National Symphony Orchestra

As I write, I sit swimming in turbulence somewhere over Virginia, on the same jet as US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth – heading to Panama City in an effort to restore the country’s critical canal to US control.But Saturday was a very different scene. A far more comfortable experience, too. In Box 3 at the Kennedy Center for the Arts, for the National Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Mozart and Mendelssohn.I hadn’t been to the Kennedy Center in a while (i.e., we are so back). Now run by Trump loyalist Ric Grenell, proudly displayed on the concessions counters are signs that read: “STANDARD STRAWS NOW AVAILABLE!”That means no more paper.

It seems DC’s thirst for restrictions did not end last April when the city dropped its mask mandate. Washingtonians still feel an incessant need to be regulated and the National Symphony Orchestra has just found the most recent method — nut bans.   In an email passed to Cockburn by a tipster about a concert starting this week at the NSO, orchestra management has established a “nut-free zone” in the building. Per their order, all performances September 5-8 will be strictly nut-free — and that’s not all. Trace amounts of nut oil will also be prohibited.  “No foods with peanuts or hazelnuts or foods cooked in nut oil can be brought onstage or backstage,” the email reads.