David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra will perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall on Wednesday evening, but SLSO president and CEO Fred Bronstein won’t be with them.

Instead, he’ll be at the White House with the Obamas for a set of special events. In the afternoon, First Lady Michelle Obama, the honorary chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, will speak about the importance of after-school and out-of-school arts and humanities education and present the “Coming Up Taller” Award to 15 successful American and four international programs.

That evening, President Barack Obama will speak and a quartet of gold-standard soloists will perform for a select audience in the East Room: violinist Joshua Bell, guitarist Sharon Isbin, cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Awadagin Pratt. The concert will be streamed live at www.whitehouse.gov; a recorded version will air on Sirius XM’s Radio Symphony Hall channels over the weekend.

That formal invitation from the White House isn’t the only reason Bronstein has to be pleased: the sold-out Oct. 24 gala concert with soloist Yo-Yo Ma netted $800,000 for the orchestra and its programs.

Meanwhile, it was announced that music director Robertson is the recipient of Arts & Education’s 2010 Excellence in the Arts award; he’ll receive it at A&E’s annual dinner, Jan. 25, 2010, at the Chase Park Plaza.

This story appeared on November 4, 2009, on page A16 of the Post-Dispatch.