William Scheide's 100th Birthday to Benefit Westminster Choir College

Musician, philanthropist, and humanitarian William H. Scheide will celebrate his 100th birthday on Saturday, January 25, 2014 with “Ode to Joy,” a concert featuring the sounds of classical music greats Bach, Brahms and Beethoven. 

This is the seventh annual birthday concert and will benefit Westminster Choir College.  The concert will feature the Vienna Chamber Orchestra at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall. 

Maestro Mark Laycock — the Scheides’ favorite conductor — will return to Princeton to lead the orchestra. The stage will be shared by the Westminster Symphonic Choir, soprano Ah Young Hong, mezzo-soprano Leah Wool, tenor William Burden, bass-baritone Mark S. Doss and pianist Mariam Nazarian.

Local pianist Andrew Sun, who performed the 2012 premiere of the recently discovered Albumblatt by Johannes Brahms at Scheide's 98th benefit concert performed again the following year, will return for Scheide's centennial celebration.

The "Ode to Joy" concert will benefit Westminster Choir College at Rider University. 

Philanthropist Betty Wold Johnson has pledged a $250,000 challenge gift of to support Westminster’s Playhouse renovation in honor of  Bill Scheide. The challenge will match all gifts received through the concert and help renovate Westminster’s historic Playhouse, rehearsal space for some of the world’s great conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Masur, and Simon Rattle. 

Scheide has spent a lifetime supporting the arts, education, civil rights, health, and poverty-relief programs with special fondness for the Princeton community.

Charitable organizations that have benefited from the Scheide concert series in the past include Isles, Inc. (2008,) Centurion Ministries (2009,) The Arts Council of Princeton (2010,) Princeton Healthcare System Foundation (2011), Princeton Public Library (2012), Princeton Recreation Department's Community Park Pool (2013).

For more information about the concert, visit www.scheideconcerts.com or call University Ticketing at 609.258.9220. Sponsorship opportunities are also available by contacting Jamie Sapoch at jksapoch@gmail.com