Washington National Opera Severs Ties with Kennedy Center

Photo Credit: Mike Stoll

The Washington National Opera is parting ways with the Kennedy Center in a so-called amicable split after being partnered since 1971.

On Friday, January 9, the Washington National Opera released a statement announcing that it would be leaving the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The decision comes in response to new policies that the performing arts group, which has called the center its home since 1971, says cause financial strain.

“Opera companies typically cover only 30-60% of costs through ticket sales, with the remainder from grants and donations that cannot be secured years ahead when productions must be planned,” the Washington National Opera’s statement explained, stressing the amicability of the decision to end its longtime residency.

The statement added that the center’s new business model requires productions to be fully funded in advance, which the performing arts group says is incompatible with the mix of grants, donations, and ticket sales that cannot all be secured in advance.

Further, the center’s new model does not accommodate the company’s artistic mission, which it says aims to balance popular works—such as West Side Story, due for a May 2026 performance—with more experimental or obscure works. The company says that revenue from major productions traditionally subsidizes smaller works.

“I am deeply saddened to leave the Kennedy Center,” said artistic director Francesca Zambello in a statement to NPR. “In the coming years, as we explore new venues and new ways of performing, Washington National Opera remains committed to its mission and artistic vision. Our repertory will continue to include diverse offerings, from monumental classics to more contemporary works, presented in bold visual productions with first-class musical values.”

Meanwhile, Kennedy Center executive director Richard Grenell wrote on social media that it was the center’s decision to cut ties with the opera company, not the other way around.

“The Trump Kennedy Center has made the decision to end the EXCLUSIVE partnership with the Washington Opera so that we can have the flexibility and funds to bring in operas from around the world and across the U.S.,” said Grenell. “Having an EXCLUSIVE relationship has been extremely expensive and limiting in choice and variety.”

Either way, the news of the split comes in the wake of President Trump having seized control of the Kennedy Center last year and appointing his own board members. The board then named him chairman and voted to add his name to the building—an act which members of the Kennedy family as well as members of the House and Senate have condemned as illegal.

The departure of the Washington National Opera is just the latest, but perhaps the most significant, of the artists to have announced their exits from performing at the center since Trump’s takeover. These include Issa Rae, Béla Fleck, Sonia De Los Santos, Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz, jazz veterans The Cookers, folk singer Kristy Lee, a production of Hamilton, and even the U.S. Marine Band.