The Aspen Institute

For questions regarding this event, please contact 1-800-410-3463.”

On November 7th, the Aspen Institute will host the 30th Annual Awards Dinner at The Plaza Hotel in New York City. The dinner will be chaired by Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass. The honorees for the 2013 Annual Awards Dinner are Henry A. Kissinger, former US Secretary of State and chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc. and Wynton Marsalis, trumpeter, composer, music educator, arts advocate and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.  In addition to conversations featuring the honorees, the dinner will feature a special performance by Wynton and members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

About the Honorees:

HENRY A. KISSINGER served as U.S. Secretary of State (1973-1977) and National Security Advisor (1969-1975). At present, Dr. Kissinger is Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm. He is also a member of the International Council of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.; a Counselor to and Trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; an Honorary Governor of the Foreign Policy Association; and an Honor Member of the International Olympic Committee. Among his other activities, Dr. Kissinger is a member of the Board of Directors of ContiGroup Companies, Inc. and has been on the Board of Directors of American Express Company from 1984-2005 and an Advisor to the Board since 2005. He has served as a member of the Defense Policy Board, Department of Defense, since 2001. He serves on the Advisory Board of Forstmann Little and Co.; a Trustee Emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a Director Emeritus of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold I nc.; and a Director of the International Rescue Committee. He was Chairman of International House from 1977- 1984 and remains an Honorary Trustee since 1985. He was Chairman of the Eisenhower Fellowships from 2000- 2006. His academic career included appointments as a member of the faculty of the Department of Government and the Center for International Affairs at Harvard College, where he became associate director in 1957. Dr. Kissinger was study director in Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy at the Council of Foreign Relations, worked for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund as director of their Special Studies Project (1956-1958), was director of the Harvard Defense Studies Program (1958-1971), and director of the Harvard International Seminar (1951-1971). He received a Bronze Star from the U.S. Army in 1945 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, the US Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Medal of Liberty in 1986. Dr. Kissinger is the author of several books and has also published numerous articles on United States foreign policy, international affairs and diplomatic history. His column, syndicated by Tribune Media Services International, appears in leading U.S. newspapers and in over 40 foreign countries.

WYNTON MARSALIS is the Managing and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and a world-renowned trumpeter and composer. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1961, Marsalis began his classical training on trumpet at age 12, entered The Juilliard School at age 17, and then joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He made his recording debut as a leader in 1982, and has since recorded more than 60 jazz and classical recordings, which have won him nine GRAMMY® awards. In 1983, he became the first and only artist to win both classical and jazz GRAMMYs® in the same year and repeated this feat in 1984. Marsalis is also an internationally respected teacher and spokesman for music education, and has received honorary doctorates from dozens of U.S. universities and colleges. He has written six books including: Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits (Candlewick, 2005), illustrated by poster artist Paul Rogers; Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life (Random House, 2008), with Geoffrey C. Ward; and Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! (Candlewick, 2012), illustrated by Paul Rogers. In 1997, Marsalis became the first jazz artist to be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in Music for his oratorio Blood on the Fields, which was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 2001, he was appointed Messenger of Peace by Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and he has also been named a Cultural Ambassador for Jazz by the U.S. State Department through their Culture Connect program. Marsalis was instrumental in the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief concert, produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center. The event raised more than $3 million for the Higher Ground Relief Fund to benefit the musicians, music industry related enterprises, and other individuals and entities from the areas in Greater New Orleans who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. Marsalis helped lead the effort to construct Jazz at Lincoln Center’s home— Frederick P. Rose Hall—the first education, performance, and broadcast facility devoted to jazz, which opened its doors in October 2004. It is Wynton Marsalis’ commitment to the improvement of life for all people that portrays the best of his character and humanity.