Washington National Opera cuts ties with the Kennedy Center after over 50 years
- carsydog0
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
The Washington National Opera is charting a new course away from the Kennedy Center, ending a decades-long relationship amid sweeping changes at the venue following its controversial renaming to the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
The announcement comes as the opera enters its 70th anniversary year and resumes operating as a fully independent organization, staging productions at alternative venues across the region. In a statement to supporters and artists, WNO cited “robust changes” at the Center and a new business model that are incompatible with how most nonprofit opera companies operate.
While the opera did not frame its departure as a political statement, the leadership upheaval and renaming have already prompted cancellations and defections from other artists. Jazz veterans, Broadway performers, and contemporary classical musicians have all withdrawn scheduled appearances in the wake of the Center’s rebranding, citing concerns about governance, values, and the symbolic weight of the Trump name.
The Kennedy Center, now operating under its new title, said the split allows for greater flexibility in programming and fiscal management, enabling it to bring in a wider range of productions from across the U.S. and abroad.
For more than fifty years, the Kennedy Center had served as the opera’s primary home. The formal affiliation began in 2011, making WNO one of the venue’s anchor resident companies. But the company says the new requirement that productions be fully funded in advance—a sharp departure from traditional nonprofit funding models—was a driving factor in its decision to leave.
Despite the departure, the opera emphasized continuity in its mission, promising to continue producing large-scale operatic works while expanding its reach beyond the Kennedy Center.
