5.8.09: New York Pops | New York Social Diary

New York Pops

Dinner in the Pierre Ballroom celebrating New York Pops 26th Birthday Gala.

On Tuesday, April 21st New York City Opera’s Spring Luncheon celebrated women’s support of and contributions to the arts. The event held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel honored a group of outstanding women at this new annual event for their leadership in this field and their exceptional support of City Opera. The lunch included an intimate performance by City Opera soprano Julianna Di Giacomo accompanied by Kevin Murphy on the piano. Luncheon décor was provided by Roberta Freymann.

Spring Luncheon Chairs: Helen Little, Mary Sharp Cronson, Princess Alexandra of Greece, Olivia Flatto, Roberta Freymann, and Emilie Roy Corey

New York City Opera’s Spring Luncheon at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

One hundred percent of the proceeds from the Spring Luncheon will support New York City Opera’s award-winning Education Programs. These programs, which reach over 5,000 students each year, take artists into classrooms, bring young people to performances and provide exciting behind-the-scenes glimpses of City Opera at work.

Honorees were Anita Contini and Mimi Levitt. Luncheon Chairs were Princess Alexandra of Greece, Emilie Roy Corey, Mary Sharp Cronson, Olivia Flatto, Roberta Freymann, Helen Little, Lee Slaughter.

Heather Randall and George Steel

Susan Baker, Jennifer Collins, and Eileen Imber

Honoree Mimi Levitt and Elizabeth Levitt Hirsch

Fe Saracino Fendi and friend

George McNeely and Amy Fine Collins

Lisa Lori and Yildez Blackstone

Liz Lange, Debbie Chazen, and Julie Bernstein

George Steel and Honoree Anita Contini

The New York Public Library’s 28th Annual Spring Luncheon, co-chaired by Leah Brokaw, Joan Hardy Clark, Liz Peek, and Calvin Trillin, was held in the Celeste Bartos Forum of the New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. It was sponsored by Saks Fifth Avenue.

This year's title was Not for Children Only, and they celebrated a lifelong love of reading with a look at Children’s Literature. The program was moderated by New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik, and there was a panel of speakers including Children's Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hoberman, Salman Rushdie, and award-winning author and illustrator Chris Van Allsburg.

Moderator Adam Gopnik with panelists Chris Van Allsburg, Mary Ann Hoberman, and Salman Rushdie.

Proceeds from the Luncheon benefit the General Book Fund and enable the Library to acquire the books and materials needed to keep its world-renowned collections current and vibrant.

Library Trustee Patricia Klingenstein and Susie Zeckendorf

Co-Chair Lea Brokaw, Jadrien Steele, and Carroll Carpenter

moderator Adam Gopnik, Pia Glenn, and panelist Salman Rushdie

Laura Strauss and Library Trustee Abby Milstein

Elyse Newhouse and Gillian Miniter

Co-Chair Calvin Trillin, Susan Cheever, and moderator Adam Gopnik

Library Trustee Katharine Rayner and Elizabeth Fondaras

Christine Schwarzman and Library President Paul LeClerc

Library Trustee Annette de la Renta with Trustee and Co-Chair Joan Hardy Clark

Susan Fales-Hill

Library Trustees Sue Ann Weinberg and Gayfryd Steinberg

Kent Greenawalt and Co-Chair Joan Hardy Clark

William Rayner and Lionel Larner

Brooke Neidich and Alice Tisch

Caroline Dean, Ann Tenenbaum, and Elizabeth Lindemann

Joanne Matthews, Jane Donaldson, and Valerie Diker

Andrea Olshan, Joan Steinberg, and Judith Ginsberg

Co-Chair Lea Brokaw and Susan Morgenthau

Caroline Dougherty, Karin Sadove, and Georgia Frasch

Suzanne Cochran, Co-Chair Liz Peek, Joyce Brown, and Hilary Geary Ross

panelist Chris Van Allsburg signing a book for a guest

Library Trustees Louise Grunwald and Mahnaz Ispahani with Anna Marie Shapiro

David Monn, Library Trustee Gayfryd Steinberg, and Co-Chair Lea Brokaw

On Monday, last week in Carnegie Hall, The New York Pops honored Feinstein’s at Loews Regency on its tenth anniversary and congratulated Michael Feinstein and Jonathan Tisch for leading this great New York institution. Some of the stars who make Feinstein’s at Loews Regency the perfect intimate setting for American popular song took the stage at Carnegie Hall to celebrate New York’s quintessential supper club in grand style.

The all-star 26th Birthday Gala concert also included a salute to New Amsterdam Rediscovered, a joint Dutch-American initiative celebrating the 400th anniversary of the exploration of New York Harbor and the Hudson River. Liz Smith hosted.

