Composer and pianist Jason Moran is latest departure from Kennedy Center
Composer and pianist Jason Moran is no longer the Kennedy Center’s artistic director for jazz.
Moran, an acclaimed pianist, composer, educator, bandleader, recording artist and MacArthur Fellow, posted on social media Tuesday that he has left his position at the Kennedy Center.
He wrote: “14 years of inviting thousands of artists to share their work with audiences” and expressed his gratitude “to an incredible staff that ushered artists from the negotiation to the after party.”
Moran accepted the position at the Kennedy Center in 2011, a year after his predecessor, Dr. Billy Taylor, died. He hosted numerous performances and education programs including the National Endowment for the Arts’ “NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert” and Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead, a residency for emerging artists of which Moran himself is an alum.
Moran scored the films Selma and 13th. He tours the world as a performer and has collaborated with numerous institutions, artists and thinkers across disciplines.
In his social media posts, he hat-tipped his collaborators. “Thank you to the composers, comedians, choreographers, performance artists, skateboarders, filmmakers, authors, illustrators, dancers, photographers, sculptors, scientists, crews and on and on,” he wrote. “These young ones are beautifying the stage. And with that, I bowed on Juneteenth.”
The Kennedy Center declined to comment.
A number of artists have cut ties with the Kennedy Center since President Trump abruptly ousted president Deborah Rutter and board chair David Rubenstein, replaced board members appointed by former President Biden with his own, and became chair himself earlier this year.
Disclosure: The National Endowment for the Arts is a foundational supporter of NPR. The Kennedy Center and NPR co-present the annual concert A Jazz Piano Christmas.
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