Once known as the Museum for African Art, The Africa Center has expanded its mission to become the world's leading civic African institution. Together, we worked on a series of events to raise community awareness and provide a gateway for engagement between Africa, New York City and the world.

On Saturday, September 20, The Africa Center opened its doors to the community for a day of performance, art and education. Attendees enjoyed African-influenced Grill Tastings by The Cecil, an Immersive Art Installation depicting Lagos, Nigeria by Emeka Ogboh, Dance Performances by the Dance Theatre of Harlem, a special appearance by Chelsea Clinton and more.

Later, guests were invited to a very special evening of music and exploration as we journeyed to the heart of the Malian blues with the Festival in Exile, which featured musical performances by Salif Keita, Oumou Sangare, Vieux Farka Toure, Samba Toure & Amanar and other special guests.

On Monday, September 22, the events continued with a UN Policy Summit, in collaboration with the United Nations, Boston Consulting Group and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. The full day of panel discussions gave dignitaries such as Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta the opportunity to discuss the importance of inclusive economic transformation and sustainable development, and to promote the practical measures, partnerships and mechanisms that will make Africa’s vision of the future possible.

A week of events concluded with a private screening hosted by the Brazzaville Foundation, that showcased the untold story behind history, Plot for Peace. The film screening was followed by a Q&A session with panel discussions and cocktails.

Additional events showcased art, film and performers from all over the continent, leaving guests with a better insight on The Africa Center’s mission.

Empire served as overall producers for the entire event series. Empire helped develop the original concept for the event series, executed several lead-up development events, handled all design, technical production, event logistics and services and staffing for the extensive project.

We look forward to continuing our work with The Africa Center and partnering with them as they move towards a permanent opening.

To learn more about the Africa Center and to get involved please visit http://www.theafricacenter.org/index.php

Empire’s Brazil / Latin America Division, and Brazil Managing Director, Béco Dranoff, recently served the U.S.-based Brazilian NGO, BrazilFoundation, as technical producers and logistics coordinators of their 12th Annual Gala Dinner, a fundraising event to benefit ongoing social projects in Brazil.

The black tie event took place on September 18th, 2014 at the atrium and terrace of the David H. Koch Theater at New York’s Lincoln Center. Over 500 exquisitely-attired attendees swarmed the red carpet, enjoyed the cocktail reception and feasted on a sumptuous multi-course dinner all while watching live performances by Brazilian music pop-star Baby do Brasil, classical ballet dancer, Ingrid Silva, and dance group Capoeira Nagô.

The evening’s emcee was Homeland star, Morena Baccarin and, among the many notable guests from Brazil and elsewhere, was Brazilian Ambassador Ana Lucy Gentil Cabral Petersen and singer Bebel Gilberto who received the Foundation’s Global Brazilian Award. Following dinner, Phillips auctioneer August Uribe conducted a live auction of 15 lots including precious artwork and priceless experiences. Béco Dranoff, who is also an accomplished music producer, served as DJ for the evening spinning an amazing mix of Brazilian music for cocktails and dinner.

Emphasizing the event’s theme Celebrating Women, several videos of the Foundation’s work were shown on a large projection screen and three Brazilian social project leaders received awards.Restaurant Associates provided catering and flowers were generously donated by Brazilian florist, Zezé Flores. Brazilian brands featured prominently in the evening’s parting gifts including Melissa shoes as well as Gelatto by A.B. Biagi and Brigadeiros by Brigadeiro Bakery.

Empire was honored to work in collaboration with HCampos Group – Helio Campos, on the BrazilFoundation Gala, New York City’s most noteworthy annual Brazilian society event. To learn more about the BrazilFoundation and its programs visit the Brazil Foundation.

Empire’s Brazil / Latin America Division is a leading producer of events both on behalf of international clients seeking to execute projects in Latin America, as well serving Brazilian and Latin American clients in the United States and aroundthe world.

During the 2014 United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Empire’s Latin America Division had the privilege to serve as production company for a keynote presentation by the Honorable Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico.

The keynote took place at the St. Regis Hotel at a conference presented by the Economic Club of New York for approximately 200 top executives and a large contingent of members of the international media.

Empire was responsible for all technical production, staging, sound, lighting, video projection and simultaneous interpretation of the program as well as coordinating with security and the Mexican Government on all event needs.

In the United States or in any other region, Empire’s Latin America Division serves government agencies, corporations, not-for-profit institutions and private individuals with a wide range of services to support the communication of their messages and initiatives to their target audiences.

Empire is honored to regularly support keynote remarks and appearances by Heads of State throughout the world.

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On September 20th, UN Women hosted a special event with Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson to kick-start #HeforShe, a global solidarity movement in support of women’s rights and full equality between women and men. The campaign aims to galvanize one billion men and boys as advocates for ending the inequalities that women and girls face globally. Empire acted as the overall event producer handling all audio, video, staging, scenic and signage aspects as well as the creative framing of the stage program.

