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 American Voices
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| Dinner in the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. |
The New York City Opera held its much anticipated Theater Debut Celebration last Thursday night at the newly renovated David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. The black tie evening began with Dom Pérignon Champagne Reception, followed by 7pm Gala Concert and then a dinner, dancing, auction.
This momentous evening also marked the beginning of a new era under the leadership of George Steel, General Manager and Artistic Director. The Theater Debut Celebration honored David H. Koch whose great generosity has made possible the historic renovation of their landmark home. Honorary Chairman was Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Co-Chairmen were Frank A. Bennack, Jr., Katherine Farley and Jerry I. Speyer, Joan Granlund, Julia Koch, Lee Slaughter and Ann Ziff. |
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The gala concert, American Voices, showcased great music from American opera and musical theater performed by world-renowned New York City Opera stars. Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright also performed as a special guest during the concert which also featured a special guest performance by New York City Ballet – a fitting partnership to recognize the 50th Anniversary of Lincoln Center.
City Opera also unveiled a site-specific installation by artist E.V. Day in the theater's Promenade. A series of dynamic sculptures made from a selection of vintage City Opera costumes and costume accessories were dramatically suspended overhead in exuberant simulated motion. |
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David and Julia Koch |
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Terry Clark and Elaine Sargent |
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Tinsley Mortimer and Sandra Osipow |
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Robert Vacca and Devorah Rose |
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Timothy O'Leary, Kara O'Leary, Nicholas Firth, and Edmee Firth |
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Donna Slade and Jamie Figg |
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Talise Trevigne and Lindsay Utz |
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Wyatt Koch |
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Robert Wilson and Joan Hardy Clark |
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Stephanie French and Charles Klein |
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Valerie Clifford, Grant Smith, and Jackie Smith |
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Nolan McKew and John Sundling |
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Paula Zahn, Julia Koch, and Katherine Farley |
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Robert Wilson, Becca Cason Thrash, and Jean Christophe Laizeau |
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Samuel Ramey, Charles Koch, and David Koch |
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Svetlana and Herbert Wachtell |
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Stephanie Newhouse |
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Stephanie Stokes and Xavier Guerrand-Hermes |
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Roy and Frieda Furman |
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Somers and Jonathan Farkas |
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Margo Langenberg and Richard Kosman |
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Rachel Roy |
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Robert Kaiser and Eric Kramer |
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Baroness Maria Zerilli-Marimo |
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Lee Niven |
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Peter Martins and Darci Kistler |
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Megan Conway and Lindsay Utz |
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Nils Folke Anderson and Alexandra Posen |
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Marissa Fierz and Claudio Kawecki |
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Liz and Jeff Peek |
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Pearson Chodak and Jonathan Sheffer |
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Laurie Newhouse, Gillian Miniter, and Elyse Newhouse |
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Judy Auchincloss and Sharon Bush |
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Jamie Niven and Liz Koch |
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Ellen Marcus, Jake Heggie, and Kitty Ockenden |
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Lexie Rose and Lydia Leinsdorfe |
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Jorn Weisberodt and Victoria Wyman |
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Joan Harting and Sandra Ourusoff |
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Peter Martins, Carolina Herrera, and Joyce DiDonato |
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Jackie Smith and Valerie Clifford |
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Measha Brueggergosman, Robert Meya, and Luziah Hennessy |
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Jennifer Scully and Harrison Morgan |
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Diana Picasso, Habib Ghawi, and Bassima Ghawi |
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Joel Grey and Carolina Herrera |
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George Steel, Kara O'Leary, Susan Baker, and Tim O'Leary |
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Erica Fisher, Eric Madsen, Celia Novo, and Talise Trevigne |
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Frieda Furman and David Mack |
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Gilles Hennessy and Laudomia Pucci |
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Joyce DiDonato, George Steel, and Amy Burton |
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Ashleigh Sekoski and Bianca Kawecki |
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Gilles Hennessy and David Koch |
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Angelynn Meya, Robert Meya, and Yolanda Meya |
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Carla Otto and Becca Cason Thrash |
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Daniel Ziff, Leslie Ziff, and Peter Lyden |
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Amy Fine Collins and Julia Koch |
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Brian Klodaski and Mark Heiser |
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Catherine Carmody |
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Christine Ebersole |
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Anka Palitz |
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David Koch, Measha Brueggergosman, and Alex Gardner |
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Roy Furman and Sandra Mack |
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Bianca Kawecki and Robert Dimauro |
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Brad Comisar, Matt Butler, Julia Koch, Greg Flesher, and Dora Jane Flesher |
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| The New York City Opera Theater Debut Celebration auction chair Luziah Hennessy hosted a donor dinner to celebrate the fantastic auction, last Wednesday night at Hotel on Rivington. |
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Hosts Donor Dinner at the Hotel On Rivington. |
| The donor list was an international once including Xavier Guerrand-Hermes who donated a week's stay at his residence in the Medina in Marrakech, and Count Carl Edouard von Biscmarck who donated a Wild Boar Hunting Shoot at his 24,000-acre estate in Germany. |
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Bassima Ghawi and Jean-Christophe Laizeau |
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Luziah and Gilles Hennessy |
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Laudomia Pucci, George Steele, and Luziah Hennessy |
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Xavier Guerrand Hermes and Prince Antonio Licata de Baucina |
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Habib Ghawi, Prince Antonio Licata de Baucina, and Pero Lee |
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The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) hosted its Third Annual Pulse of the City Gala at The Waldorf=Astoria. They honored renowned interventional cardiologist and researcher Dr. Martin B. Leon, and successfully raised funds for the foundation’s medical research and educational programs.
