National Symphony Orchestra bails on Trump's Kennedy Center after half-century run

The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) just announced its first season away from the Kennedy Center in more than half a century — a scattered, six-venue exile that comes as ticket sales at its former home have cratered.

The orchestra will split 64 concerts across venues including George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium, the Music Center at Strathmore, George Mason University's performing arts center, and D.C.'s Lincoln Theatre, after being forced out by a reconstruction project approved by Trump-allied Kennedy Center board members, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The announcement came a stunning five-and-a-half weeks before the season's September 26 opener — five months later than usual — after the NSO reportedly struggled to get routine budget approval from the center's board.

Music director Gianandrea Noseda tried to put a hopeful spin on the upheaval, saying, "I'd like to think of this year of the National Symphony Orchestra as a regional touring orchestra."

The NSO's audience has been steadily vanishing: ticket sales reportedly plunged from 72 percent of capacity in 2024 to just 41 percent last season, per The Post, but the NSO hasn't confirmed those figures. Former Kennedy Center president Michael Kaiser said the organization's usual processes "don't seem to be functioning with any kind of sensible direction right now."

Nor is the NSO alone. A number of other performers have pulled out of the Kennedy Center in the last year, and the Washington National Opera withdrew in January.

The chaos traces back to the Kennedy Center's 2025 takeover by a board of Trump loyalists, who added Trump's name to the building before a federal judge ordered it removed. The board has since voted to close the complex for two years of renovations and, in an apparent workaround to the judge's order, approved inscribing "Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump" beneath the center's signage anyway.

With ticket sales already sliding and the season's timeline squeezed, arts administrators warn the late announcement could further depress attendance and demoralize musicians.