National Symphony director to exit amid Kennedy Center fight

Jean Davidson announced she was exiting her position as the executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) on Friday, citing frustrations with President Trump’s controversial changes that have caused recent turmoil at the Kennedy Center. 

“It’s no secret that this has been a really hard year,” Davidson told The New York Times on Friday. “I started looking for a new opportunity several months ago.”

“I didn’t see how I could be effective as a leader in the current climate,” she added in her comments to the Times. 

Trump has directed a number of pronounced changes to the center since retaking office last year in an effort to leave his mark on the center.

In February 2025, he ended the terms of multiple members of the performing arts center’s board and named himself the chair of a new board composed of his allies.

Last December, he renamed the center to the “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” which is being challenged in court. He then tiled his own name on the outside of the building alongside John F. Kennedy’s — whom the center was named after to honor the late president who was assassinated in 1963. 

Trump also announced last month that he would be closing the center for two years to undergo renovations starting in July.  Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) filed a lawsuit Friday requesting a federal court block Trump’s attempt to close the center in fear he will “demolish” the building while it’s closed.  

His changes to the center have resulted in a number of music, dance and singing performance cancellations at the venue, and ticket sales for groups willing to perform at the center have dropped significantly. 

In late January, renowned composer Philip Glass withdrew his newest symphony, which was supposed to be a portrait of Abraham Lincoln played by the NSO, saying the new values of the Kennedy Center didn’t line up with his musical composition. 

Béla Fleck announced in January that he was withdrawing from an upcoming performance with the NSO at the center, saying it had become too “charged and political.” 

The Washington National Opera left the center in January, leaving the NSO as the only musical group based at the center. At the time, Davidson said the center had been the orchestra’s “home for the past 55 years” and they were “not leaving.” 

Davidson told The New York Times that she supported the orchestra’s decision to remain tethered to the center but that she found it increasingly difficult to remain in her role as executive director where she was in charge of the NSO’s administration, operations, audience development and fundraising. 

She said she had no advance notice of Trump’s decision to close the center for two years and though she told the Times the center needed the repairs, the lack of notice forced the orchestra to scramble to find new places to perform. 

“There’s been a lot of change going on, and there’s not a lot of communication,” she told the Times. “We are finding out things through the press — at the same time as everyone else. Like the center closing on July 4.”

She called on D.C. residents to continue to come to the Kennedy Center to see the orchestra, saying that’s the only way it would last. 

“The orchestra has never sounded as great as it sounds now,” she told the Times. “But we need Washington — donors, audiences — to support the orchestra for it to survive.”

The Kennedy Center and White House did not immediately return requests for comment.

Updated at 4:47 p.m. EST

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

More Administration News

What we know about Noem’s new ‘Shield of the Americas’ role

DHS funding bill passes the House, with eroding Democratic support

Trump says Cuba’s next: Here’s how it could play out

Watch live: Trump hosts roundtable on future of college sports

Ex-Marine forcibly removed from hearing vows to continue Senate campaign

Obama slams Trump at Jesse Jackson funeral without naming him

US Postal Service takes another wrong turn

Fox News poll: Majority says Trump’s handling of Iran has made US less safe

Trump has been right about oil all along

Judge orders Trump administration to close out goods without charging emergency ...

How Kristi Noem finally lost Trump’s trust

Watch video from Noem’s controversial $220M ad campaign

Here are the 4 Democrats who opposed the war powers resolution

Watch live: Jesse Jackson funeral in Chicago

Trump on whether Americans should fear Iran reprisals in US: ‘I guess’

Florida Bar says it ‘erroneously’ stated Halligan is under investigation

Senate Democrats block bill to fund DHS, spurning increased GOP pressure

Paxton offers conditions for potential exit from Texas Senate race 

© The Hill