NEA Honors Marsalis, Arroyo, Glass et al. Today, 6/25

On June 25, the National Endowment for the Arts will present lifetime achievement awards to eighteen artists, the New York Times reports.  The awards will be for achivement in the fields of opera, jazz, and folk and traditional arts and will include $25000.

As previously reported on BroadwayWorld, the honors for opera will go to composer Philip Glass, soprano Martina Arroyo, composer and Michigan Opera Theatre general director David DiChiera, and Opera Orchestra of New York music director Eve Queler.

The honors for jazz will go to the Marsalis family of jazz musicians (Branford, Delfeayo, Ellis Jr., Jason, and Wynton Marsalis), writer and record producer Orrin Keepnews, flutist Hubert Laws, saxophonist and flutist David Liebman, and composer and arranger Johnny Mandel, the Times reports.

The honors for folk and traditional arts will go to Ghanaian drummer Yacub Addy, fiddler Jim "Texas Shorty" Chancellor, Lauhala weaver Gladys Kukana Grace, sweetgrass basketweaver Mary Jackson, bluegrass guitarist and singer Delano "Del" Floyd McCoury, folklorist and editor Judith McCulloh, Narayanan Bharatanatyam Indian dancer Kamala Lakshmi, Irish flute player Mike Rafferty, and Afro-Cuban drummer and drum builder Ezequiel Torres, the Times reports. 

For more information about this year's honorees and the National Endowment for the Arts, visit www.nea.gov.

Photo Credit: Retna Ltd.