Belt It Out!

The Houston Grand Opera hosted its 30th annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Youth Singers at Rice, streaming the program live on Facebook and YouTube. The months-long application and audition process concluded with eight finalists performing at the vocal competition — congratulations are in order for contralto Leia Lensing from the University of Northern Iowa, who was awarded the $10,000 grand prize! — followed by a seated dinner at the Hotel ZaZa. The evening raised more than $600,000.

Priscilla Dickson



Brenda Harvey-Traylor and Sid Moorhead
Parties

An aerial shot of River Oaks District (photo by Shannon O'Hara)

ACROSS 610 FROM his Post Oak Hotel at Uptown, Tilman Fertitta has just purchased the 14-acre mixed-use River Oaks District development. The acquisition is his second luxury-property purchase in recent months; the Rockets owner bought the Montage Laguna Beach for $650 million in November 2022.

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Style

WHEN HURRICANE HARVEY unleashed its wrath, Mumbai-born author Nishita Parekh and a few family members, some of whom had homes in evacuation zones, holed up in her second-story apartment, safe from the flooding — but trapped. “Five adults and two kids, crammed into this one-bedroom space,” recalls Parekh. “We ended up having a good time. But that experience planted a seed in my mind that this would make a good premise for a mystery."

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Art + Entertainment