By Stone Martindale Sep 13, 2007, 0:11 GMT
The Kennedy Center picks 2007 honorees for career excellence and contributions to the arts.
Martin Scorsese poses during a photocall for the World Cinema Foundation at the 60th Cannes Film Festival, 22 May 2007, in Cannes, France. EPA/DANIEL DEME
Director Martin Scorsese, Writer, Actor, Comic and Producer Steve Martin, Singer Diana Ross, Singer and musician Brian Wilson and pianist Leon Fleisher have been selected to receive this year's Kennedy Center Honors.
The thirtieth edition of the event will be presented December 2 at a gala celebration at the Center, produced by George Stevens Jr. and will be broadcast December 26 on CBS network.
The posh social event will be attended by the President and First Lady, and serves as a fund-raiser for the Kennedy Center as well..
The honorees will be saluted by their peers, entertainers and colleagues from the performing arts.
The event will includes a State Department dinner for the recipients hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, followed by a White House reception.
In a press statement, Kennedy Center chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman praised Fleisher as a "consummate musician whose career is a moving testament to the life-affirming power of art."
Ms. Ross was cited for spreading joy with her voice and Beach Boy Wilson for his "era-defining transformation of the sound of music."
Mr. Martin was described as a "Renaissance comic whose talents wipe out the boundaries between artistic disciplines" and Mr. Scorsese a "visionary filmmaker and a fearless artist."
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