KenCen vs. WNO: Enter the Lawyers

At first blush the separation seemed straightforward. The Washington National Opera (WNO) was leaving The Kenedy Center, intent on an “amicable separation.” And the Center’s leadership seemed only too happy to see the opera go. The divorce seemed final.

But a number of “custody battles” remain. Who gets the WNO’s $30 million endowment? Its Takoma Park studios? The massive collection of sets and costumes? Company data on patrons and donors? And what becomes of The Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, not to be confused with the National Symphony Orchestra?

Thus far, says Francesca Zambello, WNO’s artistic director, legal discussions are “going well.” The transfer of the physical assets, plus leases for a scenery warehouse near Baltimore and a 50,000-square-foot studio plus costume storage space in Takoma Park, set to become the WNO’s main home, are “all working out.” 

Extracting the endowment will prove more difficult. In 2011, the previously independent WNO signed an “affiliation” agreement transferring “its remaining assets, liabilities and employees” to the KenCen. A second agreement followed in 2024. Zambello is adamant that the endowment “is rightly ours,” but comments no further than, “We have a very large legal team.”

The “marriage” between the two organizations began to fray last February, when Trump prompted an institution-wide upheaval. Since then, a growing number of artists and ensembles have cancelled their performances and ticket buyers have stayed away in droves. As early as last spring, Zambello watched as a well-produced, well-sung production of Porgy and Bess drew less than 50 percent. “We knew we had to do something,” she says, and by October staff were told a move might happen. The announcement came on Jan. 16.

Fortunately, the WNO’s two productions in March—Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha and a revival of Robert Ward’s The Crucible—were designed for the KenCen’s smaller Eisenhower Theater, and will fit into George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium. Venue contracts for an upcoming production of West Side Story and the WNO’s gala will be signed in the coming weeks.

Aside from the disposition of the endowment, the remaining sticky issue is the fate of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. “It’s a complicated situation,” says Edward Malaga, recently reelected as president of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local. Since 1978 the ensemble has worked under two contracts: one for WNO and one for Kennedy Center programs—touring dance companies, the since discontinued Broadway Center Stage series, the Kennedy Center Honors, and other special events.

Thus far KenCen administrators have upheld the 2024 labor agreement with the AFM. But now the orchestra is facing a reduced musical-theater schedule and a growing cascade of cancellations. For its part, the WNO has pledged to honor the orchestra’s union agreement. And Zambello blames the musicians’ predicament squarely on Kennedy Center leadership. “They created a situation where musicals aren’t coming, ballet companies aren’t coming, and that’s who they play for. They’re going to have to remedy that, and they’re going to have to honor their contract.”

It’s a challenging time, Malaga concludes. “So many lives and livelihoods are at stake.”

And not just in Washington.

The Washingtonian