Tag: 5533

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Save the Date: Cufflinks & Pearls Gala Brings White-Tie Philanthropy to LA on August 29

Mark your calendar: on August 29, Los Angeles hosts one of the most elegant evenings of its charity season. The Cufflinks & Pearls Charity Gala — a formal night of philanthropy, fashion, music, and community — takes over The Preserve LA in support of the Mekdela Global Outreach Foundation.

Set at 1370 N St Andrews Place and running from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., the gala pairs old-school sophistication with a serious charitable mission, bringing together supporters, sponsors, cultural figures, and philanthropic advocates under one roof.

An Evening Built Around Giving

At the heart of the night stands the Mekdela Global Outreach Foundation, whose outreach work gives the event its purpose. Every element of the evening — from the red carpet arrivals to the formal dinner — is designed to channel generosity toward the foundation’s community initiatives.

Fundraising takes several forms: a silent auction full of coveted lots, award presentations honoring individuals and partners whose contributions have advanced the cause, and the kind of face-to-face conversations over dinner that have launched countless charitable partnerships. VIP sponsor swag bags round out an evening that understands how to thank its supporters properly.

Style as a Statement

The dress code says it all: white formal attire. The theme — cufflinks and pearls, those enduring symbols of classic formalwear — gives the night an instantly recognizable identity on LA’s crowded social calendar. Fashion shows are woven into the program, turning the gala into a showcase for design as well as generosity.

The evening also marks the relaunch of KTM Events by Raquel and Alex, the duo behind the production. Their return adds a note of renewal to the proceedings — a fresh chapter unveiled in a setting built for celebration.

Music, Hosting, and star Power

Live music runs through the night, with DJ Terfe Tesfaye bringing a contemporary pulse to the formal proceedings. And leading the evening as host is H.H. Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe, whose presence lends the gala its distinctive international polish.

Los Angeles knows how to throw a charity gala. Cufflinks & Pearls aims to show how it’s done when elegance serves a purpose — a night where style, music, and community come together to move a mission forward.

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Originally published on Times Square Chronicles.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: N’Kenge and Prince Mario-Max to Co-Host Star-Studded Viva Italia Masquerade Gala in NYC

New York’s cultural calendar has a new crown jewel. On June 12, 2026, the N’Kenge Foundation presents the Viva Italia Masquerade Gala — an evening of artistry, philanthropy, and celebration co-hosted by acclaimed artist N’Kenge and H.H. Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe.

The gala supports the foundation’s mission of educating, inspiring, and uplifting young artists, and the lineup reflects that ambition at every level: Broadway stars, television favorites, opera singers, honorees from the worlds of education and entertainment, and a national talent competition — all wrapped in the elegance of a Venetian-style masquerade.

A Lineup Across the Arts

The evening’s performers and guests span the performing arts world. Michael James Scott — beloved as the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway — brings theatrical star power, while Hisham Tawfiq, known to millions from NBC’s The Blacklist, adds television prestige.

Opera is beautifully represented by Grammy-nominated singer Kenneithia M. Mitchell and Metropolitan Opera artist Jahzara Martina. Broadway’s Thayne Jasperson of Hamilton fame joins the celebration, as does Yoann FreeJay, winner of The Voice France, underscoring the gala’s international reach.

Honoring Excellence, Launching Futures

The evening honors Rain Pryor — celebrated for Head of the Class and her wider contributions to the arts — alongside Antoinette Quarshie, Dean of Riverdale Country School, recognized for her leadership in arts education. Peter Avery of New York City Public Schools will also be part of the festivities, highlighting the gala’s commitment to youth mentorship.

One of the night’s most anticipated moments is the Showstopper Competition, a national showcase for exceptional emerging performers. Mia Sanchez, the 2025 Showstopper winner and American Idol standout, embodies exactly the kind of artistic journey the foundation exists to support.

