Even though it was the 88th Ramaz Annual Dinner, it was definitely one to remember. The event took place on Sunday, January 5, 2025 and was described by a student performer, Jack Freedman `26, as “my favorite year”. At the event everything seemed so seamless and flowed well. Once the guests arrived, they ate, chatted, and enjoyed the student performances. But, the actual process of planning and creating the Ramaz Dinner was much more complicated than it seemed and took a lot of coordination.
Every year the Annual Dinner has to accomplish a set of goals in order to be successful. Mr. Rochlin, Head of Institutional Advancement, confirmed that there are three key goals of the Dinner. The first goal is to act as a fundraiser for Ramaz and help “fill in the gaps between what [the school] bring[s] in for tuition and the cost … of operating the school overall.” Mr. Rochlin also described how Ramaz has an annual campaign in which it raises money for the school over the whole year and how the dinner “highlights the campaign”.
A second goal is to showcase Ramaz students to their families and to Ramaz alumni. Mr. Rochlin and the team of coordinators met with each of the performance directors, in order to plan how the student talent would be showcased. He noted that, “We have met with … all of the heads of each of the ensembles, lower school, middle school, and high school choir, chamber choir, guitar ensemble, percussion [ensemble], and of course .. the dance.” Daniel Henkin, Music Director of Ramaz, explains how “We usually begin preparing for the dinner as soon as the school year starts. This year, we had an Oct. 7th performance to prepare for first, but I would say that two months is typical.” Mr. Henkin described how the choir students prepared intensely for two months leading up to the dinner. Students who are part of Mr. Henkin’s Chamber Choir arrived at the Marriott Marquis (the hotel in which the Dinner is hosted) at 9 AM with other students in other ensembles arriving significantly before the event as well. The choir and the other ensembles are truly the entertainment highlight of the night. Mr. Henkin described that, “There is an overall theme for each year’s dinner. We try to choose songs that connect to the theme in some fashion or use it to guide our choices. Beyond that, we try choosing a mix of Hebrew/Jewish and English/secular songs, and songs that are either up-tempo or tug the heartstrings and feature our students in a positive light.” Every year the dedication to personalize songs and pieces to the specific dinner pays off because Mr. Henkin receives great feedback: “Most people I spoke with enjoyed the selections, the variety and the musicality of the dinner performance.”
The third goal is to allow all three sections of the school to intermingle and bond. Mr. Rochlin referred to the dinner as “a highlight night for the school” where Ramaz showed off their student talent, collected donations, and connected all three sections of the Ramaz School.
After months of planning, the date finally arrived, and people got to enjoy themselves. When asked about the overall feedback Mr. Rochlin said, “I received a lot of very good feelings about how warm and how beautiful the evening was. It well represented who we are as a school.” He continued by describing the attendees’ emotions, “People were just very proud of the school.” Jack Freedman expressed his fondness of the desert bar and the social setting it set for him to talk to his friends, family, and teachers. He also appreciated the opportunity to speak with Mayor Eric Adams. When asked about his favorite part of the Dinner, Mr. Henkin said, “Can I say the shmorg? If not, then I’d say when chamber choir performs — having every singer on a microphone gives the sound a depth and body that is hard to match.” The Ramaz Annual Dinner was a raging success because it accomplished all of its goals and everybody had a great time!
