Webber Among Kennedy Center Honors Recipients

This year's group of Kennedy Center Honor recipients includes composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.  The ceremony for the prestigious award will take place in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center's Opera House on December 3rd.

Tony Award-winner Lloyd Webber, whose Evita is currently a Broadway-bound smash in London, will join fellow honorees--conductor Zubin Mehta, country star and songwriter Dolly Parton, singer-songwriter Smokey Robinson and film director-producer Steven Spielberg.  The Kennedy Center Honors will be filmed and broadcast on CBS later in December.

"This year we honor five extraordinary international artists whose abundant contributions to their fields are remarkable. They have transformed the culture of our country and of the world. Andrew Lloyd Webber has led a seismic change in our musical theater becoming the most popular theater composer in the world; conductor Zubin Mehta's profound artistry and devotion to music make him a world treasure; Dolly Parton's creativity and spirit make her country music's best international ambassador; Smokey Robinson's song and voice have created the soundtrack for the lives of a generation of Americans; and Steven Spielberg's films make him one of the most successful and accomplished directors of all time," stated Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman.

The honorees will be presented with their awards on December 2nd at a State Department dinner hosted by Condoleezza Rice, while on December 3rd, President and Mrs. Bush will receive the honorees at the White House before the Kennedy Center ceremony.

Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has been a major theatrical force for almost 40 years.  Also a theatre-owner and impresario, Lloyd Webber has penned the music to Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, Song and Dance, The Phantom of the Opera, Starlight Express, Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard, Whistle Down the Wind, The Beautiful Game, The Woman in White and more.  As the producer of the upcoming London The Sound of Music revival, he currently appears on the UK reality show "How to Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?," which aims to find an unknown actress to play the spirited governess in the West End.  His next musical will be an adaptation of the Russian novel The Master and Margarita.

Tony Bennett, Suzanne Farrell, Julie Harris, Robert Redford and Tina Turner were the recipients of Kennedy Center Honors in 2005.

Visit www.kennedy-center.org for more information.