(NEWARK, NJ) -- The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra hosts its 2019 Spring into Music Gala on April 13 at NJPAC in Newark. The event includes cocktails, dinner, a silent auction and an NJSO performance of Mary Poppins in Concert. The gala’s honoree is Investors Bancorp and Investors Bank Board of Directors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Cummings.
The event begins with a cocktail reception and silent auction at 4:30pm, followed by a gala dinner at 6:00pm. The evening concludes with Mary Poppins in Concert at 8:00pm.
As a longstanding funder of the NJSO, Investors Bank and Cummings have supported several major fundraising initiatives, including large-scale annual events and a weekend NJSO concert series sponsorship, helping the Orchestra inspire creativity and promote lifelong engagement with live music through education and community engagement programs.
Mary Poppins in Concert is a family-friendly symphonic cinema event featuring the five-time Oscar®-winning Disney film unfolding on the big screen with the NJSO performing the Sherman brothers’ charming and delightful musical score. The Sherman brothers won Academy Awards® for Best Original Song (for “Chim Chim Cher-ee”) and Best Original Musical Score.
All proceeds from the gala event will support the NJSO as it enriches lives through its artistic, music education and community engagement programs.
Event Packages
Silver Event Ticket—$2,500 - Admission for one to the cocktail reception, silent auction, dinner and performance; ad in digital slideshow. (Includes a $2,200 charitable donation.)
Bronze Event Ticket—$1,250 - Admission for one to the cocktail reception, silent auction, dinner and performance. (Includes a $950 charitable donation.)
For sponsorship information, contact Laura Bessey at [email protected] or 973.735.1729.
Concert Program
Mary Poppins in Concert with the NJSO
Sat, Apr 13, at 8 pm | NJPAC in Newark
Stuart Chafetz, conductor
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
Step in time, it’s one heart-tugging, toe-tapping song after another in the beloved film Mary Poppins! This family-friendly, symphonic cinema event features the five-time Oscar-winning classic Disney film unfolding on the big screen with the NJSO performing the charming and delightful musical score. Don’t miss this Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious wonder live with the NJSO!
The NJSO presents additional performances of this concert program on April 12 at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank and on April 14 at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick in collaboration with State Theatre New Jersey. Full concert information is available at njsymphony.org/marypoppins.
Presentation licensed by Disney Concerts © Disney All rights reserved.
Kevin Cummings
Kevin Cummings was appointed chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Investors Bancorp and Investors Bank effective May 22, 2018. He previously served as president and chief executive officer of these companies since January 1, 2008, and was appointed to serve on the boards on the same date. Prior to 2008, he served as the bank’s COO.
Cummings, along with Investors Bank, has been a longtime funder of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Investors’ support and generosity have driven several Orchestra fundraising initiatives, including large-scale annual events, such as the Opening Night Celebration, and most recently an annual weekend NJSO concert series sponsorship.
Under Cummings’ leadership, the bank’s performance has been recognized on Forbes’ “Best Banks in America” list since 2012. In addition, Cummings is a past recipient of the NJ Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for transforming the bank into a growth company.
Prior to joining Investors Bank, Cummings had a 26-year career with KPMG LLP, where he became a CPA and Partner. He has a BA in economics from Middlebury College. He earned an MBA from Rutgers University School of Business and gave the commencement address to the university’s MBA graduating class in 2013.
He serves on the boards of The Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children, St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, Liberty Science Center, Independent College Fund of New Jersey, Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, New Jersey Business and Industry Association and The Community Foundation of New Jersey. He also is a member of the leadership council of Morris Habitat for Humanity and has served as the former chairman of the board of New Jersey Bankers Association.
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
Named “a vital, artistically significant musical organization” by The Wall Street Journal, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra embodies that vitality through its statewide presence and critically acclaimed performances, education partnerships and unparalleled access to music and the Orchestra’s superb musicians.
Music Director Xian Zhang—a “dynamic podium presence” The New York Times has praised for her “technical abilities, musicianship and maturity”—continues her acclaimed leadership of the NJSO. The Orchestra presents classical, pops and family programs, as well as outdoor summer concerts and special events. Embracing its legacy as a statewide orchestra, the NJSO is the resident orchestra of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and regularly performs at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick, Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown and bergenPAC in Englewood. Partnerships with New Jersey arts organizations, universities and civic organizations remain a key element of the Orchestra’s statewide identity.
In addition to its lauded artistic programming, the NJSO presents a suite of education and community engagement programs that promote meaningful, lifelong engagement with live music. Programs include school-time Concerts for Young People; NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles, led by José Luis Domínguez; and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project). NJSO musicians annually perform original chamber music programs at community events in a variety of settings statewide through the NJSO Community Partners program.
Tickets are available online at njsymphony.org, by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476) or in person. The NJSO Patron Services office is located at 60 Park Place, Suite 900, in Newark; hours are Monday–Friday, 9 am–5 pm, and concert Saturdays, 11 am–5 pm.
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s programs are made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, along with many other foundations, corporations and individual donors.
