ORE than 1,000 guests celebrated the Juilliard School centennial at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater in Lincoln Center. Soprano Renee Fleming, who was in the school’s opera program in the 1980s, performed with the Juilliard Orchestra led by conductor/composer John Williams. "How wonderful to be back on stage of my student days," Fleming declared.
The festivities, chaired by Dan and Cynthia Lufkin, raised more than $5.5 million for the venerable school. The program, hosted by Beverly Sills, was telecast on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS.
Among the performers were trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Emanuel Ax, 13-year-old pianist Peng Peng, actor Kevin Kline, saxophonist Victor Golines, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, and the Juilliard Dance Ensemble.
Cynthia Lufkin, in a stunning Carolina Herrera gown with gold top and a long skirt accented by green and brown ribbon trim, greeted guests including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Mary Rodgers, Maria Cuomo and Kenneth Cole, Barbara Barrie, Wendy Carduner, Dayle Haddon, Somers and Jonathan Farkas, Elizabeth Polisi and Lehman Brothers’ Bruce Kovner who recently made a major archival contribution to the Juilliard Library. Lehman Brothers was the event’s principal corporate sponsor.
