On October 18, 2006 Steve Reich was awarded the Praemium Imperiale for his contribution to the arts. The award was presented by Prince Hitachi at the Meiji Hall in Tokyo . The Praemium Imperiale awards are given annually by the Japan Art Association in five fields not covered by the Nobel Prizes: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music and Theatre/Film. Previous recipients of Praemium Imperiale include Willem de Kooning, Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, Gyorgy Ligeti, Frank Gehry, Richard Serra and Stephen Sondheim.