FRIEND OF THE ARTS AWARD DINNER

Thursday, November 2, 2023
Cocktail Reception at 6pm. Dinner at 7pm.
The Harmonie Club
4 East 60th Street, New York City 

Every year Town Hall is privileged to honor our Friends of the Arts – those individuals or organizations whose contributions to the arts enrich our city's cultural life. We began this tradition in 1981 and our honorees include legends such as Beverly Sills, Wendy Wasserstein, Paul LeClerc, Elaine Stritch, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Julie Wilson, Jacques d’Amboise, Dizzy Gillespie and many more whose talent and philanthropy continue to make New York a rich and artistically diverse city.

Join us on Thursday, November 2, 2023 for the Town Hall Friend of the Arts Gala at the Harmonie Club of New York honoring André De Shields, Chandrika Tandon, and Russ Titelman.

For additional information, please contact Helen Morris at (212) 997-1003 or hmorris@thetownhall.org

Individual Tickets

Corporate Tickets

Photo by Lia Chang

In a career spanning fifty-five years, André De Shields, at age 77, has distinguished himself as an unparalleled actor, activist, educator, and philanthropist.

As actor, Mr. De Shields’ mission is to fill intimate spaces with enormous beauty, defining intimate spaces as the hearts of humanity.

As activist, he endeavors to restore majesty, elegance, and literacy to the Black Thespian’s toolbox; to advocate for long term survivors of HIV and AIDS, and to champion the legacy of the Wellderly (elderly individuals who continue to kick butt).

As educator, he has—since 1989— served as Distinguished Visiting Professor at a variety of colleges and universities: Southern Methodist University, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, SUNY Buffalo State University, Florida Atlantic University, CUNY Hunter College, and NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, among others.

As philanthropist, he founded the André De Shields Fund at his Alma Mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to benefit those students who experience cultural marginalization. There also has been established an André De Shields Scholarship at Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

Mr. De Shields is the triple-crown winner of the 2019 awards season, having won the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Grammy, and Tony Awards as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his unanimously critically acclaimed performance as Hermes, Messenger to the Gods, in Hadestown. Prior to his Tony Award, Mr. De Shields was best known for his showstopping performances in four legendary Broadway productions: The Wiz (title role), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Emmy Award), Play On! (Tony nom.), and The Full Monty (Tony nom.).

Among his many other accolades are three honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees, the OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence, three JEFF Awards, nine AUDELCO Awards, and the 2023 89th Annual Drama League Award for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater. The ninth of eleven children reared in Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. De Shields is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, and SDC. www.andredeshields.com. Ubuntu!

Chandrika Tandon is a globally recognized business leader, Grammynominated artist, and humanitarian. Her stated mission is to elevate human happiness through music and education.

As The New York Times wrote, Chandrika traveled an “unlikely path to become an internationally recognized Indian singer.” Under her non-profit music label, Soul Chants Music, she has released five albums, including the Grammy-nominated Soul Call. Chandrika’s newest album, Ammu’s Treasures, is both a simple gift to her grandchildren and an expression of intergenerational love. It is a hug for the world, using songs in multiple languages, Vedic Sanskrit chants, and visual animations to help all ages, especially young children, feel the love, light, laughter that is Chandrika’s mantra. She has conducted numerous benefit concerts on world stages to sold-out audiences, including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and Berlin’s Olympiastadion.

Chandrika’s other great passion focuses on higher education, in particular STEM. She chairs the Board of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, named after her family’s generous gift. Chandrika is a Trustee of New York University, a Trustee of NYU Langone Health, a Board member of the NYU Stern School of Business, and Chair of NYU’s Global Council. She is a Harold Acton Fellow at NYU and a Sterling Fellow at Yale, where she serves on the President’s Council on International Activities. In addition, her foundation has established faculty Chairs at Yale and Harvard Universities.

She was one of the earliest women partners of McKinsey & Company and is the founder of Tandon Capital Associates, which focuses on measurable transformation of institutions to excellence. Chandrika has worked with over 40 companies globally, on projects involving major financial and operational restructuring, global and domestic strategy, organizational redesign, core process/performance improvement, and broad-based culture change. She is the Director of the Krishnamurthy Tandon Foundation, a non-profit private foundation that supports education, the arts, and wellness.

Chandrika has received several awards including the Gallatin Medal, NYU’s highest honor, the Walter Nichols Medal for leadership and integrity, and the Polytechnic Medal recognizing her contribution to science and engineering. She was inducted into the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AMACAD), and has received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. She has been profiled in print, on radio, and television, including in CNBC’s The Brave Ones series.

Russ Titelman is a record producer and songwriter and a winner of three Grammy Awards. He earned his first producing the Steve Winwood song “Higher Love,” and his second and third for Eric Clapton’s “Tears In Heaven” (Record of the Year) and the Unplugged album, respectively. Titelman also produced Clapton’s 24 Nights live album of 1990, the Rush movie soundtrack and the all-blues album From the Cradle (also a Grammy-winning album), released in 1994. They were reunited in 2021 for the Lockdown Sessions Lady In The Balcony album.

Titelman grew up in the hot musical environment that was the ‘50s Los Angeles, and quickly made contacts which would aid him throughout his long career in the entertainment business. The most important of these was Phil Spector. After making his debut as a guitarist and backing vocalist on the Paris Sisters’ “Be My Boy” and “I Love How You Love Me” singles in 1961, Titelman became a member of Phil’s second group after The Teddy Bears, The Spectors Three. By the following year he had graduated from high school and started studying drama at Los Angeles City College.

In 1963 on the strength of a demo he wrote and produced he was signed as a writer to Don Kirshner’s publishing company. He moved to New York in late 1963 and began writing and producing with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and Carole King and Gerry Goffin. His songs have been recorded by The Monkees, The Hollies, Linda Ronstadt, The Chiffons, Lesley Gore, Skeeter Davis, Dusty Springfield, The Cookies, and Ry Cooder to name a few.

In late 1964 he joined the Shindig television house band, at which time he also did session work for The Righteous Brothers, Buffalo Springfield, Jackie DeShannon, Dave Grusin, and Phil Ochs. Moving into film work, he collaborated with Jack Nitzsche’s score, writing songs for the film, Village of The Giants. He also worked as a songwriter and musician on Jack Nitzsche’s score for the Mick Jagger movie, Performance. Jack and Russ wrote the title song, “Gone Dead Train,” performed by Randy Newman. The core band on that score was Titelman, Ry Cooder, Randy Newman (also conductor), Gene Parsons, Jerry Scheff, and Bobby West. The band played the track for the Jagger song “Memo from Turner.” That soundtrack started Titelman’s friendship with Mr. Newman and his 27-year association with Warner Brothers Records. In 1970 he brought Lowell George and Little Feat to Lenny Waronker, at WB Records and produced their debut album. It was also the beginning of his 12 year, 7 album collaboration with Randy Newman.

Throughout his career he has worked with The Monkees, Dion DiMucci, George Harrison, Brian Wilson, Bee Gees, Christine McVie, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Rickie Lee Jones, Miriam Makeba, Milton Nascimento, Chaka Khan, Womack and Womack, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Gordon Lightfoot, Steve Winwood, George Benson, Graham Central Station, Michael McDonald, Keb Mo, Cyndi Lauper, and Gregg Allman. From 1989-94 he worked extensively with Eric Clapton, and many cite his contributions to Journeyman, 24 Nights, Unplugged and From the Cradle as crucial to Clapton’s renaissance. Since 1997, after having worked for Warner Bros. Records for 27 years, Titelman has been an independent producer.