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The Washington National Opera (WNO) announced on Friday it is moving its performances out of the John F Kennedy Center, in what could be one of the most significant departures from the institution since Trump took control of it.
“Today, the Washington National Opera announced its decision to seek an amicable early termination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity,” the opera said in a statement to the New York Times. A separate website appears to be set up for the opera.
The Kennedy Center has been home to the WNO since it first opened in 1971.
Opera leadership indicated that alternative venues within Washington DC have been identified, though no leases have yet been finalized, the opera said in its statement.
Several artists have cancelled their Kennedy Center performances in response to Trump’s takeover of the institution. In March, Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller said in a social media post that “our show simply cannot, in conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center”. Actor and producer Issa Rae, Grammy-winning musician Rhiannon Giddens, Peter Wolf and rock band Low Cut Connie all called off Kennedy Center performances, too.
Others have reacted to Trump putting himself in charge of the institution as well. Television producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes resigned from the center’s board of trustees in February as soprano and actor Renée Fleming and singer and songwriter Ben Folds stepped down as artistic advisers.
Francesca Zambello, WNO’s artistic director, had said in November that the move was a possibility as a result of the “takeover” of the center by Donald Trump. Trump declared himself the chair of the institution in February and quickly thereafter fired and replaced its board and leadership.
Zambello also cited the collapse in box office revenue and “shattered” donor confidence.
Ticket sales were about 40% unsold compared with before Trump declared himself chair, said Zambello. Many people have decided to boycott the center. Every day, she receives messages of protest from formerly loyal members of the audience, she says.
“They say things like: ‘I’m never setting foot in there until the “orange menace” is gone.’ Or: ‘Don’t you know history? Don’t you know what Hitler did? I refuse to give you a penny,’” she said.
“People send me back their the season brochure shredded in an envelope and say: ‘Never, never, will I return while he’s in power.’”
