Column: The Crowd: Pacific Symphony Orchestra presents black-tie gala with glamour and flair

Orange County’s Pacific Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is embarking on a most notable season of local, national and international performances.

To launch its 39th year of offering outstanding classical music, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, symphony devotees presented its season opening ball March 6 with the theme “On The Town.”

The glamorous black-tie evening at Hotel Irvine was created as a nod to the upcoming April 21 PSO performance slated to unfold at New York’s legendary Carnegie Hall.

PSO president John Forsyte shared that some 500 orchestra and chorale members along with staff and patrons of the symphony will travel to New York to share in the Carnegie Hall debut.

Opening at Carnegie is just the beginning.

St.Clair and PSO will jet to China for a May 9 to 15 debut tour performing in Shanghai, Hefei, Wuxi, Chongquing and finally in Beijing. The celebrated orchestra will be joined by acclaimed violinist Pinchas Zukerman further raising the level of excitement.

In Beijing, Zukerman and PSO will be featured at the National Center for the Performing Arts, knows as “The Giant Egg” given its unique architectural design.

On June 20, as a triumphant bow to the end of their season both on the Orange Coast and globally, St.Clair will be featured with the orchestra on a broadcast offered by PBS showcasing a performance of composer Peter Boyer’s “Ellis Island: The Dream of America.”

PBS taped PSO last season and will air the PSO concert as part of its award-winning “Great Performances” series. The broadcast will mark the first ever national television production originating from the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Certainly, another cultural landmark for PSO and also for Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Orange County overall.

All of this would not be possible without the remarkable support of the community over the past four decades. Fittingly, the PSO gala honored and lauded the generous, dedicated and loyal patrons who believe fervently that music is integral to both the cultural richness and the soul of not just the community, but of life.

With this purpose in mind, the 2018 season opening ball, chaired by ardent music patrons John and Ruth Ann Evans and a remarkable committee of support, raised an unprecedented $1.55 million for PSO programs and educational outreach.

This financial tally portends a banner year ahead. And the success belongs to more than 400 patrons who came to the New York-themed dinner with hearts and wallets open. The live auction, led by auctioneer Jim Nye, and the “Fund-A-Need” call to action together raised $757,770, approximately half of the total sum donated. The applause was infectious.

Party designers pulled out all the stops, which has become a hallmark tradition for the PSO gala. The crowd arrived to be treated to a cocktail reception created to transport guests back to a 1940s New York street scene.

Sponsored by Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin Newport Beach and Regency Air Private Charter, designers set up vignettes including faux horse-drawn carriage rides in Central Park, city vistas from the top of the Chrysler Building, a “living” Statue of Liberty and a walk through Ellis Island.

Sampling New York “dogs” from street vendor carts, salmon latkes, mini-Reuben sandwiches, and plenty of Neapolitan pizza, guests were charmed even before the program got underway.

Seated for a candlelight dinner at tables festooned with red ranunculus, amaryllis, tulips and roses, patrons partook in a classic New York dinner that began with a Waldorf salad followed by a sizzling New York steak “au poivre.”

Fabulous entertainment punctuated the dining experience — the wonderful Katharine McPhee sang selections from a “Judy Garland Live at Carnegie Hall” recording.

Also garnering applause was PSO patron, donor and pianist Michelle Horowitz who presented a performance of Rachmaninoff, and PSO principal flutist Ben Smolen with his student Alison Huh performed selections from Verdi.

Yet surely the most inspirational portion of the evening was the introduction of honored guests.

Mary and Phil Lyons of Newport Beach were named “Philanthropists of the Year.”

Forsyte called their decades of support “truly breathtaking.”

The Lyons are the largest endowment donors of both Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale.

“We would not be going to Carnegie Hall without their partnership,” Forsyte said.

Receiving the Corporate and Community Leadership Award were Sheila and Jim Peterson, CEO and chairman of Microsemi.

Forsyte shared that the Petersons and Microsemi have made a lifetime commitment of more than $1 million in support of PSO music education programs.

As the curtain went down on a grand night in New York-Orange County style, an enthusiastic symphony patronage embarkeds on a magical year of “firsts” for PSO and for the O.C.

B.W. COOK is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.