Committee co-chairs Dr. Gregg W. Stone and Dr. Jeffrey W. Moses, along with honorary chair Dr. Eric A. Rose were supported by a benefit committee that included Tovah Feldshuh, Alexandra J. Lansky, MD, Gary S. Mintz, MD, Roxana Mehran, MD, and Mehmet C. Oz, MD. |
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| Marvin Woodall, Gail Himmelsbach, Alex Gorsky, and Bill Himmelsbach |
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Roxana Mehran, MD, George Dangas, MD, PhD and Maria Fuster |
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Alex Abizaid, MD, PhD and Andrea Abizaid, MD, PhD |
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More than 450 attended a poignant presentation introduced by William A. Himmeslbach, FACHE, Eric B. Woldenberg, Esq., Dr. Jeffrey W. Moses, and Dr. Gregg W. Stone. A video tribute to honoree Dr. Martin B. Leon was screened, which told, among other stories, the heartfelt story of Tovah Feldshuh and her mother Lillian Feldshuh, who survived a near-fatal heart condition thanks to Dr. Leon and was on hand to celebrate her 98.5 birthday.
Guests included Mayor Ed Koch, Andrea Abiziad, MD and Alex Abiziad, MD, Ariel Moses, Carson Griffith, Sheehan Raab, Debra and Art Rosenthal, George D. Dangas, MD, Dr. Amy Stone, Gail Blanke, Jim Cusick, Juan Granada, MD and Lina Lopez, Keven Duffy, Sinan Biro, and Margaret and Greg Kaluza, MD. |
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Ed Koch and Martin B. Leon, MD |
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Tovah Feldshuh and Lillian Feldshuh |
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Dr. Amy Stone and Dr. Gregg Stone |
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Keven Duffy and Dr. Jeffrey Moses |
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Dr. Juan Granada and Lina Lopez |
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Eric Woldenberg and Marlene Berne Woldenberg |
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Art and Debra Rosenthal |
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Joseph Beck |
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Margaret and Greg Kaluza, MD, PhD |
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Last week in New York — The Hospital for Joint Diseases (HJD) raised more than $1 million to support programs designed to improve the lives of people with musculoskeletal and neurological disorders at its annual Founders Gala on Monday night at the Waldorf Astoria. Hosted by NYU Langone Medical Center dean and CEO, Robert I. Grossman, MD, the black-tie event was attended by more than 630 supporters.
The mission of HJD is to provide the highest quality of surgical and therapeutic care in the treatment, rehabilitation, and prevention of musculoskeletal, rheumatic, immunological, neurological, and other related diseases and injuries. This year’s event represented the 23rd Founders Gala and marked the 104th anniversary celebration of HJD.
This year’s gala was co-chaired by HJD Advisory Board Chair Robin L. Smith, MD, MBA, and fellow Advisory Board member Anthony G. Viscogliosi. The Gala honored John W. Brown, chairman of the board of Stryker, for advancement in medical technologies; Thomas J. Errico, MD, associate professor, Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Neurosurgery, NYU Langone Medical Center, for the outstanding accomplishments he has made in his fields; and actor and active philanthropist Anthony Edwards, chairman of the foundation Shoe4Africa, who is working to build the first public children’s hospital in Kenya. |
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Dr. Steven Abramson, Dr. Andrew Rosenberg, Dr. Thomas Errico, and Dr. Joseph D. Zuckerman |
“We’ve made tremendous progress since the last time we gathered together for this annual celebration, and we have so much to show for it,” said Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD, chairman, NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases Department of Orthopaedic Surgery; the Walter A.L. Thompson Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, NYU School of Medicine; and president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. “In addition to our continued growth in our field, we have been ranked among the nation’s top hospitals in orthopaedics, rheumatology and rehabilitation by U.S. News & World Report. This recognition not only honors the talent and dedication of our physicians and scientists, it also reminds us that HJD is a world-class institution with a long and distinguished history.”
