Annual Spring Benefit Gala & Silent Auction

All proceeds go towards our Financial Aid and Scholarship Programs!

Honoring
Josh Wiener
President, SilverLining Inc
George Oliphant
Host, George to the rescue
Join us as we honor George Oliphant of NBC Universal’s “George to the Rescue” and Josh Wiener of SilverLining, Inc. and celebrate their work transforming our concert hall and backyard.

PROGRAM

INTRO

Erika welcome from Laurie Berkner

LAURIE – Intro of Performers

“What do I need with Love”  

from Thoroughly Modern Millie – Joshua Cartegna, voice. 

Mario Bros Theme

BSM Virtual Flute choir – Teresa Payne, coach 

Intro to Broadway Ensemble

“Ring of Keys”                             

from Fun Home – Celeste Kwan, voice & Dash Kwan, piano 

Solo Violin Cadenza                   

from Fiddler on the Roof  –Martin Moehn-Aguayo, violin 

“Memory”                                     

from Cats, Uma Menon, voice 

Berkner Break

Music Access Awards Ceremony

Thank You Concert

Final Thoughts and Credits

Josh Wiener

Josh Wiener grew up helping his dad repair their family’s Manhattan UWS townhouse. At 6 years old, he was sorting nails; at 11 he was mixing plaster and rebuilding walls; and now, Josh’s company, SilverLining Inc., is renovating some of Manhattan’s most lavish apartments and townhouses as a high-end general contractor specializing in luxury residential building projects in New York City and the surrounding area.

In 1981, Josh met Bloomingdale Board President Ken Michaels at Vassar College, and the two have been buddies ever since. Josh took a few drum lessons at Bloomingdale as a child, and when her heard about our building, he introduced “George to the Rescue” to us. His company, SilverLining, was instrumental in the renovation of Bloomingdale’s concert hall and backyard, bringing together more than 25 vendors to donate time, resources, and materials, as well as oversee all construction.

George Oliphant

George Oliphant is a popular Emmy award-winning host of NBC’s “George to the Rescue,” a weekly national home improvement show. George and his team of contractors and interior designers travel the nation rescuing the homes of deserving people. The warm and bubbly Oliphant he got his start as a touring children’s theater actor. He launched his TV career as a veejay for MTVu, MTV’s college music channel, and then on MHD, MTV’s first high-definition music channel.

Eventually, he began working on an NBC show called Open House with a segment called Open House to the Rescue, which was the foundation for George to the Rescue. The show started out in New York but has been picked up by NBC stations across the map. Each week, Oliphant and his crew set out to change lives by “rescuing” the homes of people in need. The show featuring Bloomingdale School of Music will air in April, 2020, and can be seen on the “George to the Rescue” Youtube channel.

Hosted By Laurie Berkner

Laurie Berkner has been a professional musician since 1992, but her success as a children’s recording artist was a surprise to her. “It was so unexpected,” says Laurie. “I’d been performing in rock bands and struggling to write original music. Writing music for kids has not been a struggle at all. The more I started working on material for children, the more I realized that it opened up creativity in me that I never knew I had.”

These days critics widely acknowledge Laurie’s major contribution toward launching what is now dubbed the progressive “kindie rock” movement – i.e. less saccharine, more rocking music that is not dumbed down for children. But it wasn’t simply an enormous amount of talent that helped create an entire genre and skyrocketed Laurie to her current position as “the queen of kids’ music” (People magazine). It was an ability to gain parents’ enthusiasm for the songs as well. According to Laurie, “When I’m writing a song, I’m thinking about whether the kids will like it and whether I’m going to connect to them through it. I’m also thinking about whether I want to sing it over and over again, so I guess that’s the part that connects with adults. ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’ is a great song for kids, but I couldn’t sing it 100 times!” Laurie and her family have lived in the Bloomingdale neighborhood for years and her daughter studied percussion, piano, and composition for more than seven years at BSM.

News & Blogs

Press

Virtual Benefit

INTRO

Laurie Berkner
Intro of performers

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Intro to Broadway Ensemble,
MAP Program

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Lurie Berkner
Berkner Break

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George Oliphant & Josh Weiner
Music Access Awards Ceremony

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Ribbon Cutting
Thank You Concert

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Final thoughts and intro to Daniel Oakes and credits

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