The National Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Gianandrea Noseda
“The Kennedy Center has canceled most previously announced performances for the rest of 2020, including its signature Kennedy Center Honors … which have been rescheduled for next spring,” writes Peggy McGlone in Tuesday’s (6/23) Washington Post. “On Tuesday, the arts center announced that it had canceled the National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera performances that had already been announced and that it would not present other major productions, including theater, dance and musical events, for the rest of 2020. ‘It’s enormously disappointing,’ Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter said…. ‘We have been talking about what would it take to be able to bring people back, how seating in the theaters could be with social distancing and thinking about the performers onstage. But it became increasingly apparent, for the safety of our artists and audience and our staff, it was going to be impossible to do that in the near term.’ … Next month, the Kennedy Center will release updated schedules for the NSO and WNO, starting in January, and new schedules for theater, dance and ballet…. For the remainder of this year, the center plans to announce a smaller slate of performances and events that conform to social distancing policies.”
