The Stecher and
Horowitz Foundation
will host a Black Tie Gala
Benefit on
Sunday evening, May 1 at 6 p.m.
at
The University Club,
One West 54th Street,
New York.
The 6 p.m. cocktail reception
will be followed by a
performance by some of the prize
winners of The 2010 New York
International Piano Competition,
the Foundation’s flagship
program. Dinner will be served
at 8 p.m. Tickets $250-$7500
may be purchased by calling
212-581-8380.
Noted attendees will include:
Gala Chair, Ms. Janet Tweed
Gusman, Gilbert Tweed Associates
Actor Roger Rees
Carol and Charles V. Schaefer,
III
Sunny and Warren Adler, author
of “War of the Roses” and 30
other books
Kerry Kruckel Gibbs
Barbara and Eric Elowitz, MD,
Joan and William S. Hearst
Sarah and Martin L. Leibowitz,
Caroline Mousset, Music Director
of The Phillips Collection,
Washington,
DC
Donald O. Quest, MD
Veronica and Robert Sherman
Victoria and Dr. Robert Sirota,
President of Manhattan School
of Music
Ann Tanenbaum, Lewis
Schlossinger
Ron Losby, President of Steinway
& Sons
Jeffrey, Von Arx, President of Fairfield University
Rabbi and Mrs.
David M. Posner, Chief Rabbi of
Temple Emanu-El, NYC
Melvin Stecher
and Norman Horowitz,
Executive Directors of the
Stecher and Horowitz Foundation,
have devoted a lifetime to the
musical education of young
people. Internationally
recognized as one of the most
distinguished duo-piano teams of
their generation, Stecher and
Horowitz are equally renowned
for their multi-faceted
activities as performers,
teachers, composers and
educational consultants –
activities that have earned them
a unique position in the world
of music. Having been
co-directors of the Stecher and
Horowitz School of the Arts for
39 years, (1960-1999) it was
apparent to both principals that
the most important and formative
years for developing interested
young musicians were the
pre-teen years and into the
early twenties, a good decade of
concentrated and formative
development. The
New York
Piano Competition was originally
founded on this premise.
In
2009, the Stecher and Horowitz
Foundation announced two major
changes in its biennial New York
Piano Competition (NYPC). For
the first time the Competition
accepted contestant applications
from outside the United States
effective for the summer of
2010, a change in the procedures
of accepting applications only
from students (American or
foreign) who were pursuing
studies in the
United States.
With this development the 2010
Competition was known as the
New York International Piano
Competition. In
addition, it expanded its age
category upwards from 14-18
years to 16-21 years – this
affords contestants in the late
teens the opportunity to
interact musically with
promising young adults, serving
as a challenging incentive
toward greater achievement. The
original concept of allowing all
contestants to complete their
participation without
elimination remained the same,
fostering the fullest musical
interaction between contestants
throughout the entire span of
the competition. The New York
International Piano Competition
remains true to its
predecessor’s philosophy that
the primary goal of a musical
competition is to further the
musical development of its
contestants.