Flute legends Sir
James Galway and Lady
Jeanne Galway along with opera superstar Ailyn
Pérez will head the entertainment lineup at
Kaufman Music Center’s 2018 Gala on Monday, May
14 at Guastavino’s, 409 East 59th St., NYC. The
Gala will celebrate the importance and beauty of
music education by honoring the Center’s
long-time Executive Director, Lydia
Kontos, for her four decades of exemplary
leadership and stalwart advocacy. The gala,
beginning at 6:30 pm, will also feature young
virtuosos from Kaufman Music Center’s various
schools and programs on stage with the Galways
and Ms. Perez, who is currently singing the role
of Marguerite in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s
production of Faust and will appear this
spring as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at
the Metropolitan Opera.
“Kaufman
Music Center is
a pioneer and an innovator in the music world,”
says Kaufman’s Executive Director Lydia
Kontos, who has announced her retirement and
will step down in September 2018 after nearly 40
years at the Center’s helm. “Music education has
the power to open doors and change lives, and we
have harnessed that power for our students. I am
proud of what we have accomplished and look
forward to watching the organization grow and
evolve in the future. There are still so many
opportunities!”
The 2018 Gala is a highlight of
Kaufman Music Center’s Year
of Thanks in honor of Ms. Kontos’s
remarkable leadership and vision. The
recently-launched Celebration
of Our Muse campaign invites donors to
support scholarships ensuring that her
commitment to making music education affordable
to all can continue long after her tenure.
“We are pleased to be part
of this tribute honoring Lydia
Kontos,” says Sir
James and Lady Galway. “We would like to
congratulate her on a Lifetime Achievement in
education and dedication to Kaufman Music Center
and for enriching all our lives. She is indeed a
great inspiration to us all.”
This elegant, entertaining
evening will benefit Kaufman Music Center’s Fund
for Music Education, which helps thousands
of children access high-level instruction in
music, theater and dance. The Fund supports the
$2.5 million music curriculum at Kaufman’s K-12
public school for musically gifted children (Special
Music School), provides scholarships to
underprivileged students at Manhattan’s largest
community arts school (Lucy
Moses School) and creates opportunities for
children in New York City’s neediest schools to
enjoy musical theater performances.
“At a time when music education
is disappearing from our public school system,
it is more important than ever to be inspired by
and supportive of Kaufman Music Center,’ says
Opera star Ailyn Pérez. “Identifying talent
early on and providing access to music education
gives students boundless opportunities to grow
and to become empowered adults. Lydia Kontos has
been a visionary supporter and a champion for
music education, creating extraordinary programs
that not only foster young talent, but that also
nurture and encourage children through in-depth
mentorship programs. She has enriched the lives
of countless students and families, and
therefore has energized communities and the
future of the arts.”
Gala Chairs are the Assurant
Foundation, Elaine
and Henry Kaufman, Bethany
and Robert B. Millard and Christina
and Lawrence Wee. Gala Vice-Chairs are Rosalind
Devon and
Sanford L. Batkin and Cathy
and John O’Rourke. They will
be joined by prominent artists and performers
including conductor David
Robertson, MacArthur “Genius” and Artistic
Director/Founder of the Young People's Chorus of
New York City Francisco J. Núñez,
pianist Orli
Shaham and pianist Shai
Wosner. Representing the NYC business
community are Man Made Music leader Joel
Beckerman, Robert
Millard (Chairman, MIT), Wendy
Mosler (Global Holdings Management Group), Lawrence
Wee (Paul, Weiss), Nina
Kontos (Google), David
Klafter (Pershing Square Capital
Management), Mark
Rambler(Credibility Capital), Alex
Chi (Goldman Sachs), Dick
Beattie and Leonard
and Connie Goodman (Goody).
Lydia Kontos – Recipient of the
2018 Lifetime Achievement Award
One of the longest-serving
professional leaders of an arts center in NYC
history, Kaufman Music Center Executive
Director Lydia
Kontos has had an enormous impact on the NYC
music scene – particularly contemporary
classical – and on music education in NYC and
nationally. During
her tenure, KMC has evolved from a small
music school into NYC’s premier center for
pre-college music education and performance. The
many programs launched through her leadership
include: the first comprehensive presenting
series at Merkin
Concert Hall; Special
Music School, NYC’s only K-12 public school
for musically gifted children; the Ecstatic
Music Festival, hailed
as “the
alt-classical world’s main showcase” (New
York Times); the celebrated youth new music
ensemble Face
the Music;
and Luna
Composition Lab,
a mentorship program for young women composers
founded by Missy
Mazzoli and Ellen
Reid. Ms. Kontos recently announced
her retirement and will step down in September
2018. For more information about the evolution
of Kaufman Music Center under Ms. Kontos, click here.
Sir James Galway – 2018 Gala
Performer
Globally renowned as the supreme
interpreter of the classical flute repertoire,
Sir James Galway is a consummate performer whose
appeal transcends all musical boundaries.
Through his extensive touring, over 30 million
albums sold, his frequent international
television appearances and collaborations with
many popular artists, Sir James has endeared
himself to millions worldwide.
Belfast-born, Galway studied in
London and Paris before embarking on his
orchestral career in London’s major opera and
symphonic orchestras. He took up the coveted
position of solo flautist with the Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra under Herbert von Karajan
in 1969, before becoming one of the very first
flautists to establish an international solo
career in 1975.
Alongside his busy performing
schedule, Galway devotes much of his free time
to educational outreach. He has established the
Galway Flute Academy, which includes
international flute festivals, masterclasses,
free community events (www.galwayfluteacademy.com)
and his own online flute community: First Flute
(www.firstflute.com)
as well as visiting professorships to the Royal
Irish Academy Dublin and The Royal College of
Music London, to name a few.
