Luminaries from the world of music and film were feted by President Barack Obama and a black-tie audience of artists and political heavyweights Sunday at the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors. Actor Robert DeNiro, rock songsmith Bruce Springsteen, comic writer/producer Mel Brooks, jazz pianist Dave Brubeck and opera star Grace Bumbry were this year's honorees at the annual awards for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. At a White House reception attended by the political elite, Obama said the five were a living reminder that “the arts are not somehow apart from our national life. “The arts are at the heart of our national life,” Obama said in remarks aired later at the gala. “These five remarkable performers have helped us sustain and strengthen our nation.” Obama noted Sunday was Brubeck's 89th birthday and said his own first jazz concert was a performance by Brubeck's band in Honolulu, during a rare visit from his often absent father in 1971. “And I've been a jazz fan ever since.” Bumbry, Obama said, was “the definition of a diva in the classical sense, a divine voice worthy of the heavens.” Of Springsteen, Obama said “it's no wonder that his tours are not so much concerts but communions. There's a place for everybody - the sense that no matter who you are or what you do, everyone deserves their shot at the American Dream.” He called Springsteen “the quiet kid from New Jersey who grew up to become the rock ‘n' roll laureate of a generation.” “On a day like today I remember, I'm the president but he's the boss,” Obama quipped, evoking Springsteen's stage persona. The president praised DeNiro for his “versatility” and “his legendary method not only of portraying characters, but becoming them emotionally and physically.” Introducing DeNiro, actress Meryl Streep praised him as a great actor and “a fine man.” On Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted the honorees at a dinner at the State Department.
