Handel Medallion

The Handel Medallion is an American award presented by the City of New York

Government of New York City

The government of New York City is organized under the City Charter and provides for a "strong" mayor-council system. The government of New York is more centralized than that of most other U.S...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. It is the city's highest award given to individuals for their contribution to the city's intellectual and cultural life.

Establishment

The award was first issued in 1959 to Virginia Portia Royall Inness-Brown

Virginia Portia Royall Inness-Brown

Virginia Portia Royall Inness-Brown , noted proponent of the arts and first recipient of the Handel Medallion of New York City in 1959, was born in Medford, Massachusetts on May 4, 1901. She was the daughter of John Allen Crosskeys Royall and Agatha Caroline Freeman...

, upon the 200th anniversary of the death of George Handel (1685–1759), the German-British Baroque

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

 composer, noted for his operas, oratorio

Oratorio

An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...

s, anthems and organ concerto

Concerto

A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...

s.

Award winners

Year	Recipient	Notes
1959	Virginia Portia Royall Inness-Brown Virginia Portia Royall Inness-Brown Virginia Portia Royall Inness-Brown , noted proponent of the arts and first recipient of the Handel Medallion of New York City in 1959, was born in Medford, Massachusetts on May 4, 1901. She was the daughter of John Allen Crosskeys Royall and Agatha Caroline Freeman...  (1901–1990)
1967	Richard Rodgers Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...  (1902–1979), William Schuman William Schuman William Howard Schuman was an American composer and music administrator.-Life:Born in Manhattan in New York City to Samuel and Rachel Schuman, Schuman was named after the twenty-seventh U.S. president, William Howard Taft, although his family preferred to call him Bill...
1969	Claire Raphael Reis Claire Raphael Reis Claire Raphael Reis was a music promoter and the founder of the People's Music League in New York City. The League was intended to provide free concerts for immigrants and public schools....
1970	George Balanchine George Balanchine George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet... , Aaron Copland Aaron Copland Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"... , Alice Tully Alice Tully Alice Bigelow Tully was a U.S. singer, music promoter and philanthropist.Alice Tully was born in Corning, New York. She spent her high school years at the famous Westover School in Middlebury, Connecticut. Tully began her career as a mezzo-soprano, then became a soprano. She studied in Paris and...
1971	Joseph Papp Joseph Papp Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
1972	Marian Anderson Marian Anderson Marian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century... , Harold Arlen Harold Arlen Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the... , Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I... , Elia Kazan Elia Kazan Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
1973	Duke Ellington Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions... , Melissa Hayden Melissa Hayden (dancer) Melissa Hayden was a Canadian ballerina at the New York City Ballet.-Early life:... , Lincoln Kirstein Lincoln Kirstein Lincoln Edward Kirstein was an American writer, impresario, art connoisseur, and cultural figure in New York City... , Oratorio Society of New York Oratorio Society of New York The Oratorio Society of New York is a non-profit membership organization which performs choral music in the oratorio style. The Society was founded in 1873 by conductor Leopold Damrosch, and it is New York City's second oldest cultural organization... , Beverly Sills Beverly Sills Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...
1976	George Abbott George Abbott George Francis Abbott was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than nine decades.-Early years:... , Margot Fonteyn Margot Fonteyn Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, DBE , was an English ballerina of the 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time... , Agnes de Mille Agnes de Mille Agnes George de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille were both Hollywood directors... , Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
1977	Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
1978	Elliot Carter
1980	Marilyn Horne Marilyn Horne Marilyn Horne is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages....
1981	Lena Horne Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
1982	John Lennon John Lennon John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
1985	Leontyne Price Leontyne Price Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...
1986	Alexandra Danilova Alexandra Danilova Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova was a Russian-born prima ballerina who became an American citizen.... , Antony Tudor Antony Tudor Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
1989	Charles Wadsworth Charles Wadsworth Charles Wadsworth is a classical pianist and musical promoter, who gained international renown in 1960 by originating the Midday Concerts at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto. He also started the chamber music concert series at the Spoleto Festival USA, which he directs, performs at and...
1993	Robert Merrill Robert Merrill Robert Merrill was an American operatic baritone.-Early life:Merrill was born Moishe Miller, later known as Morris Miller, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, to tailor Abraham Miller, originally Milstein, and his wife Lillian, née Balaban, immigrants from Warsaw, Poland.His mother... , Arthur Mitchell Arthur Mitchell Arthur Mitchell may refer to:*Arthur Mitchell antiquary, commissioner of Lunacy*Arthur Mitchell , former England Test cricketer*Arthur Mitchell , African-American dancer and choreographer...
1997	Skitch Henderson Skitch Henderson Lyle Russell Cedric “Skitch” Henderson was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname reportedly derived from his ability to quickly "re-sketch" a song in a different key.- Biography :...  (1918–2005)
1999	Merce Cunningham Merce Cunningham Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
2002	Licia Albanese Licia Albanese Licia Albanese is an Italian-born American operatic soprano. Noted especially for her portrayals of the lyric heroines of Verdi and Puccini, Albanese was a leading artist with the Metropolitan Opera of New York from 1940 to 1966... , Roberta Peters Roberta Peters Roberta Peters is an American coloratura soprano.One of the most prominent American singers to achieve lasting fame and success in opera, Peters is noted for her 35-year association with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York...		2011	Stephen Sondheim Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...	http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/sondheim-to-receive-new-york-city-arts-honor/?scp=2&sq=sondheim&st=cse

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Years unknown:

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