Henry T. Segerstrom to Receive Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence on Monday, June 7 at The Waldorf=Astoria

Mr. Segerstrom, Developer of South Coast Plaza and Founding Chairman of the Orange County Performing Arts Center/the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Recognized for Outstanding Leadership in Arts Philanthropy

NEW YORK, April 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Carnegie Hall announced today that Henry T. Segerstrom -- Developer of South Coast Plaza and Founding Chairman of the Orange County Performing Arts Center/the Segerstrom Center for the Arts -- will receive the Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence at a gala benefit on Monday, June 7 at 6:30 p.m. at The Waldorf=Astoria's Starlight Roof. The award, recognizing Mr. Segerstrom's outstanding leadership in arts philanthropy, will be presented by the 2008 Medal of Excellence Honoree Terry J. Lundgren, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Macy's, Inc.; Sanford I. Weill, Chairman of Carnegie Hall's Board of Trustees; and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are proud to serve as the event's Honorary Chairs. Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves will perform as part of the evening's program.

"Carnegie Hall is thrilled to present its fourth Medal of Excellence to Henry T. Segerstrom," said Sanford I. Weill. "Henry's dedication to developing the unique cultural landscape of Orange County, California as well as his commitment as a champion of the arts has made him the ideal honoree for this year's medal. He has also been the driving force in bringing Carnegie Hall's major international festivals to the West Coast."

"Since first donating a parcel of land to the Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory Theater almost 35 years ago, we at South Coast Plaza have believed in the need for the business community to support the arts," Mr. Segerstrom said. "Such support builds communities, and through our bi-coastal partnership with Carnegie Hall, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts has achieved a new level of excellence in serving the Orange County community, while reaching out as never before on the national stage. I am deeply honored to receive Carnegie Hall's Medal of Excellence, and look forward to many future collaborations with this great institution."

Carnegie Hall's 2010 Medal of Excellence Gala is co-chaired by RJ Brandes, Chairman, Belgravia Capital Corporation; JMB Realty Corporation; Mr. and Mrs. Donald M. Kendall; Terry J. Lundgren, Chairman, President and CEO, Macy's, Inc.; Elizabeth and Henry T. Segerstrom; and South Coast Plaza. In addition, Gala corporate sponsors include Cartier, Christian Dior, Harry Winston, Hermes of Paris, Inc., Loro Piana, Louis Vuitton, Montblanc, Piaget, Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany & Co., Tourbillon, and Valentino.

Maestro Valery Gergiev serves as chair for the Honorary Artist Committee, comprised of artists who have been commissioned by Henry Segerstrom and those who have collaborated with him on projects. The 2010 Medal of Excellence Honorary Artist Co-Chairs are Mikhail Baryshnikov, Joshua Bell, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, William Friedkin, Frank Gehry, Helmut Jahn, Lang Lang, Charles Lawrence, Anna Netrebko, The Noguchi Museum, Cesar Pelli, Richard Serra, Robert Wilson, and Michael York.

The June 7 gala will be held at The Waldorf=Astoria's Starlight Roof and includes a cocktail reception and dinner, followed by a brief program and award ceremony. All proceeds benefit Carnegie Hall's artistic and education programs. Gala Tables are priced at $100,000, $50,000, $25,000, $15,000, and $10,000 and include a table of ten guests at the Gala Awards Dinner. To reserve gala tables, please call the Gala Office at 212-903-9679 or email [email protected].

Henry T. Segerstrom is Managing Partner of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, a diversified real estate development and management firm in Costa Mesa, California. The Segerstrom family developed and owns Orange County's South Coast Plaza retail center.

Mr. Segerstrom's steadfast community leadership has built up the cultural landscape of Orange County through gifts of land and funds, together with commissions of stunning architecture and works of environmental sculpture for public enjoyment. Among the latter are works by such renowned artists as Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Joan Miro, and Jean Dubuffet. At Segerstrom's invitation, Isamu Noguchi created a world-famous garden, California Scenario, in Costa Mesa.

