Jessye Norman - Honors and Awards

Honors and Awards

• National Society of Arts and Letters singing competition (1966)
• First prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich (1968)
• Gramophone Award for her recording of Strauss' Four Last Songs (1982)
• Musical America magazine's Musician of the Year.
• Honorary doctorate from Howard University (1982)
• Honorary doctorate from the Boston Conservatory of Music and the University of the South (1984)
• Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance for "Ravel: Songs of Maurice Ravel" (1984)
• Commandeur de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France, 1984)
• France's National Museum of Natural History named an orchid for her (1984)
• Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for "Wagner: Lohengrin" (1988)
• Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for "Wagner: Die Walkuere" (1989)
• Légion d'honneur (France, 1989)
• Honorary Ambassador to the United Nations by UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (1990)
• Honorary Doctor in Music from Juilliard School of Music (1990)
• Norman's home town, Augusta, Georgia, dedicated Riverwalk Augusta's amphitheater, named in her honor (1991)
• Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class (1995)
• Norman was a featured performer during the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia
• Winner of the 1997 Radcliffe Medal, presented annually by the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association to honor individuals whose lives and work have had a significant impact on society.
• Norman was honored by New York's Associated Black Charities at the 11th Annual Black History Makers Awards Dinner for her contributions to the arts and to African American culture (March 1997)
• Kennedy Center Honors (youngest recipient in the Honors' 20-year existence) (December 1997)
• Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for "Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle" (1998)
• Honorary doctorate from Harvard University(1998)
• Georgia Music Hall of Fame (1999)
• Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal for her work in the fight against lupus, breast cancer, AIDS, and hunger (2000)
• Outstanding Alumnae by Howard University (2000)
• Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006)
• On September 22, 2006 the city of Pasadena, California, named September 22 "Jessye Norman Day" after she gave a performance at Blair IB Magnet High School.
• National Medal of Arts (2009)
• She is a lifelong member of the Girl Scouts of the USA
• Member of the Royal Academy of Music
• Awarded France's Grand Prix du Disque for albums of lieder by Wagner, Schumann, Mahler and Schubert.
• Won Amsterdam's Edison Award; and recording honors in Belgium, Spain, and Germany.
• She was winner of an Ace Award from the National Cable Television Association for "Jessye Norman at Notre Dame."
• Jessye Norman has received honorary doctorates from more than 30 colleges, universities, and conservatories including Jesus College, Cambridge, the Manhattan School of Music, University of Michigan, Yale University, Northwestern University and Brandeis University.