{"id":207806,"date":"2026-03-06T19:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/207806\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T19:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:51:10","slug":"kennedy-centers-nso-executive-director-leaves-for-the-wallis-in-l-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/207806\/","title":{"rendered":"Kennedy Center’s NSO executive director leaves for the Wallis in L.A."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The tumult continues at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the National Symphony Orchestra\u2019s executive director, Jean Davidson, steps down from her role to become executive director and chief executive of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Davidson will assume her new position May 4, the Wallis announced Friday.<\/p>\n

Davidson is not new to L.A., having served as the president and CEO of the Los Angeles Master Chorale at the Music Center from 2015 to 2023. She left the Master Chorale for the NSO in Washington, D.C., where she worked for two years until President Trump began his controversial takeover of the Kennedy Center,<\/a> firing its board and installing himself as chairman. Major artist defections ensued<\/a>, culminating with a board vote to rename the center the Trump-Kennedy Center<\/a> in December and February\u2019s surprise announcement that the center would close for two years for renovations,<\/a> beginning July 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot in the last three years, and I think it\u2019s no secret that it\u2019s been a hard year,\u201d Davidson told The Times, adding that the politicization of the Kennedy Center was a factor in her decision-making. \u201cI had intended to stay through the [orchestra\u2019s] 100th anniversary in 2031, but found it more and more difficult to achieve the goals that we had set out to achieve given the external forces that are at work that are just so far beyond my control.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seemed like \u201cI had reached a natural ending point,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

With the imminent closure of the Kennedy Center, speculation has swirled around the NSO\u2019s future, especially in light of the Washington National Opera\u2019s decision<\/a> in January to cut ties with the storied venue, which has been its home since 1971. The Kennedy Center\u2019s Trump-appointed leadership, however, made it clear that it intended to support the NSO in the long term, and the orchestra\u2019s board chair assured musicians that the orchestra and its staff would remain intact.<\/p>\n

Davidson said the NSO is in the process of identifying venues for the next two years, and that the orchestra has been told by the Kennedy Center that its financial support is not in question. <\/p>\n

\u201cMany venue operators in the D.C. area have been very generously reaching out to us, asking how they can help,\u201d she said. \u201cOf course, we plan our seasons years in advance, and so next season was already planned. We already have conductors and soloists and all of that, and so it\u2019s a bit of a jigsaw puzzle aligning our existing programming and obligations to those artists with venues that are appropriate for those programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will take several more weeks to come up with a cohesive plan and it will likely include several venues, \u201cbut we will have a season,\u201d Davidson said. \u201cAnd we hope that everybody will come.\u201d<\/p>\n

In many ways, Davidson said, the NSO is stronger than it has been in quite some time. During her tenure Davidson helped reboot the orchestra\u2019s international and domestic touring, which includes upcoming shows at New York\u2019s Carnegie Hall in May and at the Hollywood Bowl in August. The orchestra also extended acclaimed music director Gianandrea Noseda\u2019s contract through 2031. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe orchestra is just playing at such a high level and they really have never sounded so good,\u201d said Davidson, echoing what notable critics have also been saying<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re still welcoming many new players after our audition process, and I think that\u2019s all very positive for the NSO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davidson knows that leaving her role will be difficult for the orchestra, but she believes it will emerge stronger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI care deeply about the NSO and I am so proud of everything that we\u2019ve accomplished together. I think the world of Gianandrea, of [principal conductor] Steven Reineke, our musicians, our staff and board \u2014 it\u2019s a great community of people,\u201d said Davidson.<\/p>\n

Davidson also believes that the upcoming renovations to the Kennedy Center will ultimately result in a better experience for both audiences and artists. She just wishes there had been much more advance notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually orchestras will plan for being out of their hall years in advance, and we only have months to do that, so it is causing a bit of strain,\u201d she said. \u201cI think the most important thing is that our audiences and donors continue to support the NSO during this transition period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davidson will now embark on her own transition as she moves from D.C. to L.A., rejoining her husband who has stayed in the area as a music professor at UC Irvine. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity that\u2019s been on my bucket list of things that I want to do in my life and it seems like the right time,\u201d said Davidson of her new role at the Wallis in Beverly Hills.<\/p>\n

Compared to the NSO, the Wallis is a practically brand new, having opened in 2013.<\/p>\n

Davidson is excited that there is lots of room for growth, and that the Wallis has evolved into one of the region\u2019s most exciting multidisciplinary performing arts presenters and home base to a wide variety of local arts groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think anytime you\u2019re starting a new role, there\u2019s a lot of learning that needs to occur,\u201d said Davidson. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not somebody that is prone to walking in with a big vision that\u2019s going to suddenly change course. I think they\u2019ve been doing a lot of great work and so I\u2019m looking forward to collaborating with the team that\u2019s there \u2014 to learn and to create a shared vision for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an exciting time to be in Los Angeles, said Davidson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last decade or so has seen a lot of growth in the art sector, and there are so many talented artists and organizations in L.A. that need a place to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The tumult continues at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the National Symphony Orchestra\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1864,1581,15518,95846,47816,48,52,51,47,50,49,1741,21720,95850,95847,95849,10963,6049,19368,95848,72],"class_list":{"0":"post-207806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-audience","9":"tag-board","10":"tag-d-c","11":"tag-jean-davidson","12":"tag-kennedy-center","13":"tag-la","14":"tag-la-headlines","15":"tag-la-news","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","18":"tag-los-angeles-news","19":"tag-lot","20":"tag-musician","21":"tag-national-symphony-orchestra-director","22":"tag-nso","23":"tag-nso-executive-director","24":"tag-orchestra","25":"tag-role","26":"tag-venue","27":"tag-wallis","28":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}