Tickets start at $500 and can be purchased here.

Event will take place at The Chocolate Factory Theater, 38-33 24th Street, Long Island City.

Cocktails: 6pm
Dinner: 7pm

Catering by Diana Manalang / Little Chef Little Cafe.

Join us on Tuesday, September 29, 2026 for an unforgettable evening at The Chocolate Factory Theater’s Fifth Annual Gala as we proudly honor this year’s Artist In Industry Award recipients: composer David Lang and independent arts professional Janet Wong!

If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please reach out to Regine Pieters at regine@chocolatefactorytheater.org

Table Purchases, Sponsorships and Program Ads available; contact Regine Pieters at (718) 482-7069 or regine@chocolatefactorytheater.org.

Featuring the Artist In Industry Award, which was created in 2016 to recognize business professionals with strong connections to The Chocolate Factory who have demonstrated creativity and artistry in their careers, thus impacting their fields as a whole.

Gala Committee (in formation): Philip Bither, Barbara Bryan, Shoni Currier, Stephen Facey, David Herskovits, Tommy Kriegsmann, Sheila Lewandowski, Juliana May, Joe Melillo, Martha Sherman, Yoko Shioya, Kay Takeda.

David Lang – Composer

“With his winning of the Pulitzer Prize for the little match girl passion (one of the most original and moving scores of recent years), Lang, once a postminimalist enfant terrible, has solidified his standing as an American master.” — The New Yorker

Passionate, prolific, and complicated, composer David Lang embodies the restless spirit of invention. Lang is at the same time deeply versed in the classical tradition and committed to music that resists categorization, constantly creating new forms.

Lang is one of America’s most performed composers. Many of his works resemble each other only in the fierce intelligence and clarity of vision that inform their structures. His catalogue is extensive, and his opera, orchestra, chamber and solo works are by turns ominous, ethereal, urgent, hypnotic, unsettling and very emotionally direct. Much of his work seeks to expand the definition of virtuosity in music — even the deceptively simple pieces can be fiendishly difficult to play and require incredible concentration by musicians and audiences alike.

Lang is a Professor of Music Composition at the Yale School of Music, and is co-founder and co-artistic director of New York’s legendary music collective Bang on a Can.

Janet Wong – Independent Performing Arts Professional

Janet Wong is a performing arts professional with expertise in contemporary performance across the U.S. and internationally. She is the Co-Creative Director of Under the Radar and a member of the Curatorial Council for Seattle-based On the Boards. After beginning her career as a professional dancer in Berlin, she spent 30 years as the Associate Artistic Director of New York Live Arts and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. Her work and interests encompass curation, choreography, dramaturgy, producing, projection design, technology, mentorship, systems thinking, and environmental justice. Wong currently serves on the boards of the Jerome Foundation and Big Dance Theater.