WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The Washington National Opera announced Friday that it will move performances away from in another high-profile departure following President Donald Trump’s takeover of the U.S. capital’s leading performing arts venue.
The opera said it will seek to end its affiliation with the Kennedy Center through an 鈥渁micable transition鈥� and will return to operating independently. It cited financial constraints imposed after Trump fired the Kennedy Center’s board and installed allies to oversee it.
The opera will reduce its spring season and move performances to other venues 鈥渢o ensure fiscal prudence and fulfill its obligations for a balanced budget,” the opera said in a statement.
The statement did not mention Trump or the decision by the Kennedy Center’s new board to to the venue. Though the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the and website now refer to it as the Trump Kennedy Center.
Ric Grenell, a Trump aide serving as the Center’s interim executive director, said the venue has spent millions to support the Washington National Opera but it continues to operate at a deficit.
Parting ways will provide 鈥渢he flexibility and funds to bring in operas from around the world and across the U.S.,” Grenell .
Artists ranging from 鈥淗amilton鈥� creator to rock star Peter Wolf have called off events at the Kennedy Center since ousted the previous leadership early last year and arranged for himself to head the board of trustees. The December rebranding as the Trump Kennedy Center led to a new wave of cancellations.
Opera officials said the Center’s new business model requires productions to be fully funded in advance, which it said is 鈥渋ncompatible with opera operations.鈥� Ticket sales cover only a fraction of production costs, and opera companies rely on grants and donations to make up the difference but can’t secure them years in advance, when they’re planning productions.
The business model also doesn’t accommodate the opera’s model practice of using revenue from popular works to subsidize lower-grossing, lesser-known works, the opera said.
鈥淚 have been proud to be affiliated with a national monument to the human spirit, a place that has long served as an inviting home for our ever-growing family of artists and opera lovers,鈥� said Francesca Zambello, the Washington National Opera’s artistic director for the past 14 years.
She vowed to continue offering a variety of shows, 鈥渇rom monumental classics to more contemporary works.鈥�
Late Friday, WNO productions of 鈥淭reemonisha,鈥� 鈥淭he Crucible鈥� and 鈥淲est Side Story鈥� were still listed on the Kennedy Center website.
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