A planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, a Washington Center for the Performing Arts holiday tradition dating back more than 20 years, has been cancelled.
The show's host, musician Chuck Redd, told The Associated Press that he canceled the appearance after the White House announced last week that President Trump the name will be added to the object — drawing opposition from Democratic lawmakers and some scientists who say the change violates the law. According to the White House, the president's select council approved the decision to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center. The revised name later appeared on the building's façade.
“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then a few hours later on the building, I decided to cancel our concert,” Redd told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday. Redd, a drummer and vibraphonist who has toured with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, has helmed the Kennedy Center's Jazz Jams celebration since 2006, succeeding bassist William “Keter” Betts.
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Center website reports that the show has been cancelled.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed legislation naming the center a living monument to him. The law expressly prohibits the board of trustees adds any additional monuments to the site.
The decision to rename the center drew sharp criticism from congressional Democrats and some members of the Kennedy family. Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio filed a lawsuit over renaming Monday, calling it a “flagrant violation of the rule of law” and noting that the name cannot be changed without an act of Congress.
The center's president, Richard Grenell, a Trump appointee, has argued that the center's status as a Kennedy memorial has not changed.
Mr. Trump, a Republican, was closely associated with the center named after the iconic Democrat, although he largely ignored it during his first term. He ousted its leadership, rebuilt the council, agreeing that he would lead it personally hosted this year's Kennedy Center Honorsbreaking with a long tradition in which presidents largely acted as spectators.
Many artists have canceled performances at the Kennedy Center since Mr. Trump returned to office, including Issa Rae and Peter Wolf. Lin-Manuel Miranda has canceled his planned production of Hamilton.
