On Thursday, June 5, 2025, the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (MSO) honored two major cultural leaders with its 2025 Legacy Awards at a sold-out Gala Dinner in Easton, Maryland.

Now in its 27th year, the MSO presented its National Legacy Award to Deborah Rutter, former President of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and its annual Legacy Award to Maestro Julien Benichou, former Music Director of the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and current Principal Conductor of the Washington Opera Society.

In presenting the awards, MSO Chairman Jeffrey Parker stated, “Deborah Rutter has inspired all of us in America’s arts community as the long-time leader of our national arts center, and Julien Benichou dramatically raised the professional quality of our orchestra, and expanded its season and its supporter base.”

In her keynote remarks, Rutter emphasized the need to “continue to support the artist wherever they feel welcome, supported, empowered and unencumbered to share their art and express their creative talent.” She called on artists and leaders alike to embrace their roles as citizen artists, a concept she co-developed with Yo-Yo Ma during her time at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, advocating for artists to engage deeply with their communities and to consider the broader impact of their work.

In her 11 years heading the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Rutter provided the Nation with leadership across the broadest range of the arts, including arts education, multi-disciplinary arts training, support and enrichment; and symphonic music, opera, theater, contemporary dance, ballet, vocal music, chamber music, hip hop, comedy, international music and jazz. She also oversaw the Kennedy Center’s first physical expansion with the REACH, which opened in September 2019, and transformed the Center’s mission into one inclusive of diverse art forms. In 2022, she conceived and opened the permanent exhibit Art and Ideals: President John F. Kennedy. Rutter also previously served as President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and held leadership roles at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

Benichou served for 17 years as Music Director and Conductor of the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, transforming it from a community ensemble into a fully professional orchestra.

The Legacy Awards Dinner featured a performance by the MSO’s principal string musicians, remarks from Music Director Michael Repper on the future of the Orchestra, and a lively auction that included a chance to conduct the MSO at its 2025 Holiday Joy concert, a private plane excursion over the Chesapeake Bay, an eight-day European Viking cruise, and a private dinner for eight with celebrity chef Jordan Lloyd.