{"id":14539,"date":"2026-01-12T11:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T03:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=14539"},"modified":"2026-01-14T16:16:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T08:16:48","slug":"washington-national-opera-cutting-ties-with-kennedy-center-following-trump-renaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=14539","title":{"rendered":"Washington National Opera cutting ties with Kennedy Center following Trump renaming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Washington National Opera announced Friday (Jan. 9) that it will move performances away from the Kennedy Center in another high-profile departure following President Donald Trump&#8217;s takeover of the U.S. capital&#8217;s leading performing arts venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The opera said it will seek to end its affiliation with the Kennedy Center through an &#8220;amicable transition&#8221; and will return to operating independently. It cited financial constraints imposed after Trump fired the Kennedy Center&#8217;s board and installed allies to oversee it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"696\" src=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\u4f01\u4e1a\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20260114161619-1024x696.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14586\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\u4f01\u4e1a\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20260114161619-1024x696.png 1024w, https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\u4f01\u4e1a\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20260114161619-300x204.png 300w, https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\u4f01\u4e1a\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20260114161619-768x522.png 768w, https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\u4f01\u4e1a\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20260114161619.png 1064w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The opera will reduce its spring season and move performances to other venues &#8220;to ensure fiscal prudence and fulfill its obligations for a balanced budget,&#8221; the opera said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The statement did not mention Trump or the decision by the Kennedy Center&#8217;s new board to add the president&#8217;s name to the venue. Though Congress still formally calls it the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the building&#8217;s exterior and website now refer to it as the Trump Kennedy Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ric Grenell, a Trump aide serving as the Center&#8217;s interim executive director, said the venue has spent millions to support the Washington National Opera but it continues to operate at a deficit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Parting ways will provide &#8220;the flexibility and funds to bring in operas from around the world and across the U.S.,&#8221; Grenell&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/richardgrenell\/status\/2009777598218576256?s=12\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Artists ranging from&nbsp;<em>Hamilton<\/em>&nbsp;creator&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/lin-manuel-miranda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lin-Manuel Miranda<\/a>&nbsp;to rock star&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/peter-wolf\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Peter Wolf<\/a>&nbsp;have&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/rock\/peter-wolf-book-memoir-waiting-on-the-moon-interview-1235919250\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">called off events<\/a>&nbsp;at the Kennedy Center since Trump ousted the previous leadership early last year and arranged for himself to head the board of trustees. The December&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/kennedy-center-change-name-trump-kennedy-center-1236142531\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rebranding<\/a>&nbsp;as the Trump Kennedy Center led to a new wave of cancellations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Opera officials said the Center&#8217;s new business model requires productions to be fully funded in advance, which it said is &#8220;incompatible with opera operations.&#8221; Ticket sales cover only a fraction of production costs, and opera companies rely on grants and donations to make up the difference but can&#8217;t secure them years in advance, when they&#8217;re planning productions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The business model also doesn&#8217;t accommodate the opera&#8217;s model practice of using revenue from popular works to subsidize lower-grossing, lesser-known works, the opera said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I have been proud to be affiliated with a national monument to the human spirit, a place that has long served as an inviting home for our ever-growing family of artists and opera lovers,&#8221; said Francesca Zambello, the Washington National Opera&#8217;s artistic director for the past 14 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She vowed to continue offering a variety of shows, &#8220;from monumental classics to more contemporary works.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Late Friday, WNO productions of&nbsp;<em>Treemonisha<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>The Crucible<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>West Side Story<\/em>&nbsp;were still listed on the Kennedy Center website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Washington National Opera announced Friday (Jan. 9) that it will move performances away from the Kennedy Center in another high-profile departure following President Donald Trump&#8217;s takeover of the U.S. capital&#8217;s leading performing arts venue. The opera said it will seek to end its affiliation with the Kennedy Center through an &#8220;amicable transition&#8221; and will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":14586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2578,1948,3906],"class_list":["post-14539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","tag-center","tag-kennedy","tag-opera"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Washington National Opera cutting ties with Kennedy Center following Trump renaming - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=14539\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Washington National Opera cutting ties with Kennedy Center following Trump renaming - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Washington National Opera announced Friday (Jan. 9) that it will move performances away from the Kennedy Center in another high-profile departure following President Donald Trump&#8217;s takeover of the U.S. capital&#8217;s leading performing arts venue. 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