The Kennedy Center Boycott and Its Impact on Artists

December 1, 2025

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Contributed by the Orchestra Committees of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera Orchestra

Since the leadership changes at The Kennedy Center that occurred in February, uncertainty has surrounded everyone who calls it home, including but not limited to members of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra/Washington National Opera Orchestra (KCOHO/WNO). Given the complexity of the organization and the high stakes involved, we wanted to clarify some of the misconceptions being shared or amplified in the media and through the grapevine.

First, while we are both affiliated with the Kennedy Center, the NSO and WNO are distinct organizations. They are distinct from the Kennedy Center and from one another. Each has its own board, budget, and fundraising. Ticket sales and donations directed to either affiliate support only that group. The Kennedy Center serves as our administrative and presenting home, providing the hall, box office operations, and institutional infrastructure that make our performances possible.

We independently plan our seasons, programming, and guest artists — often years in advance — and remain focused on our mission: making music at the highest level for our audiences. This remains unchanged since February and for decades before. 

What has changed, however, is attendance at our performances. Ticket sales and subscriptions have dropped sharply. The energy and connection that are the result of full concert halls are missing, and their absence is palpable. While we respect every patron’s right to personal expression, withdrawing from beloved music as an act of protest is a shortsighted response that hurts the very artists who make that art possible. In addition to audiences stepping back, guest artists and traveling shows have been reluctant to perform at the Kennedy Center, limiting access to their voices and perspectives.  

The Kennedy Center is our home. There is no alternative venue in Washington that can host an opera company or accommodate 150-plus symphonic performances a year. To suggest we could simply move ignores logistical, financial, and artistic realities—and the deep roots we have in this community.

Without community support, even world-class institutions cannot thrive. Strong audience engagement and financial stability are what allow us to serve our city with music that inspires and connects. Both the NSO, now in its 95th season, and the WNO, celebrating 70 years, owe their longevity in large part to that bond with Washington audiences.

Across history, art has endured beyond politics and conflict. From wartime Europe to the American civil rights movement, artists have been voices of resilience and unity. Our role as musicians is to keep playing and to remind our community that creativity and culture bind us together when division threatens to pull us apart.

The current boycott doesn’t just endanger an institution; it endangers the living ecosystem of artists, who dedicate their lives to creating beauty, joy, and connection, and of audiences, who seek community and connection through art. Our hope is that once patrons understand the complexity of the situation and the threat the boycott represents—not to Kennedy Center leadership but to the artists and community members themselves—they will return to the center in support of the arts and free expression. After all, the Kennedy Center—as well as the NSO and the WNO/KCOHO—belongs to all of us. 

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