‘Wicked’ composer joins growing list of Kennedy Center cancellations

Following the news that the Kennedy Center’s board of directors voted to add President Donald Trump’s name to the venue, a growing group of musicians and artistic groups have canceled upcoming events at the arts institution.

Stephen Schwartz, the composer of “Wicked,” said Friday to various news outlets that he wouldn’t host a gala featuring the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center on May 16. Richard Grenell, the president of the Kennedy Center, denied that Schwartz was booked to host the event in a post on X. But the Washington National Opera confirmed to The Washington Post that Schwartz had said yes to hosting the gala.

“The WNO had an email agreement with him regarding his participation and planning for the event,” said Francesca Zambello, artistic director of the WNO. “We respect his personal decision.”

Other artists have contacted the WNO about potentially canceling performances, according to a person who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.

Schwartz’s announcement comes days after jazz drummer Chuck Redd called off his annual Christmas Eve concert and jazz supergroup the Cookers canceled their two New Year’s Eve concerts at the Kennedy Center.

Grenell responded to those late December cancellations with a social media post. “The artists who are now canceling shows were booked by the previous far left leadership,” he said in the statement. “Their actions prove that the previous team was more concerned about booking far left political activists rather than artists willing to perform for everyone regardless of their political beliefs.”

Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center in February led to a plethora of canceled events, including a staging of the musical “Hamilton,” a show from comedian Issa Rae and a concert by Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning folk musician Rhiannon Giddens. After the addition of Trump’s name to the building’s facade, some artists scheduled for 2026 have also canceled their performances.

Here are some of the upcoming Kennedy Center events that have been canceled:

Kristy Lee: The singer-songwriter said in late December that she’d be canceling her Jan. 14 performance on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. Lee, a folk musician from Alabama, is instead hosting a concert on Facebook Live that evening. “The Center was created to honor art, culture, and shared national purpose,” Kristy said in a statement. “Using it for personal promotion diminishes its meaning and erodes the dignity owed to the legacy of a fallen president.”

Wayne Tucker: The jazz trumpeter and composer told The Post last week that he had “been in touch” with the Kennedy Center about pulling out of his Jan. 22 show at the venue’s Millennium Stage. Based in New York City, Tucker has performed with pop acts such as Taylor Swift, David Crosby and Ne-Yo, and jazz musicians including Kurt Elling and Al Foster. Along with his band the Bad Mothas, Tucker was set to do a show titled “Grief and Gratitude,” which the Kennedy Center website described as “Miles Davis meets Stevie Wonder.”

Brentano Quartet with Hsin-Yun Huang: The musicians confirmed in a statement to The Post that they were not going to move forward with their Feb. 1 show. The Quartet, which had planned to perform three of Mozart’s viola quintets, said that they “very much look forward to the time when the Kennedy Center returns to being a nonpartisan cultural institution that celebrates freedom of expression, diversity of outlook, and the capacity of art to bring people closer to their own fullest humanity, and closer to each other” in the statement. “Until then, we will regretfully forego performing there.”

Magpie: After the folk duo dropped their Feb. 28 show on the Millennium Stage, they called for a boycott of the arts center in a statement shared on Facebook. They noted that their planned performance was to be a combination of covers from protest singer Phil Ochs and original material. With the canceled event, Magpie promised to perform in Washington soon.

Doug Varone and Dancers: The New York City-based dance company wrote in a late December social media post that they have canceled performances scheduled for April 24 and 25. “The Kennedy Center was named in honor of our 35th President who fervently believed that the arts were the beating heart of our nation, as well as an integral part of international diplomacy,” they wrote on Instagram. “We hope in three-year’s time, that the Center and its reputation will return to that glory.”

• Janay Kingsberry and Sophia Solano contributed to this report.