NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Over 300 VIPs in art, music, fashion, and travel flocked to NYC's Buckingham Hotel for the installation of portraits by celebrated artist, Arbit Blatas, at which his wife, opera singer Regina Resnik, Henry Steinway, and Stephanie Abrams, travel expert and host of the nationally syndicated radio show, "Travel With Stephanie Abrams!" on the Business Talk Radio Network, addressed the evening's theme: The Celebration of the Expression of Music Through Art. Resnik, who graciously loaned the portraits of Artur Rubinstein and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, displayed in the hotel's lobby at 101 W. 57th Street, next to Steinway Hall and across the street from Carnegie Hall, shared her experiences and memories of her husband's relationship with famous artists and performers that he painted.
Abrams, rated one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Travel, traced the hotel's musical history, explaining that the Buckingham has been the choice of performers and artists since its opening in 1929. "If the walls of the Buckingham could replay the sights and sounds they have absorbed, the viewer would be treated to a medley of glorious musical and dance styles," Abrams explains. "The legacy of these artistic people, whose talents converged at the Buckingham, continues to make it the choice of travelers who appreciate its spacious all-suites comfort and its quietude in the artistic center of New York City."
Abrams traced the hotel's musical history for the invitees, who included Mark Skulimowski, Vice-Consul of the Polish Consulate in NYC, Ermenegildo Zegna fashion designer Djordfe Stefanovic, Juliette Pfeffer, President of the Metropolitan Association of Professional Travel Agents, and Bruce Serlen, Hotel Editor for Business Travel News. She noted that, while many hotels search for a theme to distinguish itself, " the Buckingham's musical theme is the result of the extraordinary lives of its guests." Among these guests were Academy Award-Winning Composer Dmitiri Tiomkin and his Ziegfield Follies and film choreographer wife, Albertina Rasch, and Metropolitan Opera lead for over three decades, Giuseppe De Luca.
Notable among the Buckingham's guests is Ignacy Jan Paderewski, composer, pianist and first Prime Minister of the Poland that he led to freedom. In a suite decorated with portraits, artifacts, and photos of Paderewski generously loaned by the Polish Museum of America in Chicago, Abrams introduced Steinway, who knew Rubinstein and Paderewski personally. According to his instructions, Abrams introduced him, saying "This is Henry Steinway who lives next door!"
Steinway shared stories of Paderewski's historic stay at the Buckingham where he broadcast speeches on NBC radio from his suite regarding the state of Poland during WWII. He also gave insight into the way Paderewski traveled when touring the U.S., using his own railroad car, equipped with bedroom, dining room, and living room with Steinway piano. Steinway noted that the criteria for employment with Paderewski was the ability to play Bridge, Paderewski's favorite after-dinner entertainment.
In attendance at this historic event were Saul Shapiro, patriarch of the family-owned Buckingham, and Stephen Shapiro, Managing Partner, who has spearheaded the implementation of the hotel's strategic plan to, "live the theme with which past guests have endowed the hotel."
Both Steinway and Stephen Shapiro have been guests on Abrams' radio program "Travel With Stephanie Abrams!" While past programs are archived at www.sabrams.com, the program can be heard nationally live on Sundays on the Business Talk Radio Network in the 7pm EST hour, on Cable 21 in Chicago, on the Internet at www.sabrams.com and www.businesstalkradio.net. Abrams VIP interviews have included John Vanderslice, CEO of Club MED, Dave Hilfman, VP of Continental Airlines, George Saliba, Ambassador to the U.S. from Malta, Maguy Macarrio-Doyle, General Consul to the U.S. from Monaco, and extraordinary travel prizes are given to listeners.
Upcoming guests on "Travel With Stephanie Abrams!" include Paul McManus, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World, and famed comedian Shelley Berman, "whose comments on traveling are a laughing matter," Abrams states. Berman will be appearing on Abrams' December 8, 2002 broadcast.
"It's going to be an incredible hour," Abrams states," with my comedy idol, Shelley Berman, whose material I remember from my college days. On December 8, we are also giving a lucky eligible listener two roundtrip tickets from Miami to Santiago, Chile on Lan Chile Airlines with a Ski Tour package from Lan Chile Vacations consisting 4 nights hotel stay for two in Valley Nevado including ski passes!
"Shelley and Chile ... you can't beat that!" Abrams concludes.