Breguet Has Committed More Than $3.5 Million
to Carnegie Hall Supporting its
Artistic and Educational Programs
 Breguet Double Tourbillon at Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night Gala (Photo by Julie Skarratt) |
(October 8, 2021, NEW YORK, NY)— Carnegie Hall is thrilled to celebrate its tenth season with the luxury timepiece brand Breguet as the Hall’s Exclusive Timepiece. This partnership, which reflects Breguet’s long-standing global commitment to the preservation of arts and culture around the world, has provided more than $3.5 million in valued support to Carnegie Hall’s wide range of artistic and educational initiatives.
The collaboration between Carnegie Hall and Breguet provides valued support to music—an art form to which the watchmaking brand attaches great importance. It also undeniably constitutes a tribute to famous composers and musicians (such as Gioachino Rossini, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Arthur Rubinstein—the latter of whom performed more than 130 times at Carnegie Hall) who were unconditional admirers and owners of Breguet watches. Furthermore, this alliance between Music and Haute Horlogerie exemplifies the values that ties these two worlds together. Alongside their dedication to sharing beauty and emotion, the musical and horological fields are closely intertwined by their common quest for precision, innovation, and excellence.
Since the launch of its 2012–2013 season, Carnegie Hall has featured a series of clocks by Breguet, the highlight being the recently refurbished Breguet Tourbillon clock in Carnegie Hall’s Box Office lobby. Five additional clocks throughout the landmark building represent two of the brands most notable timepiece collections: the Classique and the Reine de Naples. Additionally, Breguet has sponsored concerts featuring a wide array of artists at Carnegie Hall from the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas to the New York Pops, and the upcoming New York Philharmonic concert with Music Director Jaap van Zweden featuring pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque on April 27, 2022. To celebrate and reflect on the past concerts that Breguet has sponsored, Carnegie Hall and Breguet collaborated on a musical playlist available on Carnegie Hall’s Apple Music and Spotify accounts. A dedicated webpage featuring the playlist can be found here.
Clive Gillinson and Ahmad Shahriar at Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night Gala (Photo by Chris Lee)
“We are enormously grateful to Breguet for its renewed commitment and substantial show of support as valued members of the Carnegie Hall family,” said Clive Gillinson, executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall. “Both Carnegie Hall and Breguet demonstrate shared values of excellence, tradition, as well as innovation. We are immensely thankful for Breguet’s loyalty to Carnegie Hall throughout the pandemic and look forward to continuing to build our long term partnership.”
Carnegie Hall reopened its doors to the public on October 6, 2021 with its Opening Night Gala, a celebratory performance by The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, joined by renowned pianist Yuja Wang as soloist. Guests of the post-concert gala dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street were given the opportunity to view some exceptional Breguet timepieces displayed in vitrines throughout the evening, inclusive of a selection of Tourbillon pieces to celebrate the 220th anniversary of Abraham-Louis Breguet’s invention. Notable attendees included Gala Lead Chairmen Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass and Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Smith, Carnegie Hall Board Chairman; Joan and Sanford I. Weill, Carnegie Hall Board President; Annette de la Renta; Barry Diller; Larry Gagosian; Beatrice Santo Domingo; Elizabeth Segerstrom; Jon Batiste; Renée Fleming; and Isabel Leonard.
”We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Carnegie Hall,” said Ahmad Shahriar, Brand President for Breguet US. “As a brand with a deep appreciation for the arts and the institutions that support them, we were undeniably saddened when Carnegie Hall was unable to open last year. We are so excited for one of the world’s greatest music halls to reopen its doors again, and honored to be entering our tenth season as the exclusive timepiece.”
Breguet Tourbillon Clock in Carnegie Hall Morse Lobby (Photo by Richard Cadan)
About Breguet
Since its founding in 1775, Breguet has faithfully preserved the essential values of its founder, Abraham-Louis Breguet, which embody beauty, elegance, pure lines, and a mastery of “grand complications.” From the beginning, Mr. Breguet’s work set the standard by which all fine watch-making has since been judged. No aspect of watch-making escaped his study. The Tourbillon was revolutionary in its time, successfully offsetting the effects of gravity in its design to create a timepiece of the highest accuracy. Overall, Mr. Breguet’s many inventions and breakthroughs in creating new approaches to time-keeping were as fundamental to horology as they were varied. Today, as the ultimate brand among the 19 watch companies of the Swiss-based Swatch Group Ltd., his heirs at Breguet still make each watch as a model of supreme horological art.
From great musical performances to museum restorations and art exhibits, Breguet always aims to advance innovation and inspiration through arts and culture.
About Carnegie Hall
Since it opened in 1891, Carnegie Hall has set the international standard for musical excellence as the aspirational destination for the world’s finest artists. From Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, Mahler, and Bartók to George Gershwin, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Judy Garland, and The Beatles, music making by a long list of artists representing the best of every genre has filled Carnegie Hall over the years. The Hall’s unique history has grown out of its stunning acoustics, the beauty of its three concert halls, and its location in New York City, where it has played a central role in helping to elevate the city into one of the world’s great cultural capitals.
Carnegie Hall presents a wide range of performances each season on its three stages—the renowned Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, intimate Weill Recital Hall, and innovative Zankel Hall—including concert series curated by acclaimed artists and composers; citywide festivals featuring collaborations with leading NYC cultural institutions; orchestral performances, chamber music, new music concerts, and recitals; and the best in jazz, global, and popular music. Many concerts each season are heard by listeners worldwide via the Carnegie Hall Live radio and digital broadcast series, produced in partnership with WQXR, and select concerts have been webcast on medici.tv.
Complementing these performance activities, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute creates wide-reaching music education and social impact programs that annually serve more 800,000 people in the New York City area, nationally, and internationally, and even more through a growing initiatives online. These programs play a central role in delivering on Carnegie Hall’s commitment to making great music accessible to as many people as possible. For more information about Carnegie Hall, please visit carnegiehall.org.