Pinchas Zukerman performs at Kennedy Center Honors for his friend and 2003 Honoree Itzhak Perlman: Gala to be broadcast on CBS on December 26
December 09, 2003 -
Ottawa (Canada) -- National Arts Centre Orchestra Music Director Pinchas Zukerman is performing in honour of his longtime friend and colleague Itzhak Perlman at the 26th annual Kennedy Center Honors to be broadcast on the CBS Network on Friday, December 26 from 9 to 11 p.m.
The Kennedy Center Honors were held on Sunday, December 7 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC in the presence of President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush. Itzhak Perlman's fellow recipients were musician James Brown, actress Carol Burnett, singer Loretta Lynn, director Mike Nichols.
The annual Honors Gala has become the highlight of the Washington cultural year attended by artists from around the world. The Honorees are saluted by stars from the world of the performing arts.
The complete list of guest performers is kept secret until the show is in progress, keeping both the Honorees and the nation on the edge of their seats. "Our tradition of surprises and surprise guests is particularly special," said George Stevens, Jr., the show's longtime co-producer on announcing this year's Honorees. "[The fun of the show] is increased by not knowing what to expect; the evening becomes exciting for the Honorees, whose reactions and pleasure at the proceedings make the evening so much fun to watch."
Pinchas Zukerman along with students from the Perlman Music Programme performed an excerpt from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons in honour of Itzhak Perlman. The two have been friends and colleagues for four decades. Perlman recently joined Zukerman for the National Arts Centre's annual Fundraising Gala in October 2003.
The Honors recipients are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts: whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures, or television. The primary criterion in the selection process is excellence. The Honors are America's equivalent of a knighthood in Britain, or the French Legion of Honor - the quintessential reward for a lifetime's endeavor. In Canada, lifetime achievement in the arts is recognized at the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.
