The Minimalist icon and the Broadway star are among the latest recipients of the National Medal of Arts.

Composer Philip Glass and Broadway star Audra McDonald will join the likes of film producer Mel Brooks and actor Morgan Freeman when President Barack Obama gives out the annual National Medal of Arts at an East Room ceremony at the White House on September 22.

Glass is being honored for expanding our musical possibilities with “his groundbreaking contributions to music and composition,” and as “one of the most prolific, inventive, and influential artists of our time”. McDonald is commended for “lighting up Broadway as one of its brightest stars… her rich, soulful voice continues to take her audiences to new heights.” Mel Brooks is simply cited “for a lifetime of making the world laugh”.

Other honorees include Motown founder Berry Gordon, playwright and director Moises Kaufman, dancer and choreographer Ralph Lemon, playwright and actor Luis Valdez, and painter Jack Whitten. Meanwhile, the trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis is among the recipients of the National Humanities Medal, which includes authors Rudolfo Anaya, James McBride and Ron Chernow and poet Louise Glück.

The National Council on the Arts, the body overseeing the National Endowment for...