Music played in your ears always finds a way to the heart.
Elizabeth Segerstrom and Barbara Tober paid a beautiful homage to loved ones with the power of song during a profoundly moving affair in Manhattan. Underwriters of the New York Philharmonic concert on Sept. 16, the incredible night was curated as a divine dedication to their late husbands, Henry Segerstrom and Donald Tober. Both pillars of the community were admirable patrons of the art and deeply involved in philanthropic circles across the country.
Cornelius Escaravage, Carl Biehn, Elizabeth Segerstrom, Ryan Nash (BFA)
“Donald is in my bones. When we married, we opened up our life together and we sat for hours talking about who we are and why we are together—something that a lot of people should do today instead of watching television,” said Barbara.“When you lose someone, hug them spiritually and keep them all around you as much as you can.”
Peter Marino, Daniel Boulud (BFA)
Elizabeth expressed similar sentiments: “Henry believed the arts had to be at the center of everything, and to always look to the future. Barbara helped teach me that, and how to have joy in my memories.”
Opening the evening with the Orchestra’s subscription season under Gustavo Dudamel, the Philharmonic’s newly appointed Music & Artistic Director, the magical conductor kicked off his inaugural season with John Adams’ On the Transmigration of Souls, the world premiere of Zosha Di Castri’s Invisible House, and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.
Mikhail Baryshnikov, Lisa Rinehart (BFA)
The concert was followed by a private party at Daniel Boulud’s new Brasserie Boulud, which opened specially for Barbara and Elizabeth two weeks before its official commencement. Unlike a benefit, the private party brought together close friends, with a buffet dinner allowing them to mingle and raise a glass to Donald and Henry. Following short toasts from the hosts, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, accompanied by violinist Nick Kendall, apparated and surrounded the guests with a surprise performance. The kids, not one over the age of fourteen, sang You Will Be Found from the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen.
Nick Kendall (BFA)
Among the nearly 200 guests that night were Mikhail Baryshnikov with Lisa Rinehart, Millie and John Bratten, Bill Buford and Jessica Green, Henry M. Buhl, Candace Bushnell, Brandon Chrostowski, Dr. Layla S. Diba, Michele Oka Doner and Fred Doner, Michael Feinstein, Joanna Fisher, Kip Forbes, Lee Fryd, Sabina Gerjatowicz, Gina Gibney, Sir Clive D. Gillinson CBE and Lady Anya Gillinson, Isabelle Harnoncourt Feigen, Dr. Bruce C. Horten, Susan Jaffe, Yue-Sai Kan and Allan Pollack, LaVon Kellner, Francine LeFrak and Rick Friedberg, William Ivey Long, Peter Marino, Daphne Merkin, Chloe Misseldine, Mark W. Morris, Galina Novikova, Judith F. Pisar, Tatiana and Alexei Ratmansky, Colleen and Gary Rein, Casey Reitz, Ben Rodriguez-Cubeñas, Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, Christine Shevchenko and Alex DiMattia, Malissa Feruzzi Shriver, Daniil Simkin, Cory Stearns, Sandra and Stanford Warshawsky, Sir Christopher Wheeldon OBE and Ross Rayburn, Jane Fujishige Yada, and HRH Prince Dimitri de Yugoslavia.
