One of the most iconic living composers of Broadway musicals is now no longer hosting a gala to support the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts — and he’s pinning the blame squarely on President Donald Trump.
The New York Times reported Friday that Stephen Schwartz, who is the composer for the Broadway musical and hit film Wicked, has now backed out of hosting the gala in response to Trump adding his name to the vaunted institution. Schwartz said he has long been a supporter of and collaborator with the Kennedy Center as it “was founded to be an apolitical home for free artistic expression for artists of all nationalities and ideologies.”
“It is no longer apolitical and appearing there has now become an ideological statement,” Schwartz told the Times. “As long as that remains the case, I will not appear there.”
“There’s no way I would set foot in it now,” he added in a separate statement to Newsday.
Schwartz — who has won three Oscars for his composing work on the Disney films Pocahontas (1996) and The Prince of Egypt (1999) and who is also known for composing music for the Broadway musicals Godspell and Pippin — said Washington National Opera artistic director Francesca Zambello asked him in late 2024 to host a gala for the opera at the Kennedy Center on May 16 of this year. While Schwartz agreed at the time, he told the Times it had been more than a year since he had spoken with anyone at the Kennedy Center. In February of last year, Trump appointed himself chairman of the Kennedy Center and replaced its board with political loyalists.
In a statement to the Times, Kennedy Center vice president for public relations Roma Daravi said: “Stephen Schwartz was never discussed nor confirmed and never had a contract by current Trump Kennedy Center leadership.” Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell (who was acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term) wrote on his X account: “The Stephen Schwartz reports are totally bogus.”
“He was never signed and I’ve never had a single conversation on him since arriving,” Grenell added. “He himself said last February he hadn’t heard anything on it.”
Schwartz is the latest high-profile artist to distance himself from the Kennedy Center in the wake of Trump’s takeover. Jazz group The Cookers recently pulled out of a New Years’ Eve concert, and guitarist Chuck Redd cancelled a Christmas Eve performance. In addition to Redd and The Cookers, dance company Doug Varone and Dancers canceled two performances in April that would have generated $40,000 in income for the group.
Click here to read the Times‘ report in its entirety (subscription required).
The post ‘There’s no way’: Legendary composer backs out of hosting Kennedy Center gala due to Trump appeared first on Raw Story.
