From left to right: Lucretia Tanner, Member of the Board of Directors Doria Kaplan, and Secretary of the Board of Directors Rafael Prieto

Jack Thompson and Lucretia Tanner

From left to right: President of the Board of Directors Alexandra Sényi; Artistic Director and Conductor Julien Benichou; Vice-president of the Board of Directors Cary Pollak; and Mrs. Stoycheva wife of the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria

From left to right: President of the Board of Directors Alexandra Sényi, Executive Director Michael Reilly, H. E. Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria Tihomir Stoychev, and Artistic Director and Conductor Julien Benichou

From left to right: President of the Board of Directors Alexandra Sényi, Executive Director Michael Reilly, and H. E. Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria Tihomir Stoychev

From left to right: Vice-president of the Board of Directors Cary Pollak, Sue T. Chin, and the General Director of the New York City Opera Michael Capasso

Stefan Lopatkiewicz and Dorri Tillinghast

Member of the Board of Directors Barbara Bennett and Edward Tillinghast

From left to right: Alexandra Sényi, Julien Benichou, Michael Capasso, Cary Pollak, Sue Chin

From left to right: Rafael Prieto, Alexandra Sényi, Julien Benichou, Michael Capasso, Cary Pollak, Sue Chin, H. E. Ambassador of the Czech Republic Hynek Kmoníček, and Michael Reilly

Mrs. Indira Gumarova wife of the Ambassador of the Czech Republic, and Alexandra Sényi

From left to right: Alexandra Sényi, H. E. Ambassador of Hungary Szabolcs Takács, Mrs. Stoycheva, H. E. Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria Tihomir Stoychev, and Mrs. Indira Gumarova

From left to right: Maestro Julien Benichou, H. E. Ambassador of Austria Martin Weiss, Alexandra Sényi, and Michael Reilly

H. E. Ambassador of Hungary Szabolcs Takács, Alexandra Sényi, and Michael Reilly

From left to right: Alan Savada, Antonio Pineda, Franceska Schroeder, Chris Schroeder, and Rafael Prieto

Accordionist Peter DiGiovanni

From left to right: Stephanie Oueda Cruz, Member of the Board of Directors Daniel L. Glaser, and Mrs. Weiss wife of the ambassador of Austria

From left to right: Michael Reilly, Alexandra Sényi, H. E. Ambassador of Hungary Szabolcs Takács, and MaestroJulien Benichou

In the foreground: Accordionist Peter DiGiovanni.

In the background, from left to right: Nancy Hicks, Sue Chin, and Jack Thompson

Maestro Julien Benichou and Michael Capasso

Daniel Glaser and Stephanie Oueda Cruz

A few words from Alexandra Sényi, President of the Board of Directors. Cary Pollak, Vice-president of the Board of Directors, on the right

Welcome by Michael Reilly, Executive Director

Introduction by Maestro Julien Benichou

Kevin Short sings “Le veau d’or” from Charles Gounod’s Faust

General Director of the New York City Opera’s Michael Capasso

Kristin Sampson sings “La mamma morta” from Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier

Up and coming singer Christopher Simmons

Michael Butler sings “Kleinzach” from Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d'Hoffmann

On left: pianist Simon Charette; on right: Michael Butler

Brandie Inez Sutton sings “Ah! Douce enfant” from Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon

Duet “Quel vecchio maledivami!” from Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto by Mr. Short and Mr. Simmons

The artists

H. E. Ambassador of the Czech Republic Hynek Kmoníček and Mrs. Indira Gumarova

From left to right: Mrs. Stoycheva, Edward Tillinghast, Stefan Lopatkiewicz, H. E. Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria Tihomir Stoychev, and Dorri Tillinghast

From left to right: Kevin Short, H. E. Ambassador of Austria Martin Weiss & Mrs. Weiss, Alexandra Sényi

From left to right: Cary Pollak, Barbara Bennett, Christian Simmons, Franceska Schroeder