2023 Manhattan School of Music Gala program

WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2023

THE RAINBOW ROOM

PROGRAM

Welcome

Richard Gaddes (HonDMA ’17)

Former General Director, Santa Fe Opera

Founding General Director, Opera Theatre of St. Louis

Melissa Wegner (MM ’05)

Executive Director, The Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and Laffont Competition

GEORGES BIZET “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (Habanera) from Carmen (1838–1875)

J’Nai Bridges (BM ’09), mezzo soprano

Two-time Grammy Award Winner

Metropolitan Opera Artist

Thomas Lausmann (PS ’00), piano

Manhattan School of Music Faculty

Director of Music Administration, The Metropolitan Opera

TED ROSENTHAL Always Believe (b. 1959)

J’Nai Bridges

Bernie Williams (BM ’16), jazz guitar

Lifetime New York Yankee and Four-time World Series Champion

Latin Grammy Nominee

Manhattan School of Music Trustee

Ted Rosenthal (BM ’81, MM ’83), jazz piano

Manhattan School of Music Faculty

Remarks

James Gandre

President, Manhattan School of Music

Honoree Presentation

Lorraine Gallard

Chair, Manhattan School of Music Board of Trustees

James Gandre

Marcia Clay Hamilton (HonDMA ’23)

Manhattan School of Music Trustee

Edward Lowenthal (HonDMA ’23)

Manhattan School of Music Trustee

GIUSEPPE VERDI “Ella giammai m’amò” from Don Carlo (1813–1901)

Le Bu (BM ’22), bass-baritone

Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist and Laffont Competition Winner

Thomas Lausmann, piano

GEORGES BIZET “Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre” from Carmen

Daniel Rich (MM ’19), baritone

Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist and Duncan-Williams Competition Winner

Thomas Lausmann, piano

Don Giovanni, Act I Finale (1756–1791)

W. A. MOZART

Donna Anna Seul Lee (MM ’24), soprano

Masetto Johannes Linneballe (MM ’24), baritone

Zerlina Victoria Magnusson (MM ’24), soprano

Don Ottavio Sung Hyun Moses Park (MM ’24), tenor

Donna Elvira Sanne Vleugels (MM ’24), soprano

Don Giovanni YeongTaek Yang (MM ’24), baritone

Leporello Zhenpeng Zhang (MM ’23), baritone

Music Preparation by Vocal Arts Faculty

Djorde Nesic and Kristen Kemp

Farewell

Richard Gaddes and Melissa Wegner

HONOREES

Marcia Clay Hamilton (HonDMA ’23)

Marcia Clay Hamilton’s career spans nearly four decades and includes positions of leadership in both corporate and small companies, community organizations, and entrepreneurial enterprises, including Lyrics Unlimited, which she founded. An ardent believer in the power of music to enrich lives and enhance learning, she serves as a Trustee of Manhattan School of Music and member of the School’s Executive Committee. A former Board member of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra and founding member of the Greenwich Music Festival, she also serves as an advisor to the Greenwich Young Artists Philharmonic and Greenwich Pen Women, a branch of the Washington D.C.-based National League of American Pen Women, a group of professional women writers, artists, and musicians. An advocate of making music part of the core curriculum at all grade levels, she and her husband Don have supported this initiative at the leadingedge Gateway School in New York City and in both the Greenwich and Stamford, Connecticut public school systems. Marcia received her BA in English Literature and Urban Studies from Wheaton College and an MBA from the London Business School. Introduced to MSM through her daughter Alexandra (BM ’08), Marcia joined the Board of Trustees in 2010.

Ed Lowenthal (HonDMA ’23)

For more than 40 years, Ed Lowenthal has held leadership roles in real estate finance, acquisition, and development in both public and private entities. He founded Wellsford Strategic Partners, a private investment firm; Wellsford Residential Property Trust, a New York Stock Exchange listed multifamily real-estate investment trust; and Wellsford Real Properties, an American Stock Exchange listed real-estate merchant banking company. He served as Director of REIS, a real-estate information and analytics provider, until his retirement in 2012, and until 2022 was Director of Omega Healthcare Investors, a real-estate investment trust that provides financing and capital solutions to skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. He was Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of American Campus Communities, the nation’s largest developer, owner, and manager of high-quality student housing communities. A lifelong lover of music, especially jazz, Ed has served as a trustee of Manhattan School of Music since 2002 and chairs the Executive and Finance Committees. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Parlance Chamber Concerts. He earned a BA from Case Western Reserve University and co-chaired the University’s College of Arts and Sciences Visiting Committee. He earned a JD from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.

