Surprise Gift of $22 Million Steals the Spotlight at HGO’s Annual ‘Concert of Arias’ Event

Wilson Parish and Michael Bishop
Surprise Gift of $22 Million Steals the Spotlight at HGO’s Annual ‘Concert of Arias’ Event

Chris Johnston, Duke & C.C. Ensell, Mark Folkes

HOUSTON GRAND OPERA, a company well familiar with epic events and grand occasions, outdid itself at its recent Concert of Arias show and dinner.


The usual high point of the annual event — the finals of the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, followed by an elegant dinner in the Wortham foyer — is the naming of the winners of the “American Idol”-type contest for young opera singers. But there was another announcement this year that had tongues wagging.

Indeed, after mezzo-soprano Natalie Lewis was named the first-place winner and handed a check for $10,000, HGO General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor spoke to the audience, explaining that donors Sarah and Ernest Butler had just made the largest ever single gift to the company — $22 million! In recognition of their gift, HGO’s 43-year-old, world-renowned school for young singers was renamed the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio.

“Decades-long HGO supporters Rita Leader and Glen Rosenbaum chaired the evening that saw record attendance and raised over $660,000 to benefit the future of the operatic art form through HGO Studio’s recruitment, nurturing, and support of world-class young artists,” added a rep for the company.

Boldface names in the crowd included Cynthia and Tony Petrello, Molly and Jim Crownover, Isabel and Danny David, Beth Madison, Kristina Sommerville, Bobbie Nau, and Grammy-winning soprano Isabel Leonard, who was among the judges for the competition.

Beth Wolff, Anna Dean, Cheryl Byington

Bobbie Nau & Kristina Somerville

Al Lasher and Melanie Jerrell

Cynthia Petrello & Celina Hellmund

Jennifer Davenport and Rebecca Martens

Betty and Jess Tutor, Jackie and Malcolm Mazow

Anne and Albert Chao

Danny and Isabel David

Drs. Warren and Rachel Ellsworth

Marty Dudley, Teresa Ivo, Luke Sutliff

Emily Bivona and Ryan Manser

Thomas Oswald and Maureen Zoltek

Ani Kushyan and Navasard Hakobyan

Vivianna Jolie & Astley Blair

Patrick Summers, Rita Leader and Glen Rosenbaum

Aerin & Quentin Smith

Ann & Jonathan Ayre

Parties
Fall Philanthropy Report: Easter Seals of Greater Houston ‘Impacts Where People Need Us the Most’

What year was your organization launched? Founded in Houston in 1947, as the Cerebral Palsy Treatment Center, the organization provided services to individuals with disabilities living in Houston and Harris County. In 1989, the organization changed its name and greatly expanded its services to meet the needs of its clientele. Today as Easter Seals Greater Houston, the organization provides multiple outstanding service programs to children, adults, veterans, and service members with all types of disabilities and their families in Harris and sixteen surrounding counties.

Keep Reading Show less

Lisa Rich, Jessica Givens, Coco Lu

BETWEEN AN EXCITING raffle and runway show, Homemade Hope's fash bash at Tootsies was a truly tasteful success! More than 160 well heeled attendees also enjoyed browsing the season's most stylish offerings and chatting with Homemade Hope's executive director, Blair Bentley Ozenbaugh, about its mission to support at-risk children via mentoring and culinary lessons.

Keep Reading Show less
Style

Symphony Springs to Life with Floral-Fabulous Fete

Jacob Power and Priscilla Dickson

Chairs Brady and Zane Carruth, Brittany and Adam Clark

IT ALREADY FEELS like spring in Houston and the spring social season is here with it! 375 guests donned in white-tie flocked to The Post Oak Hotel for the annual Houston Symphony Ball, one of the city’s most anticipated and A-list galas.

Keep Reading Show less
Parties