Tilson Thomas-Vanessa Williams-NFAA Bash January 16!

VANESSA WILLIAMS

MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS

NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ADVANCEMENT IN THE ARTS' AN AFFAIR OF THE ARTS        PERFORMANCE & GALA TO CELEBRATE 25TH ANNIVERSARY

INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED CONDUCTOR MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS TO RECEIVE 6TH ANNUAL ARISON AWARD. SINGER /ACTRESS Vanessa Williams TO RECEIVE NFAA'S FIRST ANNUAL ALUMNI AWARD FORMER ARISON AWARD RECIPIENTS Mikhail Baryshnikov, PLÁCIDO DOMINGO, JACQUES D'AMBOISE, ROBERTA GUASPARI AND QUINCY JONES AND TO ATTEND Marking 25 years as one of the nation's foremost advocates of artistically gifted young people, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) will dedicate its annual An Affair of the Arts Performance and Arts Gala, Saturday, January 14, at 6 P.M. to a celebration of the Miami-based organization's extraordinary 25 years of success and as the occasion to honor the New World Symphony's internationally acclaimed Music Director, Michael Tilson Thomas, as recipient of the Sixth Annual 2006 Arison Award. Actress/singer Vanessa Williams, who as a teenager was an NFAA ARTS winner, will also be honored as the recipient of NFAA's First Annual Alumni Award. "We are very excited about the sheer array of artistic power that will be joining us to mark this unprecedented occasion," said NFAA President Dr. William H. Banchs. "Clearly, the arts are the common language of every generation, and it gives us great pleasure to continue to help empower them for America's future. Major sponsors from last year's gala are renewing their participation, including SunTrust as a Sapphire Sponsor and PricewaterhouseCoopers, which will be sponsoring the Arison Award again this year. In addition, Gibson Guitar and Baldwin Piano are the sponsors of Ms. Williams' NFAA Alumni Award. " Held at Miami's Bayfront Park overlooking the bay, a major highlight of the evening will be Maestro Thomas conducting the New World Symphony in one of its own works; as well as performances by Vanessa Williams, and former ARTS winners jazz artist Roy Hargrove, violinist Jennifer Koh, Alvin Ailey dancers Matthew Rushing and Linda Sims, and New York City Ballet's Phillip Neal and Pauline Golbin. Past Arison Award recipients Mikhail Baryshnikov, Placido Domingo, Quincy Jones and Jacques D'Amboise have all confirmed their attendance among the more than 1500 international guests and stellar celebrities anticipated to honor the achievements of NFAA, Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas, Vanessa Williams, and the young, national winners of NFAA's acclaimed ARTS program. NFAA was born in 1981 when Lin and the late Ted Arison offered an initial $5 million seed grant to fuel the budding institution and to help put Miami on the cultural map. Following months of discussions with authoritative consultants, NFAA declared its mission to be a strongly focused effort to identify emerging artists and assist them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development. NFAA launched its ongoing journey to every high school in America inviting 17 and 18 year-old artists in all art forms to submit their work for evaluation. From the thousands of applicants, 160 will be selected to come to Miami in January for ARTS Week to participate in workshops, master classes, personal adjudications, and the opportunity to receive financial rewards. In addition to scholarships, the top 20 are named Presidential Scholars in the Arts, and go to the White House where they receive the gold Presidential Medallion. As part of the celebration, the Scholars in the performing arts are showcased at the Kennedy Center, and the Scholars in the visual and literary arts are featured in an exhibit at one of the major Washington, D.C. museums. These 20 artists are honored by the President for their artistic accomplishments along with another 121 high school seniors selected for excellence in other areas of endeavor. In its 25-year history, more than 150,000 high school students from across the nation have applied, approximately 3,000 have passed through Miami's doors; 478 having been named Presidential Scholars in the Arts; five million dollars has been distributed in cash awards; and more than $80 million in college scholarships have been granted to NFAA participants by NFAA affiliated institutions. In naming Michael Tilson Thomas recipient of the Sixth Annual 2006 Arison Award, acknowledgement is given to an artist whose life work and personal commitment has been an inspiration to all who have followed his brilliant career. Created by NFAA in honor of its founder, Ted Arison, Maestro Thomas more than admirably fulfils the Arison intent to recognize individual achievement in developing and nurturing young talent. Through five decades of an illustrious career, Maestro Thomas has been universally praised for his innovative, adventurous programming, for his dedication to young people, and for bringing the works of American composers to the fore. Currently Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, a post to which Maestro Thomas was named in September 1995, the Los Angeles-born conductor/composer counts a career noted for such musical landmarks as Musical Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Principal Guest Conductor of the Boston Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Principal Conductor of the London Symphony, Composer-in-Residence for the Aspen Festival, an exclusive recording contract with CBS Masterworks, six Grammy awards, and the creation of CBS-TV's New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts. Named "Player of the Year" by National Public Radio's "Performance Today," Maestro Thomas has also been awarded innumerable international honors including France's Chevalier des Arts et des Letters. Vanessa Williams, who will be receiving the first annual NFAA Alumni Award, is a clear example of the nurturing climate that attends the launch of an exciting performing arts career. An ARTS program winner as a singing teenager, the Milltown, N.Y. native began entering beauty pageants soon after. Representing New York in the Miss America contest, Williams became the first African-American ever to be crowned the winner. Ms. Williams became a major sensation as a recording artist hitting the top of the R&B charts with such hit albums as "The Right Stuff," "The Comfort Zone," "The Sweetest Days," and the smash singles "Dreamin'," "Save the Best for Last," and "Love Is." Williams starred in her first Broadway role when she took over the lead in "Kiss of the Spider Woman" whose cast album was re-recorded to accommodate her applauded performance. Soon after, Williams recorded the commercial version of "Colors of the Wind," the theme to the Disney film "Pocahontas" which was a huge hit winning the Academy Award. Films to follow were starring roles opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Eraser," "Soul Food," "Dance With Me," "Light it Up," and the remake of "Shaft." In the interim, Williams continued to record such hit albums as "Next," and "Greatest Hits: The First Ten Years." She was nominated for Broadway's 2002 Tony Award as Best Actress (Musical) for the revival of "Into The Woods," and she is currently starring in a new TV show called "South Beach," which is in production. NFAA Gala co-chairs are Mary and Howard Frank, Jane and Gerald Katcher, Toni and Carl Randolph, and Hazel and Larry Rosen. Ticket prices range from $600 to $1,000 per person. Further information is available by calling Pilar Pava, (305) 377-1140 or via e-mail: pilar@nfaa.org. ABOUT NFAA: Dedicated to empowering the arts for America's future, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1981 by businessman and visionary Ted Arison. NFAA's mission is to identify emerging artists and assist them at critical junctures with their educational and professional development; and to raise the appreciation for, and support of, the arts in American society. Arts Recognition and Talent Search® (ARTS) is a program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA). The ARTS program is sponsored, in part, by: Carnival Cruise Lines, The Coca-Cola Company, Gibson Musical Instruments, Baldwin Piano and The Gibson Foundation, International Association for Jazz Education, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Trust, Music for Youth Foundation, Northern Trust, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Smithsonian Magazine and SunTrust. ARTS Week 2005 was made possible, in part, with support from American Airlines, The State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Tourist Development Council, the Mayor and the Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners. For more information about NFAA, visit the website www.NFAA.ARTSawards.org.

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