This past Saturday,
August 2 saw a special anniversary for The
Perlman Music Program (PMP).Toby
and Itzhak Perlman celebrated
their exceptional music school’s 20th anniversary at the
Program’s annual summer gala, in an evening marked by
generosity, artistry, and friendship. The event was graciously
hosted by Annette
and Ian Cumming at their beautiful East Hampton home and
co-chaired by PMP Board President Morgan
Stark and Sidney
Stark. Despite a soggy start to the day, the weather
brightened just in time for a festive reception on the lawn
overlooking the water.
After cocktails, guests were treated to a concert
by the Perlmans’ phenomenal young
students: 39 classical string musicians aged 12-18, representing
9 countries and 13 states, all in residence for the summer on
PMP’s Shelter Island campus. After an anniversary film tribute
created by alumna Bella
Markham, the PMP Chorus took the stage. Comprised of
students, fellows, community members, and faculty – Toby
and Itzhak Perlman among them – and led by inimitable Maestro
Patrick Romano, the singers took guests on a musical journey
through Bach, Rossini, Morley and Elgar. Faculty member Catherine
Cho and surprise guest Itzhak
Perlman lent their artistry to “The
Snow”, Elgar’s haunting masterpiece for chorus and two solo
violins. Students hastened backstage after singing to retrieve
their instruments, and the superlative PMP String Orchestra unleashed
its musical powers for the delighted audience. Maestro
Itzhak Perlman conducted a sparkling program of Respighi,
Copland, and Elgar’s “Introduction and
Allegro” for orchestra and string quartet. The acclaimed Ariel
String Quartet, comprised of accomplished PMP alums Amit
Even-Tov, Gershon Gerchikov, Jan Grüning and Alexandra
Kazovsky, returned to the PMP stage to do the honors with a
masterful performance.
PMP Board President Morgan
Stark recognized the entire PMP board of directors in
attendance: Randall
Blank, Jay
Dweck,Vicki
Kellogg, Mark Miller, and Laura
Sloate, and
thanked Ian and Annette for their extraordinary generosity to
the Program. Thanks to all the supportive guests in attendance,
the evening raised over $500,000 to support PMP’s mission to
educate and support the next generation of classical musicians.
During dessert, guests were treated to the sweet
sounds of PMP’s doo-wop quartet, a fun summer tradition.
Associate Director Merry
Peckham and fellow Tim
Bontje joined Itzhak
Perlman and Patrick
Romano, with support from faculty Cathy
Cho on violin and Rachel
Calin on double bass. Students joined in for a rousing
finish, capped off by a surprise tribute for Toby and Itzhak to
commemorate 20 years of their extraordinary stewardship of
classical music’s future.
The evening’s guests - numbering over 250 - and generous
contributors included lead supporters Arlene
and Alan Alda, Gabrielle and Louis Bacon, Alec Baldwin, M.
Elaine Crocker, Marjorie Fisher, Barbara Gladstone, Mei Sze and
Jeff Greene, Cornelia and Ralph Heins, Eleanora and Michael
Kennedy, Chiara and Jamie Mai, Ernst A. Nijkerk, Pamela and
Edward Pantzer, and Carol and Lawrence Saper.