Press

NEWARK SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
TOMORROW’S STARS TONIGHT 15TH ANNUAL GALA

Tomorrows Star's Tonight!  April 21, 2009
at the Crystal Plaza
On April 21, 2009, Newark School of the Arts (NSA) 15th annual fundraising gala, Tomorrows' Stars Tonight, chaired by C. Edward Chaplin, Vice Chairman & Chief Financial Officer, MBIA, Inc., brought 150 guests and $169,500 in contributions and ticket sales.  Leadership, benefactor and patron gifts for the event came from Barclays Capital, CastleOak Securities, L.P., Inter-Atlantic Group, MBIA, Prudential Financial, The Williams Capital Group, L.P., Don and Lisa Storms.  Additional contributions were made by Deutsche Bank Securities, McCarter & English, MCJ Foundation, PNC Bank, PSE&G, Sturdivant & Co, UBS, The Bank of New York Mellon, and numerous individual contributors to the School. 

Stephen Shiman, Executive Director of NSA thanked honorees Mark B. Grier, Vice Chairman of Prudential Financial, Inc., and Jimmy Roberts, Pianist/Composer of the second longest-running Off-Broadway musical “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”.

Mr. Roberts’ songs were featured in two other Off-Broadway musicals:  “A…My Name Is Still Alice and Pets!”  For television, he composed the theme for the weekly PBS show, “Theater Talk.”  His children’s musical, The “Velveteen Rabbit”, toured the United States for well over a decade.  Mr. Roberts performed a musical interlude that included selections by composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein.

Mr. Grier, a member of Prudential Financial’s Office of the Chairman and of its board of directors, oversees Finance, Risk Management, Investor Relations, Operations and Systems, Auditing, External Affairs, and Global Marketing and Communications.

Student performances throughout the evening included first prize winner of the Star-Ledger Scholarship for the Performing Arts, A-la Renee Davis who sang Marcello’s Quella fiamma accompanied by NSA Music Director/voice instructor Nadine Herman.  It was followed by Rachmaninoff’s Valse in A major, opus 11 number 4 performed by piano students Esther Ryu and Stephen DeChiaro.

After the presentation of awards, sopranos Caroline Braga and A-la Renee Davis performed Vivaldi’s Laudamu te.  The night’s final performance entailed a piano solo by former NSA student and Jeffrey Carollo scholar Patricio Molina.  Patricio performed La Triana by composer Albeniz to a standing ovation.  Following the solo, Mr. Chaplin remarked that Patricio’s performance left him “tingling.”

Trumpeter Ron Scott led band members Jake Paduano, keyboard, Jesus Salinas, bass,  Richard Tyler, drums and others through a series of traditional jazz pieces throughout the evening.  
Stephen Shiman had this to say about the gala; “It was a highly successful event in a difficult year and I am greatly pleased with the results in terms of the number of participants and the income it brought to the School.”

NSA provides instruction in the performing (music, dance, and drama) and visual arts for people of all ages, regardless of their financial need or artistic ability. The School has been an incubator for artists and for professional people in many fields. A significant number of NSA alumni have made arts their careers, including dancer Savion Glover. The School has been recognized by the New Jersey Council on the Arts, which designated NSA a "Major Presenting Organization" for 2007-2009; and awarded the School a "Citation of Excellence" and designated the School a "Major Service Organization" during 2003 to 2006.

Newark School of the Arts is funded in part by New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, A Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Other major support for the School's arts education programs comes from the City of Newark, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Prudential Foundation, The Victoria Foundation, and Turrell Fund.

Tomorrow’s Stars Tonight Honoree, Jimmy Roberts (l.)
and Executive Director Stephen Shiman (r.)

Tomorrow’s Stars Tonight Honoree, Mark B. Grier (l.) and Executive Director Stephen Shiman (r.)

A-la Davis (r.) winner of Star Ledger Scholarship for the Performing Arts and Nadine Herman (l.),
Director of Music/voice instructor at NSA.