Multiple Award-Winning Musical Duo – Paul Williams & Kenny Ascher –
Headline IAAC’s 15th Anniversary Gala
(New York, NY – October 14, 2013) Singer/songwriter/composer Paul Williams and jazz piano icon and composer Kenny Ascher, famous for co-writing the Oscar-nominated song “Rainbow Connection” from The Muppet Movie, will reunite on stage to recreate their award-wining musical magic for the Indo-American Art Council’s (IAAC) 15th anniversary gala on Thursday, November 21 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Angel Oresanz Foundation for the Performing Arts (172 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan).
At the breath-taking venue where Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker married Matthew Broderick and Lady Gaga posed for her Vogue photo shoot, the IAAC will commemorate 15 years of educating and exposing NYC audiences to literary, performing, visual and folk arts from the Indian subcontinent. “It may be surprising to find Kenny and I performing at an Indian gala, but it just goes to prove that music is universal and does not discriminate by race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status,” said Williams, who has been at the receiving end of Academy, Golden Globe and Grammy awards, with his most recent work being featured on current pop sensation Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories.
The secular, non-profit, volunteer-driven arts organization has achieved scores of noteworthy milestones in the decade and a half of its existence. IAAC is the first and only Indian Arts Council in the United States representing all of the artistic disciplines, including theatre, dance, music, film, folk arts and literature. The IAAC pioneered the first annual Indian theatre, film, dance and playwright festivals in the country, as well as an annual travelling exhibition of contemporary Indian art. The IAAC’s programs attract packed audiences and amazing media coverage – ethnic, mainstream and international outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Variety, New York Daily News, NY1, CNN IBN, and Huffington Post, just to name a few.
“Aroon Shivdasani and her team of volunteers took a vision we presented 15 years ago and made IAAC the pioneer when it comes to representing Indian arts and culture in the U.S.,” said Jonathan Hollander, President and Artistic Director of Battery Dance Company and one of the founding members of IAAC. “As global citizens, it is our responsibility to educate ourselves about the various practices and traditions of other ethnicities, and I’m proud organizations like IAAC exist to tell the story of Indian people through dance, film, theatre, prose, and art.”
The emcee for the IAAC’s 15th anniversary gala will be actor/comedian Aasif Mandvi (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart). A fashion show, organized by Exclusively.In, will showcase the work of Indian designer Manish Arora from Paris Fashion Week. World-renowned author Salman Rushdie, culinary expert Madhur Jaffrey, and director Mira Nair will also be part of the evening’s star-studded line-up.
Tables at the gala range in value from $5,000 to $25,000, and individual tickets are available for $500. For more information and to purchase your advance tickets, please visit www.iaac.us. Select media will be invited to cover the event. Interview requests and photo opportunities will be made available before, during and after the event.
To watch slide show on the IAAC’s accomplishments over the last 15 years, please click here. Interviews and images are available upon request. Pre-event coverage of this event is encouraged.
About The Indo-American Arts Council: The Indo-American Arts Council is a registered 501(c)3 not-for-profit, secular service and resource arts organization charged with the mission of promoting and building the awareness, creation, production, exhibition, publication and performance of Indian and cross-cultural art forms in North America. It is passionate about showcasing, celebrating and building an awareness of artists and artistic disciplines of Indian origin in the performing, literary, visual and folk arts. For further information please visit www.iaac.us.
