\n The Kennedy Center plans to name a longtime talent manager who worked with several prominent rock stars from the 1980s and \u201890s to take over artistic programming at Washington\u2019s premier performing arts center and start lining up shows and acts for when it reopens.\n <\/p>\n
\n Rick Canny, who has been working as an outside consultant with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will soon be elevated to an executive artistic director position, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.\n <\/p>\n
\n Canny\u2019s hiring has buoyed hope among arts watchers that the Kennedy Center \u2013 mired in recent months in a court fight over its renovation and controversy over adding President Donald Trump\u2019s name to the building \u2013 will refocus on upcoming seasons after the planned two-year construction project.\n <\/p>\n
\n However, multiple sources inside and outside the Kennedy Center say they\u2019re concerned about Canny\u2019s lack of a traditional artistic pedigree in the genres for which the center is known and question which direction he will take it.\n <\/p>\n
\n The position would give Matt Floca, the center\u2019s executive director and chief operating officer, another top leader to focus specifically on programming, a move that was anticipated when Floca was elevated to his own job in March.\n <\/p>\n
\n Because Floca\u2019s experience is in facilities management, sources told CNN that the expectation at that time was a second leader would be needed to fulfill the broader needs of an arts institution.\n <\/p>\n
\n Canny, who worked in Los Angeles for years, has a deep background in managing A-list musicians, including Motley Crue\u2019s Tommy Lee, Creed frontman Scott Stapp and Jane\u2019s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, among others.\n <\/p>\n
\n According to LinkedIn, Canny also worked with Navarro on Above Ground, a nonprofit that seeks to raise awareness of mental health issues.\n <\/p>\n
\n The Kennedy Center did not respond to CNN\u2019s request for comment. Canny also did not respond to requests for comment.\n <\/p>\n
\n Canny\u2019s lack of experience managing a more traditional arts roster that the Kennedy Center typically features, has raised some eyebrows.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t study in school any of the disciplines ,\u201d a source close to the Kennedy Center said, adding that he doesn\u2019t \u201cunderstand ballet, opera versus jazz.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe\u2019s a music agent,\u201d the source said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Canny faces the monumental task of reviving the Kennedy Center\u2019s programming after it was hit hard, along with much of the performing arts industry, by the loss of audiences during the Covid pandemic.\n <\/p>\n