# Handel Medallion
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{{more citations needed|date=October 2011}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox award
| name = Handel Medallion
| current_awards =
| image =
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption =
| awarded_for =
| presenter = The [City of New York](/source/Government_of_New_York_City), United States
| date =
| location = New York City
| country = United States
| reward = Medallion
| year = 1959
| year2 =
| holder =
| website =
}}
The '''Handel Medallion''' is an American award presented by the [City of New York](/source/Government_of_New_York_City). It is the city's highest award given to individuals for their contribution to the city's intellectual and cultural life.
==Establishment==
The award was first issued in 1959 to [Virginia Portia Royall Inness-Brown](/source/Virginia_Portia_Royall_Inness-Brown), upon the 200th anniversary of the death of [George Frideric Handel](/source/George_Frideric_Handel) (1685–1759), the [German-British](/source/German-British) [Baroque](/source/Baroque_music) composer, noted for his [opera](/source/baroque_opera)s, [oratorio](/source/oratorio)s, [anthems](/source/anthems) and organ [concerto](/source/concerto)s. The award was established under [New York City](/source/New_York_City) Mayor [Robert F. Wagner Jr.](/source/Robert_F._Wagner_Jr.)[{{Cite web |title=JUSTINO DIAZ GETS CITY CULTURE PRIZE |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/03/22/79983967.html?pageNumber=33 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}]
==Award winners==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Recipient
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1959 || [Virginia Portia Royall Inness-Brown](/source/Virginia_Portia_Royall_Inness-Brown) (1901–1990) ||
|-
|1964 || [Sidney Poitier](/source/Sidney_Poitier) (1927–2022) || [{{Cite news |date=April 21, 1964 |title=City Awards Poitier Cultural Prize |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/04/21/archives/city-awards-poitier-cultural-prize.html |access-date=September 15, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}]
|-
|1965 || [Joseph B. Martinson](/source/Joseph_B._Martinson) (1914–1970) ||[Wagner files (January 12, 1965). [http://www.steinway.lagcc.cuny.edu/files_doc/WAGNER_FILES/06.016.0000.060023W.35.pdf "Text of Speech by Mayor Robert F. Wagner at Reception Meeting of the New York Shakespeare Festival"]. [Robert F. Wagner Documents Collection](/source/Robert_F._Wagner_Documents_Collection) Retrieved October 27, 2104.][{{Cite web |title=SHUBERT OUTLETS DUE FOR A RULING; License Chief to Set Hearing on Box Offices at Macy's |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/01/12/118692191.html?pageNumber=32 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}]
|-
|1966 || [David Sarnoff](/source/David_Sarnoff), [Justino Diaz](/source/Justino_Diaz), and [Lionel Hampton](/source/Lionel_Hampton) ||[{{Cite web |title=ARTISTS' AWARD GIVEN TO SARNOFF; R.C.A. Chairman Also Gets City's Handel Medallion |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/04/28/79290248.html?pageNumber=50 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}][{{Cite web |title=Jazz: Hampton and Friends at Stadium |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/07/18/83227066.html?pageNumber=21 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}]
|-
|1967 || [Richard Rodgers](/source/Richard_Rodgers) (1902–1979), [William Schuman](/source/William_Schuman) ||
|-
|1968 || [Janet D. Schenck](/source/Janet_D._Schenck) || [{{Cite web |title=Janet D. Schenck Awarded Medal for Service to Music |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/05/22/77102017.html?pageNumber=52 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}]
|-
|1969 || [Claire Raphael Reis](/source/Claire_Raphael_Reis) ||
|-
|1970 || [Martha Graham](/source/Martha_Graham), [George Balanchine](/source/George_Balanchine), [Aaron Copland](/source/Aaron_Copland), [Alice Tully](/source/Alice_Tully) ||
|-
|1971 || [Joseph Papp](/source/Joseph_Papp) ||
|-
|1972 || [Harold Arlen](/source/Harold_Arlen), [Charlie Chaplin](/source/Charlie_Chaplin), [Elia Kazan](/source/Elia_Kazan), [Dizzy Gillespie](/source/Dizzy_Gillespie) || [Gillespie, Dizzy with Al Fraser. ''To Be Or Not To Bop.'' New York: Da Capo Press. 1979.]
