A look at 2 Lunar New Year bashes, worlds apart

88rising's Moonrise Gala

On Saturday evening, Lunar New Year celebrations continued in Los Angeles as Hollywood's Milk Studios were transformed for the inaugural Moonrise Gala by 88rising, the pan-Asian music collective and record label.

Like 88rising, what helps Asian artists To find mainstream success in the West, the event aimed to showcase groundbreaking Asian artists past and present.

The evening's winners included contemporary artists such as musicians Anderson .Paak, Jackson Wang and NIKI; the director of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Destin Daniel Cretton; and influential figures like '90s dance-pop singer Jocelyn Enriquez and Bay Area turntablist group Invisibl Skratch Piklz.

“We're just going to highlight people who have really unique stories to tell,” said Sean Miyashiro, founder of 88rising. The collective also plans to release music and videos featuring the evening's winners, including Ms. Enriquez and Invisibl Skratch Piklz.

Attendees entered through the curved red tunnel, dripping with fringe, into a room outfitted with dangling LED pendant lights.

Before the ceremony, guests were presented with small plates of Wagyu beef dishes, including sliders, curry and kebabs. After brief remarks and appearances from some of the nominees, they each received a custom medal housed in a lighted, velvet-lined jewelry box designed by New York jeweler Anna Kikue.

The purpose of the event was to provide recognition to artists who “deserve their flowers,” Mr. Miyashiro said.

“Because our audience includes many young children around the world,” he said, “I want to show them the greatness of the people who inspired many of the sounds we love and grew up with.”

Lunar New Year traditions continued Tuesday night at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic gala in Manhattan.

More than 300 people attended the event, which raised more than $1.2 million (a milestone for the Lunar New Year gala). A performance led by Long Yu was followed by a dinner in honor of Misook Doolittle, a board member of the Philharmonic.

The gala has taken place annually since 2012. During that time, “we organized a whole moon cycle, from dragon to dragon,” said HM Agnes Hsu-Tang, co-chair of the party. (She is also married to the co-chairman of the Philharmonic's board, Oscar Tang).

Guests in brightly colored ensembles – pink, yellow and red hanboks and cheongsams or qipaos, and emerald green ball gowns – were on the red carpet almost after cocktail hour.

Beyond the throng of visitors heading to the Wu Tsai Theater for the performance were Deborah Borda, the former head of the Philharmonic; Chinese Consul General Huang Ping; and Angela Chen, event co-chair and Philharmonic board member.

“It's always a joy to dress up,” said Maye Musk, a model and Elon Musk's mother, who wore a silver, disco ball-style caftan. “You know you can reach the top tonight.”

The concert included such classics as Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 and Saint-Saëns' “Carnival of the Animals,” narrated by Jamie Bernstein, an author and the daughter of conductor Leonard Bernstein, who said she grew up listening to the piece. The lineup also included Elliot Leung's “Lunar Overture” and selections from Zhou Tian's “Transcend.”

Mr. Yu, who helped create the gala in 2012 and conducted performances for most of them, said the event was an opportunity to propel performers from the Asian diaspora to the stage of the New York Philharmonic, where it oldest symphony orchestra in the world. country.

During dinner, tall candles towered over the red and orange floral arrangements. Nestled between plates of rice cakes with scallion pancakes and five-spice duck with noodles were golden walnuts and tangerines, one of the many fruits central to the Lunar New Year tradition.