Oprah Winfrey named sixth recipient of Philadelphia's Marian Anderson Award honoring artists whose leadership benefits humanity.
Marian Anderson Award Presentation and Gala Performance featuring The Philadelphia Orchestra to take place Tuesday, November 18, 2003 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, actress, producer, magazine founder and editorial director, educator and philanthropist, will be the sixth recipient of Philadelphia's Marian Anderson Award, Mayor John F. Street announced today during a press conference at the Sofitel Hotel.
Oprah will be in Philadelphia for the Award Gala concert in her honor on Tuesday evening, November 18, 2003, in Verizon Hall of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The Gala Performance is produced in partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Marian Anderson Award and its prize of $100,000 is underwritten by First Union/Wachovia.
In making the announcement Mayor Street stated that, "Oprah Winfrey has probably been more influential in opening the minds and hearts of her audiences than any other public figure of the past fifty years. In addition to her role as a national mentor, she is an actress of rare talent and commitment, and a humanitarian with a unique capacity to educate and inform our society. Not only has she become one of our most important cultural leaders, but she has given extraordinarily of herself and through her personal foundation to promote her goals of empowerment for everyone, both in this country and around the world."
In announcing the choice of the Selection Panel for 2003, the Chairman of the Panel, film-maker Jonathan Demme noted that, "I speak on behalf of everyone on the Selection Panel when I say we felt that the wealth of artistic and humanitarian achievements of Oprah Winfrey recommended her singularly for the Award this year. She is an amazing individual and we are honored by her decision to accept the Marian Anderson Award for 2003." Mr. Demme has served as the Chairman of the Award Selection Panel since its inception.
Robert L. Reid, State CEO of First Union/First Union/Wachovia PA & DE and a member of the Marian Anderson Award Selection Panel, said that First Union/Wachovia was proud of its role in helping establish this prestigious award and of its ongoing commitment to the Marian Anderson Award. First Union/Wachovia has committed $2 million to underwrite the Award and its programming since the Award's establishment in 1998.
Oprah Winfrey has become one of the most influential voices of our time. Through her multi-media corporation, Harpo, Inc., her contributions can be felt beyond the world of television and into areas such as publishing, music, film, philanthropy, education, health and fitness, and social awareness. As supervising producer and host of the award-winning "The Oprah Winfrey Show," she entertains, enlightens and empowers millions of viewers around the world.
Oprah is the founder and editorial director of O, The Oprah Magazine, a monthly magazine through which she connects with her audience and provides possibilities for transforming their lives. It has been credited as being the most successful magazine launch in recent history. In April 2002, Oprah launched the first international edition of O, The Oprah Magazine in South Africa.
Oprah is a co-founder of Oxygen Media LLC, which includes a women's cable network that launched in February 2000. She has created and produced three original series for the Oxygen Network: "Oprah Goes Online;" "Use Your Life;" and most recently, the prime-time "Oprah After The Show," a spontaneous, unscripted, daily half-hour show taped after "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that premiered in September 2002.
In September 2002, Oprah created and launched "Dr. Phil," the hit syndicated series featuring life strategist Dr. Phil McGraw, Ph.D., who had been a regularly featured guest on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" since 1998. The show was an instant ratings success, garnering the best audience figures of any new talk show since "The Oprah Winfrey Show" debuted in 1986. Created by Harpo Productions, the show is produced by Paramount Domestic Television and distributed in national syndication by King World Productions and globally by CBS Broadcast International.
As an actress, Oprah has earned critical acclaim for her numerous acting roles, including an Academy Award nomination or her debut in The Color Purple. Through Harpo Films, she has produced several Emmy Award-winning telepictures, including "Tuesdays With Morrie," and in 1998 she produced and starred in Touchstone Pictures' Beloved.
The Oprah Winfrey Foundation(s) was established to support the inspiration, empowerment, education and well-being of women, children and families around the world. Through these private charities, Oprah has directly served the needs of low opportunity people and has awarded hundreds of grants to organizations that carry out this vision. She has contributed millions of dollars towards providing a better education for underserved students who have merit but no means. She serves as the national spokesperson for A Better Chance, an organization that provides academically talented high school students of color, predominantly from inner city school districts, the opportunity to attend many of the nation's finest college preparatory schools. She created The Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program, which gives scholarships to students determined to use their education to give back to their communities in the United States and abroad.
The Oprah Winfrey Foundation(s) continues to expand its global humanitarian efforts in developing countries. In December 002, Oprah brought a day of joy to tens of thousands of children with ChristmasKindness South Africa 2002, an initiative that included visits to orphanages and rural schools throughout several provinces in South Africa where children received gifts of food, clothing, athletic shoes, school supplies, books and toys. Sixty-three rural schools received libraries and teacher education, which will continue throughout 2003. In addition, she announced a partnership with South Africa's Ministry of Education to build a model leadership school for girls. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls South Africa is scheduled to open in January of 2005.
