At 6:00pm on Saturday, April 10th, the Nelly Berman School of Music will premiere its virtual “Celebration of the Arts during COVID” Gala Concert, a collaborative multi-media event which will feature music performed by the school’s music students, ballet pieces by the students of the International Ballet Theatre Academy, and artwork submitted by students and artists from the Main Line Art Center.
In collaborating with fellow community arts organizations, the Nelly Berman School of Music aims to create a memorable event for the greater Philadelphia community that brings together students and artists of different disciplines during a uniquely difficult and isolating time, offering both students and audience members a new experience that broadens their view of the arts.
The “Celebration of the Arts during COVID” Gala Concert represents school director Elena Berman’s vision for a collaborative arts event in a modernized format that can bring the joy of a visually and auditorily exciting performative experience to audiences in their own homes. This annual event takes inspiration from Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the Ballets Russes, who commissioned works from artists including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Vasily Kandinsky, and collaborated with composers Maurice Ravel (on Daphnis et Chloe), Claude Debussy (on L’apres-midi d’un faune) and Igor Stravinsky (on The Firebird and The Rite of Spring).
At this year’s event, we will build on last year’s “Celebration of the Arts” theme by featuring pieces describing evocative emotions, such as happiness, laughter, and sadness, and nature, including day, night, different seasons, and other natural imagery including fireworks, fantasy creatures, and animals.
Our “Celebration of the Arts during COVID” Gala Concert serves as one of the Nelly Berman School’s annual major fundraising events. All proceeds will go towards the NBS Classical Music Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit scholarship fund which provides financial assistance to hardworking young music students and organizes concerts, workshops, masterclasses, and other events – including the “Celebration of the Arts” – for the greater Philadelphia community.
The “Celebration of the Arts during COVID” Gala Concert will premiere on Youtube, with a suggested donation of $15 for each non-musician participant and/or each viewing household. Donations can be made via check, made out to the NBSCMI and mailed to 461 West Lancaster Avenue, Haverford, PA 19041, or via Paypal through the link on our website, nbsmusic.com. More information about the concert can be found at nbsmusic.com and the event organizers can be reached by email at office@nbsmusic.com or by phone at 610-896-5105.
“Celebration of the Arts” Music Competition & Festival on Sunday, March 15, 2020
Featuring the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet
rehearsing with Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet ballerinas.
In the 2020 “Celebration of the Arts” Gala Concert, The Nelly Berman School of Music collaborated with the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet, whose dancers prepared choreographed pieces alongside our musicians.
The event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic; however, we were still able to hold a virtual concert online and thankfully had a bit of footage from the practice sessions between our musicians and PAB’s dancers.