Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • Winter 2023 3 Music Notes The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts celebrated five honorees for the 45th Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements. Recipients honored at the annual national celebration of the arts in Washington, D.C. are: Cuban-born American composer, conductor, educator, and SAI National Arts Associate Tania León; acclaimed actor and filmmaker George Clooney; contemporary Christian and pop singer- songwriter Amy Grant; the legendary singer of soul, Gospel, R&B, and pop Gladys Knight; and iconic Irish rock band U2. Born in Havana, Cuba, Tania León is highly regarded as a composer, conductor, educator, and advisor to arts organizations. Her orchestral work Stride, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Recent premieres include works for Los Angeles Philharmonic, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, NDR Symphony Orchestra, Grossman Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Jennifer Koh's project, Alone Together. Appearances as guest conductor include Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Gewandhausorchester, Orquesta Sinfónica de Guanajuato, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuba, among others. Upcoming commissions feature works for the NewMusic USA Amplifying Voices Program, the League of American Orchestras, The Musical Fund Society in Philadelphia to celebrate their 200th anniversary, and Claire Chase, flute, and The Crossing Choir with text by Rita Dove. A founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, León instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series, co-founded the American Composers Orchestra's Sonidos de las Américas Festivals, was New Music Advisor to the New York Philharmonic, and is the founder/Artistic Director of Composers Now, a presenting, commissioning and advocacy organization for living composers. Honors include the New York Governor's Lifetime Achievement, inductions into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and fellowship awards from ASCAP Victor Herbert Award and The Koussevitzky Music and Guggenheim Foundations, among others. She also received a proclamation for Composers Now by the New York City Mayor, and the MadWoman Festival Award in Music (Spain). León has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Colgate University, Oberlin, SUNY Purchase College, and The Curtis Institute of Music, and served as U.S. Artistic Ambassador of American Culture in Madrid, Spain. A CUNY Professor Emerita, she was awarded a 2018 United States Artists Fellowship, and Chamber Music America's 2022 National Service Award. Throughout its 44-year history, the annual Honors Gala has become the highlight of the Washington cultural and society calendar, and its national broadcast on CBS is a high point of the television season. On Sunday, December 4, in a star-studded celebration on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage, the 45th class of Kennedy Center Honorees were saluted by today's leading performers from New York, Hollywood, and the arts capitals of the world. Seated in the Box Tier of the iconic Kennedy Center Opera House, the Honorees accepted the recognition and gratitude of their peers through performances and tributes. The 45th Kennedy Center Honors Gala concluded with a dinner in the Grand Foyer. The Honors Gala were recorded for broadcast on the CBS Television Network for the 45th consecutive year as a two-hour primetime special and are available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. e Honors recipients are recognized for their contributions to American culture through the performing arts — whether in music, dance, theater, opera, motion pictures, or television — and are confirmed by the Executive Committee of the Center's Board of Trustees. e primary criterion in the selection process is excellence. The following SAI Distinguished Members have been named Kennedy Center Honorees since the distinction was created in 1978. MEMBER LAUREATE Jessye Norman 1997 HONORARY MEMBERS Marian Anderson 1978 Leontyne Price 1980 Beverly Sills 1985 Rise Stevens 1990 Joan Sutherland 2004 Grace Bumbry 2009 Martina Arroyo 2013 Gloria Estefan 2017 NATIONAL ARTS ASSOCIATES William Schuman 1989 Van Cliburn 2001 John Williams 2004 Dave Brubeck 2009 Tania León 2022 KENNEDY CENTER KENNEDY CENTER HONOREES HONOREES León Named Kennedy Center Honoree Tania León receives the Kennedy Center Award Tania León receives the Kennedy Center Award on Dec 3 from Kennedy Center Chairman on Dec 3 from Kennedy Center Chairman David Rubenstein at the White House. David Rubenstein at the White House. State Department Photo State Department Photo

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