HOSTS

Richard Gaddes (HonDMA ’17)

Richard Gaddes has spent most of his professional life guiding and raising the profile of two important American companies, the Santa Fe Opera, from which he recently retired as general director, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Born in Wallsend, England, and now a permanent resident of the United States, Gaddes studied at London’s Trinity College of Music. In the 1960s, he launched a program of lunchtime concerts by young musicians at Wigmore Hall, an initiative that is emblematic of a career spent championing young singers. In 1969, at the invitation of Santa Fe Opera founder John Crosby, he became the company's artistic administrator. He founded the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 1976 and ran it until 1985, but remained a consultant to Santa Fe. He returned there full-time in 1994 and later succeeded John Crosby as general director. At both companies, Gaddes became known not only for his imaginative productions and casting, but for programming adventurous repertoire, building audiences, and being the first to spot young stars. A former vice president of Opera America, he has served on many arts boards and is, at present, a member of the board of directors of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. His honors include the National Institute for Music Theatre Award and the Young Audiences’ Cultural Achievement Award.

Melissa Wegner (MM ’05)

As Executive Director of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and the Laffont Competition, Melissa Wegner is responsible for identifying, awarding, and developing the world’s most promising operatic talent. A member of the Met’s artistic staff since 2011, she hears artists in stage and screening auditions and casts the Met’s New Opera Commissions workshops. She was the casting consultant for the opera Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater. An ambassador for Opera America’s 50th Anniversary in 2020, in 2019 she was named one of the Top 30 Professionals of the Year by Musical America and was a recipient of the Maria Callas Prize of New York from Melos International.

Ms. Wegner has adjudicated the Belvedere Competition (South Africa, Russia, Latvia), Opera’s Golden Voice (Georgia), and the Nicola Martinucci Competition (Italy). U.S. competitions include the Ades Vocal Competition, the SAI Vocal Competition, the McCammon Voice Competition, and NATSAA Competition. A faculty member of Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, she has also been visiting faculty for Bard College’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program and a frequent guest speaker and clinician at top conservatories and festivals. An active member of Opera America, Ms. Wegner holds degrees from Bard College, Manhattan School of Music, and the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

J’Nai Bridges (BM ’09)

Two-time Grammy Award winner J’Nai Bridges, known for her “plush-voiced mezzo-soprano” (New York Times) and “calmly commanding stage presence” (The New Yorker ), has been heralded as “a rising star” (Los Angeles Times). She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the Grammy-winning production of Akhnaten, co-starring her fellow MSM alumnus Anthony Roth Costanzo. She has performed on the world’s top opera and concert stages, including in her signature role as Carmen, with engagements at the Arena di Verona, Canadian Opera Company, Dutch National Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. In December 2022, J’Nai performed with the Catalyst Quartet at 92NY in a world premiere by Jimmy Lopez. Her recital engagements continued in 2023 with performances at Washington University, the Cliburn, and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. A native of Tacoma, Washington, she made her Seattle Opera debut as Delilah in a concert performance of Samson and Delilah in January 2023. One of the Kennedy Center Next 50, “leaders who are lighting the way through art and action,” J’Nai is a leading figure in classical music’s shift toward conversations of inclusion and racial justice. Her work breaking down barriers was explored in PBS’s American Masters series In the Making. A 2012 Marian Anderson Award winner, she was a recipient of the Richard Tucker Career Grant in 2016 and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence in 2018. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Curtis Institute.

