Renée Fleming at the 2023 Kennedy Center Honors with fellow Honorees (at right) Billy Crystal and Queen Latifah. The other Honorees were Barry Gibb and Dionne Warwick. Photo by Mary Kouw/CBS.
In Friday’s (1/23) New York Times, Jason M. Bailey writes, “The soprano Renée Fleming will not be part of two scheduled performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts … Fleming, one of the world’s great opera singers, resigned as an artistic adviser to the Kennedy Center nearly one year ago. Since the center’s board of directors decided last month to add President Trump’s name to the building, several artists have cut ties…. Ms. Fleming and the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday evening. The center’s website said that she had withdrawn from two May concerts with the orchestra ‘due to a scheduling conflict’ and that a new performer would be announced. When she stepped down as an artistic adviser, Ms. Fleming said … ‘I hope the Kennedy Center continues to flourish and serve the passionate and diverse audience in our nation’s capital and across the country.’… In May, she performed at the Kennedy Center during the Washington National Opera’s annual gala. The opera recently announced it was leaving the arts center.” The National Symphony Orchestra’s May 29-30 performances, to be conducted by Jams Gaffigan, feature works by Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, and others.
