Iconic composer boycotts Kennedy Center as Trump fuels sharp decline in ticket sales
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Philip Glass at Teatro degli Arcimboldi in Milan, Italy on September 20, 2008 (MITO SettembreMusica/Wikimedia Commons)
On Tuesday morning, January 27, composer/pianist Philip Glass made a major announcement: He is boycotting the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Glass' announcement comes at a time when President Donald Trump is drawing criticism from a long list of musicians for renaming the Kennedy Center after himself.
In an official announcement sent to the Washington Post and posted on X, formerly Twitter, and Facebook, the 89-year-old Glass wrote, "After thoughtful consideration, I have decided to withdraw my Symphony No. 15 'Lincoln’' from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 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. Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership."
Senafor's Dave Weigel, in response to Glass' announcement, tweeted, "Philip Glass boycotting the Kennedy Center."
The venue was founded in 1971 and named the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in memory of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in Dallas eight years earlier. Trump, in 2025, renamed the venue the John F. Kennedy and Donald J. Trump Center for the Performing Arts.
The Washington Post's Michael Andor Brodeur notes, "Its withdrawal comes amid a wave of cancellations by artists and performers, prompted by the addition of President Donald Trump's name to the center (as well as to the building’s facade), or attributed to scheduling conflicts or financial strains. It also lands against a backdrop of reputational crisis at the center, a stretch of politically charged changes (like Trump himself hosting the Kennedy Center Honors) that has been met with a sharp decline in ticket sales and an apparent audience boycott over the politicization of the nonpartisan venue."