Musical Marvel

Phoebe and Bobby Tudor
Phoebe and Bobby Tudor

Always a highly anticipated event, this year’s Symphony Opening Night marked the start of a social season celebrating the recovery of Houston’s art scene post-Harvey. The evening began with a concert featuring renowned pianist Yuja Wang, who mesmerized the crowd with her surprisingly powerful performance.

The petite and stylish musician threw her whole body into works by Rachmaninoff, and into a long piece, accompanied by the full symphony, the latter played with only her left hand. After the concert, 400 partygoers made their way to The Corinthian for dinner and dancing. The décor recalled black-and-white keys, and even the desserts were in the shape of tiny chocolate pianos, filled with delicious mousse.

The Royal Dukes Band got the black-tie-clad crowd on their feet, but only after a lucrative auction, which contributed to the evening’s till of $750,000, and included a Model M player piano signed by Wang herself. Jo Dee and Cliff Wright were the lucky recipients. Bravo, bravo!

Gustavo Gimeno and Yuja Wang
Phoebe and Bobby Tudor
The crowd at The Corinthian
Betty and Jesse Tutor
Brian James, Janet Gurwitch and Ron Franklin
Anne and Albert Chao
The Houston Symphony performs.
Cheryl Byington and Beth Wolff
Joanne King Herring and Beau King
Ishwaria and Vivek Subbiah
David and Alie Pruner, and Alex and Daniel Gottschalk
Yuja Wang and Jo Dee Wright
Manolo and Daniela Sanchez, and Donna and Max Chapman
Margaret Alkek Williams and Bill and Courtney Toomey

Party People