The top official overseeing artistic programming at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has stepped down less than two weeks after his hiring was announced, the latest senior official to resign.
Kevin Couch, who was senior vice president of artistic programming, said he left the role on Wednesday. He declined to provide a reason for his resignation.
Mr. Couch, formerly the director of programming for ATG Entertainment, a British theater company, is the latest in a string of resignations and show cancellations since President Trump purged the center’s board and made himself chairman last year. More artists have withdrawn since the board voted to rename the center to include Mr. Trump late last year.
The center announced Mr. Couch’s appointment on Jan. 16. In the news release, Richard Grenell, a Trump loyalist and the center’s president, said, “We are proud to welcome Kevin Couch to the Trump Kennedy Center as we expand our common-sense programming. Kevin brings a cleareyed approach to curating a roster of compelling shows that invite and inspire all audiences.”
Mr. Couch said in the news release that he was honored to join the center at “such a pivotal moment for the performing arts.”
The center did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its website’s list of executive leadership and artistic partners did not include Mr. Couch as of Wednesday evening.
With the resignation, it is the second time in four months that the center will be without its top official who oversees the programming of over 2,000 performances across nine stages every year.
Mr. Couch’s predecessor, Jeffrey Finn, who was also the vice president and executive producer of theater, stepped down in September after nearly a decade programming the center’s touring Broadway shows and locally produced musicals.
This latest resignation comes amid deepening turmoil at the center, several weeks after the Washington National Opera said it would move its performances out of the venue and one day after the renowned composer Philip Glass said he did not want his symphony honoring Abraham Lincoln to be performed by the National Symphony Orchestra at the center this June.
Ashley Ahn covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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