NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� will appear this week at Carnegie Hall, where he will recite excerpts from a symphony about Abraham Lincoln that the composer once intended to stage at the Kennedy Center.
Glass announced in January that he called off a scheduled premiere of Symphony No. 15, 鈥淟incoln,鈥� in protest of President Donald Trump’s ouster of the center’s leadership.
Glass’ symphony will be part of a benefit Tuesday night for Tibet House US, a nonprofit educational institution which announced the participation of De Niro, a prominent critic of Trump. Glass and Laurie Anderson are the evening’s artistic directors.
鈥淟incoln鈥� is based in part on one of Lincoln’s earliest major speeches, the 1838 鈥淟yceum Address,鈥� when the future president assailed mob violence and warned of its dangers to democracy.
鈥淚 am so pleased Robert De Niro is going to read the Lincoln speech,鈥� Glass said in a statement. 鈥淗e is absolutely the right person.鈥�
, and Bela Fleck are among the many other artists who have canceled Kennedy Center events.
Trump has renamed the facility as the Trump Kennedy Center, a change scholars say can only be enacted by Congress. The president, who has made the center a key part of his campaign against so-called 鈥渨oke鈥� culture, announced last month that the facility will be shut down in July for construction, a project he expects to last for two years.
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This story corrects name to Symphony No. 15.
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