Oscar winning composer and musical-theatre advocate John Corigliano and Walt Disney Company chairman and CEO Michael D. Eisner will be honored at a Nov. 14 benefit for the American Composers Orchestra at New York’s Plaza Hotel. Cabaret artist KT Sullivan, who starred in a short-lived Broadway revival of Gentleman Prefer Blondes a few years back, and the Bill Harrington Orchestra will provide the evening’s entertainment.

Eisner will receive the inaugural ACO Award for the Advancement of New American Music, while the ACO Distinguished Composer Award will go to John Corigliano. The winner of the 2000 Academy Award for Best Score (“The Red Violin”), Corigliano has also been instrumental in the establishment and promotion of a new group, “First the Words,” which advocates for the role of the lyricist.

The Nov. 14 benefit’s theme is a “Tribute to Hollywood’s Golden Era.” Production notes indicate that Eisner was selected “because of his leadership in commissioning new American music for the millennium,” while Corigliano was selected because of his "continuing contributions to contemporary music."

Individual tickets are $500 for sponsors and $1000 for patrons, with higher tiers available. For more information contact Aria Edry at (212) 977-8495, ext 204.

— By Murdoch McBride