Kennedy Center President to Step Down
117Jan. 29, 2025
Deborah F. Rutter, who since 2014 has served as president of theJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Artsin Washington, DC, is set to exit the role at the end of 2025. Home to the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera, the center wasfoundedvia bipartisan legislation in 1958 as the United States’ national cultural center; in 1964, it was recognized as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, following his assassination.During her tenure, Rutter guided the Kennedy Center through the Covid-19 crisis, introduced hip-hop and comedy to the center’s programming, and secured renowned Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda as the National Symphony Orchestra’s music director. Additionally, she grew the organization’s budget from $213 million in 2015 to $268 million in 2024; oversaw the 2019 creation ofthe REACH, its creative incubator and learning center; and successfully shepherded the 2017 Kennedy Center Honors following a historic snubbing by then president Donald Trump, who—displeased that some honorees had criticized him—refused to attend the event, becoming the first president to do so.
Her departure follows the announcement late last year that David M. Rubenstein, who has led the Kennedy Center board since 2010, will stay in the role until September 2026 to ensure stable leadership as the center, like other arts organizations nationwide, reckons with a second Trump presidency. Speaking with theNew York Times, Rutter noted that half the center’s board comprises Trump appointees and pointed out that “Republicans don’t love the arts more or less than Democrats.” Citing her own desire for a change as well as what she sees as a need for new blood in the leadership role, Rutter sounded a hopeful note for the future. “The arts can and should be a unifying aspect of our society,” she told theTimes. “This is our mandate—to what degree can we help people in our country really truly find one another?”