A silent and live auction will drive the evening’s fundraising, fueling educational programs that give talented young people real pathways into the arts. With N’Kenge and Prince Mario-Max leading a lineup that bridges Broadway, television, opera, and education, the Viva Italia Masquerade Gala is set to be one of the season’s defining nights — where masks, music, and mission come together beautifully.

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Originally published on Times Square Chronicles.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Lara Spencer, Pete Davidson and Anna Stone Light Up the 2026 Lenox Hill Brain Tumor Gala

On Thursday, June 4, Cipriani 42nd Street filled with the particular electricity of a New York benefit that knows exactly why it exists. The 2026 Lenox Hill Neurosurgery Brain Tumor Center Gala — running 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. — united medicine, science, society, and celebrity around a single urgent mission: advancing the cure for brain cancer.

Leadership With a Personal Mission

Chairing the evening was Anna Stone, whose commitment to glioblastoma awareness is deeply personal — she lost her husband to the disease and has turned grief into determined civic leadership. Her presence gave the night its emotional center: this was never just a dinner, but a public act of resolve on behalf of families facing the same fight.

Hosting was Lara Spencer, the Good Morning America anchor, returning to lend the evening her familiar national warmth. Among the special guests: Pete Davidson, whose support of Lenox Hill’s brain tumor fundraising stretches back years, along with Barbie Blank and Brunson Green. Former NBA star Jason Collins received the 2026 Josh Wexler Trailblazer Award as he continues his own battle with glioblastoma — one of the night’s most moving moments.

The Science Behind the Celebration

The medical heart of the gala was Dr. John A. Boockvar, vice chair of neurosurgery at Lenox Hill Hospital and director of its Brain Tumor Center — also known to wider audiences from Netflix’s NYC Emergency. He was joined by Dr. David J. Langer, chair of neurosurgery, and a deep bench of the program’s physicians and researchers.

The evening also honored Dr. Bruce Stillman, president and CEO of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, for extraordinary contributions to science — a reminder that the glamour in the room served a laboratory agenda: more trials, more discovery, more hope.

That agenda has momentum. The 2024 anniversary gala raised more than $1.1 million for brain tumor research; the 2025 event raised more than $1.56 million. The funds support the Brain Tumor Research Laboratory and Biotech Center, part of a program that describes itself as running more investigator-initiated clinical trials than any other brain tumor center in the world.

A Room Full of Resolve

The guest list told the story of modern medical philanthropy: top banking figures including Joseph Gunnar CEO Joseph A. Alagna with his wife Michelle, and BMO President Aron Levine, alongside doctors, scientists, donors, and families. Within Cipriani’s grand room, every table connected to the same clinical system — surgery, imaging, radiation, oncology, research, family support.

As the night unfolded, the message was unmistakable: the pursuit of a cure is a shared civic act. And on this June evening in Manhattan, that act looked — and felt — magnificent.

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Originally published on Times Square Chronicles.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Cufflinks & Pearls Gala Brings All-White Evening to Los Angeles

Los Angeles has always known how to mark a significant arrival, and the upcoming Cufflinks & Pearls gala is being shaped as exactly that kind of evening. An all-white celebration of fashion, philanthropy, and global culture, the event will gather guests in Hollywood in support of the Mekdela Global Outreach Foundation and its expanding education and empowerment work in Ethiopia.

Presented by the Mekdela Global Outreach Foundation, Cufflinks & Pearls will take place at The Preserve Los Angeles, at 1370 N. St. Andrews Place in the heart of Hollywood. The foundation describes the evening as an all-white-attire celebration created to unite influential guests and supporters around its commitment to education and empowerment in Ethiopia, giving the night a philanthropic mission that extends far beyond the red carpet.

The visual identity is deliberately formal. Black, white, pearls, evening tailoring, polished accessories, and classic Hollywood references define the aesthetic, with the cufflink and the pearl serving as recognizable signatures of an occasion where personal presentation and social purpose are meant to coexist.

