The 2009 New York
City Opera was held at the Mandaring Oriental
Hotel. This year's luncheon honored Anita Contini
and Mimi Levitt and featured a performance by
City Opera soprano Julianna Di Giacomo who was
accompanied by Kevin Murphy on the piano.
According to the press release
from Lisa Lori Communications: "One hundred
percent of the proceeds from the Spring Luncheon
will support New York City Opera’s award-winning
Education Programs. These programs, which reach
over 5,000 students each year, take artists into
classrooms, bring young people to performances
and provide exciting behind-the-scenes glimpses
of City Opera at work."
Spring Luncheon Chairs:
Helen Little, Mary Sharp Cronson,
Princess Alexandra of Greece, Olivia Flatto,
Roberta Freymann and Emilie Roy Corey
Notable Attendees at this year's
luncheon were: Princess Alexandra of Greece, Susan
Baker, Yildiz Blackstone, Celeste Boele, Fabienne
Bousquet-Chavanne, Amy Fine Collins, Anita Contini,
Emilie Roy Corey, Mary Sharp Cronson, Brooke Hayward
Duchin, Fe Fendi, Olivia Flatto, Roberta Freymann,
Liz Lange, Mimi Levitt, Helen Little, Patricia
Lovejoy, Liliane Peck, Heather Randall, Paola
Schulhof, Lee Slaughter, Annaliese Soros, George
Steel, Anne de Louvigny Stone, Barbara Tober and
Shen Wei.
Susan Baker, Jennifer
Collins and Eileen Imber
George McNeely and Amy
Fine Collins
Here are biographies
of the honorees from the press release from
Lisa Lori Communications:
"Anita Contini
is Senior Vice President and Director of Corporate
and Public Affairs for CIT, a longtime corporate
supporter of City Opera and the leadership supporter
of its popular Opera-For-All program, offering
$25 tickets at all performances. Prior to joining
CIT, Contini served as Vice President and Director
of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
and as Vice Chair of the Board of the Alliance
for the Arts. She is an active member of the
Financial Women's Association, Art Table, American
Institute of Architects (AIA) New York Chapter,
and the LMDC's Cultural and Community Enhancements
Fund grant program. She was also the founder
and President of the not-for-profit and award-winning
arts organization, Creative Time.
Mimi Levitt is
President of Levitt Properties & Trustee
of the Mortimer Levitt Foundation. She serves
on the Boards of Young Concert Artists, Bard
Music Festival, the New York Landmarks Conservancy,
and the Friends of The Upper East Side Historic
District Inc. Mimi has been a loyal supporter
of City Opera since 1980."
