Report To The Community 2022

Honoring the past,
looking to the future
and the party
continued
Clockwise from top left: Spotlight
Gala 2022 featured a bevy
of NJPAC Arts Education
alumni including vocalist Lucy
Yeghiazaryan and pianist Lili
M.; Ray Chambers and his family
received the Gala’s Founders
Award for their decades-long
support of NJPAC; the evening
welcomed performances by
(left to right) GRAMMY®
Award winner Regina Belle,
legendary chart-topper Dionne
Warwick and Wé McDonald
(of NBC’s The Voice).
After a three-year hiatus, the
Women@NJPAC Spotlight
Gala returned as an in-person
affair, just in time to celebrate the
Arts Center’s 25th anniversary.
And while there were many
nods to NJPAC’s history, the
focus was clearly on the future.
“Twenty-five years, 11 million
visitors, and 2 million students
into this unlikely enterprise, we
are excited about what’s next,”
said NJPAC’s President and
CEO John Schreiber, welcoming
the crowd to the Gala.
Titled The Possible Dream,
the show featured stars with
deep Jersey roots, including
“Godfather of Funk” George
Clinton (performing with NJPAC
Jazz Advisor Christian McBride),
legendary chart-topper Dionne
Warwick, GRAMMY® winner
Regina Belle, Broadway’s
Tony-winning star Laura Benanti
and tap phenom Savion Glover
(NJPAC’s Dance Advisor).
Rising stars from the Garden
State — including Wé McDonald
of NBC’s The Voice, and
acclaimed keyboardist Matthew
Whitaker, a graduate of NJPAC’s
Arts Education programs — also
performed, all under the direction
of Ray Chew, legendary musical
director of ABC’s Dancing with
the Stars and much more.
NJPAC’s future was present on
the stage, too, in the form of a
bevy of stars of tomorrow, all
students and recent alumni
of NJPAC’s Arts Education
programs. Several of the
featured alumni subsequently
studied at Berklee College
of Music in Boston. Lili M. on
piano, Ricky Persaud Jr. on
guitar, Liany Mateo on bass,
Jalin Shiver on saxophone,
Alan Hsiao on trombone, Henry
Spencer on drums and vocalist
Lucy Yeghiazaryan jammed
alongside the headlining stars,
and stepped into the spotlight
by themselves to deliver a
jazz-infused take on “My Funny
Valentine.” More young musicians
were highlighted as the STAX
Music Academy Rhythm Section
and Alumni Band of Memphis,
Tennessee, performed during the
Gala’s cocktail hour and its afterparty
at NICO Kitchen + Bar.
Global humanitarian Ray
Chambers, NJPAC’s Founding
Board Chairman, and his
family were honored with the
Gala’s Founders Award for their
decades of support for the Arts
Center. The Chambers family
was lauded by dignitaries
including former Governor Tom
Kean and Prudential Financial
Chairman and CEO Charles
Lowrey, as well as by rising
executives who benefited from
Ray Chambers’ mentorship and
Chambers’ family scholarship
programs, including Shavar
Jeffries, CEO of the KIPP
Foundation, Vaughan Crowe
of Newark Venture Partners
and Shané Harris, President of
The Prudential Foundation. A
video highlighted the family’s
humanitarian work, narrated
by U.S. Senator Cory Booker.
“Ray and his family are those rare
individuals who see the future as
it could be, and work like heck
to make it happen,” said Kean.
The Spotlight Gala was a great
party and fundraising success,
raising $2.3 million for NJPAC’s
Arts Education and Community
Engagement programming. •
66
njpac.org
njpac.org 67