{"id":105470,"date":"2025-10-02T05:00:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/kennedy-center-board-member-says-families-are-welcome-again-as-gala-breaks-fundraising-records-105470"},"modified":"2025-10-02T05:00:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:00:31","slug":"kennedy-center-board-member-says-families-are-welcome-again-as-gala-breaks-fundraising-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/kennedy-center-board-member-says-families-are-welcome-again-as-gala-breaks-fundraising-records-105470","title":{"rendered":"Kennedy Center board member says families are ‘welcome’ again as gala breaks fundraising records"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 <\/strong>The <\/strong>Kennedy Center<\/a> celebrated The National Symphony Orchestra’s (NSO) 95th anniversary season with a gala on Saturday, and one official praised the center for creating an environment where families are “welcome” again.<\/p>\n

Featured works at Saturday’s concert included Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnol” and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 1.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joan Bialek, chair of the NSO board of directors, said she was particularly excited to hear the iconic piano piece.<\/p>\n

“My favorite composer is Tchaikovsky and that\u2019s what Yuja Wang is playing tonight, so I\u2019m very excited about that,” Bialek told Fox News Digital<\/a> on the red carpet before the show.<\/p>\n

KENNEDY CENTER PRESIDENT CRITICIZES JIMMY KIMMEL’S ONE-SIDED LATE-NIGHT PROGRAMMING APPROACH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Wang\u2019s performance did not disappoint, earning her multiple standing ovations and an encore.<\/p>\n

The NSO’s leadership also includes executive director Jean Davidson, music director Gianandrea Noseda and principal conductor and artistic advisor Steven Reineke.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It was a highlight of my year to open the 95th season of the National Symphony Orchestra last night, which also marked the beginning of my ninth season as Music Director,” <\/strong>Noseda said in a press release following the performance.\u00a0“Seeing the full hall with our dedicated audience and donors gave the artists of the National Symphony Orchestra and me confidence in our future. We are thankful to both our audience and donors for the historic level of support and look forward to welcoming everyone to the Concert Hall at the\u00a0Kennedy Center this season.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

While plenty of longtime supporters filled the seats, Kennedy Center and NSO officials who walked the red carpet said it’s important to make a concerted effort to bring more young people to the symphony.<\/p>\n

“Well, I think the public is going to make that decision and I think that in order to attract some of the younger people, younger generation, we\u2019re probably going to have to have a little more of that,” Bialek told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

KENNEDY CENTER’S PRO-FAITH SHIFT REFLECTS A \u2018NEW DAY IN AMERICA,\u2019 CONSERVATIVE LEADERS SAY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Davidson said they had a few ideas about how to attract more youth.<\/p>\n

“So we have a classical season, and then we have a pop season,” she told Fox News Digital. “And the pop season runs the gamut from films in concert \u2013 like we just did ‘The Princess Bride\u2019 last week \u2013 which was a lot of fun. To artists of every field, so rock, pop, gospel, country. You name it, we\u2019ve probably done it.”<\/p>\n

The symphony, she said, has something for everyone.<\/p>\n

“People come for the artists that they love, so that is a way of introducing people to an orchestra that maybe wouldn\u2019t think that they were orchestra lovers,” Davidson said. “The idea is that anybody can come to hear an orchestra play. You don\u2019t have to be an expert. It\u2019s like going to a contemporary art museum. You don\u2019t know what to think about the art. It doesn\u2019t matter. Just come, let it speak to your soul. There might be pieces that you hate, there might be pieces that you love. You might be in tears. It\u2019s the whole human experience you can have with this music<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

‘HAMILTON’ STAR PUT ON NOTICE BY TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER PRESIDENT AFTER ANTI-GOP ‘PUBLICITY STUNT’<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Mary Helen Bowers, a member of the board of trustees who joined in 2020 under President Donald Trump<\/a>, said the new leadership, including Kennedy Center President Ambassador Richard Grenell, is focusing on “making the arts great again.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re here now. The focus is on pleasing the audience,” Bowers told Fox News Digital. “And that\u2019s what the arts is really about. It\u2019s about creating beauty and creating a great experience, but with Grenell\u2019s leadership, he\u2019s very focused on the bottom line and the financial health of the center, which is tremendously important, especially in this time.”<\/p>\n

Asked about the artists who have pulled out of performances<\/a> since the so-called “Trump takeover,” Bowers was blunt.<\/p>\n

“I think it\u2019s disgraceful,” she said. “I think it\u2019s a major mistake when you politicize the arts and I think a lot of the former leadership of the Kennedy Center was doing exactly that, and we\u2019re thrilled to have President Trump, who\u2019s a great leader and supporter of the arts, come in and focus on putting on performances that people want to be at, inviting families back into the Kennedy Center because I think a lot of families felt very unwelcome previously, largely because of some of the programming that was going on, which were intentional choices. So I\u2019m thrilled to see the celebration of arts and kind of we\u2019re inviting everyone back to this great center.”<\/p>\n

The Kennedy Center gala raised $3.45 million <\/strong>in funds for the NSO\u2019s performances, education and community engagement initiatives, nearly triple what the NSO has raised in previous years. About half of those in attendance were first-time Gala guests.<\/p>\n

“President Trump\u2019s vision to make the Kennedy Center available to more people is clearly working. Half the attendees were first-time guests, and their enthusiasm shattered fundraising expectations, nearly triple what had ever been done before,” Grenell said in a press release. “The energy in the room was inspiring; it\u00a0reflects the incredible future of the NSO and how deeply the arts matter to our nation.”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/kennedy-center-board-member-says-families-welcome-again-gala-breaks-fundraising-records <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 The Kennedy Center celebrated The National Symphony Orchestra’s (NSO) 95th anniversary season with a gala on Saturday, and one official praised the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-105470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKennedy Center board member says families are 'welcome' again as gala breaks fundraising records - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/kennedy-center-board-member-says-families-are-welcome-again-as-gala-breaks-fundraising-records-105470\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kennedy Center board member says families are 'welcome' again as gala breaks fundraising records - 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