On Wednesday, June 10, at 6:00 P.M., the GRAMMY-Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will host its annual Gala at Guastavino’s in New York City. The event promises an evening of cocktails, dinner, and a silent auction, all while honoring Alberto Mihelcic Bazzana and Francesco Clark, who is the founder and CEO of Clark’s Botanicals, both of whom are Global Infrastructure Partners.
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, founded in 1972 by cellist Julian Fifer, emerged from a radical idea of what if an orchestra could thrive without a conductor? The ensemble’s conductor-less model allows musicians to rotate leadership roles, encouraging an environment where every musician can lead.
This model has not only expanded what classical music is but also has inspired a leadership approach in business and music by changing the ways of how classical music can be seen. Orpheus, the acclaimed chamber orchestra based at Carnegie Hall, has been for over five decades, transforming the role of orchestras through its community-focused initiatives, including the newest addition, Orpheus for All, which will offer on opening night, free admission to ensure attendees can experience live classical music.
In addition, the gala’s proceeds will support Orpheus for All in removing barriers to classical music, reinforcing Orpheus’ commitment to democratizing access to the arts. Orpheus Reflections, which brings the healing power of music to individuals with dementia and their caregivers; Access Orpheus, which engages 1,500 New York City public school students annually in the orchestra’s collaborative process; and the Orpheus Leadership Institute, which shares the orchestra’s leadership model with global organizations and businesses.
Additionally, Alberto Mihelcic Bazzana is a Managing Director in Equity Underwriting at Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which is a division of BlackRock, where he leads equity underwriting for infrastructure investments across the Americas and Australia. Before he was at GIP, he had senior roles at MUFG and GE, leading and helping to close more than $5 billion of debt transactions across the power, renewables, and natural resources sectors, and managing over $1 billion in non-U.S. equity investments.
Bazzana has said that music has always been his first love. A former professional cellist, he performed competitively across Europe as a child and continued as a soloist until the age of 18. His journey in finances mirrors the ethos of Orpheus, balancing precision with creativity. At the gala, he will join the orchestra on cello for a special performance, a testament to his lifelong connection to music.
Bazzana’s partner of eight years and parent to their twin children, Francesco Clark, who will be joining him, has a story of resilience and reinvention. After a spinal cord injury at 24, he began co-developing with his late father formulas to help with his compromised skin, which led him to create Clark’s Botanicals, a skincare brand now carried by Saks Fifth Avenue, Bluemercury, Credo, and Goop. Clark’s Botanicals has earned six Allure Best of Beauty Awards and three Women’s Wear Daily distinctions, proving that adversity can fuel innovation.
Clark’s journey includes selling his company to Warburg Pincus, then repurchasing it and returning it to the independent ownership that started the company. Moreover, Clark is a Johns Hopkins Leadership Fellow and board member of the New York Stem Cell Foundation; he is also a National Ambassador for the Christopher Reeve Foundation. Clark has also written a memoir, Walking Papers, and won the Washington Irving Award.
For more information on this event and tickets, visit orpheusnyc.org
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra 2026/27 Season Program
PHRASING A FAMILY
Lucas and Arthur Jussen, pianos
October 16, 2026 – Easton, PA
October 17, 2026 – Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall @ 4 PM ET – New York, NY
** Orpheus for All
PROGRAM
Brian NABORS: Groove Studies for Chamber Orchestra
MOZART: Concerto in E-flat Major for Two Pianos, K. 365
SCHUMANN: Chamber Symphony after Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63
PROGRAM NOTES
It’s a family affair when brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen make their Orpheus debut, intertwined in effervescent phrases first played by Mozart and his sister. Schumann’s Piano Trio, a creative leap fueled by his intimate collaboration with his wife, Clara, radiates passion and power. Brian Nabors, the son of a church musician, brings a lifetime of immersion in America’s soulful traditions to this Orpheus commission.
HOME, SUITE HOME
Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano
DATES
November 7, 2026 – Davis, CA
November 8, 2026 – Stanford, CA
November 11, 2026 – Santa Barbara, CA
November 12, 2026 –Santa Monica, CA
November 13, 2026 – Seattle, WA
November 15, 2026 – Denver, CO
November 17, 2026 – Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall @ 7:30 PM ET – New York, NY
February 12, 2027 – Madison, WI
February 13, 2027– Detroit, MI
February 15, 2027 – Sarasota, FL
February 16, 2027 – Edmond, OK
February 17, 2027 – Lincoln, NE
February 19, 2027 – Morristown, NJ
February 21, 2027 – Fairfax, VA
PROGRAM
HANDEL: Suite from “Water Music” compiled by James Wilson from HWV 348 & 350
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major
Katie JENKINS: Elixir of Life
HAYDN: Symphony No. 91 in E-flat Major
PROGRAM NOTES
Orpheus delivers Old World sophistication in a New York minute. Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason dives into Mozart’s crowning Viennese concerto, framed by Handel’s sparkling Water Music Suite dispatched from London and a Haydn symphony custom-tailored for Paris. The Welsh composer and New York transplant Katie Jenkins brings a taste of home to her new work for Orpheus.
