RECENT EVENTS
March 3, 2008
The History of the Twentieth Century Through Music
Guest speakers: Alex Ross and John Schaefer View the
program 
The President’s Council spring 2008 dinner featured John Schaefer, host
of WNYC’s Soundcheck, interviewing Alex Ross, the bestselling author
and music critic of The New Yorker, whose latest book, The Rest Is Noise: Listening
to the Twentieth Century, was named one of the top five non-fiction books of
2007 by The New York Times. Council members and guests were entertained and
intrigued by Ross’s description of the relationship between 20th-century
history and social movements and the music they produced. A selection of manuscripts
from the Library’s music collections was on display as part of the program,
including works by John Cage, Aaron Copland, and Igor Stravinsky. The event
was held at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, with the program in
the South Court Auditorium and the dinner in Astor Hall. (Alex Ross, in photo,
with Council Co-Chairs Gayfryd Steinberg, left, and Louise Grunwald, right.
Co-Chair Alice Tisch not pictured.)
September 17, 2007
Presidential Courage
Guest speaker: Michael Beschloss
“Presidential Courage” was the theme for the fall 2007 President’s
Council dinner, which featured special guest speaker Michael Beschloss (pictured),
the NBC News Presidential Historian and author of nine books on the American
presidency. Council members and guests were inspired by Beschloss’s colorful
accounts of crucial moments in history when courageous Presidents dramatically
changed the future of the United States, and his focus on the human element
and common struggles we all face provided insightful lessons in leadership.
The more than 100 dinner guests also were treated to a special display of rare
treasures from the Library on American Presidents, ranging from the manuscript
of George Washington’s farewell address, dated 1796, to a letter from
Ronald Reagan to the publisher of The New York Times in 1962. The event was
held at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, beginning with the program
in the Trustees Room, followed by dinner in the McGraw Rotunda.
February 12, 2007
On Pleasure
Guest panelists: Fran Lebowitz, Charles Masson, Esther Perel, and André Leon
Talley
The theme for the President’s Council 2007 pre-Valentines Day celebration
was “On Pleasure,” exploring our insatiable appetite for gratification
in its many forms. The lively program featured André Leon Talley, Editor-at-Large
of Vogue and highly influential figure in the world of fashion; humorist Fran
Lebowitz, best known for her wildly sardonic commentaries on American life;
Esther Perel, the insightful author of Mating in Captivity: Reconciling
the Erotic and Domestic; and Charles Masson, owner of one of New York’s most
elegant restaurants, Le Grenouille, renowned for its excellent cuisine and
exquisite floral arrangements. Guests were treated to a special exhibit of
treasures from the Library’s collections, including valentine drawings
by e.e. cummings, intimate 18th-century watercolor depictions of Catherine
the Great and Prince Grigori Potemkin, and an autograph manuscript of Claude
Debussy’s Les Papillons, dedicated to Marie-Blanche Vasnier, his muse.
Dinner was strikingly set in Astor Hall at the Humanities and Social Sciences
Library, with décor by the noted designer, David Monn. (Pictured: Library
Chairman Catherine C. Marron, far right, and President Paul LeClerc, far left,
with President’s Council Co-Chairs and panelists at the February 2007
dinner.)
September 25, 2006
Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Billy Rose Theatre Division
Guest panelists: Jane Greenwood, John Guare, Donna Karger, and Kathleen Marshall
The fall 2006 President’s Council dinner traveled uptown to the Library
for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center in honor of the
75th anniversary of the Billy Rose Theatre Division. The pre-dinner program
in the Bruno Walter Auditorium featured a panel of illustrious guests, composed
of playwright John Guare, choreographer and director Kathleen Marshall, and
costume designer Jane Greenwood, who were led in a fascinating discussion by
Donna Karger, of NY1’s On Stage. The panel spoke about some of their
most well known plays and productions—including Guare’s House
of Blue Leaves, Marshall’s 2006 revival of The Pajama Game, and Sir John
Gielgud’s 1964 production of Hamlet, for which Greenwood designed costumes—and
shared how the Library has been a resource and inspiration to them through
the years. Clips from the Library’s Theatre on Film and Tape Archive
and letters from the Theatre Division were used to complement their stories.
After the program, guests adjourned for dinner to the Miriam and Harold Steinberg
Reading Room, with its spectacular view looking out onto Lincoln Center Plaza.
(Pictured, from left, panelists Donna Karger, John Guare, Jane Greenwood, and
Kathleen Marshall.)
January 30, 2006
Tenth Anniversary Gala
Guest speakers: Simon Russell Beale and Linda Emond
The President’s Council Tenth Anniversary Gala took place in two of
the grand spaces within the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, the newly
renovated Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division and the McGraw Rotunda.
The program featured three outstanding performers bringing the collections
of the Library to life. At the cocktail reception, the musical performance
by the critically acclaimed jazz quartet Meta-Four, lead by the saxophonist
and composer Eric Person, included arrangements based on three manuscripts
of John Coltrane recently acquired for the Library’s Schomburg Center
for Research in Black Culture. The after-dinner program featured readings from
great Library treasures given by two award-winning actors: Simon Russell Beale,
of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, and Linda Emond,
acclaimed for her roles on Broadway and in feature films—both of whom
starred in the PBS documentary John & Abigail Adams, which aired one week
before the Library’s event. The evening was a fitting celebration of
the President Council’s wonderful success in raising more than $15 million
for the Library over its first decade. (Pictured: Library President Paul LeClerc,
standing at the podium, with guests in the McGraw Rotunda.)
