The honorees: OSL Board Member David Monn, OSL Board Member Josie Cruz Natori, OSL Board Member Georgia Frasch, Ronald Frasch of Saks Fifth Avenue. Photo by: Lioudmila Koudinova
 

Ronald and Georgia Frasch & Saks Fifth Avenue,
 David Monn, Josie Cruz Natori
Honored at Orchestra of St. Luke's
Annual Gift of Music Gala
on Monday, May 7, 2012

Annual Benefit Raised $1 Million to Support OSL's Performance and Education Programs and The DiMenna Center for
Classical Music
 

Gala Performance Featured Orchestra of St. Luke's with Principal ConductorPablo Heras-Casado and Bass-Baritone Eric Owens.

Gala Attendees Included Robert and Helen Appel, Adrienne Arsht, Pamela Baxter/LVMH and Christian Dior Couture, Norman Benzaquen/OSL Board Chairman, Deanna Berkeley/alice + olivia, Joyce Brown/FIT, Joe and Diana DiMenna, Edward Cardinal Egan, Joni Evans, Tina Santi Flaherty, Anne Sutherland Fuchs, NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Brigitte Kleine/Tory Burch, Elizabeth McCormack, Richard & Lisa Plepler, Karin Sadove, Warren & Harriet Stephens, Alice and Tom Tisch, Billie Tisch, Robert Vignola/Calvin Klein, Paula Zahn and Judy Zankel


Additional Corporations in Attendance Included Akris Inc., Estée Lauder Companies, Inc., Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Joe's Jeans, Lafayette 148 New York, Macy's and Bloomingdale's, Rebecca Taylor and Vhernier

(New York, NY, May 10, 2012) Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) honored Ronald and Georgia Frasch & Saks Fifth Avenue, David Monn and Josie Cruz Natori at its annual Gift of Music gala held at The Plaza on Monday, May 7, 2012. As longtime supporters and board members of OSL, these honorees have demonstrated outstanding support for the organization and for classical music in New York City. The event raised $1 million to benefit OSL's performance and education programs and OSL's new home, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music.

One of the retail industry's most admired and respected executives, Ronald L. Frasch is President and Chief Merchandising Officer of Saks Fifth Avenue, which has supported OSL for more than a decade. His wife Georgia Frasch spent 20 years in the luxury apparel industry in executive roles for Rebecca Moses, Malo and as an accessory merchandiser for Donna Karan. Guided by her passion for music, Ms. Frasch has been a board member of OSL since 2005 and also serves on the board for the Bach Foundation and the Professional Advisory Board of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

Dubbed the "Architect of Style," David Monn has built a reputation as one of the world's leading event designers. Recent events include a White House State Dinner, the New York Public Library Lions Gala, the Fontainebleau Miami's grand re-opening, the 100th anniversary celebration of the Plaza and the grand opening of the $1.7 billion Time Warner Center. In addition to being one of this year's OSL gala honorees, he will also design OSL's gala décor, which he has done since 2006. Monn currently serves as CEO and President of David Monn, LLC, a contributing editor at Departures magazine and is often called on by Martha Stewart to appear as an expert designer. He has been a member of OSL's board of directors since 2006.

Josie Cruz Natori is Founder and CEO of the Natori Company. A native of the Philippines, she displayed a natural affinity for the piano as a child, performing a solo concert with the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra at age nine. Although she had an ear for music and an eye for art, Ms. Natori decided to challenge herself with a career in business instead. In 1977, she launched a company that now includes lingerie collections, the Josie Natori ready-to-wear collection, home, fragrance, eyewear and swimwear. She sits on the boards of the Asian Cultural Council, the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Women in Need and the Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines. She has received the prestigious Lakandula Award' considered the highest honor for a Filipino citizen and Fashion Group International's prestigious Humanitarian Award. Ms. Natori has served on the OSL board since 1999.

"This year's honorees have made tremendous contributions to St. Luke's and to musical life in our city," said OSL President and Executive Director Katy Clark. "As we celebrated their commitment to the arts at our event, we were also pleased to present the gala debut of OSL's new Principal Conductor, Pablo Heras-Casado."

Maestro Pablo Heras-Casado led the esteemed musicians of OSL in an all-Mozart concert, including the Overture to The Magic Flute and Symphony No. 9. The illustrious Bass-Baritone Eric Owens joined OSL to perform arias from Mozart's operas Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro. The evening also included a selection of Strauss waltzes a hallmark of OSL galas.

An accomplished cellist and current host of WNET's NYC-ARTS television program, Paula Zahn served as the Gift of Music gala's Honorary Chair and Host, presenting awards to each of the event's honorees.

