Washington National Opera (WNO) is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. Founded in 1956 and now an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the company boasts numerous artistic highlights, including world premieres, commissioning of new works and new productions, and performances by some of opera's most admired artists. WNO's American Opera Initiative, a comprehensive commissioning program that brings contemporary American stories to the stage while fostering and developing the talents of new American composers and librettists, was launched in 2012. In addition to the many new works that have emerged from the American Opera Initiative, WNO contributes to the future of opera through two other signature artist-development programs: the Cafritz Young Artist Program is a leading resident-training program for artists on the verge of international careers, and the WNO Opera Institute nurtures the ambitions of high-school-age singers from across the nation during an intensive summer program. WNO's education and community engagement initiatives include an Opera Look-In (a narrated, behind-the-scenes look at a production); Let's Go There (a lecture series designed to explore the most challenging topics in opera), BravO (a popular discount-ticket initiative for patrons under the age of 40); and a variety of lectures and discussions for every production on the season calendar. Among the most popular of WNO's community programs is Opera in the Outfield, which brings free, live simulcasts of opera to Nationals Park for thousands of opera fans as well as new audiences.