A view of the John F. Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts, which the present board is looking the Trump Kennedy Heart, in Washington, DC, on Dec. 26, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski / AFP by way of Getty Pictures
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Brendan Smialowski / AFP by way of Getty Pictures
The Washington Nationwide Opera is leaving the John F. Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts, its residence since 1971.
Friday’s information, shared with NPR in a press release by way of e mail from the opera firm, is available in response to new insurance policies which the 70-year-old performing arts group stated pressure its monetary mannequin.
The Washington Nationwide Opera confused the “amicability” of its choice to finish its longtime residency on the Kennedy Heart. However it stated the middle’s new enterprise mannequin, which requires productions to be fully-funded upfront, is incompatible with the same old mixture of ticket gross sales, grants and donations that can’t all be secured forward.
“Opera corporations usually cowl solely 30-60% of prices by ticket gross sales, with the rest from grants and donations that can not be secured years forward when productions have to be deliberate,” the assertion stated.
The corporate added the mannequin additionally doesn’t accommodate its creative mission, which goals to stability common works similar to West Facet Story, slated for Might 2026, with extra obscure and experimental operas, such because the little-known Scott Joplin work, Treemonisha, scheduled for March. “Income from main productions historically subsidizes smaller, revolutionary works,” the assertion stated.
Inventive director Francesca Zambello, who has led the corporate for 14 seasons, shared her regrets in a press release with NPR, whereas additionally seeking to the longer term.
“I’m deeply saddened to depart the Kennedy Heart,” Zambello stated. “Within the coming years, as we discover new venues and new methods of performing, Washington Nationwide Opera stays dedicated to its mission and creative imaginative and prescient. Our repertory will proceed to incorporate numerous choices, from monumental classics to extra modern works, introduced in daring visible productions with first-class musical values.”
Along with a continued presence for now on the Kennedy Heart web site, the opera firm launched its new impartial web site inside a number of hours of its announcement.
“After cautious consideration, we now have made the tough choice to half methods with the Washington Nationwide Opera attributable to a financially difficult relationship,” the Kennedy Heart wrote in an e mail to NPR on Friday. “We imagine this represents one of the best path ahead for each organizations and permits us to make accountable decisions that assist the monetary stability and long-term way forward for the Trump Kennedy Heart.”
On social media, Kennedy Heart government director Richard Grenell stated it was the middle’s choice to sever ties with the opera firm — and never the opposite manner round.
“The Trump Kennedy Heart has made the choice to finish the EXCLUSIVE partnership with the Washington Opera in order that we are able to have the pliability and funds to herald operas from around the globe and throughout the U.S.” Grenell stated. “Having an EXCLUSIVE relationship has been extraordinarily costly and limiting in alternative and selection.”
Grenell reposted his message on Saturday after he was alerted that his X.com account had been hacked and the unique message had been eliminated.
President Donald Trump was named chairman of the Kennedy Heart’s board in February 2025. His identify was added to the Kennedy Heart in December following a vote by the Trump-appointed members of its board. Because the energy of the venue’s board to rename the middle is at present in dispute, NPR continues to seek advice from the Kennedy Heart utilizing its authorized identify.
A string of exits
The Washington Nationwide Opera’s departure is the most recent and maybe most important in a string of artist exits from the cultural establishment since Trump took over the establishment.
Backlash from ticket-buyers, slated performers, and sure board members—together with Shonda Rhimes—was swift.
Artists are persevering with to cancel performances. However one of many first to take action was a touring manufacturing of the musical Hamilton. In a press release on X in March 2025, producer Jeffrey Vendor stated he opposed the Trump administration’s ousting of many Democratic board members.
“The latest purge by the Trump Administration of each skilled employees and performing arts occasions at or initially produced by the Kennedy Heart flies within the face of all the things this nationwide heart represents,” wrote Vendor.
Actress and author Issa Rae adopted go well with with a put up on Instagram, cancelling her sold-out March efficiency.
A slew of extra artists and efficiency corporations canceled after the board’s vote to rename the middle “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Heart for the Performing Arts.” Congress has not but licensed the identify change.
Grenell has responded to many cancellations on social media, condemning the artists. After Banjo participant Béla Fleck canceled his efficiency as a result of he stated the middle had turn out to be “political,” Grenell wrote on X, “You simply made it political and caved to the woke mob who needs you to carry out for under Lefties.
“This mob pressuring you’ll by no means be comfortable till you solely play for Democrats. The Trump Kennedy Heart believes all individuals are welcome—Democrats and Republicans and other people bored with politics. We would like performers who aren’t political—who merely love entertaining everybody no matter who they voted for.”
Discover a operating record of those cancellations beneath.
Sonia De Los Santos
On Jan. 8, singer-songwriter Sonia De Los Santos introduced on Instagram that she was canceling her upcoming February live performance on the Kennedy Heart. “As an artist,” wrote De Los Santos, “I treasure the liberty to create and share my music, and for a few years I’ve used this privilege to uplift the tales of immigrants on this nation.”
