Conductor Zubin Mehta, musical theater composer and producer Andrew Lloyd Webber, singer, songwriter and producer Smokey Robinson, film director and producer Steven Spielberg and country singer and songwriter Dolly Parton are honored by distinguished friends and peers at this annual event celebrating the performing arts.

The Honors recipients, selected each year by the Board of Trustees of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures and television. The primary criterion in the selection process is excellence. The Honors are not designated by art form or category of artistic achievement. The selection process, over the years, has produced a balance among the various arts and artistic disciplines.