Attendees included: Kenneth G. Langone, chairman of the Board of Trustees, NYU Langone Medical Center, and his wife, Elaine; Robin L. Smith, MD, MBA, chairman of the NYUHJD Advisory Board of Directors; Michael Gardner, William A. Perlmuth, Douglas A. Phillips, Norma Smith (Gordon) and the following NYUHJD Advisory Board members: Susan Chapro, Alan Harris, MD. PhD., Felix Kaufman, PhD, Stanley Katzman, Merrill M. Kraines, Alan S. Samuels, Axel Stawski, Carol Stone, and Anthony G. Viscogliosi. |
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Anthony Edwards, Robin Smith, and Dr. Steven Stuchin |
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Dr. Steven Abramson and Dr. Joseph D. Zuckerman |
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Anthongy Edwards, Dr. Steven Stuchin, and Dr. Robert I. Grossman |
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Elaine and Ken Langone |
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Dr. Robert I. Grossman and Dr. Elisabeth Cohen |
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Robin Smith, Anthony Edwards, and Norma Smith |
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Last Friday night, the MacDella Cooper Foundation (MCF) hosted its 6th Annual “Sharing the Light” gala at the Four Seasons Restaurant. The evening featured remarks by Lauren Brody, Deputy Editor of Glamour magazine, Grammy-nominated singer Zelma Davis and Liberian Ambassador to the United States, Maraon Kamara. The evening raised funds to benefit the MCF Academy, the first tuition-free school of its kind in post-war Liberia dedicated to educating abandoned children and orphans.
Lonnie Quinn and Cali Carlin of CBS News were emcees. MTV Music Video and American Music Award-winning singer Zelma Davis performed the Liberian National Anthem, and Rachel Fine sang the “Star Spangled Banner.”
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Cali Carlin, Samantha Fennell, Heidi Albetson, MacDella Cooper, Devorah Rose |
MCF supporters include a range of celebrities, business owners, and philanthropists such as New York State Governor David A. Paterson, actor Isaiah Washington, Four Seasons co-owners Julian Niccolini and Alex Von Bidder, actress Michelle Trachtenberg, co-founder of Microsoft Paul Allen, Barry Segal of the Segal Family Foundation, Hans Humes of Greylock Capital, and Ike Eckstein from Visual World among many others.
The MacDella Cooper Foundation Academy is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010. It will be the first tuition-free school of its kind in post-war Liberia, providing free education, room and board to 200 students. The school is especially dedicated to educating abandoned children and orphans. Acclaimed architect Winka Dubbeldam, principal of the world-renowned firm Archi-Tectonics in New York, designed the sustainable MCF Academy, which will be built by GBS-Liberia, LLC. |
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After School Pop Stars" with Zelma Davis and MacDella Cooper |
Born in 1977 in Monrovia, MacDella Cooper is one of thousands of refugees of the Liberian Civil War. At the age of 12, rebels raided Ms. Cooper’s village and her stepfather was captured, never to return. Her mother was away in the United States at the time, and she was left alone with her two teenage brothers. The children escaped their village, dodging bullets and passing casualties on the roadside. It took them six months to reach a refugee camp in the Ivory Coast, and another three years for to be reunited with their mother in Newark.
After high school, Ms. Cooper went on to earn a degree from The College of New Jersey. She moved to New York City to work in fashion and modeling with her pictures appearing in Glamour magazine. In 2004, she started the MacDella Cooper Foundation as a way to give back to the orphaned children of post-war Liberia. Today, Ms. Cooper has become known as Liberia’s Angel, attracting international investors to Liberian markets and creating awareness of the plight of Liberian children through her humanitarian initiatives. |
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Winka Dubbledam, MacDella Cooper, and Lauren Brody |
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Cali Carlin and Lonnie Quinn |
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Governor David Paterson |
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MacDella Cooper with Barry and Dolly Segal |
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Nathaniel Barnes and MacDella Coooper |
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Heidi Albertson and Jenna Arnold |
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