Jason Moran is leaving the Kennedy Center as Artistic Director of Jazz.

The composer and pianist too to social media and said, “From the Intro to the Finale. My first day on the job at The Kennedy Center was when Sonny Rollins was receiving his Kennedy Center Honor. In this photo he pulls me close, takes my hand and says “You know why I like you? (Long pause) …because you don’t smile in your photos. You know what that means right?” I replied Yes, and I still do. 14 years of inviting thousands of artists to share their work with audiences to an incredible staff that ushered artists from the negotiation to the after party. Thank you to the composers, comedians, choreographers, performance artists, skateboarders, filmmakers, authors, illustrators, dancers, photographers, sculptors, scientists, crews and on and on. The second photo is the 2025 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program. Easily one of the most prestigious young artist programs in the field, we once again gathered around Betty Carter’s originality, tenacity, and fearlessness. I graduated from this program in the last year Betty hosted it. Afterwards she mailed me a letter that closed with this sentence. ‘Remember you get out of this music exactly what you put in.’ So I put it all. These young ones are beautifying the stage. And with that , I bowed on Juneteenth.”

Moran took the position of Artistic Director in 2011 succeeding Billy Taylor.

He is the latest administrator to leave the performing arts center following the Trump takeover. Other administrators who also left included Renée Fleming, Shonda Rhimes and Ben Folds.

Since Trump’s takeover, the Kennedy Center has ticket sales fall and the President booed during a gala performances of “Les Misérables.”

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