Gala Performers

The concert featured The New York Pops conducted by Steven Reineke, Music Director-Designate with performances by Barbara Cook, Cheyenne Jackson, Brian d’Arcy James, Idina Menzel, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Anika Noni Rose, Ashford & Simpson, and Michael Feinstein.

Idina Menzel and Anika Noni Rose sang the world premiere of American River Suite written by Stephen Flaherty with lyrics by William Schermerhorn. American River Suite is dedicated to Henry Hudson’s historic voyage and was commissioned for the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks which will be telecast on NBC.

Michael Feinstein

Cheyenne Jackson

The Ronald McDonald House kids

Joining the orchestra on stage were 20 junior high school-aged students from The New York Pops’ Salute to Music education program. The students sat side-by-side with members of The New York Pops and perform “Conjunction Junction” and “Figure Eight” with legendary Schoolhouse Rock composer Bob Dorough.

Kids from the Ronald McDonald House of New York City also joined the orchestra to showcase their rock band talents, honed in a year-long residency led by Dr. Sherrie Maricle, The New York Pops’ Director of Education. Cheering on the performers were more than 800 children attending the concert free of charge as part of the orchestra’s Kids in the Balcony music education program. For many, this was their first Carnegie Hall experience.

Idina Menzel

Anika Noni Rose

A dinner dance at the Pierre Hotel followed the concert and included a live auction led by Nicholas Lowry of Swan Galleries.

The gala Co-Chairs were June Freemanzon, Nancy Rabstejnek Nichols, and William Schermerhorn. The corporate chair was Max Rutten.

The gala Honorary Chairs included Her Royal Highness Princess Christina of the Netherlands, Renée Jones-Bos, Ambassador of the Netherlands to the United States, and Michael Gallagher, United States Chargé d’Affaires to the Netherlands.

Pops Concert is Sold Out!

Steven Reineke with gala concert host Liz Smith

New York Pops CEO James Johnson and Steven Reineke

Brian d'Arcy James

Nic Ashford, Steven Reineke, and Valerie Simpson

Steven Reineke, Patty Read, and James Read, Chairman of The New York Pops

Anika Noni Rose, Idina Menzel, and Sara Caswell taking a bow

Ashford and Simpson

James and Jennifer Johnson

Alan Lazare, Arlene Lazare, Valerie Simpson, and Nic Simpson

Jonathan Tisch and Michael Feinstein

Barbara Cook

Michael Feinstein, Jonathan Tisch, Steven Reineke with New York Pops Kids

Michael Feinstein, Eva Mohr, Barbara Taylor Bradford, and Steven Reineke

Rick Friedberg and Francine LeFrak

Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Steve Swindal, and Kate-Edelman Johnson

Nancy Rabstejnek Nichols, Bill Schermerhorn, and June Freemanzon

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) held this year’s ArtSeen event at the Friedrich Petzel Gallery in Chelsea. It was the best attended benefit in the organization’s 25+ history. More than 325 people braved the rain for the cocktail party and silent auction, to which over 100 NYFA affiliated artists donated.

Among those attending: Sarah Basile, Emma Snowdon-Jones, Elizabeth Grimaldi, Serena Merriman, Anna Gavazzi, Alex McCord, Simon Van Kempen, Nazy Nazhand, Shinique Smith, Anne Huntington, Field Kallop, Michael L. Royce, Casey Fremont, Anita Durst, Kristian Laliberte, Alexander Gilkes, Judy Brodsky, Andres Serrano, Kathleen O’Grady and Anastasia Rogers. Diane Von Furstenberg graciously dressed several committee members including Stylecaster’s Carol Han, Hayley Bloomingdale and the event’s junior co-chair Bettina Prentice.

Guests wearing hair design by Edisa Weeks

The real entertainment of the evening was Delirious Designs by Edisa Weeks, an onsite hair design booth in which the artist applied flowers, stuffed animals and text to people’s hair. The line for hair design was stayed full throughout the evening with NYFA board members like Paul and Anne Queen.

Online arts powerhouse ArtNet.com, whose magazine is staffed by the top arts critics in the industry and enjoys a readership of over 750,000 monthly, teamed with NYFA as a media sponsor and drinks were generously donated by Emanuelle Chiche of The Bubble Lounge in Tribeca.

