Arts Patrons Rule the Roost at Bash : Dinner by Chinese-American League of Pacific Symphony Celebrates New Year

“Cock-a-doodle-doo!” trilled Vesta Curry, helping herself to a succulent bite of Peking duck at the Chinese New Year bash held at Jasmine restaurant in Costa Mesa on Saturday.

There was no doubt that the dinner staged by the Chinese-American League of the Pacific Symphony was something to crow about.

The crowd was top-notch--performing arts

activists such as Janice and Roger Johnson, Arlene and George Cheng, Renee and Henry Segerstrom and orchestra director Carl St.Clair. The fare was mouthwatering and nonstop--10 courses that included stuffed Mandarin crispy chicken, steamed fish, sweet and sour shrimp and shark’s fin soup.

But Curry was crowing about her chrysanthemum-inspired hat, a feathery chapeau that prompted Janice Johnson to exclaim: “Vesta! You look like a rooster!”

Appropriate enough. The 50-strong crowd was celebrating the Year of the Rooster, explained Chinese-American League founder Arlene Cheng (Cheng and her husband, George, endowed Cheng Hall at the Irvine Barclay Theatre). People born in the Year of the Rooster can be talented, egotistic, opinionated, and dauntless, said the party invitations.

“Today is the most auspicious day of the Chinese New Year celebration,” said Arlene Cheng, who was dressed in an elegant black and Chinese-red silk pants ensemble. “This is the day of the 15th moon of the lunar year.

“Look outside! The moon is full and the light is magic. In the old days in China, young people would parade under the moonlight in their finest clothing to choose their mates.”

If she’d had her way on Saturday night, table centerpieces would have been of the classic Chinese New Year variety, Cheng explained. “But I just couldn’t find anyone to whip them up.”

Instead of flowers, there would have been arrangements of pine (“for strength,” she said), bamboo (“to convey life everlasting”) and plum blossoms (“for sweetness”).

Much of what the Chinese celebrate at the New Year has to do with sweetness, she said. “Mothers stuff their daughters’ mouths with sweets so they’ll be sweet all year. Sweet cake is our traditional New Year dessert.”

During dinner, the buzz was about the Pacific Symphony’s proposed merger with the Orange County Philharmonic Society. “I have little doubt that it will happen,” said one guest. “The challenge is trying to figure out how to integrate the groups. Some members of the philharmonic are opposed.”

Arlene Cheng founded the Chinese-American League to establish a tie between the Chinese community and Pacific Symphony. “I have made some significant inroads with the Chinese community in Irvine,” she said. “Over 50 of them will join other Pacific Symphony supporters for a concert and dinner next month.”

The league also encourages talented musicians from the Chinese community. Said Cheng: “We’re showcasing some of that talent at the Barclay Theatre on May 16. Carl St.Clair will conduct.”

Also among guests: Marcy and Maurice Mulville and Louis Spisto, executive director of the orchestra and Tom and Ann Key--chairwoman of the orchestra’s “Symphony of Jewels” gala on May 1.