By: Community Magazine | March 18, 2021 | Philanthropy , Entertainment , Local | Red Bank
FEATURED PHOTO: Joe Wajda (left), Managing Partner of World Subaru in Shrewsbury and a Basie Center supporter with Count Basie Center President and CEO Adam Philipson
The Count Basie Center for the Arts held its winter fundraising gala, dubbed the “Winter Trip,” this month. The gala honored New Jersey State Senator Vin Gopal (D-11), Monmouth County Commissioner Director Tom Arnone, and Yvonne Scudiery, the retiring Count Basie Center Vice President of Education, who established the nonprofit’s arts education program two decades ago.
Singer Emily Grove performs with Glen Burtnik’s Summer of Love band. Summer of Love and Burtnik’s other band, The Weeklings, provided Beatles and other 60s-era sounds for the Basie’s ‘Winter Trip’ gala.
“The hard work and support of Senator Gopal and Commissioner Arnone has made an immeasurable impact in our region during the pandemic,” said Adam Philipson, President and CEO, Count Basie Center for the Arts. “Not only has their unwavering support allowed the Basie Center to continue its programs during this crisis, but their visibility and hands-on approach has sustained and inspired our region — and it’s that work and the work of their colleagues which will afford us the quickest path back to normalcy.”
Longtime Basie Center Vice President of Education Yvonne Lamb Scudiery was honored on the occasion of her retirement.
“Yvonne has devoted 50 years to the fields of arts education – including the last twenty years here at the Basie Center,” Philipson said. “It’s because of her that the Basie’s education and outreach programs, along with our onsite academy and its schools of performing arts and music, have thrived.”
“Our partnerships with organizations like the Kennedy Center Partners in Education and the support we’ve received from the National Endowment for the Arts has come about because of Yvonne’s hard work and vision.”
“Through the generosity of our guests, we were able to establish an endowed scholarship in Yvonne’s name,” said Lysa J. Israel, Count Basie Center Senior Director of Development. “In addition, money raised from our ‘Winter Trip’ will go toward our year-round arts education efforts, such as classes and summer camps our Academy of the Arts and the Monmouth Conservatory of Music.”
For information and registration for Basie Academy summer camps and classes, visit thebasie.org/education.
Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners Director Tom Arnone