Kennedy Center Mandates National Anthem for All National Symphony Performances in 2025-2026 Season

The Kennedy Center announced Thursday that every performance of the National Symphony Orchestra during the 2025-2026 season will open with the National Anthem, a patriotic addition coinciding with preparations for America's 250th anniversary in 2026.

The National Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1931 and performing approximately 150 concerts annually, will incorporate the anthem to honor the nation's founding, Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell stated. "The National Symphony should be playing the National Anthem," Grenell said.

The change forms part of broader reforms at the Kennedy Center since President Donald Trump's second inauguration. Trump assumed the chair position of the board and appointed Grenell as president, pledging to end "wokeness" at the venue. In February 2025, Trump declared: "At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., GREAT AGAIN. Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth—THIS WILL STOP."

Under Grenell's leadership, the center addressed a $40 million operating deficit for fiscal year 2024, including a $26 million bottom-line shortfall from fictitious funds in the prior budget. Chief Financial Officer Donna Arduin reported: "The former leadership built a broken budget with an operating deficit of 100 million dollars and a bottom-line deficit of 26 million dollars. The former leadership led Board members to believe there was a balanced budget when there was $26 Million in false funds. Fiscal Year 25 budget was previously passed with $26M of fictitious funds. We have now truly balanced the budget."

To achieve solvency, Grenell hired new department leaders at lower salaries than predecessors, including his own, and implemented performance goals for accountability to patrons and philanthropists. The reforms prompted protests, including interpretive dance demonstrations by opponents in March 2025.

The anthem mandate aligns with Trump's vision for the Kennedy Center as a venue celebrating American heritage ahead of the semiquincentennial, with events planned for July 4, 2026, marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence.