Philip Glass withdraws the world premiere of his Lincoln Symphony from the Kennedy Center | Philip Glass

Philip Glass, the famous American composer, has withdrawn the world premiere of his latest symphony at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, in protest against the presidency of Donald Trump.

“After thoughtful consideration, I have decided to withdraw Symphony No. 15 ‘Lincoln’ from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Symphony No. 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values ​​of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the symphony,” the 88-year-old composer said in a statement Tuesday.

“Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw the premiere of this symphony from the Kennedy Center under his current leadership.”

The world premiere of Glass was scheduled to take place at the venue on June 12-13.

The decision by Glass, who received a Kennedy Center Honor Award in 2018, comes amid broader turmoil at the Kennedy Center following a leadership overhaul initiated by Trump after his second presidency began in early 2025. He appointed a new board of trustees at the center and pursued controversial changes to the institution’s name and mission.

In December, the president changed the name of the world-famous venue to the Trump-Kennedy Center. He made the switch amid a slew of cancellations of musical artistes who expressed opposition to the administration’s policies.

Critics claim that the Trump administration’s attack on what it sees as a “woke” — or overly leftist — culture is politicizing the arts and alienating performers. “When the bandits took over the ship, their first instinct was to plunder it for their own benefit and to hire their friends,” Sheldon Whitehouse, the US senator from Rhode Island, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, told The Guardian.

The Guardian has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.

The Trump administration spent much of January confronting public backlash over the shootings of US citizens Renee Nicole Judd and Alex Peretti in Minneapolis by federal agents during the White House’s brutal mass deportation campaign.