A little night music: Opera toasts gala chairs, council and committee at lyrical evening
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Now, this is our idea of an overture꞉ An evening of dinner and music to introduce another evening of dinner and music.
Paulette Koch opened her Palm Beach home for a night of celebrating the Palm Beach Opera's upcoming gala.
The event took place Jan. 6 and honored the gala chairwomen ― Judy Harpel, Diane Sculley and hostess Koch ―and the members of the gala council and the host committee.
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In addition to dinner, the night included cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, a brief welcome from Koch and remarks from David Genser and David Walker.
Genser reminded guests that the gala is the opera’s largest annual fundraiser and not only supports the company’s world-class productions but also its three-tiered artist training programs as well as the numerous education and community engagement initiatives provided at no cost across Palm Beach County.
Walker, Palm Beach Opera's general director, thanked the evening’s hosts — Koch, Genser and his wife Joan, and Judy and Jerry Kaufman — and introduced three of this season’s Benenson Young Artists: Maria Vasilevskaya, Devin Eatmon and Cloe SanAntonio. Accompanied by pianist Shelby Rhoades, the trio performed arias from Bizet's "Carmen," Puccini's "La Bohème," Verdi's "La Traviata," and the Lehár operetta "Das Land des Lächelns (The Land of Smiles)."
Nearly 70 people attended, included David Brodsky, Erika and David Brown, Judi Donoff, Susan and Paul Efron, Wendy and Elliott Eisen, Dana and Robert Iommazzo, and Jane and John Shalam.
The Palm Beach Opera Gala will take place Feb. 5 at The Breakers and will feature a recital by mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, a three-time Grammy Award winner who made her PBO debut as Musetta in "La Bohème" at the company's outdoor festival in the pandemic year of 2021.
Proceeds from the event will assist the Palm Beach Opera in its mission to produce live opera at an international standard of excellence and to enrich the life of the communities it serves with a diverse offering of educational programs.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Society: Koch hosts Palm Beach Opera in runup to Feb. 5 gala