Moderated by CNN Anchor Wolf Blitzer, the HeForShe event put men at the center of activism to end persistent inequalities faced by women and girls around the world. A highlight of the event was the activation of the HeForShe map— a real-time map with a geo locator that captures men’s engagement with the initiative around the world over the next 12 months and provides a tally against the campaign’s one billion target. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the initiative’s first goal, which is to mobilize the first100,000 world citizens in this way. The top UN official, through his map activation, was counted as the ‘number one man’. To read his speech, click here.

The event brought together renowned personalities, including senior UN officials such as UN General Assembly President, Sam Kahamba Kutesa, UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin and Former Finland President, President Tarja Halonen, along with actor Kiefer Sutherland, who offered the male perspective on genderequality.For more information on U.N. Women and the HeForShe Campaign go to http://www.heforshe.org To stream the entire program click here.

​In September 2014, Empire delivered two incredible Australian artists, Colin Hay and The TEN Tenors, to perform at an insurance company’s incentive program in Sydney. For a very small audience of 50, Empire recommended Colin Hay, the former lead vocalist of “Men at Work”, and singer of “Down Under”, arguably the most well-known song about Australia. Colin’s solo acoustic performance fit the intimate event perfectly, and included not only his signature song about his home country, but other hits including “Who Can It Be Now?”, “Overkill”, “It’s A Mistake”, and more.

And for the client’s evening at the Sydney Opera House, Empire presented The TEN Tenors, one of Australia’s greatest entertainment success stories. Celebrated for their colorful repertoire, breathtaking arrangements and powerful live performances, The TEN Tenors respectfully tip their hats not only to the great classical composers, but to contemporary music’s most popular artists. Their troupe gave the attendees goose bumps with their arias and classical pieces, which fit perfectly in what is perhaps the best known Opera House on the planet, but then also surprised the guests with their breathtaking renditions of more current performers including Jeff Buckley, creating a party atmosphere.

Empire is proud to have presented and produced headline artists in more than 30 countries worldwide, and takes pride in being able to recommend and secure the ideal performers for conferences and events around theglobe.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) celebrated its 20th Kids4Kids family festival at the Field House at Chelsea Piers in New York City, again partnering with Empire as their production company. The event, co-chaired by world-renowned fashion photographer and EGPAF board member Nigel Barker and his wife Cristen Barker, raised funds and awareness for the effort to achieve an AIDS-free generation.

Celebrity attendees at Kids 4 Kids included New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey, Miss Universe Gabriela Isler, Olympic swimmer Matt Targett, and actress and EGPAF celebrity ambassador Fatima Ptacek. Other celebrity guests included cast members from Netflix's Orange Is the New Black Joel Garland, and Yael Stone; Clare Foley, Zabryna Guevara, J.W. Cortes, and David Mazouz from Fox's new series Gotham; Johnny Lee Miller from CBS's "Elementary;" and Kristen Taekman of Real Housewives of New York. Bluegrass band Seven Handle Circus closed the event with an acoustic musical performance. The New York Observer was the exclusive media sponsor. Special activities included classes with the Boston Ballet's Kathryn Boren and yoga instructor Tara Stiles, graffiti wall art with artist Shantell Martin, and physical activities with Kirk Myers Fitness. Families also experienced interactive games from Disney, created beats with Scratch DJ Academy, and got creative with retailer Skip Hop. Some of New York's favorite restaurants and chefs, including caterer Abigail Kirsh, Michael's Restaurant, Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, Pain D'Avignon, Sofia Wine Bar, Luke's Lobster, the Chester, Grandaisy Bakery and (The Mercer) Kitchen provided event food and refreshments.

About the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF): EGPAF is the global leader in the fight against pediatric HIV/ AIDS, and has reached 20 million women with services to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies. It currently supports more than 7,000 health facilities and works in 15 countries to implement prevention, care, and treatment services; to further advance innovative research; and to execute global advocacy activities that bring dramatic change to the lives of millions of women, children, and families worldwide. For more information, visit EGPAF.

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On August 31^st, 2014, the global tire company, Michelin, hosted a groupof 80 Chinese distributor partners and members of the media for a day at Japan’slegendary race circuit, Fuji Speedway. The event took place on the day of theJapan leg of the racing car endurance series, the 2014 Asian Le Mans. Teamsfrom across the world pitched high performance racing cars and world-classdrivers against each other in this contest of skill, stamina and cutting edgeengineering technology.

Michelin’s guests were given the rare privilege of pre-race track access and a “pit walk”of the Oak Team’s pit where team engineers explained various aspects of the carand the race itself, all supported by our tri-lingual (Chinese/Japanese/English)attendants.

In the media lounge, designed and constructed by Empire, we coordinated mediainterviews with the race winning Oak Team, including their star Formula 1driver from China, Ho-Pin TUNG.

