Metro Opens Doors to Artists

Anito, who said she is a "young twentysomething," is influenced by artists such as Fiona Apple and Regina Spektor. When she sang an original composition Saturday afternoon, the judges stopped her and asked, "Can you play something upbeat and that we are familiar with?"

A pause and a visible racking of the brain followed. A few seconds later, Anito launched into a cover of Blues Traveler's "Run-Around," to the obvious delight of her auditors.

The second time around for MetroPerforms! finds the program expanding from five to 10 stations in the District, with the number of performances nearly doubling to 40. Performances are planned for the Navy Yard, Gallery Place-Chinatown, Fort Totten, Anacostia, Takoma, Dupont Circle, Minnesota Avenue, Columbia Heights, Eastern Market and Woodley Park stations. They will take place from late spring through early fall and then during the holiday season, usually in the late morning and around the evening rush hour weekdays.

For more than three decades, Metro did not allow music in its stations because of concerns about noise and solicitation. Those concerns have been alleviated by having performers stand 15 feet outside station entrances so as to not block passengers.

Sequels are a tough sell, however. Despite the good reviews of the first MetroPerforms! and the larger scale of the second, the number of acts auditioning this year shrank.

Last year, there were 109 entries, with 22 acts awarded a station performance. The judges saw more than 30 acts in the first hour the first day, and there was a line waiting at the door the next morning. Last weekend's auditions were for three hours Friday night and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. With one hour remaining Saturday, the judges had seen 49 entries.

McBride attributed the smaller turnout to the quieter media attention the event received this year and a new rule requiring that the lead performer in an act live in the District. Last year, anyone could perform, but only D.C. residents received a stipend.

Contestants will find out May 16 whether they made the cut. McBride said he did not know how many acts would be chosen for the 40 performance slots. Some might perform multiple times.

Those who came out took their craft seriously and spoke earnestly of wanting to share it with the public.

District native Manatho Masani, 42, has played a small thumb piano, called the mbira, for 12 years. The instrument is indigenous to Zimbabwe, where Masani studied styles of play for six months last year.

"It is so rare. People are normally blown away. The music is striking; curiosity will draw people in," he said.

The four members of the Covington String Quartet had lower expectations of passersby who might hear them. Greg Pinney, one of two violinists in the group, said, jokingly, "If you can manage to make it in the Metro, you can make it anywhere."