Kennedy Center names talent manager Rick Canny as artistic director amid staff concerns

The Kennedy Center has appointed Rick Canny, a talent manager who has represented acts like ZZ Top and Tommy Lee, as its new artistic director. The center's executive director, Matt Floca, announced the hire despite staff complaints about Canny's consulting work for the institution. The Kennedy Center has been mostly closed, and its closure is being challenged in federal court.

Rick Canny, a talent manager who has represented ZZ Top and Tommy Lee, will lead artistic programming at the Kennedy Center. Executive director Matt Floca told senior staff by email that Canny had consulted through Favor the Artist since spring 2025 and helped oversee the Kennedy Center Honors and Mark Twain Prize. Floca, a former facilities chief with a construction management degree, lacks arts administration experience.

An internal memo from then-senior music-programming director Sammy Miller questioned Canny's charges, citing $30,000 in one month and more than $28,000 in another, including two first-class Los Angeles–Washington flights. The center is largely closed, offers limited programming, and faces a court challenge over that closure. Its previous programming head departed after two weeks.