J.D. Vance Booed at the Kennedy Center: Violinist Kavakos Responds

March 16, 2025, 7:31 PM · Violinist Leonidas Kavakos said he was "thrown off-balance" when a crowd booed the appearance of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha at Kavakos' concert with the National Symphony Orchestra Thursday night at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.

"We knew the U.S. vice president would be coming, which is why there was increased security measures in the hall," he told Kathimerini, a right-wing newspaper in Greece. "The moment before a concert starts is important for an artist’s concentration, and when something like that happens, it throws you off balance."

Kavakos continued: "The thoughts I had were the great contrast between the public protest and the negative energy it radiates and the connection of people through the silence when we played on stage and the positive energy of the concert itself. It was a lesson for me,” he said. "I don’t agree with protests inside concert halls, where we come to listen to music, which we respect for its value, but I understand that in the U.S. people are not used to government interventions, like the one that took place at the Kennedy Center, and that may have been a factor that contributed to this protest. Politics often creates concern and anger, but we have to respect someone who is democratically elected."

Interestingly, on Thursday night Kavakos was playing the Violin Concerto No. 2 by Dimitri Shostakovich, whose works are considered a musical incarnation of political protest - capturing the crushing Soviet repression that the 20th-century composer endured while creating his music of defiance.

Violinist Leonidas Kavakos, composer Dimitri Shostakovich.

Apparently the regular audience members at the Kennedy Center also were feeling a little "thrown off-balance." In addition to the increased security screenings and 20-minute concert delay caused by Vance's visit, his appearance also likely reminded them of the dizzying events of the last month at the Kennedy Center associated with the Trump administration. To summarize: in February U.S. President Donald Trump purged the bipartisan board of its Biden administration appointees, dismissing its longtime chairman and largest donor David Rubenstein and installing himself - Trump - as the new chairman. Trump named his longtime foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell as the center’s new interim executive director and proceeded to appoint board members loyal to himself, including Usha Vance, the V.P.'s wife. He also appointed White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

Ostensibly as part of Trump's stated goal of ridding the Kennedy Center of "woke influences" and "diversity, equality and inclusion" (values demonized by the administration), the Center canceled a number of planned performances, including the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington and the children's musical "Finn."

These drastic and politically-motivated moves have had an effect: popular and high-level artists have withdrawn from their Kennedy Center performances in protest. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeffrey Seller withdrew performances of their musical Hamilton, planned for 2025. Actress Issa Rae and the musician Rhiannon Giddens have dropped out in protest.

The Kennedy Center audience booed loudly for about 30 seconds before the concert began. The Vances reportedly stayed for the whole concert.

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J.D. Vance Booed at the Kennedy Center: Violinist Kavakos Responds

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