WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Cathedral Choral Society (CCS) is pleased to announce that it will honor Washington philanthropist Jaylee Mead on April 4, 2009 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown. A longtime supporter of the arts in our community, Mrs. Mead, along with her late husband Gilbert, contributed an estimated $50 million to numerous local performing arts organizations over the past two decades.
Despite their vocations as NASA scientists, both Jaylee and Gilbert Mead felt a strong connection to the performing arts: Gil to music and Jaylee to the theatre. With an unprecedented level of generosity, they donated their time, talents and resources to Washington's burgeoning arts community. With a strong belief that they should give where they live, the Meads have made gifts to such organizations as Arena Stage, The Studio Theatre, The Helen Hayes Awards, the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, the Levine School of Music, the Cathedral Choral Society, The Washington Chorus, Signature Theatre, Atlas Performing Arts Center, and the Wisconsin Rapids Community Theater (located in Gil's hometown). Jaylee continues to serve on the boards of The Studio Theatre, The Helen Hayes Awards, Arena Stage, The Wellness Community of Greater Washington, DC and the Mead Family Foundation, which she and Gil founded in 1989. Jaylee has also been involved with Leadership Greater Washington and the boards of The Carnegie Institute of Science and the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers.
Jaylee and Gilbert Mead received several awards over the years including the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington's Patron of the Arts Award in 1995; The Washington Post Award for Distinguished Community Service in 1996; and The Mayor's Arts Award for Excellence in Service to the Arts, District of Columbia, in 1998. In 1999, they were among those named Washingtonians of the Year by Washingtonian Magazine.
The Cathedral Choral Society established the Laura E. Phillips Angel of the Arts Award to pay tribute to individuals or organizations that demonstrate exemplary love and support for the arts in our community such as Mrs. Phillips did when she was alive. Donna and John W. Palmer will chair the event which raises funds for the education and outreach programs of the Cathedral Choral Society, among them an annual high school choir festival as well as partnerships with several DC public schools and the Sitar Arts Center.
CCS would like to thank KPMG who has already committed to sponsoring a corporate table at the Gala.
About the Cathedral Choral Society Founded in 1941, the Cathedral Choral Society is the oldest choral group in Washington and is the resident symphonic chorus of Washington National Cathedral. Under the leadership of music director J. Reilly Lewis, CCS has performed such notable venues as the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, and Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, and on nationwide radio and television. CCS has also appeared with such organizations as the NSO, The Washington Ballet, and the Philharmonia of Russia. The Choral Society's discography features nine recordings and members of the chorus also appear in the PBS television special Denyce Graves: A Cathedral Christmas. A CD of Dominick Argento'sEvensong: Of Love and Angels, commissioned and premiered by the Choral Society, will be released in the spring of 2009.
For more information, please visit www.cathedralchoralsociety.org.
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