New York City Opera Gala 2013 and the Premiere of La Perichole
Founded over 60 years ago with the purpose of making great opera available to a modern, wide-reaching audience, the New York City Opera is one of New York’s leading cultural institutions. In April 2013, the New York City Opera chose the occasion of the premiere of La Périchole for its annual gala and Empire was honored to serve as the Gala producer.
La Périchole is a madcap comic opera loosely based on the life of a Peruvian street-singer who maintains a love triangle between the Spanish viceroy and her true love and fellow street-singer. The gala began with a Peruvian-themed pre-show cocktail reception at New York City Center.
The reception featured a gallery of printed images of Peruvian textiles and Peruvian floral arrangements and linen patterns. Following the performance, guests made their way to the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel for a French-themed dinner dance. In this grand space, Empire worked with the Plaza Hotel and Great Performances catering to create an elegant environment to complement the French menu. The Avalon Jazz Band played onstage throughout the evening. At one point New York City Opera’s General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel took the stage to deliver remarks and to introduce performances by some of the evening’s lead performers which included a rendition of Edith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose. The evening’s gala was generously sponsored by American Airlines, Van Cleef & Arpels, Clos du Val and Bellavista.
Empire was responsible for venue coordination, technical production, décor and design, coordination of catering, ground transportation, security, staffing and stage management for both events.
Empire is proud to serve many of New York’s leading cultural institutions including the New York City Opera.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
