Broadway Meets Opera At MSM Gala

At Manhattan School of Music’s 2026 Gala, Broadway, opera, classical music, and musical theater came together for an elegant evening at the Rainbow Room. Hosted by Bebe Neuwirth and honoring Board Chair Lorraine Gallard, the event celebrated MSM’s faculty, alumni, students, and its enduring tradition of mentorship.

High above Manhattan, inside the iconic Rainbow Room, Manhattan School of Music gathered a remarkable cross-section of New York’s cultural world for an evening that celebrated artistry, education, and the people who help young performers find their voice. The school’s 2026 Gala, held on Wednesday, May 20, honored MSM Board Chair Lorraine Gallard and paid tribute to the faculty whose mentorship continues to shape generations of musicians.

The theme of the evening, “A Tradition of Mentorship,” gave the gala its emotional center. This was not simply a night of performances and formal acknowledgments. It was a reminder that great artists rarely emerge alone. They are encouraged, challenged, corrected, refined, and inspired by teachers who recognize potential and help turn it into discipline, craft, and confidence.

The evening was hosted by Bebe Neuwirth, the Tony and Emmy Award-winning performer whose own connection to Manhattan School of Music runs deep. Neuwirth is an MSM trustee, a member of the school’s Artistic Advisory Council, and a recipient of an honorary Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the institution. Her presence brought Broadway elegance and warmth to a program that moved comfortably among musical theater, opera, classical performance, and the wider world of New York’s performing arts.

At the center of the celebration was Lorraine Gallard, an alumna of MSM’s Precollege Division, who was honored for 12 years of dedicated service as board chair. Gallard joined the Manhattan School of Music Board of Trustees in 2009 and was elected chair in 2014. During her tenure, she helped guide the school through a period of continued growth and distinction, strengthening its role as one of New York’s leading institutions for advanced musical training.

Gallard’s recognition carried special meaning because her relationship with MSM began as a student. In many ways, her story reflects the full circle of arts education: the young musician who is shaped by a school, remains connected to its mission, and eventually helps lead it into the future. Her honor was not only a tribute to board leadership, but to a lifetime of belief in what music education can do.

The program opened with remarks from Neuwirth before moving into performances by current students and alumni. Ethan Mathias, a member of the Precollege Class of 2026, performed “Go the Distance” from Hercules, a fitting selection for a night focused on aspiration and promise. His performance underscored the vitality of MSM’s Precollege program, which continues the school’s founding tradition of nurturing young musicians long before they reach the conservatory stage.

Meredith Layne Hungerford, a Bachelor of Music candidate in musical theater, followed with “Before the Parade Passes By” from Hello, Dolly!, accompanied by Shane Schag on piano. The performance brought a classic Broadway spirit to the evening, balancing polish with youthful energy. For a school that trains artists across genres, moments like this showed the breadth of MSM’s community and the way musical theater now sits confidently beside classical and operatic traditions within the institution’s larger identity.

MSM President James Gandre offered remarks that helped frame the night’s purpose before Benjamin R. Sokol, a triple alumnus of Manhattan School of Music, performed “La calunnia è un venticello” from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, also accompanied by Schag. Sokol’s performance brought operatic richness to the room and reminded guests of MSM’s long-standing strength in vocal training.

A video tribute, “Celebrating MSM Faculty: A Tradition of Mentorship,” then brought the evening’s theme into sharper focus. The tribute led into the honoree presentation, with opening remarks by David Loud, music director of MSM’s Musical Theatre program and a member of the musical theater faculty. Gandre and Noémi K. Neidorff, a member of the Board of Trustees and double MSM alumna, continued the tribute before Gallard delivered remarks of her own.

The sequence gave the evening a sense of continuity. Students, alumni, faculty, trustees, and leadership were not presented as separate parts of the institution, but as an interdependent community. At MSM, mentorship is not a ceremonial idea. It happens in studios, rehearsal rooms, classrooms, master classes, and performance spaces, where students learn not only how to perform, but how to think, listen, collaborate, and sustain a life in music.

One of the evening’s most memorable performances came from J’Nai Bridges, the three-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano, MSM alumna, and honorary doctorate recipient. Bridges performed “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” from Carmen and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel, with Shane Schag at the piano.

The pairing was striking. Carmen’s famous aria brought fire, independence, and dramatic command, while the Carousel selection offered a message of endurance and shared strength. Together, they reflected both the power and tenderness of musical expression. Bridges’ presence also embodied the very arc the gala celebrated: a student shaped by MSM who has gone on to achieve major international recognition and return as an inspiration to the next generation.

That generational connection has been central to Manhattan School of Music since its founding in 1918 by Janet Daniels Schenck as a community music school. Today, MSM is recognized for more than 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states. Its programs span classical music, jazz, and musical theatre, offering a range of undergraduate and graduate degrees while remaining connected to its original mission of educating young musicians.

The school’s Precollege program continues to serve 525 young musicians between the ages of 8 and 18, preserving MSM’s earliest commitment to children and developing artists. Beyond the campus, MSM reaches approximately 6,000 New York City schoolchildren through its Arts-in-Education Program and another 2,000 students through its Distance Learning Program. These initiatives extend the school’s impact beyond conservatory training and into the broader educational life of the city.

MSM’s faculty remains one of its defining strengths. Drawn from the New York Philharmonic, the Met Opera Orchestra, Broadway, jazz, and other leading musical communities, its artist-teachers bring professional experience directly into student development. For young musicians, that kind of mentorship matters. The lessons are not theoretical. They come from artists who know the demands of the stage, the audition room, the rehearsal process, and the long discipline required to build a meaningful career.

The gala’s notable attendees reflected the depth of MSM’s influence across the arts. Guests included J’Nai Bridges; Ted Chapin, former president of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization; Jane Chu, former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts; Lorraine Gallard; James Gandre; Howard Herring, president and CEO of New World Symphony and an MSM alumnus; Meredith Layne Hungerford; David Loud; Ethan Mathias; Anthony Mazzocchi, president and CEO of Kaufman Music Center and double MSM alumnus; Tony Award-winner Donna McKechnie; mezzo-soprano, composer, and MSM alumna Alicia Hall Moran; jazz pianist, composer, visual artist, and MSM alumnus Jason Moran; Bebe Neuwirth; Noémi K. Neidorff; James Roe, president and executive director of Orchestra of St. Luke’s; Shane Schag; former MSM President and composer Robert Sirota; Benjamin R. Sokol; Paul Tetreault, director of Ford’s Theatre; and Ann Ziff, chairman of the board of the Metropolitan Opera.

It was a guest list that reflected not only prestige, but range. Broadway legends, opera leaders, jazz artists, institutional heads, educators, students, and trustees all shared the room. That mix felt especially appropriate for a school so deeply embedded in New York’s cultural life. Manhattan School of Music is not simply an institution located in the city. It is part of the city’s artistic infrastructure, preparing musicians who go on to perform, teach, compose, lead, and shape the future of the arts.

By the evening’s close, the glamour of the Rainbow Room had given way to something more lasting: a renewed appreciation for the relationship between education and artistry. The performances were memorable, the honoree distinguished, and the setting unmistakably New York. But the heart of the gala was the idea that mentorship remains one of the most powerful forces in the arts.

For Manhattan School of Music, that tradition continues to define its past, guide its present, and shape the artists who will carry music forward.

For more information on Manhattan School of Music, its history, and its curriculum,
visit: www.msmnyc.edu

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Photos: PMC / Mark Sagliocco