Itzhak Perlman featured as soloist in New York Philharmonic Gala Evening

Itzhak Perlman performed the Bruch Concerto under Music Director Jaap van Zweden at the New York Philharmonic’s 2021 Gala Evening (Photo credit: Chris Lee)

On December 2, the New York Philharmonic held its annual December Gala for the first time since 2019—and it sure felt good to be back. The evening came with a fittingly celebratory soundtrack, including Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” Overture, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, “Classical,” and J. Strauss II’s “On the Beautiful Blue Danube.” The performance was masterminded by Music Director Jaap van Zweden and featured violinist Itzhak Perlman as a soloist in Bruch’s “Violin Concerto No. 1.”

Guests including Isabel Leonard, Daniel Boulud, and Henry Timms gathered in the Och Foyer of Alice Tully Hall for cocktails prior to the concert and retreated to the Morgan Stanley Lobby for dinner afterward. Later in the evening, the jazz combo Del and the Rad Rompers took the stage as specialty cocktails flowed. All told, the evening raised over $1.5 million for the philharmonic, which will be opening its new David Geffen Hall in 2022.