WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ben Folds resigned as Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra in February 2025, warning that the orchestra “is in real trouble – it may not survive.” He cited financial and political turmoil at the Kennedy Center as key threats to the institution’s future.

Folds, who held the advisory role for nearly a decade, said there is “currently no plan or solution in sight to save the organization.” The Kennedy Center has announced a two-year closure, leaving the National Symphony Orchestra without a confirmed performance venue. Orchestras typically announce programming about 18 months in advance, but the NSO has not released plans for its upcoming season.

The orchestra’s endowment fund is tied to a bank note, adding financial vulnerability as fundraising and ticket sales have declined since Donald Trump assumed control of the Kennedy Center. Folds wrote that the NSO “doesn’t have the luxury of time as it’s been suffocated by the financial turmoil that resulted from the presidential takeover.”

Folds stated, “They’ve remained apolitical. They’ve been performing their butts off in that awful situation.” He added, “I would have loved to stay on, but any artist such as myself who associated with the newly politicized Kennedy Center risked being used as a political pawn, implicitly siding with the POTUS’s politics by association,” which contributed to his decision to step down.

Folds called for structural changes to protect federal arts institutions, urging Congress and the Kennedy Center Board to require future directors to have experience in arts administration. He also advocated for “enforced independence for our arts from politics, so that there can be trust again – trust that artists and audiences of all walks can exchange ideas and art in an apolitical environment.”

Folds encouraged the public to contact their members of Congress to demand safeguards for the NSO. The orchestra employs 96 musicians and faces uncertainty following the departure of the National Opera from the Kennedy Center, which added to the institution’s operational challenges.

No independent assessment was available for this report.