The new norm is to have steel-cage death matches on the South Lawn, but in 1962 an American president might invite Igor Stravinsky to the White House. On Stravinsky’s birthday, here’s an amusing account of the composer’s visit with the Kennedys:
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/igor-stravinsky-at-the-white-house
“Despite such criticism – which was entirely typical of Stravinsky’s unfiltered personality – he clearly remembered the visit with fondness and gratitude. In January, 1964 he commemorated John F. Kennedy – who had been assassinated on November 22, 1963 – by composing ‘Elegy for J.F.K.,’ a vocal piece with words by W.H. Auden. ‘I felt that the events of November were being too quickly forgotten,’ the composer told The New York Times, ‘and I wished to protest.’”
Leonard Bernstein was also in attendance at the dinner. Bernstein’s “Fanfare for JFK” was heard for the first time on the eve of Kennedy’s inauguration, also on this date, though one year earlier. It’s only 40 seconds long, so if you blink, you’ll miss it.
In 1978, Bernstein gave the opening speech at the first Kennedy Center Honors, at which the honorees included Marian Anderson, Richard Rodgers, George Balanchine, Fred Astaire, and Arthur Rubinstein.
I’ll spare you the entirety of Bernstein’s “Mass,” commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy for the opening of the Kennedy Center in 1971, but here’s the piece’s hit tune, “A Simple Song.”
The questions, where are our Bernsteins and Stravinskys – or for that matter, our Marian Andersons, Richard Rodgerses, George Balanchines, Fred Astaires, and Arthur Rubinsteins – and why are they not honored at the White House, seem moot.
Stravinsky’s concern about the events of November 1963 being forgotten were echoed by many Americans in December 2025. Some presidents try to set an example by leading in a spirit of hope and aspiration. Others attempt to validate themselves by affixing their names to the Kennedy Center.