Marian Anderson Award

The Marian Anderson Award was originally established in 1943 by African American singer Marian Anderson after she was awarded the $10,000 Bok Prize that year by the city of Philadelphia. Anderson used the award money to establish a singing competition to help support young singers; recipients of which include Camilla Williams (1943, 1944), Nathaniel Dickerson (1944), Louise Parker (1944), Rawn Spearman (1949), Georgia Laster (1951), Betty Allen (1952), Gloria Davy (1952), Judith Raskin (1952, 1953), Shirlee Emmons (1953), Miriam Holman (1954), Willis Patterson (1956), Shirley Verrett (1957), Billie Lynn Daniel (1963), and Joyce Mathis (1967). Eventually the prize fund ran out of money and it was disbanded. Florence Quivar was the last recipient of this earlier award in 1976.

In 1990 the award was re-established and has dispensed $25,000 annually. In 1998 the prize was restructured with the "Marian Anderson Award" going to an established artist, not necessarily a singer, who exhibits leadership in a humanitarian area. A separate prize, the "Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists" is given to promising young classical singers.[1]

Awardees by year:[2]

1990 – Sylvia McNair 1991 – Denyce Graves 1992 – Philip Zawisza 1993 – Nancy Maultsby 1994 – Patricia Racette 1995 – Michelle DeYoung 1996 – Nathan Gunn 1997 – Marguerite Krull

1998 – Harry Belafonte 1999 – Gregory Peck 2000 – Elizabeth Taylor 2001 – Quincy Jones 2002 – Danny Glover 2003 – Oprah Winfrey 2005 – Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis 2006 – Sidney Poitier 2007 – Richard Gere 2008 – Maya Angelou and Norman Lear[3]

2009 – Bill Cosby (Rescinded) 2011 – Mia Farrow 2012 - James Earl Jones 2013 - Berry Gordy 2014 - Jon Bon Jovi 2015 - Wynton Marsalis 2016 - Patti LaBelle and Gamble and Huff 2017 - Dionne Warwick

References

1. About the Award Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine, MarianAndersonaward.org
2. Marian Anderson Award: Past Honorees Archived 2012-04-12 at the Wayback Machine, MarianAndersonaward.org
3. Rickey, Carrie (2008-11-18). "Angelou, Lear get Marian Anderson Award". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on November 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-22.