NEW YORK — Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Sonia De Los Santos the last performer to cancel a performance on Kennedy Center in Washington. On February 7, she was supposed to give two concerts for young people, after which a “creative conversation” was supposed to take place with the audience.
De Los Santos, a Mexican-American whose release “¡Alegria!” in 2018! received a Latin Grammy nomination for best children's album and cited her past as the reason for canceling concerts.
“As an artist, I value the freedom to create and share my music, and over the years I have used that privilege to tell the stories of immigrants in this country,” she wrote on Instagram Thursday. “Unfortunately, I do not feel that the current atmosphere at this beloved venue is a welcoming space for me, my band or our audience.”
In an email to The Associated Press, De Los Santos shared her statement on Instagram and said she would not be commenting further. Kennedy Center spokesman Roma Daravi disputed De Los Santos' comments on immigration policy.
“This country was built on legal immigrants, and as a first-generation American, I find her statement extremely offensive,” Daravi wrote in an email. “Refusal to cooperate with an institution that is open to all is, in fact, a step towards discrimination.”
Artists ranging from the creator of “Hamilton” Lin-Manuel Miranda rock star Peter Wolf has since had events canceled at the Kennedy Center President Donald Trump removed previous management early last year and appointed himself head of the board of trustees. Trump has singled out the Kennedy Center in his wide-ranging fight against what he calls “woke” bias in cultural institutions.
The board's decision in December to rename the site the Trump-Kennedy Center, a change that scholars say can only be passed through Congress, led to a new wave of cancellations. Jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled a planned Christmas show, and jazz group The Cookers canceled their New Year's concerts.
Last week, Grammy-winning banjo player Bela Fleck announced that he had canceled three scheduled performances with the National Symphony Orchestra next month, writing on social media that performances at the center had become “tense and political.” Ric Grenell, a diplomat and Trump ally whom the president appointed to lead the center, wrote on X that Fleck “made it political and gave in to the woke crowd.”
Other recent cancellations include “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz, who was expected to host an opera gala in the spring, and variety show Asian AF, whose performances in May were listed as canceled on the Kennedy Center's website and then removed entirely. Daravi cited a “scheduling conflict.” A spokesman for the Asian Armed Forces did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