A tireless promoter of the arts,
he also gives a great deal of time to charitable
organizations including SOS, Future Talent,
Youth Music (UK), Music Generation Ireland, The
Ireland Funds and the Shimon Peres Peace Center
educational project – as well as UNICEF, for
whom he is a Special Representative.
Awarded the OBE in 1979, and
subsequently a Knighthood for Services to Music
in 2001, Sir James Galway has been the recipient
of many honors and awards for his musical
accomplishments including the Kennedy Center
Gold Medal in the Arts; Lifetime Achievement
Awards from the Gramophone and the National
Concert Hall Dublin; the Grammy Recording
Academy’s President’s Merit Award and The
Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame.
Lady Jeanne Galway – 2018 Gala
Performer
A graduate of New York City’s
Mannes College of Music, Lady Galway has risen
to become one of the world’s leading female
flautists. She is an accomplished and much
celebrated artist who regularly tours
internationally in diverse and virtuosic
programmes, and is also deeply committed to
music education initiatives.
Lady Galway’s concerto
appearances have been with many of the leading
orchestras in the United States, including
Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In Europe,
she regularly performs in London, Milan, Rome,
Vienna, Salzburg and Zurich, and she frequently
visits Tokyo, Beijing and Singapore.
In addition to her highly
successful career as a soloist, Lady Galway is
also an accomplished chamber musician, touring
regularly with various chamber ensembles
including her trio Zephyr (pianist Jonathan
Feldman and cellist Darrett Adkins). The group’s
first recording,Zephyr – Winds of Romance,
includes works by Haydn, Martinů and
Weber. Lady Galway also works as the premiere
flute duo partner of her husband Sir
James Galway, delighting audiences
worldwide, and in 2008 receiving the ‘Spirit of
Ireland’ award in recognition for their roles as
ambassadors for music. Lady Galway has recorded
to critical acclaim for RCA, BMG Classics and
Deutsche Grammophon.
Varied concert engagements
include performances in the presence of The
Empress of Japan, HRH The Earl and Countess of
Wessex, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Kent, The
Queen of Norway, The Queen of Spain, UK Prime
Minister David Cameron, President Shimon Peres,
President Mary McAleese, President Michael D.
Higgins, US Vice President Joe Biden and Irish
Prime Minister Enda Kenny. Lady Galway serves as
a patron to the charity Future Talent headed by
the Duchess of Kent, Ambassador of The European
Brain Council and of Music Generation Ireland.
Actively pursuing her love of
teaching, Lady Galway dedicates much of her time
to working with the younger generation through
her educational articles, mentoring of flute
students, blogs and recordings. She created the
groundbreaking ‘First Flute’ online education
community with her husband, and also gives
regular masterclasses of her own to aspiring
flautists throughout the world. She devotes
every summer to running the celebrated Galway
Flute Academy in Switzerland (www.galwayfluteacademy.com).
Ailyn Pérez – 2018 Gala Performer
Hailed by the New York Times as
“a beautiful woman who commands the stage” and
“a major soprano,” Ailyn Pérez is increasingly
in demand at the world’s leading opera houses
and cultural capitals. In the 2017-18 season,
Ms. Pérez returns to the Metropolitan Opera to
sing the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Thaïs (title
role, role debut), and Juliette (Roméo et
Juliette). She recently made her operatic
stage debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago as
Marguerite in a new production of Faust,
and debuts at the Opernhaus Zürich as Violetta
in La Traviata. Ailyn also sings her
first Dvořák Requiem in Prague, which will be
recorded for a future release on DECCA Classics.
Ailyn Pérez has received several honours,
including the 2012 Richard Tucker Award (thereby
becoming the first Hispanic recipient in the
award’s 35-year history), the 15th annual
Plácido Domingo Award, the 2016 Beverly Sills
Award from The Metropolitan Opera, the 2017
Sphinx Medal of Excellence, and the Licia
Albanese-Puccini Foundation Distinguished Alumni
Award. She was also a 2017 honoree at the
Martina Arroyo Foundation Gala. Ms. Pérez
currently serves as a member of the Metropolitan
Opera Guild Artists' Council and the Advisory
Board for Time In Kids.
About Kaufman Music Center
Kaufman Music Center is New
York’s go-to place for music education and
performance. Our belief is that music is
essential to the human experience and a vital
component of education for everyone. Our mission
is to stimulate appreciation of and
participation in music through music performance
and education in ways that awaken creativity,
advance innovation and create a sense of wonder
among performers, students, teachers and the
public at large. At Kaufman Music Center, music
lovers – from curious fans to renowned
performers – come together to explore their
musical passions. Founded in 1952 as a community
music school, today’s Kaufman Music Center is
home to Merkin
Concert Hall; Lucy
Moses School,
a community arts school for all ages; Special
Music School,
NYC’s only K-12
public school for musically gifted children; and
the critically-acclaimed youth new music
ensemble Face
the Music.
Listings information:
Kaufman Music Center’s 2018 Gala
Honoring Lydia Kontos
Performances by Sir James Galway
with Lady Jeanne Galway, and Ailyn Pérez
Date: Monday, May 14, 2018, 6:30
pm
Venue: Guastavino’s (409 East
59th St., NYC)
Individual ticket prices begin at
$1000. Table prices begin at $10,000.
Festive dress.
Ticket information: 212 501
3350, development@kaufmanmusiccenter.org,
or KaufmanMusicCenter.org/gala
Kaufman Music Center
129 West 67th Street,
New York, NY 10023
KaufmanMusicCenter.org