Deborah Rutter, president of Washington’s Kennedy Center since 2014, has announced that she will vacate the post at the end of this year.
Rutter, who came to Washington after serving as president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, earlier held executive posts with the Seattle Symphony and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. During her time at the Kennedy Center, a new venue, The Reach, was added to the complex. Rutter also was instrumental in the appointment of Gianandrea Noseda as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra, and in adding hip-hop to the center’s offerings.
“What she does best is she democratizes culture,” Lonnie G. Bunch III, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, told The Washington Post’s Travis M. Andrews. “She makes sure that the culture she cares about, whether it’s orchestra or theater, is really made accessible to a wider audience. . . . [Y]ou can tell a lot about a country by how democratic it is when it comes to its culture. She’s really been one of the leaders reminding people there shouldn’t be high or low culture. There should be culture that shapes all Americans.”
“This is not related to the politics of who’s in the White House,” Rutter said. “The Kennedy Center is truly nonpartisan. . . . [F]or the last six years, I’ve had almost all Trump appointees as my board members. And we’ve had a fantastic era with them.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2025/01/27/kennedy-center-rutter-stepping-down/
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