Tabernacle, Howard among Arts honorees

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the PBS music series “Austin City Limits� and actor-turned-movie director Ron Howard are among the recipients of this year’s National Medal of Arts, President Bush announced Wednesday.

Other winners saluted in a ceremony at the White House include author Beverly Cleary, country singer George Strait, bluesman Buddy Guy, dancer-turned-ballet company director Suzanne Farrell, National Symphony Orchestra conductor Leonard Slatkin, performer and stage director Tommy Tune and Rafe Esquith, a teacher at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in Los Angeles who was honored as an arts educator.

From a Times staff writer