In what might be the most decisive critique yet of President Trump\u2019s remake of the Kennedy Center, the Washington National Opera\u2019s board approved a resolution on Friday to leave the venue it has occupied since 1971.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, the Washington National Opera announced its decision to seek an amicable early termination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity,\u201d the company said in a statement to the Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n Roma Daravi, Kennedy Center\u2019s vice president of public relations, described the relationship with Washington National Opera as \u201cfinancially challenging.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cAfter careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with the WNO due to a financially challenging relationship,\u201d Daravi said in a statement. \u201cWe believe this represents the best path forward for both organizations and enables us to make responsible choices that support the financial stability and long-term future of the Trump Kennedy Center.\u201d<\/p>\n Kennedy Center President Ambassador Richard Grenell tweeted<\/a> that the call was made by the Kennedy Center, writing that its leadership had \u201capproached the Opera leadership last year with this idea and they began to be open to it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHaving an exclusive relationship has been extremely expensive and limiting in choice and variety,\u201d Grenell wrote. \u201cWe have spent millions of dollars to support the Washington Opera\u2019s exclusivity and yet they were still millions of dollars in the hole – and getting worse.\u201d<\/p>\n WNO\u2019s decision to vacate the Kennedy Center\u2019s 2,364-seat Opera House comes amid a wave of artist cancellations that came after the venue\u2019s board voted to rename the center<\/a> the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. New signage featuring Trump\u2019s name went up on the building\u2019s exterior just days after the vote while debate raged over whether an official name change could be made without congressional approval.<\/p>\n That same day, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) \u2014 an ex officio member of the board \u2014 wrote on social media that the vote was not unanimous and that she and others who might have voiced their dissent were muted on the call. <\/p>\n