Henry T. Segerstrom Receives Carnegie Hall's 2010 Medal of Excellence from 2008 Medal of Excellence Honoree Terry J. Lundgren. Photo by: © Julie Skarratt 2010

's program. The gala, which was attended by more than 350 guests, raised over $1.5 million,
All proceeds benefit Carnegie Hall's artistic and education programs.

"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, 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 was 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, CHANEL, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Harry Winston, Hermès of Paris, Inc., Kiehl's Since 1851, Lalique, The Limited Brands Foundation, Loro Piana, Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, Montblanc, Nordstrom, Piaget, Saks Fifth Avenue, St. John, Tiffany & Co., Tory Burch, Tourbillon, Tumi, Valentino, Van Cleef & Arpels and The House of Yves Saint Laurent. The April 7 gala was held at The Waldorf=Astoria's Starlight Roof and included a cocktail reception and dinner, followed by a brief program.

Maestro Valery Gergiev served as chair for the honorary artist committee, which included artists whom Henry Segerstrom has commissioned or collaborated directly with on projects. The 2010 Medal of Excellence honorary artist co-chairs were Mikhail Baryshnikov, Joshua Bell, Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, William Friedkin, Frank Gehry, Helmut Jahn, Lang Lang, Charles Lawrence, Anna Netrebko, The Noguchi Museum, I.M. Pei, César Pelli, Richard Serra, Robert Wilson, and Michael York.


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 Miró, and Jean Dubuffet. At Segerstrom's invitation, Isamu Noguchi created a world-famous sculpture garden, California Scenario, in Costa Mesa.

Mr. Segerstrom is the founding chairman of the Orange County Performing Arts Center (OCPAC) and 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 Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, part of 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 Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, designed by César 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 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 in New York 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, the 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 has served on the Boards of Directors of Bank of America, Southern California Edison Company, Safeco, Silicon Systems and Urban Shopping Centers. He has also served more than 20 years as an elected public official of the Orange County Water District.

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.

 

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