Kennedy Center Honors

Kennedy Center, Washington, DC

This from the Washington Post Entertainment section reminded me to do a post about the Kennedy Center Honors, an event which will take place later this year.

 Honorees from 2009 in the White House Blue Room [l-r - Michelle Obama, Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro, Bruce Springsteen and President Barack Obama]

While this is an event that honors people in all areas of the arts, quite often classical performers and composers are honored.  The event takes place in early December at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.  The honorees are not announced until late summer or early fall.

For more on the event see here and here.

Past honorees in the area of classical music, opera and ballet have included:

Composer Jerry Herman - 2010

Pianist and composer Dave Brubeck - 2009

Modern dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp - 2008

Pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher - 2007

Conductor Zubin Mehta - 2006

Dancer Suzanne Farrell - 2005

Singer Joan Sutherland - 2004

Composer and conductor John Williams - 2004

Violinist Itzhak Perlman - 2003

Stage director and producer Mike Nichols - 2003

Conductor James Levine - 2002

Stage dancer, actress and singer Chita Rivera - 2002

Stage actress and singer Julie Andrews - 2001

Pianist Van Cliburn - 2001

Singer Luciano Pavarotti - 2001

Dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov - 2000

Singer Plácido Domingo - 2000

Stage actress and singer Angela Lansbury - 2000

For a complete list of honorees since 1978, go here.