Jason Moran resigns as Kennedy Center jazz artistic director
July 9 (UPI) -- Jason Moran, an acclaimed pianist, composer, educator, bandleader and recording artist, said he has left his position as jazz artistic director at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
The center, which receives federal funds, has undergone dramatic changes since Donald Trump became president again and he installed himself as chairman. He ousted arts center President Deborah Rutter and Board Chairman David Rubenstein, and replaced board members appointed by former President Biden.
A number of artists have been replaced or have voluntarily quit, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, who canceled a run of his Broadway hit, Hamilton, next year.
The Kennedy Center declined to comment to NPR.
Moran, who accepted the position in 2011, one year after his predecessor, Billy Taylor, died, didn't mention any disagreements with Trump or others in a post on Tuesday on Instagram.
Moran, 50, described "14 years of inviting thousands of artists to share their work with audiences." And he was grateful "to an incredible staff that ushered artists from the negotiation to the after party."
In his role, he developed programming and curated artists for one of the largest jazz programs in the United States.
He hosted performances and education programs that included the National Endowment for the Arts' "NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert" and Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead, a residency for emerging artists of which Moran is an alum.
Moran, who scored the films Selma and 13th, tours the world as a performer. In 2010, he was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship.
"Thank you to the composers, comedians, choreographers, performance artists, skateboarders, filmmakers, authors, illustrators, dancers, photographers, sculptors, scientists, crews and on and on," he wrote. "These young ones are beautifying the stage. And with that, I bowed on Juneteenth."
Moran, who was born in Houston, began studying the piano at age 6, according to information posted on the Kennedy Center website. He attended Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and then Manhattan School of Music in New York City.
At the college, he attended a class by saxophonist Sonny Rollins.
"My first day on the job at The Kennedy Center was when Sonny Rollins was receiving his Kennedy Center Honor," Moran wrote,
The center, which includes a 2,465-seat Concert Hall, the 2,347-seat Opera House, the 1,161-seat Eisenhower Theater and the 320-seat Family Theater, made its public debut on Sept. 8, 1971.
Trump attended the opening night of Les Miserables on June 11.
During his first term, Trump didn't attend a performance there, including the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony after several performers honored at the annual gala spoke out against him.
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