Guild gets ready for gala

The Rockville Centre Guild for the Arts is gearing up for its second annual “Bravo to the Arts” fundraising gala, which will this year honor former mayor Eugene Murray and current mayor Francis X. Murray.

The gala, which will be held this year on Sept. 13 at the Atlantic Beach Club in Atlantic Beach, is one of the main fundraisers for the Guild, which supports the South Shore Symphony and other art projects in Rockville Centre.

“It’s almost entirely a volunteer orchestra made up of people who play for free,” said Wayne Lipton, president of the Guild. “They come from all over Long Island, and the city, and they play at Molloy College, St. Agnes, and the fireworks concerts. We most recently played at Eisenhower Park. It’s considered one of the best orchestras on Long Island.”

The Guild started the gala last year as a way to raise money to bring more activities to the village.

More than just a dinner, the gala will showcase home-grown talent. Jennifer Matthews, an opera singer originally from Rockville Centre, will be performing, as will musical stage actress and Rockville Centre native Molly Bier. The dancers from Leggz Ltd. Dance will be performing, and Lipton will be playing the cello accompanied by Rick Armani on piano.

The Guild decided to honor the mayors Murray because of their commitment to the arts in the village.

“Gene Murray has been the best person for supporting the arts in Rockville Centre,” said Joan MacNaughton, executive vice president of the Guild for the Arts. “Following in his footsteps, Fran is now doing exactly the same thing. They’re very appreciative of the culture coming in to Rockville Centre. They want it to stay here in the village and give it to all the people in Rockville Centre.”

Tickets for the gala are $175 each, and the money raised will help support the Guild’s mission of advancing the arts in Rockville Centre. The next show that will benefit from the Guild’s fundraising is the winter production of the Nutcracker Ballet, now in its 18th year.

To order tickets, call Joan MacNaughton at 317-1159 or stop by Village Hall.

“It’s one of the rare, great surprises the village has,” Lipton said of the Guild. “There are literally hundreds of people who are members that support it.”