The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation
hosted 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 was followed by a performance by some of the prize
winners of The 2010 New York International Piano
Competition, the Foundation’s flagship program.
Noted attendees included:
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.