National Symphony Faces Uncertain Season as Kennedy Center Plans Closure

The National Symphony Orchestra has been unable to finalize its next season without an approved budget or a secured venue. Since President Trump took over the Kennedy Center at the start of his second term, audiences have diminished, artists have canceled and key staff have departed.

The center’s plan to close for a two-year renovation has forced the orchestra to seek other concert halls for the season beginning this fall. Taken under the center’s wing in the 1980s, the orchestra’s budget is overseen by the Kennedy Center, which covers its annual deficit.

For more than two months the orchestra has been waiting for its budget to be approved by the center’s leadership, led by its board chairman, Mr. Trump, and has been unable to secure venues or lock in guest performers. The size of the budget request was not disclosed; it was $42 million in the fiscal year that ends in September.

United States, Washington, D.C.

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