The Skylight Pavilion is reflected in a pool on the grounds of the Reach complex at the Kennedy Center. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
The Kennedy Center is planning an extended celebration of its 50th anniversary in its 2021-2022 season, featuring new commissions by Philip Glass and Esperanza Spalding, year-long artist residencies by the Roots and Robert Glasper, interactive exhibitions commemorating its first five decades and a new outdoor bronze statue of JFK. The festivities will end with a restaging of Leonard Bernstein’s theatrical “Mass,” which opened the center on Sept. 8, 1971.
“We’re never going to be 50 any other time,” Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter said over Zoom Monday. “Whenever you think about these milestones, you think, ‘Should we reflect back, or should we look forward?’ You can see that there are some things that are very much about looking forward . . . in particular the way we designed commissions of new works and the folks we have invited to lead our journey.”
The schedule includes the Washington National Opera’s “Written in Stone,” a collection of four commissions that “celebrate the diversity and acknowledge the struggles” of America, according to the arts center. Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran, Artistic Director of Social Impact Marc Bamuthi Joseph, composer Huang Ruo, playwright and librettist David Henry Hwang and composer and instrumentalist Kamala Sankaram are among the artists involved in the project. The four pieces will premiere together during a six-performance run March 5-25, 2022.