The Washington Performing Arts Society was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama at the White House on July 10. Neale Perl (BM ’77, Cello) served as president and CEO of WPAS from 2002-2013 and Carol Bogash (MM ’77, Music History) served as director of education. Perl and Bogash started a program at WPAS called “What Makes it Great” with Rob Kapilow. On several occasions, Kapilow coached members of the Peabody orchestra for their performances at the Smithsonian in DC, presented by WPAS.