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.About the Award , MarianAndersonaward.org
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.
Awardees by year Below are the names of those who received the award since its reinstatement in 1990.Marian Anderson Award: Past Honorees , MarianAndersonaward.org Bill Cosby's 2009 award was rescinded by the committee after multiple allegations of sexual assault were made public. 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.
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Dee and Ossie Davis 2006 – Sidney Poitier 2007 – Richard Gere 2008 – Maya Angelou and Norman Lear 2009 – Bill Cosby (rescinded) 2011 – Mia Farrow 2012 – J'Nai Bridges 2013 – Berry Gordy 2014 – Jon Bon Jovi 2015 – Wynton Marsalis 2016 – Patti LaBelle and Gamble and Huff 2017 – Dionne Warwick 2018 – Queen Latifah (did not accept) 2019 – Kool & the Gang 2020 – canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021 – canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
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