Philip Glass has withdrawn his symphony based mostly on Abraham Lincoln from the Kennedy Center, with the award-winning composer writing to the board of the arts establishment that its values battle with the work.
“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,” Glass wrote in the letter, which was shared with NCS. “Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership.”
The world premiere of Symphony No. 15 was scheduled at the Kennedy Center for June 12 and 13. The symphony was co-commissioned by the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra, which was set to carry out the piece, in accordance with the occasion web page on the middle’s web site.
NCS has reached out to the Kennedy Center for remark.
Glass’s withdrawal follows a string of cancellations at the Kennedy Center after the board moved to alter the arts establishment’s identify to acknowledge President Donald Trump. The facility has been renamed to “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
Some artists who’ve pulled out of their performances at the middle have straight pointed to the identify change as the cause behind the cancellation.
Kristy Lee, a folks singer-songwriter, who final month canceled her January 14 present, stated in a social media post, “When American history starts getting treated like something you can ban, erase, rename, or rebrand for somebody else’s ego, I can’t stand on that stage and sleep right at night.”
Since returning to the White House, Trump has dramatically reshaped the performing arts middle, gutting the board of trustees and ousting its chairman. Soon after, the president was elected chair of the middle.
Glass was amongst the Kennedy Center honorees acknowledged in 2018. Trump — then serving his first time period — skipped the occasion.
But the president was middle stage at the 2025 awards show, serving as its host as musicians George Strait, Gloria Gaynor and the band KISS had been honored, together with actors Sylvester Stallone and Michael Crawford. He beforehand boasted that he personally rejected some honorees who he felt had been too “woke.”