Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall has announced that Adrienne Arsht will receive the Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence at a gala benefit on Tuesday, June 20 at 6:30 p.m. at The Plaza Hotel’s Grand Ballroom. The award recognizes Ms. Arsht’s exemplary philanthropy to cultural and nonprofit institutions throughout our nation, as well as her visionary leadership in the financial, public, and legal sectors. She is the first woman to receive this award.

Carnegie Hall’s 2017 Medal of Excellence Gala leadership includes Chairmen Committee members Aisha and Gbenga Oyebode, Sana H. Sabbagh and Hope and Robert F. Smith, and Co-Chairman Valentino D. Carlotti, Robert K. Kraft, and Tracy Chutorian Semler and Eric Semler. The June 20 gala includes a cocktail reception in The Plaza Hotel’s Terrace Room followed by a seated dinner and award ceremony in the Grand Ballroom. The evening will also feature special musical performances by distinguished artists including young, virtuoso pianist Daniela Liebman; singer/songwriter Storm Large of the renowned pop group Pink Martini; and Broadway star Marin Mazzie. Additional special guest artists to be announced.

“We are thrilled to honor our good friend Adrienne Arsht by presenting her with Carnegie Hall’s Medal of Excellence,” said Robert F. Smith, Chairman of Carnegie Hall’s Board of Trustees. “Adrienne is the embodiment of all that the Medal of Excellence stands for—a celebration of the unique and vital role a business and philanthropic leader plays in support of the arts. We look forward to celebrating the hallmarks of Adrienne’s remarkable career, as well as her extraordinary philanthropy to many nonprofit institutions throughout our nation.”

“Music and the arts have always been an extremely important part of my life,” said Adrienne Arsht. “It is a great honor to receive this medal and be recognized in this way. For a long time Carnegie Hall has been a special place for me and I share the vision of the hall, not just as one of the greatest concert halls in the world, but also a major center for music education, and a place that brings people of many different backgrounds together through the transformative power of music.”

All proceeds from this gala evening benefit Carnegie Hall’s artistic, education, and community programs. Gala tables are priced at $150,000, $100,000, $50,000, and $25,000 and include a table of ten guests at the gala award dinner. Individual gala tickets are priced at $5,000 and $2,500 and also include dinner. To reserve gala tables and tickets, please call the Special Events Office at 212-903-9679 or email specialevents@carnegiehall.org.

Ms. Arsht will be the ninth recipient of the Medal of Excellence. Previous recipients have included: Sanford I. Weill, Oscar de la Renta, Robert K. Kraft, Bill Cunningham, Henry T. Segerstrom, Terry J. Lundgren, Richard S. Fuld, Jr., and Kenneth D. Lewis.

About the Honoree
Adrienne Arsht is a business leader and philanthropist. Ms. Arsht has taken a leading role promoting artistic, business, and civic growth in the three cities she calls home: New York, Washington, D.C, and Miami. She is Founding Chairman of the Adrienne Arsht Center Foundation in Miami, Florida. In 2008, her $30 million contribution to Miami’s Performing Arts Center transformed the city. The Center was renamed in her honor, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami‐Dade County. Her support of the transformation of Lincoln Center’s facilities and public spaces was recognized with the dedication of the Adrienne Arsht Stage in Alice Tully Hall. In Washington, Ms. Arsht recently spearheaded the creation of the Adrienne Arsht Center for Resilience at The Atlantic Council where she also endowed the Adrienne Arsht Latin American Center in 2013 to focus on the role of South America in the trans-Atlantic community. Ms. Arsht is a Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She established the Adrienne Arsht Theater Fund at the Kennedy Center to support a wide variety of theater productions. Ms. Arsht is a Vice Chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, an Executive Vice Chairman of the Atlantic Council. She is a member Trustees Council of The National Gallery of Art and a Board Member of the Blair House Restoration Fund. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is former President of the Vice President’s Residence Foundation. She is Trustee Emerita of the University of Miami and an honorary board member of Amigos for Kids.

About Carnegie Hall
Since 1891, Carnegie Hall has set the international standard for excellence in performance as the aspirational destination for the world's finest musicians. Carnegie Hall presents a wide range of performances each season on its three stages—the renowned Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, intimate Weill Recital Hall, and innovative Zankel Hall—including concert series curated by acclaimed artists and composers; citywide festivals featuring collaborations with leading New York City cultural institutions; orchestral performances, chamber music, new music concerts, and recitals; and the best in jazz, world, and popular music. Complementing these performance activities, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute creates extensive music education, community, and social impact programs that annually serve more than 500,000 people in the New York City area, nationally, and internationally, playing a central role in Carnegie Hall’s commitment to making great music accessible to as many people as possible. For more information, visit carnegiehall.org.