The first-ever Chrismukkah benefit in support of the Regent Park School of Music—a gala designed to combine elements of Christmas and Hanukkah—drew a crowd of more than 300 to the Carlu on Thursday. Jeffry Roick of McNabb Roick Events and Cawthra Burns, a distant relative of the school’s founder, Father Tom Day, approached the school's board of directors several months ago and offered to create and host the fund-raiser.
“Jeff and I are really good friends and we chose this cause,” Burns said of the independent nonprofit community music school, which has been offering lessons to inner-city youth for the past 10 years. “Jeff did all of the decor and I did all of the ticket sales and the auction.”
“We wanted to do something that was holiday-focused, so we did Chrismukkah [and blended the two celebrations together],” Burns said. Roick chose a blue and silver palette and hung oversize snowflakes, stars, and icicles from the ceiling of the Carlu’s concert hall to give the space a wintry feel. Two white Christmas trees flanked either side of the stage, and Westbury National Show Systems lit the room in blue.
The menu, created by 10tation Event Catering, followed the theme. Guests dined on appetizers of beet-stained salmon gravlax and potato latkes with horseradish and lemon aioli with Cookstown greens followed by roasted game hen stuffed with wild rice, traditional stuffing, braised pearl onions, dried cranberries, and sweet potato puree. Dessert included a plum bread pudding served with cinnamon ice cream and ginger crème brûlée.
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, a longtime supporter of the school, attended the event, and two mounted police officers welcomed guests at the Carlu’s street-level entrance.
The Toronto All-Star Big Band played traditional Hanukkah and Christmas songs, and DJ Floh Back spun tunes for guests. Regent Park School of Music alumn Thompson Egbo-Egbo, a professional jazz pianist, also performed.
“This is huge for us. We are a school that operates on less than $500,000 a year. We are a small organization,” said Jill Witkin, chair of the school’s board of directors. Proceeds from the event will enable the organization to reduce class sizes for music students participating in a satellite program in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood, Witkin said.
