An American treasure is quietly bleeding out on stage.
Ben Folds has issued a stark warning: the National Symphony Orchestra “may not survive” the political chaos engulfing the Kennedy Center.
In an emotional open letter, the former artistic adviser detailed how Donald Trump’s takeover has left the NSO without a scheduled season, a guaranteed home, or even access to its own endowment fund.
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Folds resigned his post in early 2025, refusing to be “used as a political pawn,” but admits the decision “still hurts.”
While a judge recently blocked Trump’s planned renovations and ordered his name removed from the building, Folds cautions against any “victory lap,” predicting a long, messy legal fight ahead.
He describes an orchestra suffocated by plummeting ticket sales and fundraising, its survival “entangled” with the Kennedy Center’s financial turmoil.
Folds urges the public to demand congressional safeguards and insists future directors must have actual arts experience.
“Otherwise,” he writes, “imagine a free western country, with no National Symphony Orchestra. It’s real.”