De Los Santos, who was nominated for a Latin Grammy for greatest youngsters’s album in 2018, acknowledged that “I don’t really feel that the present local weather at this beloved venue represents a welcoming area for myself, my band, or our viewers.”
Béla Fleck performs onstage in the course of the 67th Annual Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony at Peacock Theater on Feb. 2, 2025 in Los Angeles.
Leon Bennett/Getty Pictures for The Recording Academy
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Leon Bennett/Getty Pictures for The Recording Academy
Béla Fleck
Performing on the Kennedy Heart “has turn out to be charged and political, at an establishment the place the main target must be on the music,” wrote American banjo participant Béla Fleck about his scheduled look with the Nationwide Symphony Orchestra in an official assertion posted to Instagram on Jan. 7. “I’ve withdrawn from my upcoming efficiency with the NSO at The Kennedy Heart,” he wrote. “I sit up for taking part in with the NSO one other time sooner or later once we can collectively share and rejoice artwork.”
The 18-time Grammy winner has carried out on the Kennedy Heart up to now.
Stephen Schwartz
The composer and lyricist for the beloved musicals Depraved, Godspell and Pippin was anticipated to host a gala fundraiser for the Washington Nationwide Opera in Might 2026. On Jan. 2, Schwartz introduced his withdrawal. In keeping with NBC Information, Schwartz mirrored that the Kennedy Heart was “based to be a political residence at no cost creative expression for artists of all nationalities and ideologies.” At present, he stated, making an look “has now turn out to be an ideological assertion.”
Richard Grenell rapidly responded to Schwartz’s withdrawal, calling it a “bogus” report in a press release posted on X and saying reporters had been plagiarizing a “faux @RollingStone story.” Schwartz was “by no means signed,” Grenell wrote.
Reviews from NBC and different shops, together with Selection, have refuted this declare, publishing screenshots displaying that Schwartz was promoted on the Kennedy Heart’s web site previous to his cancellation.
Stephen Schwartz attends the 2025 Songwriters Corridor Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Marriott Marquis Instances Sq. on Jun. 12, 2025 in New York Metropolis.
Theo Wargo/Getty Pictures for Songwriters Corridor Of Fame
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Theo Wargo/Getty Pictures for Songwriters Corridor Of Fame
The Cookers
The seven-piece band of veteran jazz musicians introduced shortly earlier than Dec. 31 that they’d not carry out on the Kennedy Heart for “A Jazz New Yr’s Eve:”
“We all know this information is disappointing,” reads the assertion on their web site. “We’re not turning away from our viewers, and do need to guarantee that once we do return to the bandstand, the room is ready to rejoice the total presence of the music and everybody in it. Our hope is that this second will go away area for reflection, not resentment.”
The assertion went on to say, “We stay dedicated to taking part in music that reaches throughout divisions somewhat than deepening them.”
Chuck Redd
The American jazz drummer and longtime host of the Kennedy Heart’s annual Christmas Jazz Jam selected to cancel his 2025 look when he “noticed the identify change on the Kennedy Heart web site after which hours in a while the constructing,” in response to a press release despatched to the Related Press.
On Dec. 27, the Kennedy Heart introduced its plan to file a $1 million lawsuit towards Redd. “Any artist canceling their present on the Trump Kennedy Heart over political variations is not brave or principled—they’re egocentric, illiberal, and have failed to fulfill the essential responsibility of a public artist: to carry out for all individuals,” stated Kennedy Heart spokesperson Roma Daravi.
In a letter shared with NPR, Richard Grenell condemned Redd: “Regrettably, your motion surrenders to the unhappy bullying techniques employed by sure parts on the left, who’ve sought to intimidate artists into boycotting performances at our nationwide cultural heart.”
Doug Varone and Dancers
“The renaming for me has sort of pushed me off a cliff,” stated choreographer Doug Varone on Dec. 31, when he spoke with NPR’s Morning Version. Varone, who was set to showcase members of his Doug Varone and Dancers firm on the Kennedy Heart in April 2026, pulled the efficiency.
John F. Kennedy, for whom the Kennedy Heart was established as a residing memorial, “believed within the arts as sort of the beating coronary heart of our nation,” stated Varone.
“I imagine that the extent of artistry has dropped drastically for the reason that administration change, and the workers that had been accountable for the standard of the work on the heart have all been let go.”
After canceling, the corporate began a crowdfunding marketing campaign to assist offset its monetary loss. It raised over $42,000, exceeding its $40,000 objective.
Magpie
In a press release posted to Fb on Jan. 5, Greg Artzner of the American people duo Magpie introduced the choice to tug their Feb. 28 live performance, set to play on the Kennedy Heart’s Millennium Stage.
