20th anniversary. Learn more at Tregaron.org.

About Washington Performing Arts

One of the most established and honored performing arts institutions in America, Washington Performing Arts has engaged for 60 years with artists, audiences, students, and civic life. The city is truly our stage: for decades, in venues ranging from concert halls and clubs to public parks, we have presented a tremendous range of artists and art forms, from the most distinguished symphony orchestras to both renowned and emerging artists in classical music, jazz, international genres, and more. We also have an ever-expanding artistic and educational presence online, envisioning ongoing opportunities for online connection and community.

Washington Performing Arts deeply values its partnerships with local organizations and other arts institutions. Through events online and in myriad performance venues and neighborhoods, we engage international visiting artists in community programs and introduce local artists to wider audiences. We place a premium on establishing artists as a continuing presence in the lives of both young people and adults through residencies and education programs. Our achievements have been recognized with a National Medal of Arts and with three Mayor's Arts Awards from the DC Government. We have now embarked upon our second half-century, ever inspired by the motto of our founder, Patrick Hayes: “Everybody in, nobody out.”

 

Follow Washington Performing Arts on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WashingtonPerformingArtsSociety
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/washingtonperformingarts/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WashingtonPerformingArts
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@washingtonperformingarts

Follow Tregaron Conservancy:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TregaronDC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tregarondc/

Follow Chromic:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chromic_duo/
Website:  https://chromic.space

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