East Hampton - A private East Hampton residence was the site for this year's annual Perlman Summer Music Program Benefit Concert and Dinner on Saturday, July 24. The hot humid night was cooled by beautiful music, extraordinary wine and superb cuisine.

Board President Morgan Stark and Tody Perlman addressing attendees in the post-concert dinner tent.

With a vista as beautiful as any in the Hamptons, a charming couple offered up their stunning home and beautiful grounds, supplied the wines from their own vineyards and made a substantial donation to this brilliant summer music program for string prodigies from the ages of 12 to 18 located at a waterfront campus on Shelter Island. Altruism at its absolute best, this generous couple has asked to remain anonymous in regards to this article.

The evening began with a wine hour courtesy of the Crimson Wine Boutique set on the estate's lush lawn where attendees strolled and chatted with each other and the Maestro himself, Itzhak Perlman, who touring the grounds with our hostess stopped and thanked many of the guests personally. In a stroke of coincidence, the former home of Maestro Leonard Bernstein was just a property away and which Perlman was eager to see from the lawn, "So that was Lenny's house?"

The Maestro in a humorous exchange with the audience explaining why the students change seats between the movements.

With the clanging of an oversized dinner bell, like the town crier our host called all the guests into the performance tent for the evening concert. The program began with a choral recital that included students, faulty, members of the Shelter Island community connected with the campus including the program's resident nurse, the Maestro and his wife Toby Perlman. Although the summer program is exclusively for students of string instruments, the entire campus gathers together daily for choral rehearsals as a way to both enhance their performance techniques and to instill the sense of non-competitive camaraderie, which is an essential element of the program's mission.

Conducted by Choral Music Director Patrick Romano and accompanied by pianist John Root the choral concert consisted of works by Franz Schubert, Carl Orff and Edward Elgar whose "The Snow" was introduced by Romano saying, "Hopefully our next piece will help to cool you down." It was also accompanied by student violinists Will Hagen and Stephen Waarts who performed suberbly.

Everyone in the program sings in the chorus from the camp nurse to the Maestro, including Toby Perlman seen here.

After a strike of the choral bleachers the stage was quickly reset for the orchestral part of the concert. As Maestro Perlman took his chair to conduct he was greeted by thunderous applause by students and audience alike. The evening's repertorie consisted of movements from Benjamin Britten's "Simple Symphony" and Tchaikovsky's "Souvenir de Florence."

Further illustrating the program's commitment to non-competitive learning, the students all rose between each of the six movements and switched chairs with no one student holding the position of "First" violin, viola or cello. At one point the Maestro joked with the audience, "It is like changing bases in baseball, unfortunately we only have two basses so they don't move," referring to the two young women in the bass section. He then added, "Of course, I am home plate and I don't move."

Itzhak Perlman with the students and faculty of the Perlman Music Summer Program.

All the movements were brilliantly executed by these rare and gifted students whose admittance into the highly selective program is based solely on audition. Once admitted at 12 years old, the student has the opportunity to return each year until they exit the program at 18. So in any given year there may be only a few spots open to the hundreds of students from around the world that submit audition DVDs. It should also be noted that admittance to the Perlman Summer Music Program has a policy that no child has ever been turned away because of an inability to pay tuition.

Coming to the stage at the concert's conclusion Toby Perlman, who founded the program with her husband 16 years ago, noted, "That is the future of classical music," which garnered rousing applause. She then added, "So that is one of the things we don't have to worry about in the world, all is well with the music." After our hosts were presented a thank you gift by the students of a beautifully framed program with their signatures, they rang the dinner bell but first urged everyone to take a look at the beautiful full moon that had taken its place in the sky during the concert.

The concert tent during the choral part of the evening's performances.

In the beautifully appointed dinner tent during the scrumptious supper buffet catered by Food & Company, Toby Perlman thanked her hosts, her faculty, the guests and thanked and introduced Morgan Stark who is the president of the board of the Perlman Music Program and the event's co-chair. During his remarks Stark detailed the work of the organization which includes not only the summer program but a winter residency in Sarasota, Florida, the alumni concerts and mentorships and this past May's Israel residency. He also explained the future renovation planned for the Shelter Island camp and announced that this year's benefit had raised $340,000, the most successful benefit to date.

When I asked Maestro Perlman where the school existed in the lexicon of his incredible body of work and achievements he said, "It is now on the front burner. I feel that the timing is really perfect, first you perform and make music and so on, but as you get older it is such a great pleasure to actually teach it and give back. I basically feel very lucky because I am able to see what is going on being around young people and I am so encouraged with what I see."

All who attended were left breathless by the beautiful music and the beautiful moon that the graced the evening's celebration.

Commenting on the suggestion that the students leave the program and become ambassadors for the school's methodology of musical camaraderie and a non-competitive mission of learning he said, "They are like a sponge, they absorb what I am saying and they are actually able to use the language that I am teaching them and so that gives me great pleasure."

That great pleasure will undoubtedly permeate American and International concert halls for both performers and concert goers alike for generations to come, as the Perlman Music Program continues to shape the future of classical orchestral music with the extraordinary students that emerge from this incredible summer music camp.

On the weekend of August 21 and August 22 the Perlman Summer Music Program will end its season with the final performances of its Chamber Music Workshops. The performances take place on the Shelter Island campus each day at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and are open to the public.

For more information go to www.perlmanmusicprogram.org.