Another Magical Evening in the Hamptons

Christopher Burch, founder and CEO of Burch Creative Capital, has been an entrepreneur and active investor across a wide range of industries for nearly thirty years.

He has contributed to the rise of multiple technology and luxury brands, including Faena Hotel + Universe, Jawbone, Tory Burch, Poppin and Voss Water.  In July 2014, Mr. Burch announced a partnership with beloved entertainer, Ellen DeGeneres, to launch her lifestyle brand, ED by Ellen DeGeneres.  Later that year, he launched Cocoon9, luxury prefab homes with space-saving floor plans, contemporary design, energy efficient features and sophisticated finishes.  Most recently, Burch has devoted efforts to his award-winning hospitality brand, Nihi Sumba, a boutique resort in southeastern Indonesia, which was named the #1 Hotel in the World two years in a row by Travel + Leisure magazine.

Burch has supported the development of several other lifestyle and consumer products brands including BaubleBar, Blink Health, Brad’s Raw Foods, Chubbies, and Soludos.

Mr. Burch relies increasingly on his ability to find the nexus between innovation and implementation with his intuitive understanding of consumer behavior and his experience utilizing superior sourcing infrastructure and direct-to-consumer channels.

Beyond his professional investing, Mr. Burch has a deep passion for charitable projects and has contributed funding toward substantial research and philanthropic initiatives at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York, NYU Langone, The Sumba Foundation and his alma maters Tilton School and Ithaca College, among others.

Mr. Burch’s contribution to Mt Sinai is dedicated to the ongoing research of Dr Xiu-Min Li at the Center for Integrative Medicine for Allergies and Wellness. Through his generosity, Dr Li and her team are expanding the investigation and use of alternative therapies and her project “Weight loss with or without Asthma.”

Mr. Burch passionately champions NYU Langone’s Patient-Centered Care Curriculum, an initiative established to optimize physician-patient communication and patient experience through empathy, compassion, and caring.  Launched in 2014 in partnership with Dr. Mark Pochapin, director of the division of Gastroenterology at NYU Langone, the curriculum consists of a number of educational activities, including lectures, roundtables, and educational objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) simulation sessions.

The Sumba Foundation’s aim is to provide humanitarian aid by fostering community-based projects that impact health, including medical access and malaria control, nutrition, education, water and income-generation, while preserving and respecting the culture and traditions of the Sumbanese people. With the enthusiastic support of Mr Burch, who covers and his resort, Nihi, the Foundation has expanded its lunch program for primary schools, increased the number of water wells for villages, and equipped medical clinics with staffing and supplies, dramatically reducing Malaria by 85% in affected areas.

Mr. Burch has been a generous donor to his alma maters, Tilton School and Ithaca College. Through his support Tilton School developed the Burch Athletic Field, the first ever outdoor turf field built on campus, fulfilling a promise he made to himself as a student that he would one day build a turf field so students at the NH prep school could practice their sports outside all year round. His donations to Ithaca College have funded the J. Christopher Burch Endowed Scholarship for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which supports an IC student who exhibits exceptional talent in both creativity and entrepreneurship. In addition, his gifts provide the philanthropy behind the School of Business’s annual Business Idea and Business Plan Competitions.

12-year-old Alexander Liu (Yibei Liu) is deeply passionate about music, blessed with creativity, and in the process of developing his leadership skills. He began his piano studies at the age of five and a half, under the tender guidance of Mrs. Felicia Feng Zhang.

Since then, Alexander has been meticulously nurtured by renowned educators including Dr. Diyi Tang, Professor Miyoko Lotto, and is currently under the esteemed tutelage of Professor Orli Shaham at Juilliard Pre-College.

His musical journey has been enriched by numerous accolades, for which he is incredibly grateful. These include the grand prize at the National Young Virtuosi Recital Competition, first prizes at the Philadelphia International Piano Competition, Chopin International Piano Competition in Connecticut, among others, and being named the New York state winner of MTNA in 2024.

His love for performing has opened doors to prestigious venues such as Isaac Stern Auditorium, New York Town Hall, and Shanghai Himalayas Center, with over ten winner recitals at Weill Recital Hall. A memorable highlight was when he performed Mozart’s Concerto No. 23 with the Sound Symphony Orchestra at the age of ten. He is also eagerly anticipating performing Mozart’s Concerto No. 21 with the Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra in June 2024. This year, he was also honored to be admitted to the Morningside Music Bridge summer program.

Alexander takes great pride in his leadership and community service efforts, which were recognized with The Gold-Level President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2023. Serving as a youth leader in two volunteer organizations has allowed him to share his passion for music by teaching and guiding young kids in their theory studies and piano performance.

Beyond music, Alexander embraces the philosophy that creating games is more fulfilling than playing them, which has propelled his interest in technology and innovation. Currently, he is developing scheduling software for volunteer work, aiming to address real-world challenges through technological solutions.

As an outdoor enthusiast, Alexander finds joy and connection with nature through camping and cycling. His leisure time is often spent immersed in the pages of encyclopedias, where turning each page is like stepping into a new world. These reading experiences not only enrich his knowledge but also inspire his music creation. He has found the perfect balance between academics, music, and community service, demonstrating exceptional time management skills.

Eden Chen is a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist and Scholar.

He started studying piano when he was six. Since age seven, Eden has competed and placed in many piano competitions, and has won numerous top prizes including the First Prize in the Southwestern Youth Music Festival Piano Competitions for numerous years. Among them was an orchestral debut performing Mozart’s Coronation Concerto, No.26 in D major with the Southwestern Music Festival Orchestra, after he won First Prize in the Young Pianist category when he was eleven.

“As a Young Scholar, I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to experience the signature charisma of Lang Lang and his foundation. The enthusiasm and energy they put into bringing music to the world is just inspiring, and I am sure I will learn much from their philosophy of “Playing it Forward.” Being a part of the Young Scholars program will present me with a unique opportunity to meet diverse audiences, while receiving first-hand guidance from Lang Lang in what it means to be an artist, and what it takes to build a successful career. I am confident that working with Lang Lang, the Foundation, and my fellow Young Scholars will allow me to further explore the role of the musician and music in our modern society. I look forward to the positive impact we will have on each other!”

Eden recently won the First Prize at the AVSOMC Gail Newby Concerto Competition. He was a Gold Medal winner of the 2012 AADGT International Young Musicians competition, a Grand Prize winner of the 2011 AFAF Golden Era of Romantic Music International Competition, where he was also the recipient of the special prize for the Best Performance of a Work by Liszt. He also received Second Prize at the MostArts Festival 2014 Piano Competition and Second Prize at the 13thInternational Russian Music Piano Competition.

Eden was selected to perform on NPR’s From the Top radio show in 2013. Besides these awards, Eden has given four performances at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in the past few years, and he was also invited to perform a solo concert at the American Jewish University.

Eden is currently studying with Rufus Choi. He has attended the Colburn Academy Piano Festival and the John Perry Academy of Music Summer Festival. He has participated in master classes given by musicians such as Lang Lang, Daniel Pollack, Seymour Bernstein, Hung-Kuan Chen, Jerome Lowenthal, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and John Perry.

Eden is actively thinking about the role and value of music in society and in the individual, and how it serves to connect individuals to their communities. He believes in music as a uniquely human expression of the human condition, and is interested in innovative ways of expressing these universal sentiments. In becoming a Lang Lang Foundation Young Scholar, he hopes to continue to explore new creative possibilities that will impact his audiences.

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