Stephen Sondheim to Receive Handel Medallion, New York City’s Highest Arts Honor

Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim has been named a 2011 recipient of the Handel Medallion, the highest official honor presented by the City of New York for outstanding achievement in the arts. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin will present the award to Sondheim at a reception at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on November 1.

In addition to Sondheim, legendary actor-dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, arts advocate Alice Diamond, musician Jimmy Heath, artist Maya Lin and the Theater Development Fund will receive the 2011 Mayor’s Awards for Arts and Culture.

Sondheim is currently represented on Broadway with a hit revival of Follies. He won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Sunday in the Park With George and Tony Awards for Passion, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods. He is also the creator of such shows as Merrily We Roll Along, Pacific Overtures, Assassins, Anyone Can Whistle, The Frogs and Road Show, and wrote lyrics for the iconic shows West Side Story and Gypsy. In 2008, he received a Tony Award Special Award for Lifetime Achievement.