Mohan Sinha
31 Jan 2026, 11:06 GMT+10
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Prize-winning composer Philip Glass has canceled a scheduled world premiere at the Kennedy Center of a symphony about Abraham Lincoln.
Glass' Symphony No. 15, "Lincoln," was to have been led by Grammy-winning conductor Karen Kamensek for performances on June 12 and 13.
In response, Roma Daravi, the center's vice president of public relations, said, "We have no place for politics in the arts, and those calling for boycotts based on politics are making the wrong decision."
Glass, who turns 89 on January 31, was awarded a National Medal of Arts by then-President Barack Obama in 2015. He was honored by the Kennedy Center three years later.
Artists like Renée Fleming and Béla Fleck pulled out of their scheduled shows at the Kennedy Center. Trump, whose chosen board of trustees has said they plan to rename it the Trump Kennedy Center, has made the venue a key part of his fight against what he calls "woke" culture.
Trump has already added his name on the front of the building, even though experts say that changing the name officially needs approval from Congress.
The play "Lincoln" is based on Abraham Lincoln's 1838 "Lyceum Address," in which he warned of mob violence threatening democracy and the rule of law. At the time, Lincoln was just 28 and serving as a state lawmaker in Illinois when he gave the speech to a local debate group in Springfield.
Apart from Fleming and Fleck, the following performers canceled their shows at the center since Trump became the president a second time: Chuck Redd, Vocal Arts DC, Brentano Quartet with Hsin-Yun Huang, Seattle Children's Theatre, The Martha Graham Dance Company, The Washington National Opera, Sonia De Los Santos, Stephen Schwartz, The Cookers, Doug Varone and Dancers, Kristy Lee, Low Cut Connie, Rhiannon Giddens, Balún, Issa Rae, "Hamilton", and the U.S. Marine Band, also known also as "The President's Own", which was founded by an Act of Congress in 1798.
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