This fall, Nonesuch marked 25 years under the leadership of Bob Hurwitz. Bob became president of Nonesuch in 1984 and hired Peter Clancy, now the company’s senior vice president for marketing, shortly thereafter. Around the same time, David Bither—now the label’s executive vice president—came on as a dollar-a-year consultant. That this remarkably successful trio has stayed together and continued recording such extraordinary music for two-and-a-half decades is an occasion worth celebrating, and Nonesuch artists, staff, family, and friends did just that this week at two events in New York City.

On Sunday, the label’s musicians and other good friends from the artistic community gathered at the Cooper Square Hotel’s spectacular penthouse—on an unseasonably warm night—to celebrate. Setting the evening's warm and familial tone, Steve Reich spoke of the cross-country road trip he took with Peter to promote Desert Music at radio stations across the United States. Laurie Anderson acknowledged the sensitivity and support David brought to the recording of her concert in New York shortly after September 11, 2001. And John Adams reminisced about the many things he has learned while traveling with Bob in the deserts of Utah. (You can read his complete remarks on his blog at earbox.com.)
 
Also sharing in the celebration were Sérgio Assad, Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, David Byrne, Christina Courtin, Richard Goode, Kronos Quartet, Pat Metheny, members of The Magnetic Fields, Mandy Patinkin, Peter Sellars, Sara Watkins, and a number of other special guests. As Bob noted in his remarks, “We owe everything to the artists, for without them we have nothing at all. Without the artists, there would be no Nonesuch.”

Executives from Warners (Nonesuch’s parent company)—including Lyor Cohen, Marc Cimino, and Will Tanous—spoke of their admiration for Bob and Nonesuch, then presented him with a gift that acknowledged the commitment he and the company have made to the musicians of New Orleans: a generous donation was in his name to the Musicians' Village, a neighborhood built by Habitat for Humanity (in part with proceeds from the 2005 Nonesuch benefit album Our New Orleans). In addition, a walkway in the Village will be named in Bob’s honor.

The festivities continued on Tuesday night, when Nonesuch staff members past and present convened at Bob’s Manhattan apartment along with some of Nonesuch’s behind-the-scenes stars, including Bob Ludwig, who, has mastered hundreds of Nonesuch albums; Judy Sherman, the producer of dozens of works by Kronos Quartet, Steve Reich, and John Adams; Max Wilcox, Richard Goode's longtime producer; Tom Lazarus, who has engineered scores of Nonesuch recordings; graphic designers Barbara DeWilde, John Gall, and Frank Olinsky, and photographer Michael Wilson, who have created so many iconic album covers; writer extraordinaire Michael Hill; public relations ace Carla Sacks; and designer Amy Goldstein, who has created the label’s ads and other marketing material for decades.

Photos from both events are at nonesuch.com/media. Here’s to the next quarter century!