- Philip Glass has withdrawn Symphony No. 15 from its planned Kennedy Center premiere.
- Glass said the Kennedy Center’s current values conflict with the symphony’s message about Abraham Lincoln.
- The National Symphony Orchestra, led by Gianandrea Noseda, says it will go on with its season.
- Other artists have canceled Kennedy Center engagements amid wider turmoil at the institution.
Philip Glass withdraws Symphony No. 15
Composer Philip Glass informed the Kennedy Center on Jan. 27 that he did not want his Symphony No. 15 performed on its stage. The work, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln inspired by the 1838 Lyceum Address, had been scheduled for its world premiere by the National Symphony Orchestra this June.
In a letter shared with The New York Times, Glass, 88, wrote that “Symphony No. 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the symphony.” Glass, a 2018 Kennedy Center Honors recipient, had missed an earlier deadline for the commission but the premiere had been planned for the 50th-anniversary season of the Kennedy Center.
Orchestra and leadership vow to continue
The withdrawal is the latest blow to a center facing cancellations and public controversy. The National Symphony Orchestra’s leaders say they will press on.
Joan Bialek, chair of the National Symphony Orchestra board, said last week, “We are going to make this work. I was born in Washington, grew up with the Kennedy Center, grew up in the N.S.O., and I can’t let it disappear. We will make it through this.”
Gianandrea Noseda, the orchestra’s music director, acknowledged the strain on the institution and on his leadership. “I cannot make everybody happy,” he said, but pledged to keep the orchestra performing and to sustain its season amid artist withdrawals.
Broader fallout at the Kennedy Center
The center has recently faced a string of high-profile cancellations and departures. Notable artists, including soprano Renée Fleming, have pulled engagements, and the Washington National Opera moved its shows out of the Kennedy Center. The disputes come amid debate within the arts community and among patrons over changes at the institution.
The National Symphony Orchestra, historically central to the Kennedy Center’s identity, now finds itself increasingly isolated while trying to maintain concerts and audience engagement despite empty seats and public backlash.
What happens next
At present, the orchestra says it will keep to its season plans. The fate of Symphony No. 15 at other venues remains unclear. Glass’s letter makes clear he does not want the Kennedy Center to host the work; whether the composer will withdraw the piece from other planned performances was not specified in the letter shared with reporters.
The coming months will test the orchestra’s resilience and the Kennedy Center’s ability to reconcile artistic priorities with public and donor pressures. For now, the National Symphony Orchestra is signaling that, despite cancellations, it intends to play on.
Image Referance: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/arts/music/kennedy-center-national-symphony-orchestra-gianandrea-noseda.html