Manhattan School of Music 2024 Gala Lights up New York City’s Iconic Rainbow Room

Manhattan School of Music (MSM)  hosted its 2024 Gala, at the iconic Rainbow Room, Rockefeller Plaza, in New York City.

The gala honored two-time Tony Award-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell and longtime Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization President Ted Chapin. A celebration of the school’s prestigious Musical Theatre Program, the evening was hosted by MSM alumnus, Broadway mainstay, and Tony Award-winner Shuler Hensley, and featured performances by current students of the MSM Musical Theatre Program as well as solo performances by Alysia Velez, MSM alumna and star of the acclaimed 2022 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. All performers were either MSM alumni or current students, and the evening featured Musical Direction by David Loud, legendary Broadway Musical Director and MD of the MSM Musical Theatre Program.  Pianist and MSM Artistic Staff member Shane Schag accompanied the performances. The performances were overseen by Liza Gennaro, MSM’s Dean of Musical Theatre. 

Some of the notable attendees included: honorees Ted Chapin (former President of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization) and Brian Stokes Mitchell (two-time Tony Award winner and Broadway legend); the evening’s Host, Shuler Hensley (Tony Award-winner and Broadway mainstay); Alysia Velez (recent graduate of MSM’s Musical Theatre Program; Rapunzel in the acclaimed 2022 Broadway revival of Into the Woods); Ann Ziff (Chairman of the Metropolitan Opera Board of Directors); Dominique Laffont (Advisory Director, The Metropolitan Opera; namesake for the Met Opera’s Laffont Competition); Adrienne Vittadini (fashion designer); Jack Viertel (theatrical producer and author); Scott Dunn (Associate Conductor, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, MSM trustee); Anne-Marie McDermott (internationally acclaimed classical pianist); Noreen Buckfire (Philanthropist and MSM International Advisory Board Member); James Roe (President and Executive Director, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s); Chloe Flower (pianist and composer); Linda Oh (Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist and composer); Joe DiPietro (Tony Award-winning playwright and lyricist: Memphis; I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change); David Loud (legendary Broadway Musical Director; Musical Director, MSM Musical Theatre Program); and Liza Gennaro (choreographer; MSM Dean of Musical Theatre).

About Manhattan School of Music (MSM):

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 continues to offer superior music instruction to 475 young musicians between the ages of 5 and 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.

About MSM’s Musical Theatre Program:

Manhattan School of Music, with its more than 100 years of excellence and its location in New York City, a veritable hub of musical theatre, is an ideal institution for a world-class musical theatre program. Today’s contemporary musical theatre is exploding with fresh ideas, possibilities, and opportunities. While acting, voice, and dance remain the cornerstones of musical theatre training, contemporary performers must also be trained beyond the “triple threat” model. Now more than ever multifaceted musical theatre artists are in demand. Virtual musicals and online content, devised practice workshops and dance labs require performers to be creative contributors to project development. In addition to learning the essential skills—singing, dancing, and acting—MSM Musical Theatre students are encouraged to develop their artistic interests and are given the opportunity to investigate areas beyond performing, including directing, choreographing, writing, and composing.

The MSM Musical Theatre faculty is a stellar collection of artist-educators who combine exemplary teaching skills with the highest level of professional know-how and embrace individuality – honoring each student’s journey. The program is infused with a passion for the arts, and for the next generation of musical theatre artists.