For all of the stigma and turmoil that President Trump has induced on the Kennedy Middle, the individuals who endure essentially the most are those that work there — together with the Nationwide Symphony Orchestra, whose very existence is threatened by the insensitivity and confusion surrounding the president’s tried takeover of the group (which, after all, was overturned final week by a federal district courtroom choose).
Singer-songwriter and pianist Ben Folds, who served because the NSO’s creative advisor for practically a decade, wrote an impassioned letter detailing the orchestra’s plight and the way the general public will help. It seems in full under.
June 2, 2026
Howdy everybody.
As chances are you’ll know, I spent practically a decade on the Kennedy Middle as creative advisor to the Nationwide Symphony Orchestra. I resigned in February 2025, however I stay in touch with my remaining mates. And I would like to attract consideration to one thing that has gone unnoticed because the drama surrounding the Kennedy Middle unfolds.
⁃ Our Nationwide Symphony Orchestra is in nice problem – it might not survive.
⁃ There’s presently no plan or resolution in sight to avoid wasting the group.
⁃ The general public can flip the tide with large help.
There are presently no bulletins relating to the lineup for the following season of NSO. All different orchestras have already introduced theirs, as planning at all times takes place round 18 months earlier than the performances. NSO does not even know if he has housing, given the beforehand introduced closure of the Kennedy Middle for 2 years. This can be a very unhealthy signal. Moreover, Survival Instruments is tied to the Kennedy Middle’s authorized and monetary issues. Instruments just like the ONS endowment fund which is linked to a financial institution notice.
All of us most likely know that there was a latest courtroom ruling to take away the unlawful addition of Trump’s title to the constructing and restore the political independence of the Kennedy Middle. That is good, however now isn’t the time to take a victory lap as a result of it should be a protracted difficult course of to get this all again to a wholesome scenario.
U.S. DISTRICT COURT DECISION: https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2025cv4480-50
The NSO doesn’t have the luxurious of time as a result of it has been stifled by the monetary turmoil ensuing from the president’s rise to energy.
What can we do for now?
That is simply my checklist, however I feel it may make a distinction.
To begin with:
Observe an vital Instagram account to comply with: @nso_musicians
Followers of orchestral music and the humanities: it is time to create an outpouring of public help and love for our nation’s symphony orchestra. Whether or not you have had the chance to see them carry out or not, the existence of a Nationwide Symphony is a present, and we’ve the most effective on the earth. They’re current regardless of outrageous partisan dramas, declining audiences and workers reductions. We will get up for them now just by following them and displaying the world that we help them. Remark publicly. Write to them personally. They’re in hell and so they do not must be alone.
Journalists: Please cowl the ONS in your articles. Trump’s title suppression takes up all of the oxygen. The constructing will most likely survive. The establishment will heal. However in case you disperse the NSO’s 96 proficient musicians and put them out of labor, we are going to lose one thing that isn’t so simply replaceable.
Funders: As this all unfolds, I think the ONS will want a variety of help to get again on its ft. Proper now they’re in purgatory and it is not clear what might assist them, however be in contact with them.
Residents: Let your members of Congress know that we demand ensures towards this occurring once more on the Kennedy Middle or any of our federal arts establishments. We’d like a compelled independence of our arts from politics, in order that there might be belief once more – belief that artists and audiences from all walks of life can trade concepts and artwork in a non-political surroundings. Moreover, we’d like Congress and the Kennedy Middle Board to create tips requiring any future Kennedy Middle director to have actual expertise in arts administration. We now see what occurs when an incompetent director who does not know this job spends time attacking folks and artists who displease him or the President. The general public and the artists go elsewhere. A lot for operating the Kennedy Middle as if it had been every other business venue.
A yr after resigning from the Kennedy Middle, it nonetheless hurts to have to depart. Throughout Trump’s first time period, he stayed out of Kennedy Middle affairs, permitting his board appointees to work cooperatively for the great of the Middle with the remainder of us in a politically free surroundings. Every thing modified after he returned to energy. I’d have liked to remain, however any artist like me who related himself with the newly politicized Kennedy Middle risked getting used as a political pawn, implicitly siding with the POTUS’s insurance policies by affiliation. I would not have completed that for both social gathering. And my function was conservative. How are you going to ask an artist to return and carry out there, exposing your self to the danger of displeasing the president or a director of the Kennedy Middle and discovering your self attacked by the best?
ARTICLE ON HARASSMENT OF ARTISTS: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/kennedy-center-union-investigation-yasmin-williams-heckling-1235438829/ (https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/kennedy-center-union-investigation-yasmin-williams-heckling-1235438829/)
Alternatively, how might I ask artists to return play however watch out what you say, discovering your self attacked by the left for implicitly siding with a politicized Kennedy Middle? It was an unimaginable scenario, and artists and audiences alike have realized that the arduous method over the previous yr. The result’s now so unhealthy {that a} federal choose needed to intervene.
The members of the ONS had been in a distinct place. There was nothing to achieve from their resignation apart from easy unemployment. They remained apolitical. They gave their all on this horrible scenario. The Nationwide Opera has taken a distinct strategy and left the Centre, however this carries its personal perils.
I’ve mentioned for years that the establishment of symphony orchestras was itself a logo of civilization. For us to work collectively for the frequent good, we should see it in motion, and symphony orchestras do that each night time. It is a vital image and when the symphony erodes, it’s the wake-up name for the well being of present civilization. That is what I mentioned from the levels, in entrance of most orchestras within the nation. The general public could also be bored with listening to it. However this menace now exists and our Nationwide Symphony Orchestra wants us.
As a result of the politicization of the Kennedy Middle makes it very tough to draw audiences and artists, our strategies of help are extra restricted. However I say, let’s allow them to know we’re right here and prepared. Let’s get the message out, even amid the murky waters of authorized drama.
In any other case, think about a free Western nation, with out a nationwide symphony orchestra. It is actual.
THANKS,
Ben bends