Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence Gala Honors Philanthropist Adrienne Arsht

Carnegie Hall honored philanthropist Adrienne Arsht by giving her the Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence. The event was held at The Plaza Hotel's Grand Ballroom. The award recognizes Ms. Arsht's exemplary philanthropy to cultural and nonprofit institutions throughout our nation, as well as her visionary leadership in the financial, public, and legal sectors. She is the first woman to receive this award, and is the ninth recipient of the Medal of Excellence. Previous recipients have included: Sanford I. Weill, Oscar de la Renta, Robert K. Kraft, Bill Cunningham, Henry T. Segerstrom, Terry J. Lundgren, Richard S. Fuld, Jr., and Kenneth D. Lewis.

Adrienne Arsht is a business leader and a philanthropist who splits her time between the three cities that she considers home: Washington, D.C., Miami and New York City. Passionate about spearheading artistic, business and civic growth, she is Founding Chairman of the Adrienne Arsht Center Foundation in Miami Florida. In 2008, her $30 million contribution to Miami's Performing Arts Center secured its financial footing and ensured quality cultural programming. In her honor, the Center was renamed the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. Ms. Arsht also supported the transformation of Lincoln Center's facilities and public spaces with an $11 million contribution, which was renamed the Adrienne Arsht Stage in Alice Tully Hall in 2012.

In Washington, she created the Adrienne Arsht Latin American Center at The Atlantic Council in 2013 to focus on the role of South America in the trans-Atlantic world, and is a Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 2009, Ms. Arsht established the Adrienne Arsht Theater Fund at the Kennedy Center to support a wide variety of theater productions. She is also the Vice Chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, an Executive Vice Chairman of the Atlantic Council, part of the Trustees Council of The National Gallery of Art, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is President of the Vice President's Residence Foundation.

About Carnegie Hall
Since 1891, Carnegie Hall has set the international standard for excellence in performance as the aspirational destination for the world's finest musicians. Carnegie Hall presents a wide range of performances each season on its three stages-the renownEd Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, intimate Weill Recital Hall, and innovative Zankel Hall-including concert series curated by acclaimed artists and composers; citywide festivals featuring collaborations with leading New York City cultural institutions; orchestral performances, chamber music, new music concerts, and recitals; and the best in jazz, world, and popular music.

Complementing these performance activities, Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute creates extensive music education, community, and social impact programs that annually serve more than 500,000 people in the New York City area, nationally, and internationally, playing a central role in Carnegie Hall's commitment to making great music accessible to as many people as possible. For more information, visit carnegiehall.org.