Making music with donations to Pacific Symphony

B.W. COOK

It was arguably the charity event of the spring in Orange County. The

25th-anniversary gala on May 22 honoring the Pacific Symphony

attracted more than 500 patrons, raising more than $1 million.

Glamorous guests paid at least $1,500 per couple to dine and dance

at the Hyatt Regency Irvine, which was transformed by volunteers from

a hotel ballroom into a Russian-inspired fantasy land. They called

the event the “Festival of the White Nights.” It was magnificent.

Chairpersons for the event were Sandra Segerstrom-Daniels, Lynn

Freeman and Ellie Gordon. The crowd was delighted by a continuous

parade of entertainment, including shows by the Flying Karamazov

Brothers and the Neva Russian Dance Ensemble. Just as the crowd

caught their collective breath, more dancers, singers and classical

music presentations kept the evening moving.

Major donors from the Newport-Mesa communities included Harbor

Island’s most dedicated Phil and Mary Lyons, banking heir Howard

Ahmanson and his bride Roberta Green Ahmanson, art patron William

Gillespie of Laguna Beach and longtime Pacific Symphony Orchestra

board member and donor Mary Muth. They were all lauded for support,

both for the event and for much of the symphony’s 25-year history.

Funds raised will support the orchestra’s 20 youth education and

community service programs, reaching more than 100,000 Orange County

young people annually. The respected music director of the orchestra,

Carl St. Clair, attended the gala with his wife Susan. Carl St. Clair

expressed pride in the event.

“We can boast that we choose to spend a larger percentage of our

budget toward music education programs than any other orchestra in

America,” he said.

Supporting the orchestra and the gala evening was a wide

cross-section of local citizens. Some kudos for their generosity to:

Gail and Roger Kirwan, Elizabeth and John Stahr, Carol and Kent

Wilken, Joan and Tom Riach, Whitney and Jerry Mandel, and Catherine

and Jim Emmi. Gala committee members creating the successful affair

were Janice Johnson, Patricia Marshall, Pat Podlich, Salma Chehabi,

Hannareta Fishman, Harriet Edelstein and Joann Leatherby, to name

only a few.

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