The Collegiate Chorale's Spring Benefit Slated for 4/30

The Collegiate Chorale announces its 2013 Spring Benefit honoring the Verbier Festival on April 30, 2013 at 6:00pm at Carnegie Hall, 154 West 57th Street, NYC. The Collegiate Chorale cherishes a rich collaboration with the Verbier Festival since its first appearance at the festival under James Levine in 2005. The Chorale is thrilled to honor the festival at the occasion of their 20th anniversary and to celebrate a shared mission for artistic excellence and inter-generational exchange through music.

The Chorale's grand concert performance of the operetta Song of Norway will be followed by the benefit dinner, a lively and always vastly entertaining auction, the proceeds of which will support The Chorale's artistic and education programs. Benefit guests will have the opportunity to sponsor high school and college students from our unique Side-by-Side program to travel with The Chorale to the Verbier Festival this summer. Approximately 200 guests from New York's social and philanthropic community attend the Benefit every spring.

The event will begin at 6pm with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres in Carnegie Hall's Rose Museum, followed by Robert Wright and George Forrest's Song of Norway in the Stern Auditorium at 6:30pm. The seated dinner and live auction will follow in the Rohatyn Room. Attire is festive. Benefit tickets are available from $500 to $1,500 and Benefit tables from $5,000 to $15,000. For more information, please email Mariane Lemieux at mlemieux@collegiatechorale.org or call 646-435-9052.

GALA CO-CHAIRS and HONORARY GUEST
Susan Baker and Michael Lynch, Lois Conway, Antonia and George Grumbach, James Peterson and Ann Folliet-Peterson, Adèle and John Talty, and Elizabeth Tunick will co-chair the event.

Martin T:son Engstroem, founder of the Verbier Festival, will be present at the benefit evening to accept the honor for the Verbier Festival. He has been artistic and executive director of the festival since its foundation in 1994. Mr. Engstroem was first an agent for international opera singers and musicians in his native Sweden before moving to Switzerland in 1987. Mr. Engstroem worked at EMI France, the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele and the Paris Opera, and was Vice President of Artists & Repertoire at Deutsche Grammophon where he was directly responsible for the recording projects of many major artists such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Pierre Boulez, Claudio Abbado, and Maurizio Pollini.

VERBIER FESTIVAL
The Collegiate Chorale and the Verbier Festival share a close relationship based on excellence, creativity and innovation in music. These words continue to define the character of the festival: musical encounters between virtuosi from around the world, a showcase of young talent, carefully chosen repertoire and an outstanding natural setting, and providing a truly unique experience. This type of collaboration also exemplifies The Collegiate Chorale's mission to create a powerful, shared experience unifying listeners and musicians of all cultures, backgrounds and ages. Following its successes at the Swiss festival since 2005, The Chorale has become part of the Verbier Festival family, and their concerts are quick to sell out. The Chorale is preparing for its sixth appearance at the festival this summer performing exciting repertoire under the batons of Charles Dutoit, Valery Gergiev, and Christian Zacharias.

The Collegiate Chorale at the 2013 Verbier Festival
July 19: Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, conducted by Charles Dutoit
July 22: Beethoven, Choral Fantasy, conducted by Charles Dutoit
July 23: Schubert, E-flat Mass, conducted by Christian Zacharias
July 25: Act I from Otello, conducted by Valery Gergiev

The Verbier Festival was created in 1994 out of an ambitious idea: to bring the greatest classical musicians in the world, and the best young musicians together in a Swiss mountain ski resort, and to produce an oasis of artistic activity during 17 days each summer. It did not take long before the idea caught on, and the Verbier Festival has gone from strength to strength, adding activities each year and attracting both artists and audiences. As they celebrate their 20th anniversary, it is fair to say that the Verbier Festival has become one of the best classical music festivals in the world.

The 20th Anniversary Festival offers a particularly eclectic program with 60 concerts providing musical delights for all tastes, from symphonic concerts to piano recitals, and from opera to chamber music to world music, with artists such as Anna Netrebko, Bryn Terfel, Nathalie Dessay, Evgeny Kissin, and Grigory Sokolov, among many others. For the full programming of the Verbier Festival 20th season from July 19 to August 5, please visit www.verbierfestival.com.