The called off their yearly jazz concert on Wednesday after the regular host chose to protest President Donald Trump’s recent modifications to the art center’s name.
Jazz drummer and vibraphonist Chuck Redd, who has hosted the concert for nearly two decades, said he made the choice after Trump announced he would add his name to the center honoring the legacy of assassinated President John F. Kennedy. As of last Friday, the building’s front displays The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts—a decision by Trump’s hand-selected board, which he now chairs himself.
“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I decided to cancel our concert,” Redd told The Associated Press in an email on Christmas Eve.
“Join our annual Christmas Eve Jazz Jam for an evening of music that will fill you with holiday joy,” the regular event’s listing on the center’s website read—though by Christmas Eve, the listing had “Cancelled” next to it.
The cancellation follows several other events that have met the same fate since Trump’s self-appointment as chairman earlier this year. Fifteen events have been called off by the performers themselves, including actress Issa Rae and award-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Congress designated the Kennedy Center as a “living memorial” to Kennedy in 1964, following his assassination in November 1963. The name change and Trump’s broader overhaul of the arts center have drawn criticism from lawmakers and experts who argue the name change violates congressional law, which bars the board of trustees from turning the center into a memorial for anyone else.
Democratic Ohio Representative Joyce Beatty sued Trump over the move earlier this week, calling the name change a “flagrant violation” of the law and “a complete disgrace” to the Kennedy Center as an institution.
“Only Congress has the power to rename the Kennedy Center,” Congresswoman Beatty stated in a regarding the lawsuit. “President Trump and his allies must not be allowed to disregard federal law and bypass Congress to satisfy his ego.”
Trump, for his part, has said he was “surprised” and “honored” by the board’s decision to approve the name change—even though he appointed the members earlier this year, and his close advisor Richard Grenell became board president.
Kennedy’s family, including the former president’s grandnephew Joe Kennedy III (a well-known Democrat), have also opposed the move.
“[The Kennedy Center] can no more be renamed than someone could rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says,” he in response to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announcing the name decision.
