The Conservatory Benefit Gala, hosted by CBS News Correspondent Elaine Quijano, included presentation of the inaugural Janet Daniels Schenck Award and performances by MSM Precollege Students and Ms. Flower.
Manhattan School of Music (MSM) hosted its MSM Precollege Gala at the world-renowned conservatory’s campus and neighboring St. James Chapel at Union Theological Seminary (UTS). The Gala benefited MSM’s Precollege Division and honored distinguished Precollege alumna Chloe Flower, a pianist, composer, producer, and passionate advocate for music education, with the inaugural Janet Daniels Schenck Award (named for MSM’s founder).
Hosted by CBS News Correspondent Elaine Quijano, the evening included a performance by the MSM Precollege Philharmonic Orchestra in the School’s exquisite principal performance space Neidorff-Karpati Hall and, later that evening, during the Gala dinner at UTS, special performances by Precollege students and honoree Chloe Flower.
Notable Attendees included: Elaine Quijano (Gala Host; CBS News Correspondent), James Gandre (President, Manhattan School of Music), Chloe Flower (Gala Honoree; pianist and composer),Noémi Neidorff (Philanthropist; MSM alumna; Secretary of MSM Board of Trustees; Trustee and Past Chair, Opera Theatre of St. Louis), Coco Han (Philanthropist; Board of Directors, Nassau County Arts Museum; Board of Directors, Columbia University Global Center; Founder, Goldstone Wealth Management Consultants), Sylvia Hemingway(Philanthropist; Board of Directors, Southampton Arts Center), Howard Tsao (Team Lead, Muse Games [independent gaming studio]), Yvonne Tsao (Board of Directors, MSM; CFO, Muse Games).
Fusing classical and pop music in a unique style she calls “POPSICAL,” Ms. Flower is an exciting, multi-hyphenate artist and Steinway Artist Ambassador whose recent performances include the 45th Kennedy Center Honors tribute to Tania León, Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City, the 2023 Golden Globes, the 2019 Grammy Awards, and Saturday Night Live. She wrote the score for A Ballerina’s Tale, the acclaimed 2015 documentary on ballet dancer Misty Copeland, and has released several albums. Aside from her own music, she has co-produced and composed for dozens of artists, including Céline Dion, Johnny Mathis, and Nas. In addition to her ardent championing of music education, Chloe is dedicated to humanitarian efforts, including serving as an Artist Ambassador for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
MSM celebrates its 105th birthday this year, and true to the institution’s origins as a music school for children, the Precollege Division is a professionally oriented Saturday music program dedicated to the musical and personal growth of talented young musicians ages 5 to 18. Held on Saturdays throughout the academic year, the Precollege provides talented young musicians professionally oriented instruction and multiple performing opportunities in a supportive environment, preparing its graduates to go on to attend prestigious institutions of higher education, including world-class conservatories such as MSM.
Among the MSM Precollege community of alumni, are such distinguished names as: two-time EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner Robert Lopez; Met Opera mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard; electronic music pioneer Robert Moog; pop superstar Charlie Puth; Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center pianist Anne-Marie McDermott; jazz composer and pianist Arturo O’Farrill; New York Philharmonic violinist Kerry McDermott; composer, conductor, educator Gunther Schuller; concert pianist and recording artist Simone Dinnerstein; MSM Chair and President and CEO of Bonness Enterprises Lorraine Gallard; MSM trustee, surgeon, and Director of the Spine Fellowship Han Jo Kim, MD; and of course Gala honoree Chloe Flower.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be honoring MSM Precollege alumna Chloe Flower at our December 9 Gala benefitting the Precollege Division,” says MSM President James Gandre, who will present the inaugural Janet Daniels Schenck Award to Ms. Flower during the event. “This new award’s namesake, Janet Schenck, was a musician and fiercely dedicated music-education pioneer who founded MSM in 1918 as a community music school and oversaw its evolution into one of the world’s most important independent music conservatories. I believe she would recognize a kindred spirit in Chloe and be extremely pleased that this inaugural award is being granted to such an extraordinary talent and advocate.”
The December Gala began with a cocktail reception in the MSM Peter Jay Sharp President’s Residence preceding a performance by the MSM Precollege Philharmonic Orchestra in Neidorff-Karpati Hall, which was followed by a seated dinner and award presentation (featuring additional performances) at neighboring UTS’s St. James Chapel.
“It is such a supreme honor to be part of this important Gala event at my alma mater and to be the recipient of the inaugural Janet Daniels Schenck Award,” says Gala honoree Chloe Flower. “My musical foundation and my strong belief in music education were forged at this world-class institution. I graduated from the Precollege in 2000; it was the dawn of a new century and, for me, the beginning of a new chapter in my life in music.”
ABOUT CHLOE FLOWER:
An alumna of Manhattan School of Music’s prestigious Precollege program, Chloe Flower (PC ’00) – an accomplished pianist, composer, and producer – is bridging the gap between classical and pop. Her self-created sound, POPSICAL, embodies sweet melodies, epic strings, and hip-hop beats blended with impressive aplomb and showcased in her 2021 eponymous debut album, Chloe Flower. Born in Pennsylvania, Chloe first reached for piano keys at the age of two. By 12, she was studying at Manhattan School of Music followed by London’s Royal Academy of Music.
The multi-hyphenate star has become music and fashion’s go-to creator as she intertwines her personal couture style and unique sound into something the industry has never seen or heard. Serving as an Official Steinway artist, over the years Chloe has grown into a musical powerhouse — from her show-stopping 2019 GRAMMY® Awards performance with Cardi B to a surprise performance with Meek Mill at a sold-out Madison Square Garden concert.
Aside from her own music, Chloe has co-produced and composed for Céline Dion, Johnny Mathis, 2 Chainz, Swae Lee, Nas, and more. Additionally, she has scored Misty Copeland’s documentary, A Ballerina’s Tale, numerous works by Kevin Hart including his newest streaming show Hart to Hart for NBC, and original compositions for champagne house Krug.
Chloe is also dedicated to humanitarian efforts through her work as an ardent advocate of anti-human trafficking, a champion of music education and therapy, an Artist Ambassador for the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, and as the youngest board member of The Liberace Foundation.
Her new holiday album, Chloe Hearts Christmas, was released earlier this month on Sony Music Masterworks.
ABOUT THE MSM PRECOLLEGE DIVISION:
MSM’s Precollege Division is a professionally oriented Saturday music program dedicated to the musical and personal growth of talented young musicians ages 5 to 18. Held on Saturdays throughout the academic year, the Precollege provides talented young musicians professional instruction and multiple performing opportunities in a supportive environment, preparing its graduates to go on to attend prestigious institutions of higher education, including world-class conservatories such as MSM.
The Precollege mission statement is to enrich students’ lives and to nurture the next generation of professional musicians, arts and civic leaders, as well as future audience members and patrons of the arts. The established music curriculum supports those students wishing to enter a college music conservatory training program and those pursuing higher education degrees in other areas. The goal of the Precollege not only is to provide comprehensive and rigorous music instruction; it is also to promote an atmosphere of warmth and support, one that encourages all students to achieve their greatest potential.
ABOUT THE 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 Opera 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 program is a 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 and pioneering Distance Learning Program.
LAND ACKOWLEDGMENT: We want to acknowledge that we gather as Manhattan School of Music on the traditional land of the Lenape and Wappinger past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. This calls us to commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit as well.
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Last modified: December 15, 2023
