As part of its 2016–2017 season announcement, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced three newly appointed roles and key relationships with Yo-Yo Ma (Artistic Advisor At Large), Renée Fleming (Artistic Advisor At Large) and Q-Tip (Artistic Director for Hip Hop Culture). As artists, curators and thought leaders, these three new advisors will advance institution-wide initiatives and explore new facets of the arts on both local and national levels.
Yo-Yo Ma joins the Kennedy Center effective immediately as Artistic Advisor At Large, a three-year role in which he will advise on the Center’s future programming and public engagement around the JFK Centennial theme and ideals of courage, freedom, justice, service and gratitude. As the Kennedy Center celebrates this milestone, Ma will play a central role in introducing these themes to a wide spectrum of audiences. Focusing primarily on public service and support for culture, Ma begins his new appointment with the annual Kennedy Center Arts Summit, April 25, 2016, an event he will co-host and co-curate with Renée Fleming. He will also collaborate with Kennedy Center artistic administrators on the development of new programming formats, participate in interactive discussions and interviews, advance the broad work of the Center through advocacy, as well as engage in educational activities through mentorship, master classes and visits to local schools.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be associated with the Kennedy Center, the living memorial to President Kennedy, and what he stood for,” commented Yo-Yo Ma. “I look forward to working with Deborah Rutter and the great Kennedy Center team as the Center prepares to mark the centennial of his birth.”
