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Following the cocktail hour, guests joined The Young Friends
Committee Co-Chairs Andrea
Desy and Daniel
Levien as they
headed into the ballroom for a seated dinner. Artistic Director, Steven
Fox began the evening’s
program by directing the nine-piece orchestra in a performance
of the Larghetto from Mozart’s Piano Concerto K. 413 led by
pianist Nimrod
David Pfeffer. Mr. Fox then addressed the audience saying,
“Clarion performs on period instruments that survive from the
time of the composer, or on models thereof – in fact, the piano
that is being played tonight is an exact replica of one of
Mozart’s instruments, which belongs to Queens College.” He then
introduced tenor Mario
Chang who
performed a solo, followed by a solo from soprano Lauren
Snouffer before
the pair performed the Act II duet from L’elisir
d’amore, with the orchestra’s accompaniment, while Mr. Chang
comically ‘played’ a bottle of wine to ripples of laughter.
Baritone Yunpeng
Wang then
performed an aria from Tchaikovsky opera Pique
Dame, ‘Ya vas Lyublyu’, before the program continued.
The
Clarion Music Society's Gala Chair Charles
N.W. Schlangen then
welcomed guests, while introducing Chair
of the New York State Council on the Arts and Gala
Committee member Barbaralee
Diamonstein-Spielvogel, who
introduced Honoree Tatiana
Pouschine saying that she is “a delight, a near-perfect
person with a questing intellect” and thanking her for her
dedication to music and the arts.
Ms. Pouschine was greeted with a standing
ovation, and said, “I feel like I have woken up in heaven.” She
thanked attendees including violinist Sean
Lee and close
friend Pamela
Manice. She continued by describing Mr. Fox’s Clarion
concert “Mozart: 1791,” as one of the “top five musical moments
of my life.” After Ms. Pouschine’s speech, Mr. Schlangen
returned to the stage to officially present
her with the Clarion
Philanthropic Award and
one-of-a-kind “Clarion” charm
for her ever-present charm bracelet.
The evening finished with a final musical tribute
from Mr. Wang and Mr. Chang who performed the duet from “The
Pearl Fishers.” Guests then enjoyed dessert as the final auction
took place where guest put forth final bids and were given the
opportunity to freely donate.
Clarion encompasses one of the oldest and most highly regarded
period-instrument orchestras in America, The
Clarion Orchestra, which
has been called ‘stellar’ and ‘polished’ by The New York
Times, and ‘legendary’ by The New Yorker, and The
Clarion Choir, which
has been featured on PBS’s NYC-Arts program.
Their recording, Passion
Week, received a 2017 GRAMMY® nomination for Best Choral
Performance, as well as a nomination for the BBC Music Magazine
Choral Award (UK.)
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