Kennedy Center Loses Another Major Artist as Philip Glass Withdraws World Premiere Over Trump Leadership

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts absorbed another devastating blow on Tuesday when legendary composer Philip Glass pulled his world premiere from the embattled institution, declaring its values under President Donald Trump's leadership directly conflict with his artistic vision. The 88-year-old's decision marks the latest high-profile defection from a cultural institution that's watching its artistic credibility crumble in real time.

Glass announced on Instagram that he was withdrawing Symphony No 15: 'Lincoln', a work co-commissioned by the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra that was scheduled to premiere in June. 'Symphony No 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony,' Glass wrote. 'Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership.'

From Cultural Beacon to Controversial Venue

The Kennedy Center's transformation from America's premier performing arts venue into a political flashpoint accelerated dramatically after Trump fired the institution's board in February 2025 and installed himself as chairman. The board then voted in December to rename the facility 'The Donald J Trump and The John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts', a move that Kennedy family members condemned and that Congress has not authorised.

Glass's 40-minute orchestral piece features text from Lincoln and includes eight sections with titles like 'Lyceum Address', 'Slavery', and 'The End of the War'. The composer, who turns 89 on Saturday and was a Kennedy Center honoree in 2018, has works including 14 symphonies, 15 operas, and three Academy Award-nominated film scores.

The Exodus Accelerates

Glass joins a mounting list of artists and organisations fleeing the Kennedy Center. The most significant departure came earlier this month when the Washington National Opera announced it was severing its 55-year relationship with the venue. The opera's artistic director, Francesca Zambello, told The Guardian in November that ticket sales had collapsed from 80-90 per cent capacity before Trump's takeover to just 60 per cent, with donors sending back shredded season brochures.

The opera cited new financial policies requiring productions to be fully funded in advance—impossible for organisations relying on ticket sales, grants, and donations secured over time.

Other notable cancellations include Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Hamilton', which pulled out in March 2025 after Trump's initial board purge. Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck, composer Stephen Schwartz, the Martha Graham Dance Company, and Grammy-winning soprano Renée Fleming have all cancelled performances.

Grenell's Combative Response

Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell, a Trump loyalist appointed to oversee the institution, has responded to cancellations with combative social media posts rather than diplomatic outreach. After Fleck's cancellation, Grenell wrote on X that the artist had 'caved to the woke mob' and accused him of wanting to 'perform for only Lefties'.

The centre even threatened a $1 million lawsuit against one artist who cancelled. Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi issued a statement calling artists who cancel over political differences 'selfish, intolerant' and claiming they've 'failed to meet the basic duty of a public artist: to perform for all people'. That rhetoric hasn't stemmed the tide of departures.

Folk singer-songwriter Kristy Lee, who cancelled her January show, summed up the sentiment driving many decisions when she wrote on social media that 'when American history starts getting treated like something you can ban, erase, rename, or rebrand for somebody else's ego, I can't stand on that stage and sleep right at night'.

Financial and Artistic Crisis

The artistic exodus coincides with reported financial troubles, though Grenell has claimed the centre enjoyed 'a record-breaking fundraising year'. The disconnect between those two statements—collapsing ticket sales but strong fundraising—suggests the institution may be surviving on political donations rather than genuine public support for its artistic mission.

The centre's new 'break-even policy' requiring every performance to be self-sustaining has fundamentally altered how it operates. This business model works against the traditional performing arts approach of using revenue from popular works to subsidise lesser-known but culturally significant pieces—precisely the kind of programming that made the Kennedy Center important in the first place.

The Kennedy Center was established by Congress as a living memorial to President John F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963. Its mission was explicitly non-partisan: to serve as a space where Americans of all political persuasions could gather around shared cultural experiences. Glass's withdrawal carries particular symbolic weight because his Lincoln symphony directly engages with American ideals of democracy, equality, and national reconciliation. That such a work cannot find a home at what's supposed to be America's premier performing arts venue speaks volumes about how far the institution has drifted from its founding mission.