News Release
Günter Burghardt
No. 9/04
January 21, 2004
WASHINGTON PERFORMING
ARTS SOCIETY PARTNERS WITH EUROPEAN UNION FOR 2004 ANNUAL GALA AND AUCTION
Washington
[DC] Performing Arts Society (WPAS) has formed a special partnership with the
European Union (EU) for its 35th Annual Gala and Auction on Saturday,
May 8, 2004 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Tysons Corner, Virginia. The
Gala will celebrate the significant expansion and growth of the EU, most notably
its scheduled induction of
10 new member states on May 1.
Dr. Günter Burghardt, Ambassador of the European Commission Delegation, and
his wife, Mrs. Rita Byl-Burghardt, will serve as Honorary Diplomatic Patrons.
More than 700 guests are expected to attend the Gala, including members of Congress,
representatives of the diplomatic community and international, national and local
business leaders and their spouses.
WPAS
President Neale Perl stated, “Washington Performing Arts Society is honored to
partner with the European Union for this year’s Gala. The European diplomatic
community has always played a significant role in supporting WPAS, and has enthusiastically
embraced the numerous international artists we present each season in the nation’s
capital. WPAS’s thriving Embassy Adoption Program, the hallmark of our long-standing
commitment to arts education, celebrates its 30th anniversary this
year and is just one of many successful collaborations we have enjoyed with EU
countries.”
Ambassadors
from the 25 countries representing the European Union are expected to attend the
Gala. The EU is a unique, treaty-based, institutional framework that defines and
manages economic and political cooperation among its
current 15 European members countries. The 2004 historic accession of 10 new
member countries is the latest milestone in European integration. Cyprus, the
Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak
Republic and Slovenia will join current members Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal,
Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, creating a Union of 455 million citizens.
Mr. Samuel Schreiber, the Regional President of Wachovia, and Ms. Ray Hoffman
of WPAS’s Women’s Committee are this year’s Gala chairs. Gala patrons will be
treated to a live performance by WPAS’s critically-acclaimed Children of the Gospel
Mass Choir. Formed in 1993, the choir appears annually to sold-out audiences at
the Kennedy Center, and past performances include President Clinton’s Inaugural
Ceremony and the gala opening of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
The
Annual Gala and Auction, WPAS’s largest fundraiser of the season, benefits the
organization’s extensive outreach and arts education programs which are offered
at no cost to students and schools in the Washington, DC, area. Sponsored by the
Women’s Committee of Washington Performing Arts Society, the Embassy Adoption
Program is an award-winning, multi-cultural enrichment program designed for 6th-grade
students in the District of Columbia Public Schools. Using the unique resources
of embassies in Washington, DC, the program provides teachers and students with
the opportunity to increase their knowledge and appreciation of the culture, government
and geography of other nations. To date, more than 30,000 children have partnered
with 98 embassies.
The
proceeds from the Gala and Auction also help WPAS to sustain its tradition of
bringing the world’s best performing artists to venues in and around the nation’s
capital. This year’s Gala and Auction is slated to raise more than $700,000 for
WPAS. Guest auctioneer and Washington Post columnist Bob Levey will conduct
the live auction.
Founded
in 1965, WPAS is an independent, non-profit arts presenter. Its 3-part mission
is to bring the world’s greatest performers to venues throughout the city, sponsor
enriching educational projects for school children and foster and develop innovative
art forms and emerging artists. WPAS’s unique programming includes emerging and
established artists from the United States and abroad working in contemporary
and traditional dance; world, classical European, jazz, and gospel music; and
performance art.
The
Annual Gala and Auction will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Tysons Corner,
1700 Tysons Boulevard, McLean, VA. Single tickets start at $500 and reserved tables
at $5,000. For further information, or to request an invitation, please call (202)
293-9325 or visit wpas.org.
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Press Contact:
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Sandi
Auman
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202-862-9541
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