Date
Monday, May 7, 2012


Location
The Plaza, Grand Ballroom

Fifth Avenue and Central Park South

Honorary Chair and Host
Paula Zahn

Honorees
Ronald and Georgia Frasch & Saks Fifth Avenue
David Monn
Josie Cruz Natori

Co-chairs
Pamela Baxter, LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics and Christian Dior Couture
Kenneth C. Natori
Lisa Plepler
Andrew Rosen, Theory
Alice and Tom Tisch
Judy Zankel

Notable attendees
Robert and Helen Appel

Adrienne Arsht

Pamela Baxter/LVMH and Christian Dior Couture

Norman Benzaquen/OSL Board Chairman

Deanna Berkeley/alice + olivia

Joyce Brown/FIT

Joe and Diana DiMenna

Edward Cardinal Egan

Joni Evans

Tina Santi Flaherty

Anne Sutherland Fuchs
NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly

Brigitte Kleine/Tory Burch

Elizabeth McCormack

Karin Sadove

Harriet & Warren Stephens

Billie Tisch

Robert Vignola/Calvin Klein

Music performances
All-Mozart Concert


Overture to The Magic Flute


"Catalogue Aria" (Don Giovanni)

"Non più andrai" (The Marriage of Figaro)


Eric Owens, Bass-Baritone


Symphony No. 9 in C Major, K. 73/75a



Waltzes by Johann Strauss, Jr.


Orchestra of St. Luke's
Pablo Heras-Casado, Principal Conductor

To benefit
OSL's performance and education programs and The DiMenna Center for Classical Music



About Orchestra of St. Luke's

Now in its 37th season, Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) is one of America's foremost and most versatile ensembles. Dedicated to engaging audiences throughout New York City and beyond, OSL performs approximately 70 orchestral, chamber and educational concerts each year including an annual orchestra series at Carnegie Hall, an annual chamber music series at The Morgan Library & Museum and Brooklyn Museum and summer concerts as Orchestra-in-Residence at the Caramoor International Music Festival. OSL collaborates regularly with the world's great artists, such as Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Jessye Norman, Anna Netrebko, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Mark Morris Dance Group, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Elton John and many more. OSL's Principal Conductor is Pablo Heras-Casado.

In March 2011, OSL opened The DiMenna Center for Classical Music its first permanent home, and New York City's first rehearsal and recording facility dedicated to classical music. The Center has already hosted thousands of musicians from a wide range of ensembles and serves as the venue for OSL's new free concert series OSL@DMC, which connects the public to the artistic process of composers and musicians.

Committed to community-building, OSL produces free concerts in each of the five boroughs as part of its Subway Series, and has engaged more than one million children in its Arts Education programs. OSL?s stellar 70+ discography includes four releases on its own label, St. Luke?s Collection, and four Grammy Award-winning recordings. OSL has commissioned more than 50 new works and performed more than 150 world, U.S. and New York City premieres. For OSL's calendar of events, tickets and more information, visit www.OSLmusic.org .


About OSL Principal Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado

Pablo Heras-Casado enjoys a multi-faceted conducting career of unusual breadth and variety, from early music to cutting-edge contemporary scores, intimate chamber programs and grand opera. Recently named Principal Conductor of Orchestra of St. Luke's, Heras-Casado will join the orchestra twice next season for performances at Caramoor International Music Festival and Carnegie Hall.

Heras-Casado makes a number of significant guest conducting debuts throughout the 2011/2012 season?including the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, New World Symphony, Mariinsky Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Gothenburg Symphony. He also makes return visits with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra.

Equally in demand as an opera conductor, this season features Heras-Casado conducting Iphigénie en Tauride with the Canadian Opera Company and L'elisir d'amore for the Baden-Baden Festival Theatre. He begins a relationship with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, touring in March 2012, and is invited for new music projects with Paris? Ensemble InterContemporain and Klangforum Wien. He also embarks on a significant recording collaboration with Harmonia Mundi.

Highlights beyond this season include debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and return visits with the Chicago Symphony and Teatro Real Madrid.


About Bass-Baritone Eric Owens

Acclaimed for his commanding stage presence and inventive artistry, American bass-baritone Eric Owens has carved a unique place in the contemporary opera world as both an esteemed interpreter of classic works and a champion of new music.

Owens's career-making role was in the world premiere of Elliot Goldenthal's Grendel with the Los Angeles Opera and the Lincoln Center Festival. His portrayal of Alberich in the new Ring Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera has garnered universal praise. Throughout his career, Owens has enjoyed a close association with composer John Adams, who created roles for Owens in Doctor Atomic and A Flowering Tree. Owens made his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut in Adams's El Niño.

Operatic highlights include performances with San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Paris Opera (Bastille), English National Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Washington National Opera and Houston Grand Opera. He is featured on two Telarc recordings with the Atlanta Symphony.

In the 2011-12 season, Owens received great critical acclaim for his recital at Carnegie's Zankel Hall with Robert Spano. Owens returns to Carnegie Hall in performance with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Boston Symphony. He joins the National Arts Centre Orchestra for Verdi's Requiem and the Atlanta Symphony in A Flowering Tree. This summer, Owens will serve as Artist-in-Residence at the Glimmerglass Festival.


About Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the world's preeminent specialty retailers, is renowned for its superlative American and international designer collections, its expertly edited assortment of handbags, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics and gifts and the first-rate fashion expertise and exemplary client service of its Associates. Today, Saks operates 45 full-line stores in 21 states, 2 licensed stores in the Middle East and 2 licensed stores in Mexico City, 61 Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH stores and saks.com, the company's online store. Saks Fifth Avenue is proud to be named a J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Customer Service Champion and is only one of 50 U.S. companies so named.

 

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