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

Matthew Dirst (photo by Jacob Power)

FOR FANS OF early music — an often scholarly lot who aren’t afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves — bad-boy Baroque-era painter Caravaggio certainly nailed something in his dramatic 1595 painting, “The Musicians.” (Simon Schama talks about this in his TV series The Power of Art.) One look at his masterpiece, and you feel as if you’ve stumbled upon and surprised a roomful of dewy-eyed musicians, their youthful faces swollen with melancholy, with the lutist looking like he’s about ready to burst into tears before he’s even tuned his instrument. So no, you certainly don’t need a Ph.D. to enjoy and be moved by the music of Handel, G.P. Telemann, or J.S. Bach, but a little bit of scholarship never hurt anyone. Knowing the history of this music may even deepen your appreciation of it.

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'A Hidden Agenda'

On Saturday, Jan. 6, artist-owned Archway gallery greets the new year with Inward Journey, an exhibition of unapologetically beautiful abstract paintings by Houston painter Mohammad Ali Bhatti.

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