New Year’s Eve Concerts at Kennedy Center Are Canceled

 

New Year’s Eve Concerts at Kennedy Center Are Canceled

 

The jazz drummer Billy Hart said the decision was “evidently” connected to President Trump’s name being added to the arts center.

 

Adam Nagourney Neil Vigdor

By Adam Nagourney and Neil Vigdor

Dec. 29, 2025

Updated 7:52 p.m. ET

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/arts/kennedy-center-new-years-eve-concerts-canceled.html

 

A veteran jazz ensemble and a New York dance company have canceled events at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, intensifying the fallout at one of the nation’s pre-eminent arts centers after it was renamed to include President Trump.

 

The center had previously promoted two New Year’s Eve performances by the Cookers as an “all-star jazz septet that will ignite the Terrace Theater stage with fire and soul.” But those performances, like an annual Christmas Eve jazz concert hosted by Chuck Redd, are now canceled.

 

The Cookers did not give a reason for the decision in a statement on Monday that said, “Jazz was born from struggle and from a relentless insistence on freedom: freedom of thought, of expression, and of the full human voice.”

 

But the band’s drummer, Billy Hart, told The New York Times that the center’s name change had “evidently” played a role. He acknowledged that the group was concerned about possible reprisals.

 

Doug Varone and Dancers, a New York dance company, also said on Monday that it was canceling two performances in April that had been intended to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Mr. Varone, the head of the company, said it would lose $40,000 by pulling out.

 

“It is financially devastating but morally exhilarating,” he said in an email.

 

The Kennedy Center did not respond to requests for comment on Monday about the newly canceled performances.

 

It has responded aggressively to some previous cancellations. Richard Grenell, the center’s chairman, threatened a $1 million lawsuit against Mr. Redd after he canceled the Christmas Eve concert.

 

In a letter, Mr. Grenell said, “Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance.”

 

An earlier set of withdrawals and resignations, including the Pulitzer winner Rhiannon Giddens, the soprano Renée Fleming and the singer-songwriter Ben Folds, took place in February after the president pushed out members of the board of directors and replaced them with his supporters.

 

The artists who have protested in recent weeks include Kristy Lee, a folk singer from Alabama, who announced she was pulling out from a free concert on Jan. 14. “I won’t lie to you, canceling shows hurts,” she said in a social media post. “This is how I keep the lights on. But losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck.”

 

In the statement posted by the Cookers on Monday, the band alluded to disagreements in Washington.

 

“Our hope is that this moment will leave space for reflection, not resentment,” the statement said. “To everyone who is disappointed or upset, we understand and share your sadness. We remain committed to playing music that reaches across divisions rather than deepening them.”

 

Doug Varone and Dancers were scheduled to appear at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater on April 24 and April 25. Mr. Varone said the group had agreed to appear to honor two of the center’s top dance administrators — Jane Raleigh and Alicia Adams — both of whom have since departed.

 

“We can no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution,” he said.

 

Kitty Bennett and Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.

 

Adam Nagourney is a Times reporter covering cultural, government and political stories in New York and California.

 

Neil Vigdor covers breaking news for The Times, with a focus on politics.