By successfully supporting Michelin’s Japanese event for its valued Chinesebusiness and media partners, Empire has once again demonstrated our expertisein cross-border event planning, coordination and hospitality.

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On the eve of the 2014 World Cup Final, Empire produced Sony's Gala Dinner event.

For the evening, Rio de Janiero's port of Pier Maua was transformed with a mixture of classical chandeliers and cutting-edge projection into an ever-changing and breathtaking environment.

World famous chef Matsuhisa Nobu designed a Brazilian-inspired culinary experience and Brazilian superstar Claudia Leitte and Carlos Santana performed and brought down the house.

For more, check out the time lapse.

On Saturday, June 6, Empire collaborated with Colin Cowie Celebrations and the Troy Curtis Group to help produce one of the biggest social events of 2014, a first-class, once-in-a-lifetime Bat Mitzvah at the world-famous Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center.

Family and friends were delighted to watch as the guest of honor beautifully led the Havdalah service, accompanied by a 13-piece orchestra and the Jewish a cappella group, Pella. At the end of the ceremony, guests were mesmerized as a performance by a shadow dance group told the story of the young lady’s life.

As guests exited the theatre to an orchestral arrangement of Pharrell’s smash hit “Happy,” the adults were led to a crystal- and diamond-laden dinner, where the Ikonix band and Pella performed hits from the Four Seasons, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. Adults dined on the finest oysters and sushi and enjoyed vodka drinks mixed with rose petals. Meanwhile, the children were escorted to a 13-year-old’s fantasyland, with magicians, dancers, and various games and activities. Kids could design their own baseball cap, or get glammed up with eyelash and hair extensions.

At the end of dinner, a performance by a percussion group led all of the guests into the dance party, where DJ Neza was ready to keep the night going.

The dance party was a young girl’s dream come true. In keeping with the pink and diamond motif, the room was full of pink glistening staging, platforms and a catwalk, games, dancers, custom furnishings, and a wall of video screens and ceiling projections mirroring the music played throughout the night.

When it came time for the father-daughter dance, the always classic and delightful Natalie Cole wowed the guests, singing “Unforgettable” as the duo danced beside her.

For one last surprise, DJ RedFoo of LMFAO broke through the backdrop as his party-rock crew dancers covered the staging and catwalk. As the room became a blacklight playground, the guests joined RedFoo onstage as he performed “Party Rock Anthem,” “Sexy and I Know It,” and other hits.

Empire was honored to once again be chosen by Colin Cowie to join his team to create another extraordinary experience.

For the 2nd consecutive year, The Fragrance Foundation selected Empire to produce the Fragrance industry’s premier event - the Fragrance Foundation Awards.

Held at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the perfect, early Summer evening began with guest arrivals and a cocktail reception in Alice Tully Hall’s outdoor sunken plaza and soaring glass atrium. Amidst a series of artfully printed floral walls, guests mingled and sipped Champagne while arriving VIPs walked the red carpet and posed for the flashing ticket of press photographers in a separate tent on West 65th Street.

Once seated in the theater, the evening’s Host, Saturday Night Live veteran and self-proclaimed Best-Smelling celebrity, Dana Carvey introduced Elizabeth Musmanno, President of the Fragrance Foundation, and Jill Belasco, Chairman of the Fragrance Foundation Board, before kicking off the star-studded award program.

This year’s celebrity presenters included Leigh Lezark, Jacquelyn Jablonski, Chrissy Teigen, Angie Harmon, Marisa Tomei, Kellan Lutz, Leonard Lauder, Hilary Rhoda, Sean Avery, Coco Rocha, Michael C. Hall, Carine Roitfeld, Gwendoline Christie, Mary Alice Stephenson, Lily Donaldson, and Nicolas Mirzayantz.

There were also notable acceptance speeches from Hall of Fame winner and retired Chairman and CEO of Bloomingdales, Michael Gould, as well as Perfumer of the Year winner, International Flavors and Fragrances’ Carlos Benaim.

Singer and songwriter, Judith Hill, graced the audience with a performance of “Hallelujah.” Guests were left in awe of her elegant piano performance and breath-taking voice.

The after party was held in the Alice Tully Hall atrium and outdoor plaza, creating the perfect summer night cocktail experience while DJ Donna D’Cruz spun an intoxicating mix of music.

The Fragrance Foundation Awards brings together virtually every luxury and consumer brand in the fragrance space including Estée Lauder, Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford, Burberry, Giorgio Armani, Tory Burch, Marc Jacobs, Victoria’s Secret, Michael Kors, Givenchy, Elizabeth Arden, LVMH, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier, Hermes, Lancome, Zegna, Clinique and Gucci among others.

Empire is a leading producer of events and programs for the luxury brand industry, as well as a leading producer of award shows.

Empire congratulates all of the 2014 Fragrance Foundation Award winners.