Herb Alpert Award in the Arts Announces 2024 Recipients

Composer Huang Ruo and composer, saxophonist, and flautist Anna Webber are among 10 2024 recipients of the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts (HAAIA).

The awards were founded and conceived by legendary musician Herb Alpert and his wife, Grammy-winning vocalist Lani Hall. They are presented annually to 10 “risk-taking, mid-career artists” working in the fields of dance, film/video, music, theater and visual arts. 

Now in its 30th year, the HAAIA has to date been awarded to 174 artists. Each award consists of an unrestricted $75,000 cash prize and residency at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts), which has administered the prize on behalf of the Herb Alpert Foundation since 1994.

This year’s winners will be announced at a virtual event on Thursday May 2 at 2:00 p.m. PT.

This year’s eight other honorees are choreographers Jonathan González and Mariana Valencia; filmmaker Nuotama Bodomo and filmmaker and artist Lucy Raven; theater artist Robin Frohardt and interdisciplinary artist Cannupa Hanska Luger; and visual artists Marina Rosenfeld and Marie Watt.

Among past HAAIA winners: Carrie Mae Weems, Taylor Mac, Suzan-Lori Parks, Julia Wolfe, Michelle Dorrance, Tania Bruguera, Kerry James Marshall, Lisa Kron, Sharon Lockhart, Ralph Lemon, Arthur Jafa, Cai Guo-Qiang, Okwui Okpokwasili and Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah.

Alpert and Hall created the Herb Alpert Foundation in 1985. It has reportedly given away more than $200 million dollars, making Alpert one of America’s most important and loyal advocates for the arts and arts education.

“The generosity of Herb and Lani is legendary, and their work supporting artists to take risks, through The Alpert Awards, has propelled artmaking in this country for decades, ” CalArts president Ravi Rajan said in a statement. “The list of past honorees is testament to how the award gives artists the space and time to create work that transforms the world.”

In addition to being a philanthropist, Alpert is a musician, record producer, former label executive, sculptor and painter.

Alpert and the Tijuana Brass were one of the hottest acts of the 1960s, with five No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. Their 1965 smash “A Taste of Honey” won a Grammy for record of the year. As a soloist, Alpert has topped the Billboard Hot 100 with both vocal and instrumental hits – “This Guy’s in Love With You” (1968) and “Rise” (1979), respectively. He’s the only solo artist who has achieved that feat.

With his late partner Jerry Moss, Alpert co-founded A&M Records in 1962, turning it into one of the most successful independent record labels in history. The label was home to Sergio Mendes & the Brasil 66, Carpenters, Joe Cocker, Supertramp, The Police, Janet Jackson and dozens more successful acts. Here’s a list of A&M’s 50 biggest hits on the Hot 100 in the years it was owned by Alpert and Moss.

Alpert and Moss received a trustees award from the Recording Academy in 1997. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2012 Alpert was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama.