Meryl Streep, Neil Diamond, Yo-Yo Ma named as 2011 Kennedy Center honorees
Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep, 62, was announced yesterday to be the recipient of honors from the Kennedy Center this year.
Streep will be honored at the ceremony alongside singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma, jazz musician Sonny Rollins and Broadway star Barbara Cook. Streep is being recognized for her contributions to US culture.
“All that education, allowance, tuition, voice lessons, summer jobs, scholarship application deadlines and loving care and discipline – all that they gave me, bore fruit in a way they never dreamed,” Streep said in a statement.
Diamond, also a recipient of Kennedy Center honors, told the Associated Press that he was “flying way above sea level” when he got the news.”I’ve watched, and I’ve seen, and I’ve even dreamed that someday that would happen to me, but I never really believed that it would.”
David Rubenstein, chairman of the Kennedy Center, described the honorees as people “whose collective artistry has contributed significantly to the cultural life of our nation and the world”. He went on to describe Streep’s performances as one of “the most exhilarating cultural spectacles of our time.”
He had similarly nice things to say about Diamond, calling his works “one of the most enduring catalogues of American popular music.”
The ceremony is scheduled to take place on December 4 in Washington, where President Obama will be in attendance to salute the Kennedy Center honorees. A television broadcast will air on CBS December 27.
via BBC