Le Bu (BM ’22)

A 2022 Grand Finals Winner of the Met’s Laffont Competition, Le Bu, a bass baritone from Yancheng, China, is in his first year in the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. This season, he made his Met debut as a Flemish Deputy in Don Carlo and sang the Second Guard in the holiday production of The Magic Flute. He will make his company debut this summer at Santa Fe Opera as a member of the Apprentice Artist Program, where he will sing Second Spirit in L’Orfeo and study the role of Daland in Der fliegende Holländer. Recent operatic engagements include Dr. Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro at Aspen Opera Theater and the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte with the Merola Opera Program. He will appear as Rodomonte in a concert production of Furiosus, a new opera by Roberto Scarcella Perino, in collaboration with New York University’s Casa Italiana under the baton of Robert Tweeten. He has previously performed at the Manchester Music Festival, the Art Song Festival at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and iSING! International Young Artists Festival. In 2022, Le was also a winner of the Opera Index Vocal Competition and a recipient of the Hildegard Zadek Foundation Scholarship. He began his vocal training at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music before transferring to Wichita State University. Le completed his Bachelor’s degree at Manhattan School of Music, where he was awarded the Hugh Ross Commencement Award.

Thomas Lausmann (PS ’00)

Thomas Lausmann was appointed Director of Music Administration at the Metropolitan Opera at the beginning of the 2019–20 season. He was previously Head of Music at Vienna State Opera from 2013 to 2019 and an assistant conductor/coach with the company for the preceding three seasons. Thomas is a regular pianist with the Vienna Philharmonic, playing piano, celeste, harpsichord, and organ. He has performed under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, Mariss Jansons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Christian Thielemann, and Franz Welser-Möst, among many others. Thomas has been a Principal Coach at Bayreuther Festspiele since 2008. He has assisted Christian Thielemann in productions of the Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Tannhäuser, and The Flying Dutchman, and served as Head of Music for the Ring cycle conducted by Marek Janowski. Thomas has also worked as Principal Coach at the Salzburger Festspiele, recently assisting Franz Welser-Möst on Salome and Elektra. Previous positions include Associate Head of Music at Komische Oper Berlin, Assistant Head of Music at Hamburg State Opera, Assistant Conductor at Washington National Opera, and Assistant Conductor for seven seasons at New York City Opera.

Daniel Rich (MM ’19)

Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, baritone Daniel Rich is in his first year in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera. This season, he covered the Count of Lerma in the company’s revival of Don Carlo and he makes his Met debut as a Waiter in Der Rosenkavalier. Later this season, he will make his role and company debuts as Masetto in Don Giovanni with Wolf Trap Opera and as Valentin in Faust with Opera Baltimore. In 2022, he performed in both the workshop and world premiere of Omar, a new opera by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels at the Spoleto Festival USA. On the concert stage, he has been a featured soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, a concert featuring works by Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and two performances of Carmina Burana with Berkshire Choral International and Richmond Symphony in collaboration with Wolf Trap Opera. In 2023, he was named a winner of the inaugural Duncan Williams Voice Competition for Black and Latinx classical singers presented by New York City Opera and Manhattan School of Music. He is a past winner of the Harlem Opera Theater Vocal Competition, the Mario Lanza Institute Vocal Competition, the Opera Ebony Benjamin Matthews Vocal Competition, and the Black Brilliance Art Song Competition. In addition to performing, Daniel has worked as a musical consultant and choral librarian, as a public school teacher, and as an adjunct professor of voice at University of Maryland. He holds degrees from Morgan State University and Manhattan School of Music, where he was a recipient of the Edgar Foster Daniels Scholarship in Voice.

Ted Rosenthal (BM ’81, MM ’83)

Acclaimed jazz pianist Ted Rosenthal has performed worldwide as soloist, with his trio, and with jazz greats, including Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Phil Woods, and James Moody. Winner of the Thelonious Monk International Competition, Ted has released 15 critically acclaimed CDs as a leader. His latest, Rhapsody in Gershwin, reached number one on iTunes and Amazon. He has been a featured soloist with major orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony and Phoenix Symphony, and has performed with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and Jon Faddis and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. An active composer, his jazz opera, Dear Erich, was commissioned and premiered by New York City Opera in 2019. The recipient of three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Ted has also been commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. He is an author and is active in jazz education. He has served on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music, where he earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, since 1999 and is a former faculty trustee of the School. Ted is also on the faculty of the Juilliard School and presents jazz clinics throughout the world.

