Tiger Ball's a Roaring Good Time — to the Tune of $1.5 Mil!

Daniel Ortiz
Tiger Ball's a Roaring Good Time — to the Tune of $1.5 Mil!

Stephanie Chou, Mandy Kao, Brigitte Kalai, Pitsami Norm, Mable Tang, Alice Mao Brams, Cindy Cheng, and Sippi Khurana

ALWAYS A STUNNING evening, Asia Society Texas' Tiger Ball celebrated the beauty and diversity of Asian culture. Gold-flecked tablescapes, plants and gowns ensured that the glam, tented affair was absolutely glimmering — just like Tiger Ball chairs Chinhui and Eddie Allen and Heidi and David Gerger, as the event raised an impressive $1.5 million for AST's efforts to build a more inclusive community in Houston.


The evening honored Sabria and Kevin Lewis for their decades-long commitment to that same mission of inclusivity and international understanding. More than 500 guests turned out to toast the couple, and were greeted by dhol drummers before heading inside the Pavilion, which was erected in the parking lot and encompassed some of the area's existing trees.

Unsurprisingly, the food, provided by City Kitchen, was delectable: short ribs braised in soy and sake; deviled quail eggs with tahini and za'atar; and medallions of fried eggplant topped with jumbo lump crab; miso-glazed seabass (hungry yet?!).

When they weren't eating, guests perused silent-auction items — the spread included two Harry Winston timepieces, a first-class trip to Santa Monica, and original works of art by Tsherin Sherpa and Richard Tinkler. Then DJ Alx lured galagoers onto the dance floor, where the party continued.

Y. Ping Sun, David Leebron and Mei Leebron

Albert and Anne Chao

Bonna Kol and Tripp Carter

Sushila Agrawal, Dr. Renu Khator, and Aparna Manjunath

Chinhui and Eddie Allen

Starlee Sykes and Al Vickers

David and Heidi Gerger and Sabria and Kevin Lewis

David Harvey, Nancy C. Allen, and Eddie Allen

Shiang Ling and George Yang

Donna Fujimoto Cole and Robert Berryman

Roberto and China Contreras

Emily Hanley and Feifei Ma

Rishi and Michelle Varma

Geraldina and Scott Wise

Peter and Theresa Chang and Kathy and Glen Gondo

Kathy and Marty Goossen

Mohsin and Farhina Imtiaz

Laxmi Anirudh Sarwal and Temsiri Lao

Moez and Sultana Mangalji

Margaret Alkek Williams and David Wuthrich

Leslie and Brad Bucher

Leigh and Reggie Smith

Lily and Charles Foster

People + Places

Mwenso Carnegie Squad

WITH SUMMER FAR from over, DACAMERA continues to roll out some of the hottest musical programming to be enjoyed here — and anywhere else in the South for that matter — with Houston SUMMERJAZZ 2023 (Aug. 17-20). The series highlights the breadth of contemporary jazz, with nods to the music’s Cuban, pan-African, funk, pop, and soul connections. This year’s festival includes performances by the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (Aug. 17), vocalist Gretchen Parlato in her first Houston appearance (Aug. 18), and crowd-pleasing global artists Mwenso & The Shakes (Aug. 19), whose members come from Sierra Leone, London, South Africa, Greenwich Village, Madagascar, France, Jamaica and Hawaii. (Jazz is, indeed, “global” music.) All Houston SUMMERJAZZ concerts take place in the Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater.

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Art + Entertainment

BEGINNING THIS THURSDAY, Aug. 17, DACAMERA’s Houston SUMMERJAZZ festival presents a concise, three-night program of jazz in a myriad of contemporary forms, with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (Aug. 17) illuminating its historical connections to Cuba and Puerto Rico, and internationalists Mwenso and The Shakes (Aug. 19) extolling the music’s pan-African, funk, and pop potential. In between those two hits, on Friday, Aug. 18, all of these tributaries and more will be explored in a set by two-time Grammy-nominated vocalist Gretchen Parlato, making her first appearance in Houston.

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Art + Entertainment