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| The School of American Ballet held its annual Workshop Performance Benefit and raised almost $600,000 to help fund annual student scholarships. The evening began with a performance celebrating the legendary choreographer Jerome Robbins at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center. Almost 100 students ranging in age from 8 to 19 performed three works by Robbins in addition to George Balanchine’s sublime Concerto Barocco and a dazzling “Showcase for Young Male Dancers” by SAB faculty member Jock Soto. Dinner for over 500 guests followed the performance in SAB’s Rose Building studios, which were transformed into a summery oasis of sunflowers and crisp black-and-white patterned linens by Ron Wendt Designs. Glorious Foods presented a three course meal of Crab Cakes and Baby Lamb Chops with Mint Sauce topped off with a frothy Frozen Strawberry Soufflé. After dinner, the School’s advanced students celebrated the end of the ballet training year with yet more dancing, this time showing off their not-so-classical moves in a studio disguised as a glittery disco, where they challenged game benefit guests to keep up. |
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| The Workshop Performance Benefit’s chairmen were Robert Couturier, Amy Mazzola Flynn, Martha and Garfield Miller III and Laura Zeckendorf. The Young Patron chairmen were Katherine Daines, Adam Hendrickson and Rebecca Krohn. Among the guests in attendance were SAB artistic director Peter Martins, SAB’s executive director Marjorie Van Dercook, Peggy Bewkes, Susan Dunlevy, Susan Fales-Hill, Fe and Alessandro Fendi, Oliva Flatto, Marina and John French, Coco and Arie Kopelman, Alexandra Lebenthal and Jay Diamond, Bridget Macaksill, Carol Mack, Andy and Tom Mendell, Liz and Jeff Peek, Paul Pressler, Suzy A. Redpath, Laura and Harry Slatkin, Jock Soto and Jonathan Stafford. The School of American Ballet’s annual Workshop Performances serve as a public introduction to the talented dancers of the future. Many of the advanced students who perform each spring in the School's fully staged productions of classic and contemporary ballets at Lincoln Center's Peter Jay Sharp Theater go on to sign professional contracts with New York City Ballet and other major dance companies in the U.S. and abroad. Founded in 1934 by Lincoln Kirstein and the legendary choreographer George Balanchine, The School of American Ballet is recognized as the preeminent ballet academy in the United States. SAB is the official School of New York City Ballet. |
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| La Mer and Oceana celebrated World Ocean Day with a cocktail party at Rockefeller Center. Oceana is the world's largest ocean protection advocacy group. Their efforts have greatly reduced pollution, oil dumping, overfishing, and protected endangered habitats and wildlife. They brought out a great crowd including Leonard Lauder, Ghislaine Maxwell, Thomas and Marean Pompidou, as well as Ted Danson, who sits on Oceana's Board of Directors and Amber Valletta, who is actively involved with the organization. |
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| The Collegiate Chorale, led by Music Director Robert Bass, presented a Spring Gala Benefit at The Racquet & Tennis Club at 370 Park Avenue, featuring Tony Award-winner Roger Rees and world renowned soprano, Lauren Flanigan performing an Austrian themed program. The Gala supports the Chorale’s New York season and education programs for New York City schools. Co-Chairs for the event were Page Ashley, Nancy Becker, Lois Conway, Wendy Goldstein, Ricki Nenner, Christie Salomon, Deborah F. Stiles, and Beth Tunick. Robert Bass, Music Director of The Collegiate Chorale since 1980, has established himself as a significant force in the musical life of New York. He conducts a wide repertoire including choral works and operas, and has initiated numerous commissions during his tenure. |
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Members of the chorale's side by side education program. |
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| Mr. Bass made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut at the age of 26, and has since presented several operatic gems at Carnegie Hall including the New York premieres of Richard Strauss’ Friedenstag, Schubert’s Fierrabras, Respighi’s La fiamma, and the American premiere of Dvorák’s Dmitri, as well as Verdi’s Nabucco, Giovanna d’Arco (Joan of Arc), Macbeth, La forza del destino, Un ballo in maschera, Ponchielli’s La Gioconda, Beethoven’s Fidelio, and Puccini’s Le Villi and Turandot Act III, featuring the NY premiere of the Luciano Berio ending. His discography includes the world premiere recording of Richard Strauss’s opera Friedenstag and Beethoven cantatas with Deborah Voigt and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. The Collegiate Chorale, among New York’s foremost vocal ensembles, has added to the richness of the City’s cultural fabric for more than 65 years. Founded in 1941 by the legendary conductor Robert Shaw, the Chorale has achieved national and international prominence under the leadership of Music Director Robert Bass. The Chorale has established a preeminent reputation for its interpretations of the traditional choral repertoire, vocal works by American composers, and rarely heard operas-in-concert, as well as commissions and premieres of new works by today’s most exciting creative artists. In summer 2007, The Chorale performed for the third consecutive season at Switzerland’s Verbier Music Festival, where Mr. Bass conducted the ensemble in Orff’s Carmina Burana. |
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| Photographs by ©PatrickMcMullan.com (SAB). | Click here [4] for NYSD Contents |