The 20th Annual IYRS Summer Gala will be quite the “celebration” in July, thanks to a live performance by Kool & The Gang.
Sources have confirmed that Kool & The Gang, the longest running R&B group in history, will follow in the footsteps of Jackson Browne (2016), The Beach Boys (2015), Lyle Lovett (2014) and Jimmy Buffett (2013) with their scheduled performance at the 2017 IYRS Summer Gala on July 8th, 2017.
The IYRS Summer Gala attracts business leaders, financiers, entrepreneurs, government officials, Newport’s elite, and global yachts people in support of an extraordinary school training the next generation of highly technical and deeply craft-oriented people. Tickets to the event are by invitation only.
Kool & The Gang has sold over 70 million albums worldwide and influenced the music of three generations while performing continuously over the past 45 years. thanks to songs like Celebration, Cherish, Jungle Boogie, Summer Madness and Open Sesame, they’ve earned two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, 25 Top Ten R&B hits, nine Top Ten Pop hits, and 31 gold and platinum albums.
The Summer Gala, which takes place under a tent in IYRS’s parking lot on lower Thames Street, is IYRS’s largest fundraiser of the year. Proceeds from the event go directly to support the school’s programs by funding everything from tools and equipment to instructor salaries.
The 2017 IYRS Summer Gala will be Co-Chaired by Anne and Matt Hamilton, Barbara van Beuren and Steve Glascock, and Helene and Archie van Beuren.