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City Parks Foundation Gala
“Sinatra In The Park”
An Evening Celebrating the
Musical Genius of Frank Sinatra
Raises over $1 Million
Dollars, Largest Fundraising Event in History of Nonprofit
Produced by Michael Dorf
Presents and City Winery
On Tuesday,
June 11, 2013 City
Parks Foundation (CPF) presented the City
Parks Foundation Gala presented at SummerStage in Central
Park, an annual fundraising event that supports CPF’s
free year-round arts, sports, education and
community-building programs. The event took place at Rumsey
Playfield in Central Park, the main stage for CPF's famed
free performing arts festival, SummerStage.
The gala and concert
raised over $1 million dollars and was the largest single
fundraising event in the history of CPF. The funds
raised will go to support programs that benefit over 600,000
people annually in over 750 parks throughout New York City's
five boroughs.
At the gala, City Parks Foundation annually presents the People
& Parks Award to
a recipient who shares CPF's commitment to enriching New
York City’s parks. Civic stewards, longtime CPF supporters,
and local business leaders have been recognized with the
Award in celebration of their achievements promoting local
green spaces as essential community resources.
This year, CPF honored Bruce
Ratner with
the 2013 People and Parks Award. Bruce Ratner is
the Executive Chairman of Forest City Ratner Companies, one
of our founding trustees and CPF’s first Board Chairman. Not
only has he revolutionized downtown Brooklyn into a
world-class destination with the new Barclays Center, he has
also been a steadfast supporter of CPF and our work to
enhance and improve NYC.
Other guests in attendance included:
MaryAnne Gilmartin -
CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies
Ross Greenburg -
Showtime Sports
Jason Kidd –
Ex – Player of New York Knicks
Charlie Mierswa -
Executive VP Business Operations, and Chief Financial
Officer of the Brooklyn Nets
G.E. Smith -
Former SNL Band Leader
Roger Waters –
Founding member of Pink Floyd with Laurie
Durning Waters, Filmmaker
Brett Yormark -
CEO Barclays Center / Brooklyn Nets with Elaina
Scotto
Eric Zohn -
William Morris Endeavor
The concert paid tribute to the music of Frank Sinatra,
featuring the legendary singer and musician’s songs as
performed by an eclectic group of well-established musical
legends and up and coming stars. Featuring an intriguing mix
of Standards, Soul, Blues, Jazz, and Folk singers the
evening of performances thrilled with exceptional
interpretations of numerous classics from Sinatra's famed
catalogue of songs. Artists included:
John Pizzarelli and The
Swing Seven • Andrew Bird • Marc Cohn • Mary Chapin
Carpenter • Judy Collins •
Bettye LaVette • John
Legend • Aimee Mann & Ted Leo • Joan Osborne • Allen
Toussaint • Suzanne Vega • Loudon Wainwright III. The
performance component of the gala was produced by Michael
Dorf, who has successfully produced a series of similar
tribute concerts at Carnegie Hall over the past decade.
About SummerStage
Produced by City Parks Foundation, SummerStage is New York’s
largest free performing arts festival, bringing over 100
performances to eighteen parks throughout the five
boroughs. Every year we reach more than 300,000 New Yorkers
and since its inception in 1986, more than six million
people have enjoyed SummerStage.
About City Parks
Foundation
City Parks Foundation (CPF) is the only independent,
nonprofit organization to offer park programs throughout the
five boroughs of New York City. CPF works in over 750 parks
citywide, presenting a broad range of free arts, sports, and
education programs, and empowering citizens to support their
parks on a local level. Programs and community building
initiatives reach more than 600,000 people each year,
contributing to the revitalization of neighborhoods
throughout New York City.
About City Winery and
Michael Dorf Presents
City Winery and Michael Dorf Presents are back to produce
the 2013 SummerStage Gala. They produced the 27th annual
Gala in 2012 with “The Music of Jimi Hendrix”. City Winery
is the innovative 20,000 sq ft mixed-use winery, music venue
and event space founded in 2008 by Michael Dorf. The winery
will be creating a special commemorative wine for the
SummerStage Gala; in addition City Winery will be the
exclusive wine sponsor for the 2013 season of SummerStage
events at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. The award
winning wines produced at City Winery are handcrafted in
Soho at the only commercial custom-crush facility in New
York City.
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