Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center was wrong—but don’t make things worse by boycotting the musicians
President Donald Trump’s controversial takeover of the Kennedy Center has roiled the performing arts community, in Washington and beyond. KC patrons, including many who have spoken to Washington Classical Review over the past few months, have considered or are actively boycotting all performances there. Worse, long-time subscribers of the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, and the Fortas Chamber Music Concerts series may not renew their subscriptions.
At both nights of WNO’s gala weekend earlier this month, the number of empty seats on the orchestra level seemed like the first solid evidence of a widespread boycott. At the end of this season, many patrons who had paid for tickets may have simply stayed home.
The fear for next season is that even larger numbers of subscribers and single-ticket buyers will stay away, a potentially devastating blow to the Kennedy Center’s solvency.
Until Vice-President JD Vance’s ill-fated appearance in the presidential box earlier this year, no president or vice-president, least of all Trump, had attended a performance of the NSO or WNO in many years. At least for now, Trump and his board seem content to let the Kennedy Center’s flagship presenters continue mostly undisturbed. A boycott of these groups’ performances will imperil their survival, perhaps even more than the presidential coup that caused it.
How Did We Get Here?
Most Washingtonians know to steer clear of politics in polite conversation. If you live in this city long enough, you understand that different political parties and personalities, no matter how objectionable to one’s own inclinations, come and go. For that reason, most arts organizations are devoutly non-partisan, never wanting to lose a donation by offending a potential patron over something as transient as politics.
In keeping with that time-honored tradition, the board of trustees at the Kennedy Center, the capital city’s most important arts venue, had always been bipartisan. Presidents of both parties appointed members in equal measure, often political cronies, again on both sides. No matter who put them there, board members generally remained on the board for a full term, serving alongside colleagues from across the aisle. Everyone could agree that safeguarding a home for the performing arts was more important than grinding partisan axes.
Until this year, that is. In February, President Trump dismissed all the board members appointed by his predecessor before their tenure had ended, as well as the KC president and board chair, something that no president had ever done. At the time he took this action, about half of the trustees had been appointed by Trump during his first term as president: not having been dismissed by President Biden, who acted in the expected way, they were still on the board. Rather than appointing whoever he wanted to the board as trustees rotated off it, Trump named himself board chairman and stacked the body solely with his supporters, making the traditionally bipartisan board overtly political.
The Consequences of Trump’s Choices
The first public evidence of how rancorous the Kennedy Center takeover had become was when Vice-President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, attended an NSO concert in March. As reported on WCR, the normally genteel, well-heeled audience in the Concert Hall greeted the couple with a sustained and unprecedented “chorus of loud booing.” After intermission, the Vances wisely decided not to enter the presidential box until after the music had begun, to avoid further heckling.
The soloist that evening, eminent violinist Leonidas Kavakos, later confided to a Greek media outlet that he was shocked and disturbed by the audience’s outburst, in those crucial moments before playing Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 2. “I don’t agree with protests inside concert halls, where we come to listen to music,” Kavakos said. “I understand that in the U.S. people are not used to government interventions like the one that took place at the Kennedy Center. Politics often creates anger, but we have to respect someone who is democratically elected.”
Meanwhile, the Kennedy Center continues to hemorrhage staff. Trump’s new KC president, Richard Grenell, fired some forty staff members, replacing them with Trump loyalists; others have resigned in protest over the past few weeks. Some ninety employees who are choosing to remain have voted in favor of forming a union, with organizing help from the United Auto Workers. These staff members expressed concern that the Trump administration wants to “dismantle mission-essential departments and reshape our arts programming.”
Various Kennedy Center luminaries, like former NSO music director Leonard Slatkin and former KC artistic adviser Renée Fleming, have resigned or spoken out in opposition to the Trump takeover. While local presenter Vocal Arts DC has chosen to continue hosting its performances at the Kennedy Center, Washington Performing Arts will move all KC performances to other venues, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and another former KC artistic adviser, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who will all appear instead at Strathmore.
A Shift in Donors
Trump’s heavy-handed politicization of the Kennedy Center, beyond alienating patrons, will likely have a grave impact on fund-raising as well. By forcing out chairman David M. Rubenstein, who has donated over $100 million to the Kennedy Center over the years, Trump has likely also turned away the considerable number of donors Rubenstein courted successfully during his tenure.
In this context, the Kennedy Center’s recent acceptance of a prominent donation from Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, and his organization, America’s Future, Inc., seems less controversial. Flynn reportedly gave $300,000 to support the NSO’s performances of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis this month. At a reception after the first performance, Flynn met with NSO staff, music director Gianandrea Noseda, and other donors.
“We welcome all sponsorships,” the Kennedy Center said in a statement, which is a logical reaction. The truth is that many more Trump allies and supporters will need to become donors to the Kennedy Center, to replace those whom the president has driven away.
The Path Forward
Patrons upset by the current politicization of the Kennedy Center likely see no other way to express their distaste for what Trump has done than boycotting performances.
