Kimmel Center Partners with Marian Anderson Award for Future Ceremonies

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is pleased to announce its new partnership with the Marian Anderson Award in which future Award ceremony events and galas will be done in partnership with the Kimmel Center. The announcement comes after 15 years of the Award Concert being held in the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall and gala festivities on Commonwealth Plaza.

"We are humbled to continue to be part of the legacy of the Marian Anderson Award," said Anne Ewers, President & CEO of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. "The Award has long been a vital piece of Philadelphia's art and culture history held at the Kimmel Center and we are thrilled to now be a part of that family."

"The Marian Anderson Award couldn't ask for a better partner to help expand the reach and tell the story of the amazing artists and individuals we recognize each year," said Pat Moran, Executive Director, Marian Anderson Award. "To merge our traditions with this organization that has done so much to revitalize the arts in Philadelphia is a seamless pairing."

The Marian Anderson Award honors critically acclaimed artists who have impacted society in a positive way, either through their work or their support for an important cause. Created in 1998, the Award is named for the great Philadelphian and American artist. Each year honorees are selected by the Award's board of directors from among candidates with distinguished careers of artistic achievement and critical acclaim.

The Marian Anderson Award also honors the legacy of Marian Anderson through its Young Artist Study-Grant (YASG) Program which supports financially challenged high school-aged artists from throughout the Greater Philadelphia area.

The first recipient of the Marian Anderson Award was Harry Belafonte in 1998. Other previous recipients include Gregory Peck, Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Quincy Jones, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Sidney Poitier, Richard Gere, Maya Angelou and Norman Lear, Mia Farrow, James Earl Jones, Berry Gordy, Jon Bon Jovi, and, most recently, Wynton Marsalis.

The 2016 Marian Anderson Award ceremony and gala will take place on November 15, 2016.

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