The Towers of the Waldorf Astoria and The Juilliard School Make Music for #GivingTuesday

When Waldorf Astoria New York opened on Park Avenue in 1931, renowned Broadway composer and songwriter Cole Porter was an early resident at The Towers of the Waldorf Astoria and wrote some of his most iconic songs on a 1907 Steinway & Sons piano in his suite. The piano, aptly named High Society, is now at the center of a Giving Tuesday partnership between The Towers of the Waldorf Astoria , home of the Waldorf Astoria Residences New York, and another venerable NYC cultural institution, The Juilliard School. To celebrate this global day of giving—and support The Juilliard School’s mission of cultivating new generations of artists and performers—three Juilliard students performed their arrangement of “It Had To Be You” on Cole Porter’s historic Steinway piano in the Residential Gallery for The Towers of the Waldorf Astoria. “It Had To Be You,” composed by Isham Jones with lyrics by Gus Kahn in 1924, has been performed by musical luminaries including Waldorf Astoria resident Frank Sinatra and frequent Waldorf Astoria performers Tony Bennett and Ella Fitzgerald. The jazz-infused version by Juilliard students, featuring Georgia Heers on vocals, Joel Wenhardt on piano, and Raul Reyes on bass, adds a new touch and tone to this famous standard. “The Waldorf Astoria is a cultural landmark that has long been a home of artists, the site of iconic performances and a center of New York’s entertainment scene for decades,” said Dan Tubb, Senior Director of Sales at The Towers of the Waldorf Astoria. “In the spirit of the Waldorf Astoria’s musical legacy, on ‘Giving Tuesday,’ we are delighted to support The Juilliard School, a legend in the arts community, which is cultivating the next generation of performers to continue New York’s, and the Waldorf’s, musical tradition.” Today, Juilliard offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, drama and music to more than 800 artists from 43 states and 44 countries. Watch the full “Giving Tuesday” performance on Cole Porter’s piano here and consider donating to Juilliard’s scholarship program . Douglas Elliman Development Marketing  is exclusively handling sales and marketing for The Towers of the Waldorf Astoria .