However, boycotting the NSO, WNO, or other performances at the Kennedy Center is much more likely to harm the musicians themselves than President Trump or anyone else in the administration. The sad truth is that such boycotts will result in a falloff in ticket revenue that can potentially cause more damage to the Kennedy Center’s arts organizations than any programming Trump plans to bring in, alter, or ban.
To prevent a dire financial shortfall, Washington donors should continue to support the NSO, WNO, and Fortas series—by giving directly to them instead of to the Kennedy Center.
Doing so will still make a statement against the political power grab at the Kennedy Center while ensuring the future of its resident groups and the art forms that all culturally minded Washingtonians love.
Posted May 27, 2025 at 12:40 pm by Christoph
Excellent analysis. I do think Kavakos is wrong in saying that people shouldn’t protest simply because someone is democratically elected to an office. It’s our democracy – and first amendment – that permits us to protest.
Trump and his henchmen would like to suppress such freedoms, so it’s all the more important that we show our disapproval. Sometimes such encounters can only happen in “polite” surroundings.
Posted May 28, 2025 at 6:34 am by Francesca Zambello
Thank you, Mr. Downey.
Posted May 28, 2025 at 11:53 am by Sl bowers
Point taken, although very, very difficult to swallow..his and Vance’s’ photos plus wives in hallway is beyond distasteful..
I “get it” and have renewed..but…
Posted May 28, 2025 at 5:06 pm by Patrick Shea
The continued use of KC by WNO, NSO and others implies tacit approval of the current fascist adminstration. This besmirches their reputations. They need to show moral backbone and move to other venues. We are in the midst of an authoritarian takeover and every possible pushback should occur. I’m sure such a move by WNO, etc. will result in tremendous support from the local community.
Posted May 28, 2025 at 5:33 pm by Alan Benson
There are plenty of other venues in the Washington DC area that don’t have the taint of an insurrectionist / grifter as it’s temporary Director.
Posted May 28, 2025 at 7:08 pm by Janet Smith
I agree with all that you have said but want to correct one part of the statement. According to sources that I have heard from but haven’t verified, JD Vance was booed as much for the fact that he arrived late to the concert as for his administrations actions against the Kennedy Center. His boss has poisoned everything that he touches in an attempt to gather money, adulation and revenge.
I’ll be back but not for a while. I have attended performances that I could afford and performed a few times a while ago as did my daughter. It’s my favorite place.
I don’t know the solution but can’t bring myself to attend for now. I don’t have the resources to contribute so my absence won’t be felt as acutely as others. I wish you all the best.
Posted May 29, 2025 at 9:36 am by John D.
Thank you for writing this. I reached a similar conclusion and have re-subscribed. I couldn’t figure out how to donate directly to the Fortas series, rather than to the Kennedy Center as a whole.
I was at the J.D. Vance concert and agree some of the booing owed to the nearly 30-minute delay he caused.
The federal government’s role in the Kennedy Center had been incidental to me. I now do wish other private or local government venues designed for opera or orchestral work had been built in the area, but nothing can be done about that right away.
I share the hope that the classical programs can weather this. The new people running the center either appear to not understand the economics of the performing arts, or are ignoring the role of grants and donations in supporting them. Either way, reduced revenues and donations could well lead to reductions in programming.
The WNO, NSO, and Fortas have been improving in artistic quality and in the number of offerings since the pandemic, and this has the potential to derail that recovery.
Posted May 29, 2025 at 4:44 pm by Nina Karick
During these less than certain times, the WSO and WNO may be better served at a different venue for attendance. That being said, the KC has and holds space for everything from orchestral music stands, to percussion to costumes, sets and props. A new venue may not be able to store and preserve elements of those performing arts’ equipment. Those logistics would be daunting. And costs? Exorbitant.
Best to stay put and do the best to keep courting ticket holders to be loyal.
Posted May 29, 2025 at 9:44 pm by John King
Thanks for the article and I respect the musicians who will undoubtedly suffer from what the KC is going through. I’m a 40-year supporter directly to the KC and I will not donate until current leadership is gone. The lies about the budget and how my donations were misrepresented is unconscionable.
Posted May 31, 2025 at 6:51 pm by Marko Velikonja
I decided that the Kennedy Center belongs to the American people, not to Trump. So I will continue attending the NSO, at least.
And I wasn’t there the night JD Vance was; I hope he goes back but he’s not under any security threat from that audience; maybe come in with a lower-key security profile and not delay everyone 30 minutes? I’m sure that contributed to the booing.
Posted Jun 04, 2025 at 3:33 pm by Ian Cameron
I will continue to patronize the Kennedy Center as long as they continue to provide quality programming and leave the musicians alone. If that stops, or there are programming diktats or political or ethnic purges like Germany in the ‘30s, my patronage will end.
By the way everyone, the Baltimore Symphony plays at Strathmore in North Bethesda, a great orchestra with a a dynamic young conductor and a beautiful venue with much better acoustics than the KC concert hall.