Bernie Williams (BM ’16)

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Bernie Williams discovered baseball and music as a boy at roughly the same time. At the age of eight, he fell in love with the sounds of a flamenco guitar his merchantmarine father brought home from Spain and felt the same exhilaration when he first picked up a baseball bat. The young student-athlete quickly excelled in both pursuits, going on to attend the Escuela Libre de Música and becoming both a track and field standout and one of Puerto Rico’s most sought-after young baseball prospects. Signed by the New York Yankees in 1987, Bernie worked his way through the farm system and made his Major League debut with the Yankees in 1991. He became a four-time World Series champion and a five-time All Star during his professional baseball career. Bernie is the author of the book Rhythms of the Game: The Link Between Music and Athletic Performance (2011), which examines the symbiotic relationship between musical artistry and athletic performance through the eyes of a man who has mastered both. Moving Forward, his second album as guitarist and songwriter, earned a Latin Grammy nomination. He proudly graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Guitar from Manhattan School of Music in 2016 and now serves on the School’s Board of Trustees. He continues to perform at concert venues, music festivals, and special events.

Copenhagen,

Yongin,

Seul Lee (MM ’24), soprano Seoul, South Korea BA Korea National University of Arts

Sung Hyun Moses Park (MM ’24), tenor

South Korea BM Korea National University of Arts

Johannes Linneballe (MM ’24), baritone

Denmark BA Royal Danish Academy of Music

Sanne Vleugels (MM ’24), soprano Tilburg, Netherlands BM, MM Conservatory Tilburg

Victoria Magnusson (MM ’24), soprano Virginia Beach, Virginia BM Old Dominion University

YeongTaek Yang (MM ’24), baritone Pohang, South Korea BM Seoul National University

Zhenpeng Zhang (MM ’23), baritone Tianjin, China BM New England Conservatory

ABOUT MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Founded as a community music school by Janet Daniels Schenck in 1918, today MSM is recognized for its more than 1,000 superbly talented undergraduate and graduate students who come from more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states; its innovative curricula and world-renowned artist-teacher faculty that includes musicians from the New York Philharmonic, the Met Orchestra, and the top ranks of the jazz and Broadway communities; and a distinguished community of accomplished, award-winning alumni working at the highest levels of the musical, educational, cultural, and professional worlds.

The School is dedicated to the personal, artistic, and intellectual development of aspiring musicians, from its Precollege students through those pursuing doctoral studies. Offering classical, jazz, and musical theatre training, MSM grants a range of undergraduate and graduate degrees. True to MSM’s origins as a music school for children, the Precollege Division is a highly competitive and professionally oriented Saturday music program, dedicated to the musical and personal growth of talented young musicians ages 5 to 18. The School also serves some 2,000 New York City schoolchildren through its Arts-in-Education Program, and another 2,000 students through its critically acclaimed Distance Learning Program.

ABOUT THE OPERA STUDIES PROGRAM

Manhattan School of Music opera productions have been praised as a significant contribution to operatic life in New York City, and numerous performances have been released as commercial recordings. Opera is a significant feature of the vocal performance experience at MSM. All voice students participate in ensembles, and opera experience is available through a rich variety of opera related programs and courses. Graduate students develop their artistry under the guidance of eminent artist teachers, while gaining exposure before New York City audiences through the many performance opportunities MSM offers. Productions each year include two full operas with orchestra on the NeidorffKarpati stage; a new fall opera scenes series; a new fall chamber opera-level production; a fall Opera Workshop to hone audition and professional skills; a new spring Opera in Concert collaboration with the MSM Symphony Orchestra; a workshop of a new work or a workshop performance of a one-act opera; and a Musical Theatre Lab. Juniors and seniors participate in a fall opera scenes program that explores a wide variety of styles and languages while developing important artistic and collaborative skills. In the spring, they audition to appear in a fully staged production with chamber orchestra, or in a one-act opera or cabaret-style performance with piano.

