Clay Brakeley, OSL Principal Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, OSL President &
Executive Director Katy Clark, and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham.
 

OSL Celebrates Mark Morris and Emme & Jonathan Deland at
 Gift of Music Gala Hosted by David Hyde Pierce

Evening Includes Award Presentation with Special Guest Mikhail Baryshnikov and Performance by OSL with Pablo Heras-Casado and Soprano Angela Meade

New York, NY – Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) will hold its annual Gift of Music gala at The Plaza Hotel on Monday, March 24, 2014, hosted by actor and director David Hyde Pierce. The evening will benefit OSL’s artistic and Community & Education programs, as well as The DiMenna Center for Classical Music. Orchestra of St. Luke’s is proud to honor dancer, choreographer, and director Mark Morris, and extraordinary OSL patrons Emme and
Jonathan Deland.

“This year’s Gift of Music gala celebrates individuals who have made significant contributions to the artistic community,” says OSL President and Executive Director Katy Clark. “Mark has staged some of the most remarkable dance productions of our generation, and OSL deeply appreciates his unwavering commitment to live music. Emme and Jonathan are beloved friends of our orchestra, dedicating their time, expertise, and resources to many areas of the organization, from development to education. We all look forward to honoring these achievements with an evening of dinner, music, and dancing.”

Mark Morris formed the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) in 1980, and has since created close to 150 works for the company. He has directed and choreographed 18 ballets since 1986 and his work has been performed by companies worldwide. His collaborations with OSL span more than two decades and include Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet at Lincoln Center and performances at the Mostly Mozart Festival, among others. Morris also works extensively in opera, directing and choreographing productions for the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, English National Opera, and The Royal Opera.

Noted for his musicality, Morris has been described as “undeviating in his devotion to music” (The New Yorker). He began conducting performances for MMDG in 2006 and has since conducted at The International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Lincoln Center, and BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music). Morris was named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation in 1991, and has received the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement (2007) and the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society (2010). He opened the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn in 2001 to provide a home for his company, rehearsal space for the dance community, outreach programs for children and seniors, and dance classes for students of all ages and abilities.

The legendary dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, an artistic partner of Mark Morris for many years and co-founder of the White Oak Dance Project, will present his award. Baryshnikov is also a valued partner of OSL—the Baryshnikov Arts Center shares a building with OSL’s DiMenna Center for Classical Music.

Gala honorees Emme and Jonathan Deland are devoted to OSL and other institutions that contribute to New York City’s health, welfare, and culture. Emme works at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital as senior vice president and chief strategy officer, responsible for developing clinical and corporate strategic plans. Emme is on the board of the Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation, through which she was introduced to Orchestra of St. Luke's. Jonathan is co-chief of the Foot and Ankle Service at Hospital for Special Surgery, and is professor of clinical orthopedic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. He has been named to the Best Doctors in America and Best Doctors in New York lists by New York Magazine for the past three years.

Emme and Jonathan collectively serve on the boards of the Zeitz and Kornfeld Foundations, Planned Parenthood of New York City, Public Health Solutions, the American Memorial Hospital in Reims, France, and the Library of America, as well as on the advisory board of MMGD’s Dance for PD® program. The Delands’ award will be presented by their friend and gala chairman Frances Resheske, who is senior vice president of public affairs at Con Edison.

Bringing his characteristic wit and charm, Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce will host the Gift of Music gala. Pierce is perhaps best known for playing Niles on the sitcom Frasier. Since 2004, he has focused on Broadway and theatre, earning a Tony Award for 2007’s Curtains, and a Tony nomination for his starring role in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which he recently returned to direct at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

The musical portion of the evening will be led by OSL Principal Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado in his third Gift of Music performance. He will conduct OSL in a program of Mozart and Catalani arias with star soprano Angela Meade, as well as selections from the ballet music from Mozart’s Idomeneo. Meade is the recipient of the 2012 Beverly Sills Artist Award from the Metropolitan Opera and the 2011 Richard Tucker Award, and was named 2013 Artist of the Year by Washington National Opera. She is a regular performer with OSL at Caramoor Music Festival, returning this summer for the title role in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia.The evening will conclude with OSL performing Strauss waltzes to accompany dancing in the Grand Ballroom—a longtime tradition at Gift of Music galas.

The gala is designed by distinguished event planner and OSL board member David Monn, known for his artistry in orchestrating both intimate parties and major events such as the White House State Dinner, The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala, and The Plaza’s Centennial Celebration.

Gift of Music Gala

For more information, please call Sophia Lind at (212) 594-6100 x116.

About Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Or­chestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) is one of America’s foremost and most versatile orchestras, regularly collaborating with the world’s greatest artists and performing approximately 70 concerts each year—including its Carnegie Hall Orchestra Series, Chamber Music Series at The Morgan Library & Museum and Brooklyn Museum, and summer residency at Caramoor Music Festival. OSL has commissioned more than 50 new works; given more than 150 world, U.S., and New York City premieres; and appears on more than 90 recordings, including four Grammy Award-winning albums and seven releases on its own label, St. Luke’s Collection. Pablo Heras-Casado, named 2014 Conductor of the Year by Musical America, is OSL’s principal conductor.

OSL grew out of a chamber ensemble that began giving performances at the Church of St. Luke in the Fields in Greenwich Village in 1974. Today, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble consists of 21 virtuoso artists who make up OSL’s artistic core and are dedicated to a diverse repertoire spanning Baroque to contemporary.

OSL owns and operates The DiMenna Center for Classical Music in Midtown Manhattan, where it shares a building with the Baryshnikov Arts Center. The DiMenna Center is New York City’s premier venue for rehearsal, recording, and learning, having quickly gained a reputation for its superb acoustics, state-of-the-art facilities, and affordability. Since opening in 2011, The DiMenna Center has welcomed more than 50,000 visitors, including more than 300 ensembles and artists such as Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Valery Gergiev, and James Levine. OSL also hosts hundreds of neighbors, families, and school children at its home each year for free community events.

Through its Community & Education programs, OSL has introduced audiences across New York City to live classical music. OSL brings free chamber concerts to the five boroughs; offers free, interactive events at The DiMenna Center; provides chamber music coaching for adult amateurs; and engages 10,000 public school students each year through free school concerts and in-school instruction. In July 2013, OSL and Police Athletic League (PAL) launched Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s (YOSL), an after-school orchestra and instrumental coaching program emphasizing musical excellence and social development.

For more information, visit OSLmusic.org.

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