The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, based in Washington D.C., and known more widely as the Kennedy Center, has been described as the crown jewel of performing arts in the US capital, hosting some 2000 performances a year, including theater, dance, classical music, jazz, pop, psychedelic, and folk music. Alongside educational and outreach initiatives, it also puts on free concerts in their 235 seater Millenium Stage which was launched in 1997 under their “Performing Arts for Everyone” innitiative.
Donald Trump asserted control over the Kennedy Center in February by ousting the board chairman and 13 trustees, assuming the chairmanship himself, appointing Richard Grenell as interim leader, and filling vacancies with new appointees like Usha Vance. He declared at the time of the move: “So we took over the Kennedy Center. We didn’t like what they were showing and various other things. We’re going to make sure that it’s good and it’s not going to be woke. There’s no more woke in this country.”1
Last month, The Guardian also reported that Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference that his vision for the centre is “to make art great again”, including “a big, huge celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas”.
At least banjo player and singer Nora Brown and old-time fiddle player Stephanie Coleman were happy to make a stand. They were due to perform on the Millenium Stage yesterday, ahead of which Nora posted on Instagram:
We are outraged by the tyrannical change of leadership at the Kennedy Center. By weaponizing the Kennedy Center’s stages, Trump has systematically sought to silence Queer and BIPOC artists under the flimsy pretence of rooting out “wokeness” — a dog whistle for anything that dares challenge his hateful and dangerous administration.
We have been particularly disturbed by the recent cancellations of two pride month concerts featuring the International Pride Orchestra and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, among others. Intentional erasure of marginalized voices from the creative world is not just destructive to the livelihoods of the artists they affect, but forebode (and have historically preceded) the fascistic suppression of creative expression, the severing of public access to arts and culture, and the erosion of civil society as a whole.
Protest comes in many forms; we want to honor the legacy of the Kennedy Center as a radical space and we hope, in our show, to imbue it with the same spirit of dissent and joy. For this purpose, we have chosen not to cancel the show. We believe that the most effective form of protest for us will be expressing disapproval, loudly, inside the institution where the voices of artists are actively being silenced. We feel inspired to perform this (free) show as a celebration of the stories of resistance inherent in the folk music we sing.
We will play a set of music that draws from the robust culture of resistance that American folk music has always championed. Bring your voices and signs to join us in expressing our collective resistance at the end of the show. The Kennedy Center is our country’s national cultural center. It’s not Trump’s, and we will not let him dictate who can sing there or what they can sing about. If this resonates with you, please join us!
Also taking place yesterday at the Kennedy Center was a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra. A concert that JD Vance decided to attend…within seconds of taking his seat, the audience made their feelings clear about him being present as he was met with boos.
Meanwhile, back on the Millenium Stage:
About 34 minutes into Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman’s performance they stopped, had a quick discussion and announced, “we have to add a little something to the stage”, they then brought two placards to the front of the stage that had been laid flat behind them. One read “Reinstate Queer Programming” and the other “Creativity at the Kennedy Centre must not be suppressed”.
They went on to perform Unicorn by American country/psychedelic outsider musician Peter Grudzien. In her introduction Nora explained that he was one of the first ‘out country artists, as a gay man’. It followed with a protest choice from Stephanie: Jean Ritchie’s Now Is the Cool of the Day, a reminder to take care of the earth and eachother.
Watch the concert in full below:
Nora and Stephanie are touring the UK in November 2025:
