Editor’s note: This story was originally published at 5:35 p.m. on April 28, 2025. It was updated at 2:52 p.m. on April 29, 2025 to include a statement from the Music Center at Strathmore.
The Music Center at Strathmore will host a World Pride festival performance that was originally scheduled to be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., until it was recently canceled following President Donald Trump’s takeover of the venue.
The International Pride Orchestra, a San Francisco–based nonprofit group of LGBTQ+ musicians from around the world, will perform a concert at the North Bethesda performing arts venue at 7:30 p.m on June 5 as part of the World Pride festival being held in the District in June, according to Strathmore’s website. The event will also feature the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C.
“We were heartbroken when we learned that our concert would no longer be welcome at the Kennedy Center,” Michael Roest, founding artistic director of the orchestra, said in a Feb. 25 press release. “However, we are profoundly grateful to the Strathmore Music Center for opening their doors to us. Their willingness to host our Pride Celebration Concert ensures that our message of love, pride, and resilience will be heard on the doorstep of the nation’s capital.”
The concert was among several LGBTQ+-related performances and events scheduled for Pride Month in June that were dropped from the Kennedy Center’s lineup, the Associated Press reported.
According to the orchestra’s press release, Roast received a call Feb. 12 informing him the concert had been dropped following weeks of negotiations. Just days prior on Feb. 7, Trump had announced his intention to take over the organization and change programming to align with his administration’s agenda.
Roest said Strathmore reached out to offer the orchestra space to perform.
“We are excited to welcome the International Pride Orchestra to Strathmore. Nurturing artists and celebrating the full diversity of our community is at the heart of everything we do,” Monica Jeffries Hazangeles, President and CEO of Strathmore said in an email statement to Bethesda Today on Tuesday. “This concert is a joyful reflection of those values.”
The concert will feature more than 80 LGBTQ+ musicians playing a variety of instruments and will be hosted by San Francisco-based drag performer Peaches Christ, according to the press release.
“Music has always been a powerful force against hate and bigotry,” Roest said in the release. “The LGBTQ+ community has always shown resilience in the face of discrimination, and this concert will be a vibrant expression of that enduring spirit.”
This is the second event that has been cancelled by the Kennedy Center and rescheduled at Strathmore’s music center. Last month, a U.S. Marine Corps Band concert featuring high school students of diverse racial backgrounds also was removed from the Kennedy Center’s lineup under Trump’s leadership. A private concert featuring the band and students was then held at the music center, Montgomery Community Media reported.
Local leaders have been scrambling over how to handle World Pride celebrations under the Trump administration’s executive orders. World Pride, an biannual event, is being hosted by Capital Pride Alliance, an organization based in the District, from May 17-June 8. The event is expected to draw more than 2 million tourists.
WTOP reported the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) is considering issuing an advisory to transgender tourists, warning them to consider not attending the events due to safety concerns resulting from new anti-trans federal policies.
