Symphony of Jewels Bash Good as Gold for League

Symphony of Jewels, a sparkling night of dancing, dining and music, proved a gem of a fund-raiser for the Pacific Symphony Orchestra.

About 300 guests, many sporting some impressive jewels of their own, turned up at Le Meridien Hotel in Newport Beach Saturday for the orchestra league’s 13th annual ball. The $175-per-person black-tie dinner was expected to raise $75,000 for the orchestra.

Hot Rocks

Event organizers chose jewels for its theme because Tiffany & Co. was a major underwriter of the ball and because “we feel the symphony really is a jewel,” said Anne Key, ball chairwoman.

Tiffany provided invitations adorned with musical notes and sent each guest home with a crystal champagne flute wrapped in the jeweler’s trademark blue box.

“This is our first significant effort with the symphony. We think it’s a natural marriage and it will go on a long time,” said Jo Ellen Qualls, symphony board member and vice president of Tiffany & Co. in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa.

Many of the women picked up on the theme and wore glittering necklaces and earrings with their ball gowns. Janice Johnson, president of orchestra board, wore an emerald-green sequined sheath with an emerald necklace.

“This is the dress I wore to the (Clinton) inauguration,” she said. Roger Johnson, who served as the evening’s auctioneer, will soon leave for Washington, D.C., to serve as head of the General Services Administration. Janice will live in their Laguna Beach home through Jan. 1, then commute once a month through June 30 to continue her work with the orchestra.

“We just started a capital campaign, and I can’t leave in the middle of it,” she said.

Evening Sparkle

The ballroom, too, shone like a jewel.

“We wanted something very understated and elegant, not overdone,” Key said.

Tables were decorated with multicolored faux gems and towering crystal vases wrapped with “pearls” and filled with white flowers.

Dinner guests were served first-class fare: cream of asparagus soup, salad with goat cheese croutons and balsamic vinaigrette and veal medallions with jumbo shrimp.

Later the lights of the ballroom were dimmed and in marched servers with the dessert set on silver trays illuminated by candlelight. The chocolate torte, topped with strawberries and adorned with musical notes made of solid chocolate, proved worthy of the fanfare.

Entertainment was designed to please music lovers. Guests danced all night to the Clark Keen orchestra. After dinner, Debra and James Kanter performed works by Beethoven on clarinet, and vocalist Bobbi Page sang “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”

Those attending included George and Arlene Cheng, the ball’s honorary chairmen; Carl St.Clair, music director of the orchestra; Lou Spisto, executive director of the orchestra; Jim and Velma Emmi; Bruce and Alicia Furst; Peter and Sharon Jaquith; Richard Kaufman; Marcy and Maurice Mulville; Julia Rappaport and her daughter, Janet; Elaine Redfield; Wally and Gerry Schroeder; Marv and Pat Weiss, league president, and Dennis and Marlene Zeleny.