Renée Fleming Cancels Kennedy Center Performance

Renée Fleming has canceled a planned performance at the Kennedy Center in May.

She’s the latest artist of bow out of a gig at the center, which is now chaired by Donald Trump and controlled by a board dominated by his appointees.

According to a note on the center’s website, “Renée Fleming regrets that, due to a scheduling conflict, she must withdraw from her May 2026 concerts with the NSO. A new soloist and repertoire will be announced at a later date, and the remainder of the program remains unchanged.”

The May 29 and 30 dates are still scheduled to feature James Gaffigan conducting the National Symphony Orchestra, including works by Aaron Copland, Charles Ives and others.

Fleming served as artistic adviser at the center, but resigned in February shortly after Trump took control of the board and ousted chairman David Rubenstein and the president, Deborah Rutter. There have been a new recent wave of cancellations following the board’s decision to add Trump’s name to the venue.

That change is in dispute, with Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), an ex officio member of the board, filing a lawsuit claiming that only Congress can change the center’s name.

A representative for Fleming did not immediately return a request for comment.

Meanwhile, the center next week will host a staged reading performance of October 7, directed by Jeff Gurner and written by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney. McAleer, who also is conservative documentary filmmaker and journalist, and McElhinney traveled to Israel weeks after the attack to interview survivors. The play is drawn from accounts of survivors, eyewitnesses and rescue workers. “The play delivers these unfiltered stories of terror, heroism, survival, and resilience with profound respect and unflinching honesty,” per organizers. The performance was not produced by the Kennedy Center, but arranged in coordination with the center’s rentals office.