WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Earlier this month, the# board of what is now called the Trump-Kennedy## Center formally approved the president's# plan to close the center for two years.

Meanwhile, the Washington National Opera,## which is one of the center's largest arts# organizations, had already announced that it## was leaving.

That exit is one of the most# consequential in a year full of turmoil.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown# reports for our Art in Action series,## which explores the intersection of art and# democracy, part of our Canvas coverage.

JEFFREY BROWN: A rehearsal for "The# Crucible," a 1961 opera by Robert## Ward based on Arthur Miller's seminal# 1953 play about the Salem witch trials.

Miller wrote it as a warning about# injustice and mass hysteria in the## McCarthy era anti-communist trials of# his time.

Now, says Francesca Zambello,## artistic director of the Washington National# Opera, it has new relevance for ours.

FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO, Artistic# Director, Washington National Opera:## I think that everyone in this country,# whatever side of the fence you're on,## is certainly wondering what is happening with our# legal system, what is happening with democracy,## are the -- is the Constitution still serving# us today, is it serving us right now?

And our democracy is on trial now.

JEFFREY BROWN: Few in the art world have been# quite so caught up in the political maelstrom## as the WNO and Zambello, whom we met recently at# the company's rehearsal studios in Washington.

FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO: Let's focus# everybody, OK?

Great, thank you.

MAN: Places for top of show, please.

JEFFREY BROWN: Founded in 1956,# now celebrating its 70th season,## the opera company has performed at the Kennedy# Center since the center's opening in 1971,## bringing some of the world's greatest singers# to its grand Opera House and other stages.

In 2011, it signed a so-called affiliation# agreement to formalize its relationship,## making it one of the center's# tentpole organizations.## But everything changed with# Donald Trump's second term.

FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO: This last year has been# something I could never have imagined.

I could## not have dreamt this up.

Last February, there was# literally a coup d'etat at the Kennedy Center.

JEFFREY BROWN: That's how it felt to you?

FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO: It absolutely# felt like a coup d'etat.

JEFFREY BROWN: The longtime leadership, respected# arts leaders fired.

New leadership put the## president himself as chair in its place, a new# requirement that arts groups break even or earn## a profit on every production, contrary to how# most opera, dance and theater groups operate,## with their need to plan far into the# future and experiment with their art forms.

Leading artists canceled performances.# Audience members stayed away.

FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO: The building felt# politicized.

Everyone who worked in the building,## if they did not march in lockstep with the new# management, were fired.

The audiences felt this,## I think, incredible burden that everything# was about us or them, about the two parties,## whereas we have always been an apolitical# building, an apolitical arts institution.

JEFFREY BROWN: In the crucible, J'Nai Bridges,# one of today's leading mezzo-sopranos,## sings the role of Elizabeth Proctor,# falsely accused of being a witch.

When Bridges first signed on, she fully# expected to perform at the Kennedy Center,## even as she wrestled with going ahead.

J'NAI BRIDGES, Mezzo-Soprano: I was a bit# hesitant because it's a tricky thing to navigate,## you know?

Not everyone was for my choice of# performing at the Kennedy Center.

I felt that## the role in the opera is so relevant that# it was almost, in a sense, a protest.

So I## really felt like, OK, as uncomfortable# as this might feel, I'm ready for it.

But then things changed.

And I# have to say that I am relieved.

JEFFREY BROWN: You are relieved?

J'NAI BRIDGES: Yes, I'm reliev.. JEFFREY BROWN: That stunning decision announced# in January by WNO leadership and its board,## to leave the newly renamed Trump# Kennedy Center and go out on its## own.

The drop in ticket sales and donor# support meant the shows could not go on.

And, says Zambello, there was more.

FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO: I think that by# making the move away from the center,## we made a big statement.

JEFFREY BROWN: Which is?

FRANCESCA ZAMBEL.. civil society.

But I was very concerned# knowing what it's like to be homeless.## A theater company, an opera company, a# ballet company, you can't be homeless.

JEFFREY BROWN: But you are,# in a sense, homeless now.

FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO: I think we're# now part of a bigger picture,## where now we're part of a bigger community.

JEFFREY BROWN: You're changing the nature of home.

FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO: I'm changing the nature of# home and I'm making it about geographic diversity.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now the WNO is performing# in theaters across the D.C.

area and## further afield in different size# halls for different productions.

"Treemonisha," an opera by Scott# Joplin, performed to a packed and## appreciative crowd at Lisner Auditorium in# Washington, the same venue as "The Crucible.

"## It's a full circle moment.

The company's# first ever performance was here in 1957.

A May production of "West Side Story"# will be put on in two different forms,## fully staged at the Lyric Baltimore and a## smaller production at Strathmore Music# Center outside Washington in Maryland.

FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO: I'm thinking of this as a new# kind of creative freedom, that we are producing in## different venues that really are appropriate# for the works that we will be presenting.

JEFFREY BROWN: And she says the company will# continue its American Opera Initiative, which## fosters new operas by contemporary composers.# For its part, the new Trump-Kennedy Center board## recently formally approved an early termination# of its agreement with the WNO, having earlier## claimed the parting of ways was its decision# due to a financially challenging relationship.

What now?

Can the Washington National Opera# survive, even thrive independently?

Grand## opera now becomes a grand experiment.

When we met# Bridges during rehearsals, she was optimistic.

J'NAI BRIDGES: So many people are excited to# support what we're doing.

I know that theater will## be filled with an audience that wants to support# WNO, this great company, and art and artists.

JEFFREY BROWN: Francesca# Zambello sees even higher stakes.

FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO: I think that the arts# are certainly under attack right now.

I## think that many people don't believe# that they're necessary.

And if all of## us as artists and as people working# in arts organizations do not stand## up to the injustices that are around# us, then we are not doing our jobs.

JEFFREY BROWN: Zambello says the# Washington National Opera will## soon announce its productions# and venues for next season.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm# Jeffrey Brown in Washington, D.C.