“There is not actually something defensible” about Trump, stated the assertion from Artzner and Magpie’s Terry Leonino. Though that they had deliberate a night of songs with messages of unity and hope, “We’re personally and philosophically in settlement with the idea underlying the rising boycott,” they stated. “The stand being taken by fellow artists we respect and admire has created an ethical picket line. We stand with them in solidarity.”
An replace on Jan. 9 stated that Magpie would now be performing an extended model of that live performance on Feb. 21 at Seekers Church in Washington, D.C., now known as, “The Touring John F. Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts Restoration Roadshow.”
Kristy Lee
Folks singer Kristy Lee canceled her Jan. 14 Kennedy Heart efficiency attributable to “latest efforts to impose political branding on the Heart,” in response to a press release posted on her web site.
“Public arts areas must be free from political affect,” Lee stated in her assertion. “I step again out of respect for creative freedom and the Kennedy Heart’s founding mission, not in opposition to its employees, artists, or viewers.”
On Jan. 14, Lee plans to host a live-streamed live performance as a substitute, titled “Displaying Up: From the Kennedy Heart to the Sofa.”
Low Lower Connie
Philadelphia rock and roll band Low Lower Connie pulled their live performance, set for February 2025, “Upon studying that this establishment that has run non-partisan for 54 years is now chaired by President Trump himself and his regime,” in response to a press release posted on their Fb web page.
“Possibly my profession will endure from this choice,” wrote band frontman Adam Weiner, “however my soul would be the higher for it.”
Rhiannon Giddens
In Feb. 2025, people singer Rhiannon Giddens introduced her departure from the Kennedy Heart lineup in a social media assertion. “I can not in good conscience play at The Kennedy with the latest programming adjustments compelled on the establishment by this new board,” wrote Giddens.
Giddens transferred her Might 11 live performance, “Previous-Time Revue,” to The Anthem live performance corridor, additionally in Washington, D.C.
Balún
The Puerto Rican band, based mostly in Brooklyn in New York Metropolis, canceled their Kennedy Heart efficiency, which had been set for Feb. 27, 2025.
In keeping with a press release posted to Balún’s Instagram account, “latest occasions made it clear that the area now not aligns with our values. Our security, integrity, and dedication to justice come first.”
Issa Rae attends HBO’s remaining season premiere of “Insecure” at Kenneth Hahn Park on Oct. 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
Kevin Winter/Getty Pictures
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Kevin Winter/Getty Pictures
Issa Rae
“Thanks a lot for promoting out the Kennedy Heart for ‘An Night With [Me],'” wrote Issa Rae, the acclaimed star and creator of HBO’s Insecure, on her Instagram tales web page in Feb. 2025. “Sadly, attributable to what I imagine to be an infringement on the values of an establishment that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds by all mediums, I’ve determined to cancel my look at this venue.”
“Hamilton”
In March 2025, Hamilton producer Jeffrey Vendor introduced on X that the Tony-award successful musical phenomenon would now not run as scheduled on the Kennedy Heart. In keeping with the assertion, the choice was made each for political and for enterprise causes. Not solely was there “a brand new spirit of partisanship,” the assertion learn partially, however “it will be “financially and personally devastating to the workers of Hamilton if the brand new management of the Kennedy Heart out of the blue canceled or re-negotiated our engagement. The actions of the brand new Chairman of the Board in latest weeks exhibit that contracts and former agreements merely can’t be trusted.”
The Kennedy Heart was swift to reply to Hamilton‘s cancellation. On X in a now-deleted put up, Richard Grenell accused Hamilton star and creator Lin Manuel-Miranda of being “illiberal of people that do not agree with him politically,” and acknowledged that the choice was “a publicity stunt that can backfire.”
Within the months for the reason that present’s cancellation on the Heart, Hamilton has continued to promote out theaters on Broadway and in venues nationwide who host its North American touring firm.
U.S. Marine Band
The U.S. Marine Band introduced in February 2025 that the Marine Band wouldn’t carry out within the Fairness Arc Wind Symphony occasion, a collaboration between Marine Band members and chosen highschool musicians.
The U.S. Marine Band, recognized additionally as “The President’s Personal” was based by an Act of Congress in 1798, making it the nation’s oldest skilled music group.
Composer Kevin Charoensri, whose music had been scheduled to be carried out by the band on the occasion, acknowledged in a Fb put up that Variety, Fairness, and Inclusion (DEI) orders resulted within the cancellation of the Fairness Arc live performance:
“It has come to my consideration that this system, one based mostly on fairness and variety of voices, is now not supported on the federal degree below this administration,” Charoensri wrote. “It was for that reason that this system and efficiency had been canceled.”
The U.S. Marine marching band performs within the one hundred and twentieth Match of Roses Parade January 1, 2009 in Pasadena, California.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Pictures
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Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Pictures
Jennifer Vanasco edited this story.
