Of MAW, ‘The Muse,’ and the Banquet for a Cause

While much of the Music Academy of the West’s summer festival runs more or less like predictable clockwork, the annual gala event is more of a movable feast. Time, place and featured artist vary from year to year, from a pre-festival warm-up date to a mid-festival spot — as with last year’s gala featuring Chris Thile — and, this year, as an end cap, a week after the official concert finale.

This year’s model took place on the swanky, vast lawn, a k a a private polo field, of the Bella Vista Estate in Summerland, owned and loaned by benefactor Patrick Nesbitt, a hotelier who often opens the estate to worthy causes in town. Taking the stage for a short showcase performance was famed soprano Audra McDonald, a perfect choice given her chameleon’s ability to work — and work at an award-winning level — in musical theater, opera and television, to boot. 

Gala partiers, in suitably elegant black-and-white attire (minus the occasional frumpy reporter in tow) dined on flat-iron steak, salmon, or lemon and herb risotto cakes as mains, imbibed specialty wine and cocktails. Some heeded the designated yellow accent for the event, partook of the free black or white pashminas available, and came prepared for patronage during the “paddle raise for music education.” Fast-talking auctioneer Jim Nye helped pull in a sum total of $1.2 million for the Academy’s various programs.

The gala event had a bonus feature this year, the much-anticipated lead up to the major new center downtown, known as “The Muse.” The ambitious off-campus compound, based in a large structure on the corner of Canon Perdido and State streets, will be an expanded education and performance space slated to open in 2028. 

The wheels for The Muse project were set in motion through a mission-launching and generous donation by Cheryl Goldberg, in honor of her late husband Michael. At Bella Vista, she was a spotlight figure, given a ceremonial garland as the gala’s honoree. Goldberg spoke briefly, quoting a maxim espoused by her late, philanthropic-minded husband: “think big, make a big impact, think outside the box.”

MAW CEO and President Shauna Quill responded to the impressive number of guests and donations, commenting “the extraordinary generosity shown at this year’s Music Note Gala is a powerful affirmation of the Music Academy’s mission and its growth…. We are profoundly grateful to Audra McDonald, Cheryl Goldberg, and every donor who made this evening such a meaningful investment in the next generation.”

And center stage on this evening, McDonald displayed her bold presence and talents, in a compact version of the full evenings she has presided over in past concerts at The Granada Theatre. On this night, she swung by this tony Summerland property for a quick stop, coming from Australia and headed for a redeye flight directly after her show, back to her home base in N.Y.C. “I’m a bit loopy,” the jetlagged but game performer said, “but I have a beautiful view,” adding after a beat, “and you’re all beautiful.”

Accompanied by Andy Einhorn on a well-tuned Steinway (Music Academy is officially a Steinway campus), Academy alum bassist Ian Walker, and drummer Greg Sadler, McDonald opened, fittingly, with “I Am What I Am,” from La Cage Aux Folles. Her mini-set also touched on the well-timed “Summertime,” “I Could have Danced all Night,” replete with audience singalong, and a medley of “You’ve Got to be Taught” and, from Sondheim’s Into the Woods, and “Children Will Listen,” citing her own brood of four children.

McDonald also called up a song she was drawn to after the tragedy of 9/11. She explained “this song has become a mantra. I don’t succeed everyday but every day, I get up and try.” With that, she launched into “Make Someone Happy.” As a finale, she was joined by the Academy-sponsored “Sing!” children’s chorus with “Climb Every Mountain.”

During her performance, McDonald also made the propitious observation that “music is what’s going to save the world.” On a night like this, we could be inclined to believe it.