The program reaches well beyond a traditional gala dinner. Guests can expect a red carpet arrival, gourmet dining, cocktails, silent and live auctions, fashion moments, a DJ, live performances, and an awards ceremony recognizing changemakers. The result is conceived as a full evening rather than a single presentation.

The Preserve Los Angeles provides the setting, with three principal environments: the Oval Room for dining and entertainment, the Fountain Courtyard for cocktails, and the Café Lounge for premium bar service and silent-auction displays. Underground parking and garden pathways round out the venue experience. For a city where fashion, entertainment, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy regularly share the same room, Cufflinks & Pearls is positioning itself squarely within that tradition.

Evenings like this one illustrate how philanthropy and entertainment reinforce each other. The glamour draws the room together, but the cause gives the night its lasting meaning, and guests leave with more than memories: a connection to work that continues long after the last dance.

Originally published on Times Square Chronicles.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Hungarian TV’s Piarist Ball Documentary Bridges Cultures in NYC

A Hungarian television production is doing what the best cultural media does: telling a national story with international resonance. The documentary feature on the Piarist Ball in New York City — shared proudly by its creator Szinte Dávid and featuring H.H. Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe — has drawn fresh attention to the living cultural bond between Hungary and the United States.

The production belongs to a wider movement in Hungarian media: storytellers embracing global visibility while staying rooted in national tradition. New York, where international culture, society, and diplomacy intersect daily, gives Hungarian voices and charitable initiatives a platform few cities can match — and the Piarist Ball, with its blend of elegance and philanthropic purpose, makes a natural subject.

Charity meets the camera

What the documentary captures is the productive overlap of media and giving. Events like the Piarist Ball show how refined social engagement and cultural storytelling can elevate public awareness, celebrate heritage, and encourage cooperation across the Atlantic. The Prince praised Szinte Dávid’s professionalism, creativity, and dedication to building international relationships through media and charitable work — and emphasized the Ball’s role as an elegant meeting point for influential figures from Hungary and abroad, all in service of charitable causes.

The team behind it

The closing credits reveal a compact, collaborative Hungarian crew. Created by Ókovács Julianna, Szinte Dávid, and Dúcz András, and edited by Dúcz András, the production carries the polish increasingly associated with contemporary Hungarian television — local in perspective, international in standard.

For Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe, the project is more than a screen appearance. It represents the continuing work of cultural diplomacy: real friendship between Hungary and the United States, maintained not by treaties but by people — creators, hosts, and patrons — willing to put in the personal effort. As audiences look for programming with authenticity, heritage, and social purpose, productions like this one stand out precisely because they have all three.

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Originally published on Times Square Chronicles.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: N’Kenge Commands Times Square at the 2026 Music Will Benefit

The sixth floor of the Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway, became the center of the music universe. On benefit night, N’Kenge — the reigning queen of the stage — took over as emcee and featured talent of the 2026 Music Will Benefit, presented by Gregory and Carolyn Hall, turning Times Square into a cathedral for music education.

Guests entered through a 6 p.m. red carpet reception into an evening where Broadway polish met genuine mission. Music Will, now in its twenty-third year, has reached some 1.8 million students across America with music instruction — and aims to impact 11 million students annually by 2029. CEO Mike Wasserman, described by N’Kenge and N’Kenge Foundation board member Anzhelika Steen-Olsen as a man on a mission for kids, has steered that remarkable growth.

A room full of legends

The honorees set the tone: legendary producer T Bone Burnett, whose influence spans generations of American music, and Bruce Eskowitz, recognized for leadership in cultural and philanthropic advancement. Honorary Benefit Chair Wyclef Jean brought global artistry and humanitarian perspective.

