How did the construction go for the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts?
The Kennedy Center, located on the banks of the Potomac River near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., opened to the public in September 1971. But its roots date back to 1958, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed bipartisan legislation creating a National Cultural Center. To honor Eisenhower’s vision for such a facility, one of the Kennedy Center’s theaters is named for him. The National Cultural Center Act included four basic components: it authorized the Center’s construction, spelled out an artistic mandate to present a wide variety of both classical and contemporary performances, specified an educational mission for the Center, and stated that the Center was to be an independent facility, self-sustaining and privately funded. As a result of this last stipulation, a mammoth fundraising campaign began immediately following the Act’s passage into law. President John F. Kennedy was a lifelong supporter and advocate of the arts, and frequently steered the public discourse to
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (on the building itself called the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. The Center, which opened on September 8, 1971, produces and presents theater, dance, ballet, orchestral, chamber, jazz, popular, and folk music, and multi-media performances for all ages. It is the nation’s busiest performing arts facility and annually hosts approximately 2,000 performances for audiences totaling nearly two million; Center-related touring productions, television, and radio broadcasts welcome 20 million more. Now in its 38th season, the Center presents the greatest examples of music, dance, and theater; supports artists in the creation of new work; and serves the nation as leader in arts education. With its artistic affiliate, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Center’s
President Lyndon B. Johnson dug the ceremonial first-shovel of earth at the groundbreaking for the Kennedy Center on December 2, 1964. However, debate continued for another year over the Foggy Bottom site, with some advocating for another location on Pennsylvania Avenue. Excavation of the site got underway on December 11, 1965, and the site was cleared by January 1967. The first performance was on September 5, 1971, with 2,200 members of the general public in attendance to see a premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass in the Opera House, while the Center’s official opening took place on September 8, 1971, with a formal gala and premiere performance of the Bernstein Mass. The Concert Hall was inaugurated on September 9, 1971, in a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antal Doráti. On Friday, September 10, 1971, Alberto Ginastera’s opera, Beatrix Cenci premiered at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House.
The Kennedy Center, located on the banks of the Potomac River near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., opened to the public in September 1971. But its roots date back to 1958, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed bipartisan legislation creating a National Cultural Center. To honor Eisenhower’s vision for such a facility, one of the Kennedy Center’s theaters is named for him. The National Cultural Center Act included four basic components: it authorized the Center’s construction, spelled out an artistic mandate to present a wide variety of both classical and contemporary performances, specified an educational mission for the Center, and stated that the Center was to be an independent facility, self-sustaining and privately funded. As a result of this last stipulation, a mammoth fundraising campaign began immediately following the Act’s passage into law. President John F. Kennedy was a lifelong supporter and advocate of the arts, and frequently steered the public discourse to
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (on the building itself called the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. The Center, which opened on September 8, 1971, produces and presents theater, dance, ballet, orchestral, chamber, jazz, popular, and folk music, and multi-media performances for all ages. It is the nation’s busiest performing arts facility and annually hosts approximately 2,000 performances for audiences totaling nearly two million; Center-related touring productions, television, and radio broadcasts welcome 20 million more. Now in its 38th season, the Center presents the greatest examples of music, dance, and theater; supports artists in the creation of new work; and serves the nation as leader in arts education. With its artistic affiliate, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Center’s
