February 1, 2026
In previous years, the Kennedy Center regularly hosted Black History Month concerts, tributes, and performances honoring African-American history and culture.
While museums and cultural institutions nationwide roll out programming to mark Black History Month, the Kennedy Center’s public calendar currently lists no events dedicated to the annual observance, following a wave of cancellations and artist departures tied to changes in leadership under the Trump administration.
In previous years, the Kennedy Center regularly hosted Black History Month concerts, tributes, and performances honoring African-American history and culture. That tradition now seems to have come to an end. Choirs and organizations that long anchored those events moved their programming elsewhere after President Donald Trump reshaped the center’s board of trustees in 2025. No comparable programming has been added to replace what left, The Washington Post reports.
Past BHM events and performances can still be found on The Kennedy Center website.
The shift follows a turbulent year for the nation’s premier performing arts venue. After newly installed trustees elected Trump as chairman and named his ally Richard Grenell as president, a number of artists withdrew from scheduled performances and ticket sales reportedly declined. In December, the board voted to rename the institution “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” prompting additional cancellations.
The upheaval has had ripple effects across the center’s programming and staff, breaking with long-standing traditions. In past years, Black History Month events were clearly labeled on the center’s website. This year, no such designation appears. The Kennedy Center did not respond to The Washington Post to requests for comment.
One of the most notable departures is “Living the Dream … Singing the Dream,” a Black History Month concert that has been presented for decades at the Kennedy Center by Washington Performing Arts and the Choral Arts Society of Washington. Its 38th edition will take place instead at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland.
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