Ben Folds warns Kennedy Center chaos could threaten National Symphony Orchestra

Ben Folds warned that the National Symphony Orchestra is “in real trouble” and “may not survive” as the Kennedy Center heads toward a two-year shutdown that could leave its largest tenant without a venue, a season plan or clear financial footing.

In an open letter posted June 2, the Grammy-nominated pianist said there was still no public announcement for the orchestra’s next season, even though orchestras typically plan about 18 months ahead. Folds said the NSO did not even know whether it would have a home when the Kennedy Center closes for roughly two years starting July 4, and argued that the orchestra’s survival tools are tangled in the center’s legal and financial problems, including an endowment fund he said is tied to a bank note.

The warning landed with unusual force because Folds had spent nearly a decade as the NSO’s artistic advisor before resigning in February 2025, after Donald Trump took over the Kennedy Center board. The orchestra has played at the Kennedy Center since 1971, and it performs three times a week during the season, about 150 concerts a year. Orchestra management had already been booking as far ahead as the 2028-29 season before the shutdown plan arrived, a schedule that now looks vulnerable to disruption.

The Kennedy Center announced the NSO’s 2025-26 season on March 27, 2025, describing it as the orchestra’s 95th season and noting that music director Gianandrea Noseda had renewed his contract through 2031. That season featured 10 weeks of concerts, five world premiere commissions and works by Philip Glass, Valerie Coleman, Reena Esmail, Carlos Simon and Peter Boyer. With only a handful of June dates set and nothing beyond, the orchestra now faces the prospect of a booking gap that could affect artists, staff, donors and ticket buyers far beyond Washington.

The broader upheaval has already shaken the institution’s leadership, after the January-February 2026 board takeover and the firing of longtime president Deborah Rutter. The League of American Orchestras said closures like this are normally planned many years in advance, not forced onto a flagship ensemble with an established season cycle and long lead-time commissions. A federal district court ruling later removed Trump’s name from the building and sought to restore political independence to the Kennedy Center, but Folds said supporters should not treat that as a victory lap. For the NSO, the real test is operational survival: a stable home, a workable calendar and financing that can withstand the center’s continuing chaos.