John F Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts

With the nation's nonprofit arts organizations suffering in the dismal economy, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is offering crisis consulting to see them through. The arts aren't at the top of many lawmakers' lists for a federal bailout. So Michael Kaiser, the Kennedy Center's president, announced an unprecedented "Arts in Crisis" initiative Tuesday to offer free assistance to performing arts managers across the country.

With the nation's nonprofit arts organizations suffering in the dismal economy, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is offering crisis consulting to see them through. The arts aren't at the top of many lawmakers' lists for a federal bailout. So Michael Kaiser, the Kennedy Center's president, announced an unprecedented "Arts in Crisis" initiative Tuesday to offer free assistance to performing arts managers across the country.

Lionel Hampton, Ginger Rogers, Mstislav Rostropovich, Paul Taylor, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward will receive this year's Kennedy Center Honors, it was announced Thursday. Selected by the trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for their contributions to cultural life in America, they will be guests of President Bush at the White House and will attend a televised performance at the Kennedy Center in December.

Lionel Hampton, Ginger Rogers, Mstislav Rostropovich, Paul Taylor, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward will receive this year's Kennedy Center Honors, it was announced Thursday. Selected by the trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for their contributions to cultural life in America, they will be guests of President Bush at the White House and will attend a televised performance at the Kennedy Center in December.

President Reagan will speak at commencement exercises Saturday for prospective military medical officers, the White House announced Thursday. Reagan will address graduates of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

President Bush said Thursday that he will appoint Joy Silverman as a trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Bush earlier had nominated Silverman to be ambassador to Barbados, but some senators claimed she was not qualified for the diplomatic post.

Kennedy Center Honorees Named: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington announced the winners of the Kennedy Center Honors of 1990 on Thursday. Those to be honored at the 13th annual national celebration of the arts on Dec. 2 are actress Katharine Hepburn, mezzo soprano Rise Stevens, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, composer Jule Styne and film writer director Billy Wilder.

Two USIU's School of Performing and Visual Arts students have received national recognition for excellence in costume design at the American College Theater Festival. Cynthia Sanchez and Mario Ventenilla were honored for their design work on "Macbeth," presented last September. Sanchez and Ventenilla will be on hand in April when their designs are displayed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., this weekend began offering free daily music, dance and theater performances at its new Millennium Stage. The shows begin at 6 p.m. and last about an hour. Information: (800) 444-1324. . . . Tickets are on sale for the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival April 25 through May 4. Many events sell out each year. Concert tickets, from $20 to $35, can be ordered from Ticketmaster, tel. (800) 488-5252.

Congress would support paying $170 million over the next decade to modernize the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a national treasure that needs renovation, House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in Roswell. "It's one of those rare national institutions, and we'll be talking about spending something on the order of 8 cents or 7 cents a person every year for the next 10 years," he said on a visit to a senior citizens center in his district.

The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and BMI have established a $5,000 annual jazz composers award. The first Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and BMI International Jazz Composers Competition will be inaugurated in November at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington at the same time as the annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. The winning composition will be performed at the finals of the piano competition Nov. 22.