2018 Preis Honoree - Barbara Barnard Smith
Hawai‘i Arts Alliance held the 38th annual Alfred Preis celebration on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at Halekulani. Barbara Barnard Smith received the Alfred Preis Honor for her lifetime support of the arts, and community building in Hawaii.
Barbara came to Hawai‘i in 1949 to help develop the UH Music Department and to teach piano performance and music theory, after earning her Master of Arts in Music Education at the Eastman School of Music. She was drawn to the vibrancy of the Asian and Oceanic cultural traditions of her musically talented students, and decided the University must also offer courses about the musical achievements of her students’ own cultural inheritances.
When the East-West Center was forming in the 1960s to bring together people of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific to communicate, research, and study, Barbara recommended that EWC could learn from visiting scholars, performances, and exhibitions of world music, dance, theater, and visual arts.
These seeds blossomed into the University of Hawai’i Ethnomusicology Master’s and PhD degree programs that emphasize learning from "living cultures" in Hawai’i and the surrounding Asia Pacific region. Students began to gain deeper insights by performing in ethnic ensembles led by masterful artists and teachers from around the world.
Barbara Smith retired from the University in 1982, but remains active as an arts supporter, advocate and contributor to the field of ethnomusicology. Her influence and accomplishments extend to community institutions such as the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the Bishop Museum, and the Lili’uokalani Trust.
A commemorative hardcover book of the event may be purchased here.
2017 Preis Honoree - Marilyn Cristofori
Hawai‘i Arts Alliance's 37th annual Alfred Preis celebration, was held on Saturday, February 3, 2018 at Halekulani. Marilyn Cristofori, former Chief Executive Officer of Hawai‘i Arts Alliance, received the Alfred Preis Honor for her lifetime support of the arts, and community building in Hawaii.
For 24 years, Marilyn Cristofori led Hawai’i Arts Alliance, the statewide private non-profit that builds creativity through advocacy, community and education for all the arts. During her leadership from 1994 to 2017, the Alliance grew from a small office to a champion for the arts through advocacy and support for education and the community with a budget of well over $1 million. Under her watch, state legislation enacted and empowered ARTS FIRST Partners, comprised of the Alliance, Hawai’i Department of Education, Hawai’i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, UH College of Arts and Humanities, UH College of Education and Hawai’i Association for Independent Schools. Arts are first because they will last a lifetime.
Marilyn steered the Alliance to support the formation of The ARTS at Marks Garage and to become the fiscal agent for POW! WOW! Hawai‘i. In 2015, in partnership with the HIDOE, the Alliance started Turnaround Arts Hawai‘i, a program that transforms underserved schools through student-centered whole-school arts integration. Marilyn’s work with Americans for the Arts includes the national Arts and Economic Prosperity study that documents the impact of the arts on the economy.
Marilyn on "Long Story Short"
first aired February 6, 2018
Thanks to PBS Hawaii for the clip
2016 Preis Honoree - Michael Titterton
Hawai‘i Arts Alliance held its 36th annual Alfred Preis celebration on Saturday, February 4, 2017 at Halekulani. Michael Titterton, former President and General Manager of Hawaii Public Radio, received the Alfred Preis Honor for his lifetime support of the arts, and community building in Hawaii.
Michael Titterton has led Hawai‘i Public Radio as a community builder and promoter of the arts for 17 years. Originally from London, he started his radio career in Detroit as a campus morning news reader and automotive industry correspondent, around the time that National Public Radio was being formed. Over the next 20 years he built, managed, and consulted for public radio stations all over the U.S. Michael came to Hawai‘i Public Radio as President and General Manager in 1999. Under his leadership the station has increased its membership from 7,000 to 13,000 members, and the annual operating budget has grown from $1.6 million to $4.8 million. Radio service has been broadened to reach Maui County, Kaua‘i, and the Big Island, and the two HPR program streams were re-branded as HPR1 and HPR2, with HPR1 covering classical music and fine arts, and HPR2 enveloping news, talk shows, current events and jazz stream. In recent years, HPR has received significant recognition for its work in fundraising, news programming, and business practices.
Perhaps unbeknownst to many, Michael is
also a former actor with credits to his name
such as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady
and George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
His favorite role has been that of Sir
in The Dresser.
