On the Grand Promenade for the Opening Night gala of the NYC Opera.
Last Thursday night The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center held its opening night of the season gala, Sounds of the Season, honoring Charles Wadsworth, the Founding Artistic Director of the organization. The evening kicked off the premiere fully programmed season by Artistic Directors, David Finckel and Wu Han. The Wall Street Journal has called Finckel and Wu Han “America’s power couple of chamber music” for bringing phenomenal new energy to the art form.
The evening’s program featured a musical journey juxtaposing the voices of ten singular composers. Wu Han in her introductory remarks referred to the program was a “tastings menu – a taste of all the delectable treats to come this season!”
Guests congregated for a pre-performance cocktail reception followed by a performance in Alice Tully Hall, and then a post-performance dinner in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. The evening was chaired by Herbert and Judith Schlosser and Henry Steinway Ziegler and Jourdan Arpelle-Ziegler.
Among the guests attending the gala evening were Christina Lang Assael, Catherine Curran, Elizabeth Diller, Howard and Mary Phipps, Robin Duke, Joel and Anne Ehrenkranz, Anthony and Judith Evnin, Elie and Marion Wiesel, Jarvis Wilcox and Coke Anne Wilcox, Peter and Barrett Frelinghuysen, Norma Hurlburt, Robert Wood Johnson IV and Suzanne Ircha, James and Sheila McGarry, Richard and Carol Miller, Betty Allen, Helen Clay Chace, Anne G. Coffin, James and Missy O’Shaughnessy, Annette Rickel, Julia Salvi, Arthur and Joan Sarnoff, Martin and Edith Segal, Melanie Shorin, Paul and Daisy Soros, Annaliese Soros, Charles and Susan Wadsworth.
Elie and Marion Wiesel
Howard and Mary Phipps
Jeanne Lunin and Andrea Walton de Vogel
Opening Night Chairs Henry Steinway Ziegler and Jourdan Arpell
Opening Night Chairs Herbert and Judith Schlosser
Woody Johnson and Suzanne Ircha
L. to r.: Cheers!; Carol Miller and friends.
Carol and Richard Miller
Christina Lang Assael, Robin Duke, and Barbara Evans Butler
Harry Kamen and Annette Rickel
Paul and Daisy Soros
Artistic Director David Finckel on the stage of Alice Tully
Honoree and Founding Artistic Director Charles Wadsworth
Composer Leon Kirchner and Wu Han
Daniel Ron Daniel, Lise Scott, Tino Puri, and Rajika Puri
Helen Clay Chace and Mary Phipps
Helen Levine, Henry Steinway Ziegler, and friend
Norma Hurlburt, Saar and Lisa Banin, and Peter Frelinghuysen
Last Tuesday night, the New York City Opera company celebrated the opening of its 63rd season with “A Night at the Opera,” a gala concert which benefited the company and honored Paula Zahn, anchor of CNN’s Paula Zahn Now. Ms. Zahn herself trained at age 5 as a cellist. Her talent earned her a degree in journalism on a musical scholarship (so keep on practicing kids).
The incomparable Carol Vaness led this special evening which featured performances by some of City Opera’s most exciting voices, including Pamela Armstrong, Elizabeth Futral, and Vivica Genaux, in a spectacular concert of opera highlights directed by the acclaimed Mark Lamos and featuring the New York City Opera Orchestra under the baton of Music Director George Manahan.
On this night, City Opera arranged the return of Samuel Ramey and Vinson Cole, as well as the Company’s distinguished former General Director, Julius Rudel, who returned to the podium after a 25 year absence. Opera greats Beverly Sills and Plácido Domingo also delivered a special message to the evening’s guests.
The evening began with cocktails on the Grand Promenade of the New York State Theater, followed by the Gala Concert at 7:30 pm. Right after the performance there was a black-tie dinner with dancing on the Grand Promenade to the orchestra of that incomparable opera lover himself, Peter Duchin.
The evening’s chairs were Mary Sharp Cronson, Richard and Jennie DeScherer, Mark and Lorry Newhouse, George and Joan Schiele, Pamela Thomas-Graham. Among the distinguished guests, opera-lovers all were: Bruce Kovner and Suzie Fairchild, Reynold Levy, Susan Baker and Michael Lynch, Lillian Vernon, Barry Friedberg and Charlotte Moss, Annaliese Soros, Jacqueline Z. Davis, Joseph Melillo, Mary Sharp Cronson, Liliane and Norman Peck, Laura Pomerantz, Marlene Hess, Nigel Reddin, Arthur and Joan Sarnoff, Arlene Schuler, Edmee and Nicholas Firth, Adam and Olivia Flatto, Anne and James Sitrick, Frieda and Roy Furman, Paul Kellogg, Hugh Hardy, Countess Ariane de Vienne, Vinson Cole, Gillian Attfield, Frederick Beinecke, Candace Beinecke, Hugh Hildesley, James & Marie Nugent-Head Marlas, Frank Bennack, Asher Edelman, Elyse Newhouse, Michael Newhouse, Yung Hee-Kim, Princess Alexandra of Greece and Nicolas Mirzayantz, Barbara and Donald Tober, Senator Suzi Oppenheimer, Itzak and Toby Perlman, Donald and Virginia Zilkha, Elaine Sargent, Kitty Carlyle Hart, Lauren Flanigan, Irwin Schneiderman, Dinyar and Aashish Devitre, Samuel Ramey, Rosamond Bernier and John Russell.
Alicia Benoix with Robin and Ted Withington
Betty Zahn with Al and Elaine Corwin
Elaine and Al Corwin with Paula and Betty Zahn
Charles Petschek and Sir Thomas Moore
Adam Clayton and Olivia Flatto
Princess Alexandra of Greece
Betty and Paula Zahn
Heather Johnson, George Manahan, and Elizabeth Futral
Franklin Weissberg, Susan and David Krause, and Marilyn Diamond
Jim and Nancy Rosenfield with Elaine and Charles Petschek
Paul Kellogg, Rosalie Brinton, and Lee Ellman
Pamela Armstrong and Colleen McGrath
Mark Newhouse and Rosalie Brinton with a friend
Kate Levin, Richard and Jennie DeScherer, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Beverly Sills, Paul Kellogg, and Kate Levin
Michael Lancaster, Elaine Sargent, Fred Richmond, and Kitty Carlisle Hart
Paul Beck, Stacie Henderson, and Lisa and Mark Hellman
