Symphony Supporters Party with Marilyn and Audrey, Raise $1.1 Mil

Johnny Than
Symphony Supporters Party with Marilyn and Audrey, Raise $1.1 Mil

Bill Stubbs, Betty Tutor and Kurt Grether

THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY ushered in Hollywood’s Golden Age at its annual black-tie gala, this year chaired by Brigitte Kalai, Farida Abjani, Cheryl Boblitt and Bill King.

The 400-plus guests arrived via a red carpet, dotted with 1920s-era photographers and reporters giving paparazzi vibes. Once inside the Post Oak Hotel, attendees mingled with Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe — courtesy of J&D entertainment — with wine in hand. (The Rydman family of Spec’s fame selected the evening’s pairings.)

Chef Jean-Luc Royere prepared mouthwatering, inventive hors d’oeurves — risotto lollipops, pan-seared crab cakes — and an excellent dinner of herb-roasted tenderloin and shrimp with a black-truffle-potato purée.

Another red carpet led from dinner tables to the black-and-white dance floor, above which Justin and the Swing Beats played from a bandstand. The night brought in $1.1 mil for the Symphony’s community and educational programming.

Tammie and Andy Johnson

Anne and Albert Chao

J&D Entertainment

Bill King, Cheryl Boblitt, Brigitte Kalai, Fardia Abjani and John Mangum

Miya Shay and Roslyn Bazelle

Margaret Alkek Williams and Hallie Vanderhider

Eric and Lisa Lindsey

Sparkling dessert

Gretchen and Jay Watkins

Leslie Siller and Cynthia Wolff

Laurie and Tracy Krohn

Korrine and James Whipkey

Barbara Burger and Ian Mayton

Parties

Dessert Gallery cake and cookies

PRIDE MONTH IS on the horizon, Houston! The city is ready to paint the town with all the colors of the rainbow this June. From parades, to pool parties, and colorful food, drink and dessert specials, here’s a taste of what’s happening.

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Food

Rachel Willis-Sorensen (photo by Olivia Kahler)

THIS WEEKEND, ON June 1 and 2, the Houston Symphony celebrates the work of Richard Strauss with a concert of two very different works: An Alpine Symphony (Eine Alpensinfonie), an epic tone poem completed by Strauss in 1915 that depicts a dawn-to-dusk Alpine mountain ascent and includes subtle references to the music of his close friend Gustav Mahler, who died in 1911; and Four Last Songs, which Strauss completed in 1948 at age 84 and was destined to be the composer’s final completed work. HGO Studio alum Rachel Willis-Sørensen, now one of the world’s most in-demand operatic sopranos, joins Music Director Juraj Valčuha for a performance of these majestic, sublime compositions for voice and orchestra.

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Art + Entertainment