92Y
Anthony McGill, clarinet
December 16, 2026 – 92Y @ 7:30 PM ET – New York, NY
PROGRAM
David DIAMOND: Rounds for String Orchestra
MOZART: Adagio and Fugue in C minor K 546
CPE BACH: Symphony in F Major H 650
MOZART: Clarinet Concerto in A Major
PROGRAM NOTES
Reuniting at 92NY after their thrilling romp through Copland’s concerto in 2023, clarinetist Anthony McGill and Orpheus now scale the highest peak in the clarinet repertoire. McGill is in good hands with the orchestra that has long set the standard for accompanying Mozart’s concertos, including its seminal recording of Mozart’s complete wind concertos.
EUROPE TOUR
Branford Marsalis, saxophone
March 6, 2027 – Valencia, Spain
March 7, 2027 – Madrid, Spain
March 8, 2027 – Barcelona, Spain
March 9, 2027 – Vienna, Austria
March 12, 2027 – Antwerp, Belgium
March 13, 2027 – Geneva, Switzerland
March 14, 2027 – Brussels, Belgium
March 15, 2027 – Berlin, Germany
March 17, 2027 – Dusseldorf, Germany
March 18, 2027 – Ferrara, Italy
March 20, 2027 – Lugano, Switzerland
March 21, 2027 – Budapest, Hungary
March 23, 2027 – Hamburg, Germany
PROGRAM
ELLINGTON / Beal: Orchestral Suite
Jeff BEAL: Concerto for Saxophone
LECUONA / Norpoth: Suite Andalucia
GERSHWIN / Diaz: American in Paris
PROGRAM NOTES
Saxophone legend Branford Marsalis and Orpheus rekindle the camaraderie and spontaneity born from their quarter-century of collaboration at the intersection of American improvised music and European art music. A custom-tailored concerto by the celebrated film composer (and jazz trumpeter) Jeff Beal anchors this program that gleefully crosses borders and defies stylistic boundaries, from the symphonic jazz of Ellington and Gershwin to the Flamenco renderings of the Afro-Cuban pioneer Ernesto Lecuona.
PROGRAM / SPAIN VERSION
ELLINGTON / Beal: Orchestral Suite
Jeff BEAL: Concerto for Saxophone
LECUONA / Norpoth: Suite Andalucia
GERSHWIN / Diaz: American in Pari
BEETHOVEN/Hong: Moonlight Sonata
PROGRAM NOTES / SPAIN VERSION
Saxophone legend Branford Marsalis and Orpheus rekindle the camaraderie and spontaneity born from their quarter-century of collective play at the intersection of American improvised music and European art music. A custom-tailored concerto by the celebrated film composer (and jazz trumpeter) Jeff Beal anchors this program that gleefully crosses borders and defies stylistic boundaries, from the pearly glimmer of Beethoven to the symphonic jazz of Ellington and the Flamenco renderings of the Afro-Cuban pioneer Ernesto Lecuona.
MAGNIFICENCE MAGNIFIED
Paul Huang, violin
April 16, 2027 – Purchase, NY (TBD)
April 17, 2027 – Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall @ 7 PM ET – New York, NY
April 18, 2027 – Rockport, MA
PROGRAM
Elena RUEHR: Shimmer
BEETHOVEN/Tognetti: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major “Kreutzer”, Op. 47
DVORAK/Wilson: American Sinfonietta after String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96
PROGRAM NOTES
When the musicians of Orpheus focus their collective energies on Beethoven, Dvorak, Elena Ruehr, the result is the sonic equivalent of a 4K Ultra HD video, revealing latent details that have never come through so clearly. They have an ideal partner in violinist Paul Huang, a musician whose playing stands out as “unfailingly incisive and technically immaculate” (Chicago Classical Review).
92Y
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
May 16, 2027 – 92Y @ 2 PM ET– New York, NY
PROGRAM
CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21
CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11
PROGRAM NOTES
This historic collaboration has been fated to happen ever since Garrick Ohlsson won the Chopin International Piano Competition in 1970 and a ragtag group of young New Yorkers started Orpheus Chamber Ensemble in 1972. Ohlsson and Orpheus have made magic with Mozart for decades; now they go back to where it all started, in bespoke arrangements that wrap the soloist in supple support that Chopin could only have dreamed of.
Japan Tour
Nobuyuki Tsujii, piano
DATES
July 9, 2027 – Niigata, Japan
July 10, 2027 – Matsumoto, Japan
July 11, 2027 – Sendai, Japan
July 13, 2027 – Tokyo, Japan
July 14, 2027 – Tokyo, Japan
July 15, 2027 – Hiroshima, Japan
July 17, 2027 – Fukuoka, Japan
July 18, 2027 – Nagoya, Japan
July 19, 2027 – Osaka, Japan
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