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Composer withdraws Lincoln premiere
Composer Philip Glass announced he is withdrawing the world premiere of his Symphony No. 15, Lincoln, from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
“the center's current leadership is in direct conflict with the work's message.”
He said the institution's current leadership and values are in direct conflict with the work's message.
The two performances had been scheduled for June 12-13 and were to be led by conductor Karen Kamensek.
Glass said he felt an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership.
The piece is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln that draws on Lincoln's 1838 Lyceum Address.
It was co-commissioned by the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra and had been advertised as part of the Center's summer programming.
Kennedy Center backlash
Glass’s withdrawal comes amid a broader wave of artist and institutional pullbacks.
The pullbacks followed when President Donald Trump’s allies overhauled the Kennedy Center’s board, added Trump’s name to the building, and installed new leadership.
Reporting lists other high-profile departures and cancellations, including Renée Fleming, Stephen Schwartz, Béla Fleck, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, and the Washington National Opera.
Several pieces describe the changes as prompting an artist backlash that frames the Center as politicized.
Kennedy Center and NSO responses
The Kennedy Center's public relations response and the National Symphony Orchestra's reaction highlighted competing frames.
“Roma Daravi responded that 'we have no place for politics in the arts,' and criticized boycott calls as the wrong decision.”
Roma Daravi, the Center's vice president of public relations, told media that 'we have no place for politics in the arts' and criticized boycott calls as the wrong decision.
National Symphony Orchestra officials said they were surprised to learn of Glass's withdrawal at the same time as the press and expressed admiration for the composer.
Some reports note the NSO intends to remain committed to performing at the Center even as program plans are revised.
Practical and symbolic fallout
Beyond the immediate politics, outlets also address practical and symbolic fallout: program disruption, ticket-holder and donor consequences, and reputational risk for the Center.
Some analyses point to the logistical burdens of replacing a new symphony commission and rearranging rehearsals and marketing.
Others stress the symbolic clash of a Lincoln portrait being premiered at an institution whose leadership critics view it as undermining democratic norms.
Reports note Glass's stature as an 88- or 89-year-old Kennedy Center honoree and National Medal of Arts recipient with a large body of work, so his withdrawal carries both artistic and symbolic weight.