Photo Flash: Inside the YPC Gala, featuring Mandy Gonzalez and Alexandra Socha

The Young People's Chorus of NYC, under the direction of Artistic Director/Founder Francisco J. Núñez, had its most successful gala to date on Monday, March 6th, 2017 at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater.. The chorus members, ranging in ages from 8 to 18, were joined by Hamilton's Mandy Gonzalez, Spring Awakening's Alexandra Socha, and the extraordinary Time for Three ensemble, in one vibrant production number after the next, heightened by the extraordinary choreography of Jacquelyn Bird. It was a 90-minute, nonstop virtuoso mix of music ranging from Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Leonard Bernstein to a Monkey Chant from Bali, concluding with all 425 choristers on stage, in the boxes, and in the aisles in a high-energy performance of "Anything Goes."

The concert was followed immediately by dinner in the Ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental, a festive celebration of the evening's honorees: Dusty Philip from Goldman Sachs, two of whose children are YPC chorus members, and George Nemeth, a founding member of the YPC Board of Trustees.

Proceeds from the March 6 gala evening benefit 1,600 children of all cultural and economic backgrounds, not only musically, but also academically and socially through YPC's after-school and in- school programs. The children come to YPC from every corner of New York City and beyond, 87 percent of whom participate in YPC programs free of charge, and 100 percent of its graduates go on to higher education with help from YPC's College Bound program.

Check out photos from the night, below!

Photo Credit: Stephanie Berger

The Young People's Chorus
Mandy Gonzalez and the Young People's Chorus
Time for Three
The Young People's Chorus
Alexandra Socha and the Young People's Chorus
The Young People's Chorus
YPC Associate Artistic Director Elizabeth Nunez and choreographer Jacqeline Bird with members of YPC
Sesame Street's Bob McGrath
Rory Radding with YPC board members Lacey Johnson and J. B. Harrison, and Mrs. David (Drue) Weild
YPC's Corporate Honoree Dusty Philip
YPC's Humanitarian honoree George Nemeth, Artistic Director/Founder Francisco J. Nunez, and YPC Board Chairman Adam Chinn
Dusty Philip, his wife Yesim and children Matthew, Sammi, and Thomas Francisco J. Nunez, Christina Nemeth, George Nemeth, and YPC Executive Producer Nancy Bloom