The Kennedy Center 50th Anniversary Season
For the past 50 years, we’ve carried President Kennedy’s call to action forward as the nation’s cultural center. In change and challenge, there has never been a greater need for the arts. As we look to the next 50, we’re asking: what can WE do… together?
President Kennedy challenged us to ask not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country. For the past 50 years, we’ve carried his challenge forward as the nation’s cultural center, fostering creativity on our stages and in communities around the country. As we look to the next 50, we’re asking: what can we do together?
In creation, where can we find healing? In dedication, where can we find devotion? In inspiration, where can we find joy? In participation, where can we find belonging?
In change and challenge, there has never been a greater need for the arts—nor a greater role for the arts to play. The performing arts have an unparalleled power to take on the toughest issues, show us what’s possible, and connect us to new ideas, old truths, and one another. The Kennedy Center is a hub for wonder, creativity, transformation, and possibility. Together, we move and are moved. We build culture and community. We, the people, dare to dream and set the artist free. Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what WE can do...together.
January-February Highlights
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
From their first appearance in 1971 at the Center’s opening of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS featuring new choreography by Alvin Ailey, the Ailey company has been one of our treasured artistic partners. Appearing at the Kennedy Center annually, AAADT is dedicated to commissioning new work to provide a global platform for diverse voices and a range of dance makers. For their engagement February 1–6, the repertory programs feature works by 1988 Kennedy Center Honoree Alvin Ailey, current Artistic Director Robert Battle, and a premiere by Resident Choreographer Jamar Roberts.
We the Peoples Before
February 4–6, We The Peoples Before brings demonstrations, discussions, and performances featuring some of today’s greatest Native musicians, vocalists, storytellers, poets, filmmakers, and culture bearers, from Tribal Nations, Alaska Native Villages, and Native Hawaiian communities across the U.S. They are keepers of our collective identity, ensuring the preservation of Indigenous lifeways. Supporting culture bearers and inspiring current and future generations is First Peoples Fund’s priority because, in practicing these forms of expression, we continue to reclaim our rich histories and restore our vitality.
50 Years of Broadway at the Kennedy Center
Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the greatest moments of Broadway history from the stages of the Kennedy Center. Hosted by Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart, this star-studded concert features Stephanie J. Block, Sierra Boggess, Christopher Jackson, Beth Leavel, Andrew Rannells, Vanessa Williams, Alfie Boe, Gavin Creel, Lachanze, Norm Lewis, Frances Ruffelle, and Tony Yazbeck paying homage to the legacy of Broadway musicals at the Kennedy Center—plus a special tribute to the late Stephen Sondheim.
The Roots Residency: Road to Roots Picnic
Hosted by world renowned composer, musician, songwriter, and actor Durand Bernarr and Executive Produced by Tina Farris, Road to Roots Picnic presents influential Black voices and creatives across genres. Join us February 25 in the Concert Hall as the Road to Roots Picnic comes from its digital home platform on Black Stream Live to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall for an inspired evening of live music and performance by some of today’s most exciting voices curated by The Roots.
This program is presented as part of #KenCenHipHop’s For the Culture Artist Residency program and The Bridge Concert Series.
John F. Kennedy Statue on the REACH Campus
In a further expression of admiration for its namesake, the Kennedy Center unveiled a new artwork featuring the likeness of President John F. Kennedy on December 4, 2021. This life-size sculpture designed by StudioEIS, a Brooklyn-based 3D design and fabrication studio known for creating strikingly realistic bronze works, is located within the lower gardens of the REACH and complements the campus’s sculptural pieces by Joel Shapiro, Deborah Butterfield, and Roy Lichtenstein located nearby.
We Are All Connected
As part of the Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary season celebration, Education Artist-in-Residence Mo Willems worked with local community members to create a giant mural on the bluestone floor of the REACH Plaza! This exciting public art piece is inspired by Mo’s abstract works of dots and lines. A huge graphic representation of how we’re all connected in unexpected ways, the playscape will remain installed through March, 2022 for playing and viewing.
Watch Highlights From Our 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert
Echoing “An American Pageant for the Arts,” the 1962 event conducted by Leonard Bernstein, this special evening was hosted by six-time Tony Award® winner Audra McDonald with special guests Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and Ms. Rose Schlossberg and featured the National Symphony Orchestra performing with a star-studded array of artists.
These video highlights include performances by Abigail Barlow, Emily Bear, Darren Criss, Rachael Price, Punch Brothers, Ray Chen, and the NSO.
Watch Highlights From Our 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert
Echoing “An American Pageant for the Arts,” the 1962 event conducted by Leonard Bernstein, this special evening was hosted by six-time Tony Award® winner Audra McDonald with special guests Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and Ms. Rose Schlossberg and featured the National Symphony Orchestra performing with a star-studded array of artists.
These video highlights include performances by Abigail Barlow, Emily Bear, Darren Criss, Rachael Price, Punch Brothers, Ray Chen, and the NSO.
If These Halls Could Talk: Celebrating the Kennedy Center at 50
This year-long free exhibit celebrates the Center’s history through the people who have brought it to life. Engaging video, powerful visuals, and novel archival content tell the story of the Kennedy Center’s history in the voices and memories of the leaders, staff, artists, donors, audiences, and larger community that make it a “living” memorial. Curated by International Programming, this exhibit publicly launches the Kennedy Center Archives as a resource for preserving and providing access to the Kennedy Center’s legacy—in person and online.
Commemorate the Celebration
Celebrate our 50th anniversary with a memento from this capsule collection of NEW limited-edition classic Kennedy Center-branded merchandise. Watch for more exclusive products and collaborations with long-time Kennedy Center vendors and artisans throughout the coming season.
Commemorate the Celebration
Celebrate our 50th anniversary with a memento from this capsule collection of NEW limited-edition classic Kennedy Center-branded merchandise. Watch for more exclusive products and collaborations with long-time Kennedy Center vendors and artisans throughout the coming season.
Sponsors
Thank you to the following Sponsors
Boeing
The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives
The Roger and Victoria Sant Trust
Fred Eychaner Fund
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Ford Foundation
David C. Frederick and Sophia Lynn
The Orlebeke Foundation
Microsoft Corporation
The Buffy and William Cafritz Foundation
The Honorable Stuart Bernstein and Wilma E. Bernstein
The Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation
The National Committee for the Performing Arts
Discover India Initiatives
The Travelers Company, Inc
David M. Rubenstein
Cornerstone of the Reach
Thank you to our sponsors for their generous support of programming in our 50th anniversary season.