|-
|1973 || [Duke Ellington](/source/Duke_Ellington), [Melissa Hayden](/source/Melissa_Hayden_(dancer)), [Lincoln Kirstein](/source/Lincoln_Kirstein), [Beverly Sills](/source/Beverly_Sills) ||
|-
|1974 || [Oratorio Society of New York](/source/Oratorio_Society_of_New_York) || [{{Cite web |title=Briefs On The Arts; History of Film' At the Modern |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1974/05/01/101021573.html?pageNumber=57 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}]
|-
|1975 || [Joshua Logan](/source/Joshua_Logan) || [{{Cite web |title=Enchanted Evening for Joshua Logan |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1975/03/10/76539636.html?pageNumber=42 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}]
|-
|1976 || [George Abbott](/source/George_Abbott), [Margot Fonteyn](/source/Margot_Fonteyn), [Agnes de Mille](/source/Agnes_de_Mille), [Jerome Robbins](/source/Jerome_Robbins) ||
|-
|1977 || [Marian Anderson](/source/Marian_Anderson), [Leonard Bernstein](/source/Leonard_Bernstein) ||[{{Citation | last = Quindlen | first = Anna | author-link = Anna Quindlen | title = Marian Anderson Honored at 75 by Carnegie Hall Concert | newspaper = The New York Times | pages = 24 | date = February 28, 1977 }}][{{Citation | title = Filled with Emotion | newspaper = The New York Times | date = November 22, 1977 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1977/11/22/75316577.html | access-date = April 15, 2012 }}]
|-
|1978 || [Elliott Carter](/source/Elliott_Carter) ||
|-
|1980 || [Marilyn Horne](/source/Marilyn_Horne) || [{{Cite web |title=Joan Schneider Bride of Dr. Gerald Seaman; Marilyn Horne to Receive Handel Medal on the Air |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1980/05/17/111242406.html?pageNumber=51 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}]
|-
|1981 || [Lena Horne](/source/Lena_Horne) ||
|-
|1982 || [John Lennon](/source/John_Lennon) ||
|-
|1985 || [Leontyne Price](/source/Leontyne_Price) ||
|-
|1986 || [Alexandra Danilova](/source/Alexandra_Danilova), [Antony Tudor](/source/Antony_Tudor) ||
|-
|1988 || [Alvin Ailey](/source/Alvin_Ailey) ||[{{Cite web | url=http://www.alvinailey.org/about/history | title=Explore Our History}}]
|-
|1989 || [Charles Wadsworth](/source/Charles_Wadsworth) ||
|-
|1993 || [Robert Merrill](/source/Robert_Merrill), [Arthur Mitchell](/source/Arthur_Mitchell_(dancer)) ||
|-
|1997 || [Skitch Henderson](/source/Skitch_Henderson) (1918–2005) ||[{{Cite web |title=Press Release Archives #722-97 Mayor Presents Handel Medallion to Skitch Hederson |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/97/sp722-97.html |access-date=September 15, 2022 |website=www.nyc.gov}}]
|-
|1999 || [Merce Cunningham](/source/Merce_Cunningham) ||
|-
|2002 || [Licia Albanese](/source/Licia_Albanese), [Roberta Peters](/source/Roberta_Peters) ||
|-
|2008 || [Neil Simon](/source/Neil_Simon) || [{{cite news| url=https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9902E5DA103DF933A25752C1A96E9C8B63.html | work=The New York Times | first=Steven | last=McElroy| title=ARTS, BRIEFLY; The Mayors Awards | date=November 10, 2008}}]
|-
|2009 || [Jessye Norman](/source/Jessye_Norman) ||[[Press release](/source/Press_release) (December 8, 1997). [http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcla/downloads/pdf/441-09_2009_mayors_awards_for_arts_culture.pdf "MAYOR BLOOMBERG PRESENTS 2009 MAYOR’S AWARDS FOR ARTS & CULTURE AT FRANK SINATRA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS"]. [Mayor of New York City](/source/Mayor_of_New_York_City)'s Press Office. Retrieved July 18, 2019.]
|-
|2010 || [Judith Jamison](/source/Judith_Jamison) || [{{cite news| url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Judith-Jamison-to-Receive-Handel-Medallion-from-Mayor-Bloomberg-118-20101101 | work=Broadway World | title=Judith Jamison to Receive Handel Medallion from Mayor Bloomberg 11/8 | date=November 1, 2010}}]
|-
|2011 || [Stephen Sondheim](/source/Stephen_Sondheim) || [{{cite news| url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/sondheim-to-receive-new-york-city-arts-honor/?scp=2&sq=sondheim&st=cse | work=The New York Times | first=Patricia | last=Cohen | title=Sondheim to Receive New York City Arts Honor | date=October 10, 2011}}]
|-
|2013 || [Harvey Lichtenstein](/source/Harvey_Lichtenstein) || [{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/11/arts/music/harvey-lichtenstein-dead-led-bam.html | work=The New York Times | first=Robert | last=Berkvist | title=Harvey Lichtenstein, Who Led Brooklyn Academy of Music's Rebirth, Dies at 87 | date=February 11, 2017}}]
|}
Years unknown:
{{colbegin|colwidth=30em}}
*[Ivan Davis](/source/Ivan_Davis)
*[Justino Díaz](/source/Justino_D%C3%ADaz)
*[Geraldine Fitzgerald](/source/Geraldine_Fitzgerald)
*[Benny Goodman](/source/Benny_Goodman)
*[Gary Graffman](/source/Gary_Graffman)
*[Kitty Carlisle Hart](/source/Kitty_Carlisle_Hart)
*[Robert Joffrey](/source/Robert_Joffrey)
*[Vincent La Selva](/source/Vincent_La_Selva)
*[Jaime Laredo](/source/Jaime_Laredo)
*[Yehudi Menuhin](/source/Yehudi_Menuhin)
*[Renata Tebaldi](/source/Renata_Tebaldi)
*[Peter Wilhousky](/source/Peter_Wilhousky)
{{colend}}
==See also==
{{Portal|Society|New York City}}
* [List of awards for contributions to culture](/source/List_of_awards_for_contributions_to_culture)
==References==
{{reflist}}
Category:American awards
Category:Arts awards in the United States
Category:Awards for contributions to culture
Category:Awards established in 1959
Category:Culture of New York City
Category:1959 establishments in New York City
Category:Municipal awards
Category:Government of New York City
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Handel Medallion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handel_Medallion) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handel_Medallion?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.