Posted by Leah

The City Parks Foundation held its 25th Anniversary SummerStage Gala, a special fundraising event at Rumsey Playfield, on June 8, 2010, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of SummerStage and presented in association with Michael Dorf Presents and City Winery. A private VIP cocktail reception was followed by dinner and the concert.

For this special anniversary season, the SummerStage Gala featured the timeless music of Simon & Garfunkel –two musicians closely associated with Central Park — as performed by an eclectic group of well established musical legends and up and coming stars.Thirty artists paired up to perform 15 classic duets from Simon & Garfunkels beloved archive of songs. The performance component of the gala was co-produced by Michael Dorf, who has successfully produced a series of similar tribute concerts at Carnegie Hall over the past decade.

Confirmed artists included: Aimee Mann * Shawn Colvin * St. Vincent * Joan Osborne * Paula Cole * David Hinds (Steel Pulse) * Loudon Wainwright III * Lucy Wainwright Roche * Alejandro Escovedo * John Forte * Dar Williams * Ricky Skaggs * Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) * Cory Chisel * Stephen Kellogg * The Holmes Brothers * Dean & Britta * Valerie June * John Roderick * Marc Cohn * Kristina Train * Jorma Kaukonen * Larry Cambell * Ollabelle, who supported the event as the house band, and more.

About SummerStage:

In June, 1986, Central Park SummerStage was launched with a free performance from Sun Ra and the Omniverse Jet Set Arkestra. In 1990, City Parks Foundation began programming free concerts in neighborhood parks under the name CityParks Concerts. In 2006, City Parks Foundation began CityParks Dance and CityParks Theater.

Today, City Parks Foundation is combining all of these initiatives under the banner of SummerStage, a city-wide festival of over 100 music, dance and theater events in 16 parks in all five boroughs. It will be one of the largest, most geographical diverse and thematically broad festivals in the nation. The SummerStage Gala raises funds to support City Parks Foundations free year round arts programming in parks citywide.

SummerStage showcases world-renowned and emerging talent from around the globe and from New York Citys own backyard. This summer, as part of the 25th anniversary season, City Parks Foundation launched a major re-branding of the festival to include music, dance, film and theater performances in all five boroughs of NYC, allowing more New Yorkers than ever before to enjoy the quality free programming that SummerStage provides.

About City Winery:
City Winery, the innovative 20,000 sq ft mixed-use winery, music venue and event space founded in 2008 by Michael Dorf in Soho, created a special commemorative wine for the SummerStage gala. The award winning wines produced at City Winery were handcrafted in the only commercial custom-crush facility in New York City.

About City Parks Foundation:
City Parks Foundaiton (CPF) is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer park programs throughout the five boroughs of New York City. CPF works in over 750 parks citywide, presenting a broad range of free arts, sports, and education programs, and empowering citizens to support their parks on a local level. Programs and community building initiatives reach more than 600,000 people each year, contributing to the revitalization of neighborhoods throughout New York City.

For more information please visit: http://www.summerstage.org/gala,

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