Washington National Opera/Kennedy Center
January/10/2026
I first stepped foot in the KENNEDY CENTER in 1972 as an 8th grader as a member of the Junior High School Band of America (same weekend the Watergate break-in happened next door). I sang my first performances with the Washington Opera (the predecessor to the Washington National Opera) on stage at the KENNEDY CENTER in 1987. Since then, I have had some of the most memorable nights of my career with the WNO…hundreds of performances in around 30 different productions. There were nights of triumph, nights of joy, nights of despair, nights of sadness...there was also September 12, 2001...a night where none of us knew whether we would perform at this incredibly sad time...but, we did...and we helped heal the audience...and ourselves. The WNO was the first major company to hire me and was one of the pillars of my 40 years (and counting) opera career. The Ring performances of 2016 were a highlight not only for me, but for an entire company and community. The WNO and the KENNEDY CENTER were the center of the opera world for those three weeks in May. I can’t imagine the production and the energy being matched on another stage or with a different company. I have been involved with at least 13 different Ring productions around the world…all were specatcular…this one was special. Other performances followed for me on that stage…but it was hard to match that energy. Performances of any kind of staged artistic endeavor always are best on the stage where they were originally intended. Things just fit together better that way. That the marriage of the KENNEDY CENTER and the WNO has ended truly is disturbing and disheartening. I have so many memories of performing at the Center…but, my memories are even stronger of the artists and company members who have meant so much to me for so long. My memories are of the many friendships that were nourished on and offstage and with those in the audience who became so cherished in our lives. The WNO leaving the KC is the end of an era…but it is not the end of true art. I know the staff. I know the great talent within the walls. I have twice served as the Artist in Residence for the company's young artist program and I know the great talent on the horizon. The Gesamtkunstwerk will continue but in a different locale. And may it continue to inspire, entertain, and enrich all those who seek beauty and excellence.