Mr. Segerstrom is the Founding Chairman of the Orange County Performing Arts Center (OCPAC), of which he has been a board member since 1980. In 2006, he and his wife Elizabeth Segerstrom orchestrated the three-week Mariinsky Festival celebrating the opening of the new Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The Festival featured the North American premiere of the Mariinsky Opera Company's critically acclaimed production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) conducted by Valery Gergiev. The Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, designed by Cesar Pelli and built with the support of $51 million in personal cash gifts from Henry Segerstrom, unites the site of South Coast Repertory Theater with the future site of the Orange County Museum of Art, forming the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The symbol of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, a 65-foot-high Richard Serra sculpture entitled Connector, was commissioned by Henry and Elizabeth Segerstrom, who are avid art collectors in their own right.

In 2007, the Segerstroms launched the new Elizabeth and Henry Segerstrom Select Series, an artistic collaboration with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County that brings internationally acclaimed performers to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

In fall 2009, an exciting new alliance between Carnegie Hall and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts brought programming from Carnegie Hall's Ancient Paths, Modern Voices festival celebrating Chinese culture to Southern California, resulting in a West Coast festival, presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and prominent partner institutions. This marked the first time that Carnegie Hall's live festival programming reached audiences outside New York City. The East Coast-West Coast partnership will continue for a second consecutive year when select artists from Carnegie Hall's JapanNYC festival also appear in Southern California as part of JapanOC, a West Coast festival presented from October 2010 through April 2011. Both JapanNYC and JapanOC will feature a wide variety of arts events and musical performances representing the vibrant expanse of traditional and contemporary Japanese culture.

Amongst Mr. Segerstrom's many honors and accomplishments is his vital role in establishing the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. In 1988, His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, bestowed upon Henry Segerstrom the honorary title of Commander, Order of the Polar Star, for his role in the recognition of Sweden's 350th Anniversary in America. In 1995, he was recognized with the Tree of Life Award by the Jewish National Fund, presented by Margaret Thatcher. In 1995, Henry Segerstrom was elected Founding Chairman of the Orange County Performing Arts Center by a unanimous vote of the Board of Directors. He has contributed his time, resources and leadership as a board member of numerous local, national and international institutions, including Carnegie Hall, the White Nights Foundation of America, the American Friends of Versailles, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Huntington Library in San Marino. He has served as the National Chairman of the Business Committee for the Arts in New York City. In 2008, Stanford University Graduate School of Business selected him to receive the prestigious Ernest C. Arbuckle Award for his lifetime of outstanding accomplishments.

Henry Segerstrom volunteered in 1942 to serve in the United States Army. He remained on active duty until 1947, rising from the rank of private to captain in Field Artillery. Severely wounded in action in France in 1945, he was awarded the Purple Heart Medal and the European Theater of Operations Ribbon with Battle Star.

Mr. Segerstrom earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Business Administration degrees from Stanford University. In 1986, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law from Western University and, in 2002, an honorary Doctorate from Whittier Law School. A native of Orange County, Mr. Segerstrom resides with his wife Elizabeth in Newport Beach and New York City. He has three adult children: sons Toren and Anton, and daughter Andrea Grant.

About Carnegie Hall

For more than a century, New York City's Carnegie Hall has set the international standard for excellence in performance. Its walls have echoed with applause for the world's outstanding classical music artists, as they have for the greatest popular musicians and many prominent dancers, authors, social crusaders, and world figures who have appeared on its stages.

Today, the venue remains a preeminent concert hall and a vital, active cultural destination for performers and audiences. Carnegie Hall presents more than 180 performances by the world's finest artists each season on its three great stages -- the renowned Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, intimate Weill Recital Hall, and innovative Zankel Hall -- with offerings ranging from orchestral concerts, chamber music, and solo recitals to jazz, world, and popular music. The venue is also home to over 500 independently produced events each year. Through the work of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, wide-reaching music education programs serve people in the New York City metropolitan region, across the United States, and around the world, playing a central role in Carnegie Hall's commitment to making great music accessible to as many people as possible. For more information about Carnegie Hall, please visit carnegiehall.org.

SOURCE Carnegie Hall