SPONSORS PLATINUM

Noémi K. Neidorff (BM ’70, MM ’72, HonDMA ’13)

GOLD

Lorraine Gallard & Richard H. Levy

SILVER

Eric Gronningsater & Sandy Schipior

Donald & Marcia Clay Hamilton

David G. Knott PhD & Françoise Girard / McKinsey & Company

Edward Lowenthal

Bill & Patricia O’Connor

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP / Paul & Joanne Schnell

Yvonne Tsao & Howard Tsao

Guillermo & Maria Vogel

BRONZE

The MCJ Amelior Foundation

Carla Bossi-Comelli (HonDMA ’20) & Marco Pecorí

Raul M. & Magdalena Gutierrez

Michael A. Kaplan (’91)

Sosa Vizcaino Family

SPECIAL THANKS TO

HOST COMMITTEE

Dr. Joan Taub Ades (HonDMA ’14)

Ralph & JJ Allen

Mita and Alfredo Aparicio

Wayne Bellet

Thérèse Bernbach

Justin Bischof DMA (BM ’90, MM ’92, DMA ’98)

Bond Schoeneck & King

Noreen & Ken Buckfire

Laurie Carney & William Grubb DMA

Chartwells Higher Ed

Lea Ciavarra

Tony Converse

Delano Copprue PhD & Margaret Mack

Bill Delaney

Susan Ennis & Owen Lewis MD

EVCO Mechanical Corporation

FireMaxx Systems Corp

James Gandre EdD & Boris Thomas PhD

Buzzy Geduld

Philip Glick

David & Sylvia Goodman

John Gul

Sylvia Hemingway

Howard Herring (MM ’78, HonDMA ’15)

Stephen A. & Anne B. Hoffman

Israel Discount Bank of New York

Daniel & Gloria Kearney

Chloé Kiffer DMA (MM ’14, PS ’15) & Alexandre A. Moutouzkine (MM ’03, PS ’05, AD ’06)

Amy & Ed Knight

Patty Kopec & Jay E. Selman MD

Gary & Donna Kunde

Jose M. Landauro

Tondra & Jeffrey Lynford

Alta (BM ’69) & Marc Malberg MD

Meera Mani MD & Nikhil Iyengar

Solomon Mikowsky EdD

Nathan Mortimer

Julie Newdoll

Nouveau Elevator / Robert Speranza

Steven Palladino

Michael & Inmo Parloff

Alan & Lynn Pearce

Jim Petercsak (BM ’66, MM ’68)

Richard & Tara Petrocelli / RIK Electric

David A. & Susan Berkman Rahm

Barbara L. Reissman Dr PH

Daniel Rodas

Bette & Richard Saltzman

Yolanda Santos

Carl & Aviva Saphier

Cynthia & Tom Sculco

Rich Seufer

Inesa Sinkyevich DMA (PS ’06)

Alexa Smith (MM ’10)

Richard W. Southwick FAIA

Michael G. Stewart MD

Richard Stewart

Henry Sung / Telebeam Telephone Systems

Vincent Theurer

Anne Toker & Dana Leifer

Thomas Trynin

Mimi Tompkins

Adrienne & Gianluigi Vittadini

VOYA Financial

Lorraine Gallard, Chair

David G. Knott, PhD, Vice Chair

James Gandre, EdD, President

Edward Lowenthal, Treasurer

Noémi K. Neidorff (BM ’70, MM ’72, HonDMA ’17), Secretary

Terence Blanchard (HonDMA ’17)

Delano R. Copprue

Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ’08, HonDMA ’22)

LEADERSHIP

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Susan Ennis

Eric Gronningsater

Marcia Clay Hamilton

Thomas Hampson (HonDMA ’09)

Lori Harris

Nancy Freund Heller

Han Jo Kim, MD

Nicholas Mann

Bebe Neuwirth (HonDMA ’15)

Bill O’Connor

Lois Roman

Paul Schnell

Leonard Slatkin (HonDMA ’13)

Yvonne Tsao

Bernie Williams (BM ’16)

Trustees Emeriti

Joan Taub Ades (HonDMA ’14)

Carla Bossi-Comelli (HonDMA ’20)

