Musical Marvel

Phoebe and Bobby Tudor
Phoebe and Bobby Tudor

Always a highly anticipated event, this year’s Symphony Opening Night marked the start of a social season celebrating the recovery of Houston’s art scene post-Harvey. The evening began with a concert featuring renowned pianist Yuja Wang, who mesmerized the crowd with her surprisingly powerful performance.


The petite and stylish musician threw her whole body into works by Rachmaninoff, and into a long piece, accompanied by the full symphony, the latter played with only her left hand. After the concert, 400 partygoers made their way to The Corinthian for dinner and dancing. The décor recalled black-and-white keys, and even the desserts were in the shape of tiny chocolate pianos, filled with delicious mousse.

The Royal Dukes Band got the black-tie-clad crowd on their feet, but only after a lucrative auction, which contributed to the evening’s till of $750,000, and included a Model M player piano signed by Wang herself. Jo Dee and Cliff Wright were the lucky recipients. Bravo, bravo!

Cheryl Byington and Beth Wolff
Party People
Fall Philanthropy Report: Spindletop Community Impact Partners Engages and Supports At-Risk Youth

The 50th Annual Spindletop Holiday Ball, Seas and Greetings, will be held on Thursday, December 12. Tables and sponsorship opportunities are available now.

What is your mission? Spindletop Community Impact Partners, Inc. enhances the lives of at-risk youth through funding and volunteering from the energy industry, while promoting fellowship and networking among its participants.

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Brian Crawmer, Sarah Crawmer, Marilyn, and David Guion

VITA LIVING WELCOMED over 300 guests to its annual Pearls of Wisdom Fiesta at the River Oaks Country Club. This year’s dinner — themed Una Notte Italianaraised more than $207,000 in support of lifelong care for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

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Parties

Derrick Shore, Tom Mays and Owen Conflenti (photo by Daniel Ortiz)

THE ALWAYS MEMORABLE Alley Theatre ball took on special significance this year, becoming not just a sexy Post Oak Hotel soiree — with “A Buenos Aires Affair” as the theme, nodding to the company’s production of Noël Coward’s Private Lives — but also an emotional sendoff to retiring longtime Managing Director Dean Gladden. It raised $1.3 million to boot.

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Art+Culture