UJA Benefit Concert honors visionary benefactors

Nearly 20 years ago, Edward Zinbarg, Victor Parsonnet, Richard Slutzky, Lawrence Tamburri and Max Kleinman developed a plan to inaugurate an annual concert series featuring performances by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at the then-recently opened New Jersey Performing Arts Center, with proceeds benefitting the United Jewish Appeal of Greater MetroWest NJ (UJA).

The goal would be a trifecta: helping the Jewish community with resources, offering a great cultural event and supporting the NJSO and NJPAC.

The efforts of the UJA Benefit Concert Foundation Benefactors—10 generous couples—led to the first UJA Benefit Concert, and in the nearly two decades since, 17 concerts have raised millions for UJA and welcomed tens of thousands of patrons to NJPAC for celebratory programs.

This Sunday’s UJA Benefit Concert at NJPAC marks the final time the NJSO and Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ present the benefit concert in this format. Fittingly, the event will honor the visionary benefactors whose efforts and support made this annual collaboration a reality.

Tamburri says the tribute is well deserved: “I think the benefactors should be celebrated for the vision they demonstrated back in 1997, celebrating the federation and supporting the UJA campaign with an important cultural event on an annual basis. A lot of the glory should go to Ed Zinbarg, Victor Parsonnet and Max Kleinman, who really worked hard to make this a reality.”

The UJA Benefit Concert Foundation Benefactors are Joan L.* and Allen I.* Bildner, Judy and Stewart Colton, Toby and Leon G. Cooperman, Beth and William S.* Furman, Anita and Franklin Hannoch, Drs. Mia* and Victor Parsonnet, Lore* and Eric F.* Ross, Judy and Josh S. Weston, Beth and Leonard Wilf and Barbara and Edward Zinbarg (names followed by * indicate “of blessed memory”).

“On behalf of all of the benefactors, I thank the Greater MetroWest Jewish Community for honoring us. We feel truly blessed to see the continuing rewards of the donations we made almost two decades ago,” said Edward Zinbarg, president of the UJA Benefit Concert Supporting Foundation and one of the concert foundation benefactors. “In addition to the millions of dollars raised for the wonderful causes supported by our UJA, the community’s spirit at these concerts has overflowed in the NJPAC lobby during the pre-concert receptions.”

Tamburri was involved in the collaboration until 2003, and every UJA concert he attended, he said, “was always a big community celebration. A lot of people attended, and I always felt like the orchestra played at its highest level with high-level guest artists. I feel it has been an important outreach program for the NJSO and a really great way to connect with the Jewish community.”

NJSO President and CEO James R. Roe says: “The NJSO remains indebted to the original benefactors of the UJA Benefit Concert for the foresight and vision they shared in creating this tradition in 1998, a cultural sharing that simultaneously benefits the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ and the NJSO.”

UJA Campaign Chair Maxine B. Murnick says: “The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest is grateful for the vision and generosity of the concert benefactors who are being honored. While this is the final concert in this format, we know that our community will continue to benefit from their generosity, as well as enjoy the performances by the NJSO, for years to come.”

The concert benefits the work of Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, which encompasses Essex, Morris, Sussex and Union counties, as well as parts of Somerset County. Through its network of 27 local and four overseas partners, the Federation provides comprehensive social services and meets the educational, vocational, recreational and social needs of Jews locally, in Israel and in 70 countries around the world.

Beginning next year, the NJSO and Jewish Federation will expand the number of concerts made possible annually, shifting performance locations to venues with which the UJA has established connections. (The dates and venues for the 2015–16 season are still being determined and will be announced at a later date.)