The most telling moment at the Ziegfeld Ballroom on October 29 came when the room stopped acting like a gala. Raynie Clark, a patient advocate for Musicians On Call, had just told more than 500 guests what music did for her during her own treatment. Then ROSIE, a volunteer musician for the organization, led the ballroom in “Sweet Caroline,” and the wine glasses went up with the chorus.
The fifth annual Unplugged & Uncorked raised more than $1.3 million for Musicians On Call, a record for the event and a clear step past the $1 million the same room produced in 2025. The evening sold out. Proceeds fund an organization that sends musicians into hospitals to play at bedsides, a simple idea with an unusually long reach.
Rich Schaefer, President of Global Touring at AEG Presents, founded the event in 2021 with Michael Dorf, the founder of City Winery, and Glenn Nordlinger, founder of The Nordlinger Group. Five years in, the founders talk about it less like a fundraiser and more like a standing date. “It really does feel like a family reunion,” Schaefer said. “We’ve been doing this for five years, and more than half the room has attended every one of them.”
That loyalty is the engine. Unplugged & Uncorked pairs serious wine with music industry access, and the auction lots followed the formula: a two-day Napa Valley Insider’s Collection experience, a Bordeaux wine trip, the first tickets offered to Noah Kahan’s newly announced Last of the Bugs World Tour, a five-course dinner with Lewis Black built around two rare bottles, and a mystery package that turned out to be an all-inclusive London trip to see Hamlet Hail to the Thief in the West End. Broadway actor Christopher Hanke worked the room as emcee and auctioneer. Grand Cru sponsors Legends Global, Citi, and Oak View Group anchored the corporate support.
The beneficiary gives the night its weight. Musicians On Call has delivered live and recorded music to patients, families, and caregivers for more than 25 years, reaching over 1.25 million people in all 50 states. Its volunteers play for adult and pediatric patients, Veterans, and people in hospice, oncology, behavioral health, and memory care units.
“Musicians On Call started right here in New York City with a simple idea to bring live music to people who couldn’t get to it,” said Pete Griffin, the organization’s President and CEO. “What began with bedside performances at Memorial Sloan Kettering has grown into a mission that has reached more than 1.25 million people across all 50 states.”
Dorf, whose City Winery built its name on pairing concerts with wine, put the appeal plainly: “This is our fifth year supporting a great cause, and we love what Musicians On Call does. We also love getting together and bringing people together around a shared appreciation for wine.”
The money raised on October 29 goes toward expanding the bedside, virtual, songwriting, and streaming programs the organization runs nationwide. Demand, by every account the organization gives, keeps rising.
A hospital corridor is a hard place to fill with music. For one night in Midtown, 500 people in evening dress sang along to prove it can be done, and wrote the largest check in the event’s history to keep it going.
The Social Register’s event directory tracks the season’s galas, benefits, and society evenings. Plan your next evening there.
