Philip Glass Cancels ‘Trump Kennedy Center’ Symphony Premiere

Photo Credit: Philip Glass by Pasquale Salerno / CC by 2.0

Composer Philip Glass has cancelled his world premiere of a symphony scheduled at the Kennedy Center in protest of Trump’s leadership.

Award-winning composer Philip Glass has cancelled his scheduled world premiere of a symphony about Abraham Lincoln at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The move is the latest in a deluge of cancellations at the Kennedy Center in protest of Donald Trump snatching the reins and plastering his name on the building.

Glass’ Symphony No. 15, “Lincoln,” would have been led by Grammy-winning conductor Karen Kamensek for performances to have taken place on June 12 and June 13. Glass turns 89 this week and was a Kennedy Center honoree in 2018.

“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,” said Glass in a statement released by his publicist on Tuesday. “Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership.”

In response to Glass’ move to pull his symphony’s premiere, Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, released a statement: “We have no place for politics in the arts, and those calling for boycotts based on politics are making the wrong decision.”

Glass joins a slew of artists who have withdrawn from planned Kennedy Center appearances, including Bela Fleck, Renee Fleming, and the Washington National Opera. The withdrawals come amid Trump’s push to enforce his leadership over the venue, having hand-picked a new board of trustees who then named him chairman, and renaming the center to the “Trump Kennedy Center.”

His name has already been added to the outside of the building, despite critics’ insistence that such changes require an act of Congress. Trump has notably positioned the venue at the center of his campaign against what he refers to as “woke culture.”

“We are going to make this work,” said Joan Bialek, the chair of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) board, following Glass’ announcement and numerous artists bowing out of performances. “I was born in Washington, grew up with the Kennedy Center, grew up in the NSO, and I can’t let it disappear. We will make it through this.”