Brittany Black and Field Kallop

Anastasia Rogers

Emma Snowdon Jones and Anna Gavazzi

Amanda Hartmann, Christina Warner, and Lauriston Roach

Ben Hayden and Alexander Gilkes

Marjorie Martay and Michael Royce

Field Kallop and friend

Sarah Basile and Hayley Bloomingdale

Bettina and Jamie Prentice

Cayte Grieve, Alex McCord, and Simon Van Kempen

Kristian Laliberte and Carol Han

Casey Fremont

Todd and Megan DiCurcio

Charles C. Bergman and Michael Wiener

Irina Movmyga and Andres Serrano

Jocelyn Elliot

Chadwick Bell and Nazy Nazhand

Paulanne Queen

Monday night a week ago, Yaz and Valentin Hernandez and Isabel and Ruben Toledo, Chairs, along with Ramiro J. Ortiz, Joseph and Carmen Ana Unanue, and Sarah Wolfe, Vice Chairs of the upcoming El Museo 2009 Gala, hosted a cocktail reception and Mother’s Day Shopping kickoff to benefit El Museo at Mauboussin at 741 Madison Avenue.

Alexandra Pappas and Whitney Wolfe

Angel Sanchez and Reem Acra

Ann Rapp and Yaz Hernandez

Alessandra Rotondi

Roric Tobin, Jonathan Marder, Geoffrey Bradfield, Monique van Buren, and Richard Turley

Amy Fine Collins

Bibatu Mohapatra and Alexa Rudlfo

Gemma Kahng

Grace Gomez Brea and Scott Buccheit

Andy Uranue, Marie Omara, and Carmen Uranue

Anita Sarko

Marjorie Reed Gordon, Ellery Gordon, and Alessandra Rotondi

Liliana Domiguez and Christian Cota

Horacio Silva

Eduardo and Estelle Gaffron

Jean Shafiroff, Yaz Hernandez, and Sharon Bush

Betina Ocampo, PJ Pascual, and Gabriel Rivera Barraza

Liliana Dominguez, Juan Pyssey, and Yaz Hernandez

Myra Hernandez and Yolanda Santos

Mauricio Quezada and Liliana Dominguez

Melissa Berkelhammer and Seana Cavangh

Kai Kuhne

Gabriel Rivera Barraza and Rita Jammett

Robert Burke

Glenda Bailey

Puma Rejo, Roberta Rejo, Yaz Hernandez, and Consuelo Scarpetta

Yanna Avis

George Wayne and Christine Cachot

Vilma Brennan and Myra Hernandez

Sharon Bush and Jean Shafiroff

Michele Heredia and Yaz Hernandez

Roxanne Lowitt, George Wayne, and Bernadine Gilfond

Sarah Wolfe and Christian Cota

At its annual Scribbles to Novels event held last Thursday evening, New York-based nonprofit Jumpstart raised significant funds and awareness for its mission of helping preschool children from low-income communities become avid readers and learners.

The event convened acclaimed authors Walter Mosley (The Long Fall), Ayelet Waldman (Bad Mother), John Hodgman (More Information Than You Require), and Andrew Sean Greer (The Story of a Marriage) to celebrate and support the literary journey that takes a child from scribbles to novels.

The event raised over $415,000 and brought almost 300 concerned New Yorkers together to show their support for the organization. Among the crowd was Jumpstart admirer and television favorite, Stephanie March ("Law & Order: SVU").

Chris Stadler, Clark Munnell, Glenn Gorab, Esra Munnell, Laura Aziz, Loretta Stadler, and Betty Gorab

Scribbles to Novels was chaired by Chris and Loretta Stadler. Chris is managing partner at CVC Capital Partners and a member of Jumpstart’s National Board of Directors. Working side by side with the Stadlers was Lorie Almon, chair of the Jumpstart Mid-Atlantic Regional Board and managing director of Seyfarth Shaw’s New York office. The event opened with a group of preschoolers from the lower east side singing their favorite numbers from the Jumpstart songbook. Ayelet Waldman was the evening’s humorous and inspiring emcee.

Among its many supporters, Scribbles to Novels was sponsored by major underwriting from Chris and Loretta Stadler, Pilot Travel Centers, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Rolly van Rappard, Pearson, and Peeq Media.

Jumpstart is a national early education organization that works toward the day every child in America enters school prepared to succeed. By pairing nearly 4,000 trained adult mentors with underserved preschoolers for a full school year, Jumpstart helps children develop the language, literacy, and social skills they’ll need to thrive in kindergarten and beyond. Working alongside parents and families, Jumpstart is currently serving nearly 15,000 children across 20 states, in partnership with more than 300 early learning centers and 74 universities and colleges throughout the country. Jumpstart’s national sponsors include American Eagle Outfitters, AmeriCorps, Pearson, Sodexo and Starbucks. Jumpstart is the five-time recipient of the Fast Company/Monitor Social Capitalist Award (2004-2008) and has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. For more information, visit the at www.jstart.org.