The renowned jazz ensemble, The Cookers, has announced their sudden exit from the “A Jazz New Year’s Eve” event, as stated on their official website. The group, which has performed together for nearly 20 years, expressed regret for any inconvenience this might cause to those who were planning to attend.

New York-based Doug Varone and Dancers also revealed on Instagram this week that they are withdrawing from an April performance. They cited their decision was driven by an inability to support what they described as “this once great institution” any longer.

This wave of withdrawals follows musician Chuck Redd’s recent cancellation of a Christmas Eve concert. These developments coincide with a decline in ticket sales at the venue and a significant drop in viewership—around 35 percent—of the December 23 broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors, which had been expected to perform well.

These cancellations contribute to a turbulent schedule for one of America’s leading performing arts venues, concluding a year marked by tensions after former President Trump removed the Kennedy Center board and installed himself as the chairman.

This move previously triggered resistance from the artistic community, including cancellations by actress Issa Rae and the producers of Hamilton, as well as the resignation of musicians Ben Folds and Renée Fleming from their advisory positions.

The Cookers didn’t mention the building’s renaming or the Trump administration but did say that, when they return to performing, they wanted to ensure that “the room is able to celebrate the full presence of the music and everyone in it,” reiterating a commitment “to playing music that reaches across divisions rather than deepening them.”

The group may not have addressed the Kennedy Centre situation directly, but one of its members has.

On Saturday, saxophone player Billy Harper said in comments posted on the Jazz Stage Facebook page that he “would never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name (and being controlled by the kind of board) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture. The same music I devoted my life to creating and advancing.”

According to the White House, Trump’s handpicked board approved the renaming. Harper said both the board “as well as the name displayed on the building itself represents a mentality and practices I always stood against. And still do, today more than ever.”

Richard Grenell, a Trump ally whom the president chose to head the Kennedy Centre after he forced out the previous leadership, posted Monday night on X, “The artists who are now canceling shows were booked by the previous far left leadership,” intimating the bookings were made under the Biden administration.

In a statement to The Associated Press, Grenell said the “last minute cancellations prove that they were always unwilling to perform for everyone – even those they disagree with politically,” adding that the Kennedy Centre had been “flooded with inquiries from real artists willing to perform for everyone and who reject political statements in their artistry.”

There was no immediate word from Kennedy Centre officials about whether the entity would pursue legal action against the latest round of artists to cancel performances. Following Redd’s cancellation last week, Grenell said he would seek $US1 million ($1.49 million) in damages for what he called a “political stunt.”

Not all artists are calling off their shows. Bluegrass banjoist Randy Barrett, scheduled to perform at the Kennedy Centre next month, told the AP he was “deeply troubled by the politicisation” of the venue and respected those who had canceled but feels that “our tribalised country needs more music and art, not less. It’s one of the few things that can bring us together.”

President John F Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the centre as a living memorial to him. Scholars have said any changes to the building’s name would need congressional approval; the law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another person’s name on the building’s exterior.