The talent roster read like a festival lineup: Maren Morris, Master P, Yola, Lachi, Nile Rodgers, Fabrice DuPont, Elvis Costello — musicians spanning genres and generations — alongside film world luminaries Joel Coen, Frances McDormand, Oscar Isaac, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, and Elvira Lind. N’Kenge guided it all with elegance and authority, her commanding presence stitching performances, tributes, and fundraising moments into one flowing evening. Her talented singer daughter watched from the audience as the room rose in standing ovations.

The auction and the heart

The live auction delivered serious electricity: a private Concord Nashville Studios recording experience with a mastering session led by seven-time Grammy winner Paul Blakemore; a custom Gibson guitar package with factory tour and a luxury Nashville retreat for ten; and a private culinary experience with Chef Philippe Bertineau of Restaurant Daniel, Alain Ducasse, and The Polo Bar pedigree.

But the emotional center belonged to the student musicians. Their performances — direct evidence of what access to music education makes possible — grounded the glamour in purpose. In a room of icons, the kids reminded everyone why the icons had come.

Under the lights of Times Square, the 2026 Music Will Benefit became more than a fundraiser: a national statement about the value of music education and the shared responsibility to protect creative opportunity for the next generation. (To support the mission directly: musicwill.org/donate.)

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Originally published on Times Square Chronicles.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Aspen Snow Ball 2026: Goldie Hawn Honored as Philanthropy’s Grandest Night Returns to the St. Regis

The St. Regis Aspen ballroom has seen its share of glittering nights. But the Aspen Snow Ball 2026 may have topped them all — a sold-out, star-packed evening for the COSF Foundation that once again proved why this is one of America’s most important charity galas.

At the center of it all stood Thomas Pierce, the foundation’s CEO and founder, whose vision built the Snow Ball into the powerhouse it is today. His address set the tone: clear, purposeful, and focused on the work ahead.

Goldie Hawn Takes the Night’s Highest Honor

The evening’s emotional peak came with the Philanthropic Impact Achievement Award, presented to Goldie Hawn for a lifetime of charitable work and advocacy. The room rose for her — a genuine, collective ovation for a career spent giving back as generously as she has entertained.

Shari Liu Fellows delivered a speech that landed deeply with the crowd, bringing warmth and humanity to the evening’s mission. And it was a joy to see Princess Natalya Obolensky — granddaughter of the beloved late Prince Ivan Obolensky of New York — attending with her husband.

A Room Full of Influence

Honorary chairs Rachel Zoe, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and William H. Macy lent the night its cultural wattage. Brooke Burke served as US Ambassador, while young Taylen Biggs took the role of Kid Chair — a sweet nod to the next generation of givers. Vice Chairs Scott and Carly Weber kept the machinery running smoothly, alongside co-chairs Carla Maresca Eichler, Julianne Keil, Lacy Nicole, Landen Saks, and Shari Liu Fellows.

The event chairs read like a Hollywood call sheet: Casey Affleck, Michael Bay, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Cara Delevingne, Lukas Gage, Evan Ross, Rumer Willis, and more. Anna Stone stood out among the distinguished guests, embodying the modern philanthropist the Snow Ball keeps attracting.

H.H. Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe marked his fourth Snow Ball — a streak that speaks to real commitment, not just calendar-filling. His steady presence year after year underscores the gala’s international pull.

Music, Laughter, and Momentum

Chelsea Handler hosted with her trademark sharpness, Wilson Phillips brought the house down with a headline set, and Rumer Willis and Mojave Grey added performances that kept the energy high between the formal program beats.

Behind the glamour, the sponsors made it all possible: Campari Group, Aperol, Espolòn, Miraval, Montelobos, Läaderach Switzerland, Patrón El Alto, Woody Creek Distillers, Caymus Vineyards, The Aspen Times, and many more.

As the night wound down, one thing was obvious: the Aspen Snow Ball isn’t just maintaining its status — it’s raising it. Year after year, Thomas Pierce and his team turn a single evening into momentum that carries the COSF Foundation’s mission forward for the next twelve months.

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Originally published on Times Square Chronicles.