Architect Richard Rogers honored for lifetime achievement

LONDON (Reuters) -- American composer Stephen Sondheim and British architect Richard Rogers were among those honored this week for their lifetime achievements by The Japan Art Association.

The 12th annual Praemium Imperiale ceremony was staged at London's new Tate Modern Museum.

Five artists were picked for the year 2000 -- Rogers for architecture, Sondheim for film and theatre, France's Niki de Saint Phalle for sculpture, Germany's Hans Werner Henze for music and American Ellsworth Kelly for painting.

"This is the artistic version of the Nobel prize," former British Prime Minister Edward Heath told the ceremony.

The five recipients each received 15 million yen ($140,400), the organizers said.

Kelly, 77, flew to London for the event to tell the awards committee: "I have been painting for 50 years and with me it is always the most recent which is my favorite. It is like I am 20 years old again."

Henze, 74, was equally delighted: "It is a reason of great pride that I am the first German composer to receive a Praemium Imperiale award."

Rogers paid particular tribute to Japanese culture, saying: "I always feel that if the roots of modern architecture started anywhere, it was in Japan."

Neither Saint Phalle nor Sondheim was able to attend.

Sondheim, famed for "A Little Night Music" and "Sweeney Todd," said in a video profile of his work: "Music can by-pass the brain and go to the heart. Music has this extraordinary effect."

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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