The City Lyric Opera of New York has cancelled its baroque festival, which was scheduled for 6 to 8 March 2025, due to the abrupt withdrawal of federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts* (NEA). On social media, mezzo-soprano Michaela Wright announced: ‘It is time to inform you that my recital for the City Lyric Opera Baroque Festival has been postponed indefinitely due to cuts in federal arts funding.’ She added: ‘Validate, Reverence, Defend, the recital we were to present, gave voice to women and their talents, which had been inaudible for centuries. I put my whole heart into this project, the message of which seems more necessary than ever .’ Singer Rocky Duval, who was also due to perform, added: ‘The NEA grant that would have funded the show I wrote for the Festival never arrived. I am devastated. I know we must fight fascism with art. But at times like this, I feel the fatigue of being an artist.’
The abolition of NEA grants to the City Lyric Opera Baroque Festival is linked to the new Trump Administration’s cancellation of a funding programme designed to support diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as disadvantaged communities. Instead, the federal agency will now prioritise programmes that celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States.
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