The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has awarded this year’s Gold Medal in the Arts to musical artists from Hungary and Austria. The Gold Medals focus on different cities or countries each year. The 2019 awards went to conductors Ádám Fischer and Ivan Fischer; composer and pianist György Kurtág; soprano Eva Marton; and composer Iván Eröd from Hungary; and to Salzburg Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler; actor Christoph Waltz; and Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-Möst from Austria. The awards, given to performers and arts leaders in their respective international communities, were presented at ceremonies on June 18 in Budapest and June 21 in Vienna. The Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts was founded in 2001 to improve the Center’s international program and to promote global exchange in art. The Gold Medal in the Arts recognizes extraordinary achievement in the arts each year at an international summit. “Each year, we present the Kennedy Center Gold Medal in the Arts to creative leaders who have made indelible marks on the international arts world and have inspired generations of artists around the globe,” says Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter. “It is an honor to recognize this year’s exceptional group of Hungarian and Austrian artists and arts leaders.”
Posted June 26, 2019
