A Touch of Venice

Music lovers swept through a palazzo-style archway at the Venetian-themed “Carnivale” gala last weekend benefiting the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. As about 500 people dined at tables swathed in gold silk at the Hyatt Regency Irvine, members of Bogema, a masked theatrical troupe featuring tumblers, stilt-walkers, jugglers and acrobats, performed.

But it was the entertainment provided by five prodigious teenage musicians from throughout Southern California--Cory Bonn on piano, Ying Hsueh Chen on marimba, Alexey Goroholinsky on clarinet, Chantz Powell on trumpet and Hanbin Yoo on violin--that had guests wildly applauding at the gala.

“I think you’ll agree that America’s musical future is in good hands,” orchestra music director Carl St.Clair told the crowd.

The event, which netted about $500,000 for orchestra education programs, was chaired by Jo Ellen Qualls, Barbara Johnson, Sandy Daniels and Ellie Gordon.