The Kennedy Center isn't entirely closed — free concerts play on
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The REACH at the Kennedy Center remains open, despite the larger institution's closure. Photo: Graeme Sloan/Getty Images
The Kennedy Center's main building is closed indefinitely, but free performances continue at a corner of its campus — with help from a guitarist who publicly sparred with its leadership.
Why it matters: The Kennedy Center's closure has upended Washington's arts scene, but the show goes on at the REACH, where the institution's nearly 30-year-old Millennium Stage series is giving emerging artists a platform and audiences accessible programming.
Driving the news: Indie-soul artist Tre. Charles performs Saturday at 6pm at the REACH's River Pavilion, the first act booked by acclaimed Northern Virginia guitarist Yasmin Williams.
- Williams tells Axios she wants to spotlight lesser-known talent and diversify both musical genres and the artists representing them.
- "It's important to me to showcase talent that's not super well-known, which to me is the point of Millennium Stage," she says.
- Free performances continue Thursday through Saturday, spanning jazz, hip-hop and traditional Chinese music, with shows at the REACH's River Pavilion and Justice Forum also livestreamed.
Friction point: Williams clashed with former Kennedy Center president Ric Grenell last year over the institution's direction and DEI cuts, and she was heckled during a performance. But she refuses to boycott the venue.
- "I'm a Black American. I walk in buildings all the time that are named after very foul people," she says of the controversy surrounding Trump's name on the Kennedy Center. "I drive across Woodrow Wilson Bridge a lot."
- "I care a lot more about keeping the arts and music, and especially free programming, alive," she says.
The intrigue: The REACH remains under Kennedy Center leadership, with artist bookings handled through the institution's established approval process, a spokesperson tells Axios.
- The venue continues to operate with funding from the Kennedy Center's operating resources and donor support.
Zoom in: Williams says she's been inundated with musicians eager to perform, with bookings underway for March and April.
- She says she has "pretty much total freedom" to choose artists, with no involvement from the Kennedy Center board or, so far, newly named artistic director Rick Canny.
- Performers typically receive $2,000 to $3,500 in guaranteed pay, sometimes more, plus recordings of their shows, Williams says.
- "That's pretty difficult to beat for a working-class musician," she says.
The bottom line: Williams sees keeping the music playing as a way to resist the Kennedy Center's current leadership.
- "If you don't have shows and programming, the building does not stay open, and it makes it a lot easier for the board and Trump to take over and do whatever they want," she says.