CARNIVAL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS’ FIRST ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION WOWS CROWD OF 600 SOUTH FLORIDA ELITE

World-renowned tenor Juan Diego Flórez receives five standing ovations from a packed house in his Miami debut

Carnival Center for the Performing Arts, one of the country’s largest performing arts center and Miami’s most celebrated name in arts and entertainment, hosted its First Anniversary Celebration gala on Wednesday, October 17. The spectacular fundraising event featured the Miami debut of the internationally renowned tenor Juan Diego Flórez in concert with orchestra, with a gala dinner, dessert reception and after-party. The theme of the event was “Take Center Stage,” and guests who attended received star treatment and experienced an evening in the life of a performer at Carnival Center.
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Approximately 600 people from the business, arts and entertainment world attended the soirée, including: Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez; Ron Esserman and J. Ricky Arriola, new chairs of the Center’s Boards of Directors; philanthropists Sanford and Dolores Ziff; John S. and James L. Knight Foundation head Alberto Ibargüen and his wife Susana Ibargüen; Next Generation committee members Christina Getty-Maerks and Dr. Julio Gallo; Edie Laquer of Laquer Corporate Realty Group Inc.; the evening’s Mistress of Ceremonies Pam Giganti from NBC6 and her husband Alfred Bunge; CarnivalCenter Foundation Board members George Lindemann and Adrienne Arsht; hotelier Horacio Rozenblum; senior management executives from CarnivalCenter in attendance included: Michael Hardy, President and CEO and Richard Miller, VP of Development.
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CarnivalCenter’s First Anniversary Celebration began with a candlelit dinner catered on the stage of the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House, where guests experienced a star’s backstage life first-hand. Pam Giganti, NBC 6 news anchor, introduced a video tribute to the greatest tenors of all time, while guests sipped champagne and enjoyed a three-course dinner. Afterward, guests sojourned to the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall for a stellar performance by the acclaimed Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez – a star at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan and Covent Garden in London, whom the Associated Press credits with singing “scintillating high notes worthy of Luciano Pavarotti.” Flórez enchanted the crowd with selections from composers Rossini, Bellini, Verdi and Donizetti, moving them to a series of standing ovations. The final of his four encores, “La Flor de la Canela,” in which he accompanied himself with his guitar, brought audience members to tears. Afterward, the guests attended a dessert reception in the Center’s outdoor plaza under the moonlit sky. The after-party was held in the Peacock Foundation, Inc. Studio within the CarnivalCenter complex, which was transformed into a mod-inspired nightclub hosted by the Next Generation Committee and Superstar Miss Elaine Lancaster and featured music spun by celebrity DJ Irie with cocktails and canapés.