Marta Istomin (HonDMA ’05), President Emerita

David A. Rahm (HonDMA ’07), Chair Emeritus

Robert G. Simon

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD

Carla Bossi-Comelli (HonDMA ’20), Chair, Switzerland

Mita Aparicio, Mexico

Delin Bru, United States

Luisa G. Buchanan (BM ’63), Peru/United States

Alejandro Cordero, Argentina

Edith Hall Friedheim (MM ’72), Canada/ United States

Eric Gronningsater, United States

Raul M. Gutierrez, Mexico/Spain

Lori Harris, United States

Masaaki Maeda, Japan/ United States

Michelle Ong, Hong Kong

Margot Patron, Mexico

Chiona XanthopoulouSchwarz, Germany

Angel Sosa, Mexico

Flavio Varani (BM ’68, MM ’70), Brazil/ United States

Guillermo Vogel, Mexico

ARTISTIC ADVISORY COUNCIL

Terence Blanchard (HonDMA ’17)

Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ’08, HonDMA ’22)

Glenn Dicterow

Peter Duchin

Richard Gaddes (HonDMA ’17)

Thomas Hampson (HonDMA ’09)

Stefon Harris (BM ’95, MM ’97)

Marta Istomin (HonDMA ’05), President Emerita

Bernard Labadie (HonDMA ’18)

Lang Lang (HonDMA ’12)

Bebe Neuwirth (HonDMA ’15)

Leonard Slatkin (HonDMA ’13)

Melissa Wegner (MM ’05)

Pinchas Zukerman (HonDMA ’93)

May 17, 2023

Dear Friends:

It gives me great pleasure to welcome everyone as the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) hosts its annual gala.

New York’s creative community reflects the unparalleled diversity, energy, and spirit of innovation that define the five boroughs. I am tremendously grateful to MSM for its tradition of excellence in nurturing the talent of emerging artists of all backgrounds, while also engaging New Yorkers through free or lowcost performances of music, jazz, opera, and musical theater. Tonight’s event will celeb rate this esteemed conservancy’s Opera Studies Program and honor the contributions of longtime trustees Marcia Clay Hamilton and Edward Lowenthal, who will be stepping down from the board after a combined 33 years of service. As you gather at Rockefeller Center’s iconic Rainbow Room to advance MSM’s important mission, I applaud everyone associated with this vibrant institution for their efforts to enrich our cultural landscape and empower the next generation of musical leaders. Together, we will continue to #GetStuffDone and forge a brighter, more harmonious, and prosperous future for all.

On behalf of the City of New York, congratulations to this year’s honorees. Please accept my best wishes for a festive evening and further success.

Sincerely,

Eric Adams Mayor

May 17, 2023

Dear Friends,

It is a privilege to send greetings to everyone attending the 2023 Gala of the Manhattan School of Music. I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to this year's distinguished honorees, Marcia Clay Hamilton and Edward Lowenthal.

The Manhattan School of Music has been an iconic and distinguished conservatory since 1917, producing legendary musicians, artists, and educators. I am grateful for institutions like the MSM that provide such invaluable contributions to the arts. Your work and p edagogy are truly inspiring and have the power to shape and influence the next generation of New York musicians.

The arts play a vital role in making New York City a strong and vibrant place, and I am honored to represent each of you in the United States Senate. Please accept my best wishes for a wonderful gala and for many more years of continued success.

Sincerely,

Kirsten Gillibrand United States Senator

May 17, 2023

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to join you in celebrating the Manhattan School of Music’s annual gala, especially this year as we shine a spotlight on MSM’s formidable Opera Studies Program.

The Manhattan School of Music’s work educating nearly 1,000 students from 50 different countries in such a diverse array of disciplines is truly an incredible achievement. For over a century, MSM has been a leader in music studies, producing holistically trained musicians who go on to be members of the finest operas, orchestras, and performance companies in the world. MSM alumni define music as we know it today, and MSM is an invaluable part of the greater music community and Manhattan as a whole.

In addition to your talented students, renowned faculty, and dedicated staff, I would also like to congratulate honorees Marcia Clay Hamilton and Edward Lowenthal for their extraordinary leadership in the arts and commitment to the Manhattan School of Music.

On behalf of the Borough of Manhattan, I wish you another year of success!

Sincerely,

Manhattan Borough President