Philip Glass cancels Kennedy Center premiere of 'Lincoln' symphony amid massive upheaval

World-renowned composer Philip Glass abruptly canceled June’s satellite premiere of Symphony No. 15 “Lincoln” astatine the Kennedy Center, saying its connection does not align with the imaginativeness for the venue nether the Trump administration.

“Symphony No. 15 is simply a representation of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center contiguous are successful nonstop struggle with the connection of the Symphony. Therefore, I consciousness an work to retreat this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center nether its existent leadership,” Glass wrote Tuesday successful a missive to the committee that was shared with The Times.

The Kennedy Center did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

President Trump has served arsenic committee seat since aboriginal past twelvemonth erstwhile helium fired the existing committee and appointed erstwhile ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, arsenic president. The recently installed committee promptly installed Trump successful his existent position. The president’s pursuit of a profoundly blimpish docket for the arts unleashed unprecedented chaos astatine the nation’s premiere performing arts center, resulting successful monolithic upheaval and question aft question of salient creator cancellations.

The quality that Glass was calling disconnected his quality besides caught disconnected defender the National Symphony Orchestra. The NSO commissioned the symphony successful 2022 for the Kennedy Center’s 50th anniversary, and Glass was precocious to deliver. The symphony was scheduled to beryllium performed with the NSO connected June 12 and 13.

“We person large admiration for Philip Glass and were amazed to larn astir his determination astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic the press,” Jean Davidson, the orchestra’s enforcement director, said successful an email.

The quality comes amid a increasing chorus of high-profile cancellations that person occurred since the center’s committee voted past period to rename the venue the Trump-Kennedy Center, and rapidly added the president’s sanction supra that of Kennedy’s connected the exterior of the building.

Jazz drummer Chuck Redd pulled retired of a Christmas Eve amusement and the jazz radical the Cookers canceled 2 New Year’s Eve performances. Banjo subordinate Béla Fleck besides stepped distant from concerts with the NSO and “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz said helium nary longer plans to big a May 15 gala astatine the center.

The arts satellite was rocked by the quality earlier this period that the Washington National Opera’s committee approved a solution to permission the venue it has occupied since 1971. Kennedy Center leadership, including Grenell, rapidly changeable backmost that it was the committee that asked the WNO to depart.

“We person spent millions of dollars to enactment the Washington Opera’s exclusivity and yet they were inactive millions of dollars successful the spread — and getting worse,” Grenell wrote connected societal media.

Most recently, the center’s website announced that soprano Renée Fleming would nary longer execute successful 2 scheduled shows. “A scheduling conflict” was the crushed cited, but speculation astir the opera star’s departure swirled arsenic the center’s creator losses mounted amid wide reported plummeting summons sales.

During the caller upheaval, arts watchers person begun wondering astir the aboriginal of the NSO, which, on with the precocious departed WNO, represents the duplicate pillars of creator programming astatine the center.

According to Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi, the NSO isn’t pulling retired of the venue.

“The narration is strong, and we person a fantastic play present with Maestro [Gianandrea Noseda] successful his 10th twelvemonth starring the NSO,” Daravi wrote successful an email, noting the “record-breaking occurrence astatine the caller Gala benefiting the NSO which launched the caller season. The lawsuit raised $3.45 million, marking an all-time fundraising grounds for the organization.”

On Monday Trump sought to boost his fiscal absorption of the venue successful a Truth Social station that read, “People don’t recognize that the Trump Kennedy Center suffered monolithic deficits for galore years and, similar everything else, I simply came successful to prevention it, and, if possible, marque it acold amended that ever before!”

The center’s calendar is looking progressively sclerotic arsenic large names proceed to defect, with the NSO providing much-needed padding arsenic it moves connected successful the look of unending change.