Oprah's commitments extend to her initiation of the National Child Protection Act in 1991; she testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to establish a national database of convicted child abusers and on December 20, 1993, President Clinton signed the national "Oprah Bill" into law.
The Marian Anderson Award honors artists whose leadership on behalf of a humanitarian cause(s) or issue benefits society. Created in 1998, this extraordinary accolade, named for the great Philadelphian and American artist, is produced and administered by the Philadelphia Festival of the Arts, Inc. under the direction of J. Patrick Moran.
The first recipient of the Marian Anderson Award in 1998 was Harry Belafonte, followed by Gregory Peck in 1999, Dame Elizabeth Taylor in 2000, Quincy Jones in 2001, and Danny Glover in 2002, all of whom traveled to Philadelphia to accept the Award in person, as will Oprah during the special award program and gala performance which will take place Tuesday evening, November 18, 2003.
The Marian Anderson Award and Gala Performance will take place in Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and will be produced by the Philadelphia Festival of the Arts, Inc. in partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra. The Orchestra will perform during the Gala and, as in previous years, the evening will feature a series of celebrity guests and performers paying tribute to Oprah. The Gala Performance will be preceded by the annual Gala Dinner. Those interested in attending the event can call the Marian Anderson Award office at 215 683-2094 to receive an invitation.
Pamela A. Crawley, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at Citizens Bank, was joined by Board's Vice Chairman, James J. Cuorato, the City's Commerce Director, in thanking the Award's founding sponsor First Union/Wachovia. Among other lead sponsors thanked for their support were American Airlines the Official Airline of the Marian Anderson Award and Sofitel Philadelphia, for extraordinary support for the Award program and for serving as the Official Hotel Sponsor again this year, PECO for serving as the 2003 Gala Dinner sponsors, and the Delaware River Port Authority for important regional support. Other important sponsors include Tierney Communications, Citizens Bank, KB Consultants, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and WJJJZ-Cool Jazz.
The remarks concluded with the announcement that the Marian Anderson Community investments programs, including the Young Artist-Study Grant and Community Arts Grant programs and the Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists produced in partnership with ASTRAL Artistic Services will be ongoing. Since 1998, in addition to the annual prize honoring artist humanitarians, the Marian Anderson Award has succeeded in providing more than $250,000 in public programs, commissions, sponsorships and grants that benefit Philadelphia and the region.
Marian Anderson, the most celebrated contralto of the twentieth century, was born in Philadelphia on February 27, 1897 to an African-American family of modest means. Recognized for her extraordinary musical talent, as well as her generosity and commitment to others, Ms. Anderson was a master of repertoire across operatic, recital, and American traditional genres. Throughout her musical career, she played an incalculably vital role in the acceptance of African-American musicians in the classical musical world.
In 1957, Ms. Anderson was appointed by the U.S. Department of State to serve as a Special Envoy to the Far East, and the following year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower named her to the post of delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations. She sang at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961; in 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom upon her.
On her 75th birthday in 1972, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution ordering a special gold medal minted in her honor. On April 8, 1993, Marian Anderson died at the age of 96 in Portland, Oregon.
In addition to Mr. Demme, the Selection Panel includes Pamela A. Crawley and James J. Cuorato along with Founding Chairman Brian P. Tierney; and Mr. Reid; and also includes Award recipient Harry Belafonte; Lorene Cary, critically acclaimed author and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania; Board Member Miguel-Angel Corzo, President of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia; James DePreist, Music Director of the Oregon Symphony and nephew of Marian Anderson; Anne d'Harnoncourt, the George S. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Suzanne Farrell, former Principal Dancer with the New York City Ballet and Repetiteur for the Balanchine Trust; Award recipient Quincy Jones; Award Board Member Joseph H. Kluger, President of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association; James McBride, award-winning author and jazz musician; Award recipient Gregory Peck and Carole Price Shanis, Award Board Member and President of the Philadelphia Art Alliance.
Members of the Marian Anderson Award Board of Directors, presided over by Ms. Crawley, include, in addition to Mr. Corzo, Mr. Cuorato, Mr. Kluger, and Ms. Shanis, Kelly Boyd, President of KB Consultants; Jonathan Estrin, Dean of the School of Media Arts, Drexel University, Valerie Ferguson, Vice President and General Manager of Loews Philadelphia; Sandra Grymes, a lecturer at the New School University in Manhattan and cousin of Marian Anderson; Carol Clark Lawrence, Deputy City Representative for Arts and Culture; Marciarose Shestack; Leslie Stiles, Director of Marketing for the National Constitution Center; and Joseph Weiss, President of ElectronicINK.
Ongoing information can be accessed by the public through the City of Philadelphia's web-site at http://www.phila.gov/ or by calling the Marian Anderson Award office at 215-683-2094.