The Association of Performing Arts Presenters has announced its 2012 Annual APAP Awards recipients, including George Wein, the legendary founder of the Newport Jazz Festival and Newport Folk Festival. The organization honors persons whose service to the performing arts has had a significant impact on the industry and on communities worldwide. The winners will be honored at a luncheon on Jan. 9, at the Hilton New York in New York City. The event is part of APAP|NYC, the association’s annual conference and the world’s largest gathering of performing arts professionals.
Wein will be given APAP’s Award of Merit for Achievement in Performing Arts. This year’s other awardees are:
The William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence and Sustained Achievement in Programming: White Bird Dance, under the leadership of Paul King and Walter Jaffe;
The Sidney R. Yates Award for Outstanding Advocacy on Behalf of the Performing Arts: Ben Cameron, of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation;
The Fan Taylor Distinguished Service Award for Exemplary Service to the Field of Professional Presenting remains undisclosed until Jan. 9.
A panel of national arts leaders decides on the winners each year based on nominations from the field. This year’s awards committee included: Neil Benson of Opus 3 Artists (NY), Gaylen Phillips of the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs (FL), Beth Morrison of Beth Morrison Projects (NY), Suzanne Carbonneau of George Mason University (VA), Steve Hoffman of Norton Center for the Arts (KY), MK Wegmann of National Performance Network (LA), Ed Noonan of the Myrna Loy Center/Helena Presents (MT), and Alberta Arthurs, an independent contractor in the arts and humanities (NY).
