The Marian Anderson Award was originally established in 1943 by African American singer Marian Anderson, after she was awarded The Philadelphia Award (and the cash prize that came with it) in 1940. 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), Eudice Mesibov (1946), Mattiwilda Dobbs (1947), 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), Joanna Simon (1962), 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]
In 2022, the independent organization running the award program dissolved, and Play On Philly, an after-school classical music education program, became the administrators of the award.[2]
Awardees by year
editBelow are the names of those who received the award since its reinstatement in 1990.[3] Bill Cosby's 2009 award was rescinded by the committee after multiple allegations of sexual assault were made public.[4] In 2018, Queen Latifah was poised to receive the award, but later announced that she wouldn't be accepting it due to "personal reasons"; that year's award ceremony was postponed indefinitely.[5]
The award was not issued in 2020 or 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 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[6]
- 2009 – Bill Cosby (rescinded)
- 2011 – Mia Farrow
- 2012 – J'Nai Bridges[7]
- 2013 – Berry Gordy
- 2014 – Jon Bon Jovi
- 2015 – Wynton Marsalis
- 2016 – Patti LaBelle and Gamble and Huff
- 2017 – Dionne Warwick
- 2018 – Queen Latifah[8] (did not accept)
- 2019 – Kool & the Gang[9]
- 2020 – canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
- 2021 – canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
References
edit- ^ About the Award Archived March 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, MarianAndersonaward.org
- ^ "Play On Philly acquires the Marian Anderson Award". WHYY. Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ Marian Anderson Award: Past Honorees Archived April 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, MarianAndersonaward.org
- ^ Vadala, Nick (May 3, 2018). "Bill Cosby's Marian Anderson Award rescinded". www.inquirer.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ P, Milca (October 14, 2018). "Queen Latifah Will Not Accept Marian Anderson Award Due To "Personal Reasons"". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ Rickey, Carrie (November 18, 2008). "Angelou, Lear get Marian Anderson Award". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on November 27, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Bean, Zoe (August 21, 2018). "Queen Latifah to receive 2018 Marian Anderson Award". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
- ^ White, Abbey (June 5, 2019). "Kool & the Gang to receive 2019 Marian Anderson Award on group's 50th anniversary". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.