The Friends of the Budapest Festival Orchestra Gala will be held on February 23, 2020 at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall. Maestro Iván Fischer will host the all-Dvořák program: Legend; Evening's blessing, from Four Choruses; Slavonic Dance; Violin Concerto, and Symphony No. 8.
Gala Co-Chairwomen: Ambassador Nancy Brinker, Susuan Gutfreund, and Sylvia Hemingway.
Gala Committee: Ambassador and Mrs. Donald Blinken, Em Green, Beth Jakobs, Heidi Lee Komaromi, Mary McFadden, Governor and Mrs. George Pataki, and Barbara Rogoff. (The committee is in formation.)
Board of Directors: Stephen Benko (Chairman), Andrew Komaromi (Treasurer), Sylvia Hemingway (Secretary), Stephen Angel, Ambassador Colleen Bell, Susan Bender, Aaron Feinstein, Kathleen Horvath, Heidi Lee-Komaromi, Kati Marton, Peter Thomas Roth, Terez Rowley, Laine Siklos, Aniko Gaal Schott, Stephanie Stokes, Em Green, David Tobey, and Daisy Soros (Chairman Emeritus).
The BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA performs over 200 concerts each year at the world’s most prestigious music festivals (Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart, Salzburger Festspiele, and Edinburgh Festival), and concert halls (among them Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and Musikverein Wien). Their many educational activities include special performances for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder; a series of concerts in disused, abandoned, or neglected synagogues in small towns and villages across Hungary; and the Juilliard Apprentice Program whereby Juilliard students study with Maestro Fischer and members of the Orchestra.
The FRIENDS OF THE BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA’s mission is to support programs of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Members have the unique opportunity to build a closer relationship with the Orchestra both in the United States and in Budapest through special events with Maestro Iván Fischer and the Orchestra. The Friends support major programming initiatives of the Orchestra including Dancing on the Square, Community Weeks, U.S. touring, and the Juilliard Apprentice Program, as well as chamber music concerts with important visiting Orchestra members in Manhattan residences.