A New Music Maestro

Over the weekend, Ken and I were pleased to meet the new Music Maestro for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra who will take on the leadership of SSO, when our dear friend, Jerry Schwarz, retires at the end of next season.  SSO Chairman of the Board, Leslie Chihuly, hosted a reception at the Chihuly Boathouse for Seattle Symphony board members to meet new SSO Music Maestro, Ludovic Morlot.  As a SSO Lifetime Trustee, I am thrilled to see what the next chapter will bring.

We arrived at the Boathouse right behind a car with a family with two young girls  who were welcomed by the valet right in front of Ken and me.  Ken said “”Who would be bringing children to meet the new Symphony Director?” and his question was answered in moments when we entered the Boathouse and met the Morlot family.  It turned out that the family who had arrived right before us was Ludovic Morlot, a charming man who arrived with his beautiful wife, Ghizlane and two young daughters Nora and Iman.

Of course, the SSO family was warm in their reception to him and enjoyed the time to get to know him one on one.  Once Leslie asked him to speak and he shared his vision of what he hoped to bring to the Seattle Symphony, his daughters decided to sit down on either side of Ken.  Ludovic told us that he has a special affinity for French music but said that he plans to present all kinds of beautiful and romantic music.  We also heard from Ludovic that Nora plays the violin and that Iman plays the cello.  Iman, his youngest daughter, showed her potential dance abilities as she continued to do turn after turn using Dale’s 88 foot downed Douglas Fir log table as a ballet barre during her father’s remarks.

Superlatives not enough for Cirque du Soleil's KOOZA!

This morning I am still in awe of the incredible show we saw last night in the big tent (called the Grand Chapiteau) at Marymoor Park featuring Cirque du Soleil’s KOOZA!  The entire production was fun and riveting and just a little scary.

To share just a bit, we saw clowns who were actually very funny, tightrope walkers who brought a pit in the stomach to watch, a beautiful, 17 year old trapeze artist, unbelievable contortionists (how did they put their bodies into those shapes!?), amazing acrobats being flung into the air by a giant Teeterboard with double and single metal stilts strapped to their legs and two thrilling “devils” who did a death-defying act in the “Wheel of Death”, which has never before been presented by Cirque du Soleil under the big top.  The Wheel of Death act was my personal favorite!

The 175 costumes and 160 hats were another feast for the eyes attraction.  In the literature, it boasts that “each coat takes 60 hours to make and each hat involves 30 hours of painstaking work.”  One of the most realistic was a coat of 150 fake fur rats with crystal eyes that caught the light.   The rats were fitted with little wheels that made them seem even more alive when they disassembled themselves from the coat and ran across the stage towards the audience.  Eek!

Our family group included Michael & Alicia Hatch and their 3-year-old son Jackson,  Justin & Amy Badger and their 7 and 8-year-old daughter and son, Catarina and Stephen, and Katie & Kevin Laramore.  We were all in agreement that it was a spectacular and memorable experience.  See photo above of part of our happy group on the way into the performance.

If you are interested in attending (which I think you should be!), ZINO Society has a 15% discount available for members and friends if you will click on the following link: https://tickets.cirquedusoleil.com/zope/webshop/walkin?channel=12&seriesCode=KOOSEA&language=en&lfMix=CDSGP&promoCode=LOCAL15&cid=hadley/kooza/seattle/15/zinosociety

Please let me know if you enjoy it as much as we did!

Stewart Kershaw and PNB - The End of an Era

Last weekend I attended the final PNB performance of the season featuring Stewart Kershaw conducting the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra for the last time.  Stewart was the visionary that 25 years ago built the PNB Orchestra, that has recently been referred to in the New York Times as “possibly the best ballet orchestra in the country”.  He has conducted The Nutcracker so many times that he has totally memorized the entire musical score.  Though gone from PNB, he will still have a chance to interact with the musicians, because he will continue to serve as the Music Director for the Auburn Symphony, and most of those musicians are also members of the PNB Orchestra.  See photos of Stewart and Peter Boal, PNB Artistic Director, above at the post performance reception.

In addition to saying farewell to Stewart, we also said goodbye to ballet dancers, Jordan Pacitti and Mara Vinson.  Jordan is retiring to pursue his fragrance business, but I know I will certainly miss seeing him onstage.  He danced beautifully last week in his final performance of Red Angels and in a fun encore romp featuring a rug!?  He received a standing ovation.  Mara was also exquisite dancing the role of Swanhilda in the final act of Coppelia and she will be missed too!

What a Night!

What an incredible party last night at the 30^th Anniversary Fifth Avenue Theatre Gala! Even my husband, Ken the curmudgeon, unexpectedly enjoyed the festivities. Fifth Avenue Theatre board member and event chair, Bonnie Towne, was thrilled with the outcome of over $400,000 raised last night, $148,000 from the “raise the paddle” portion alone. See photos of Bonnie above being celebrated by the audience and onstage with recently retired Managing Director, Marilynn Sheldon and David Armstrong, Executive Producer.

The evening was organized into three Acts. The First Act included a cocktail reception and silent auctions in the lobby and onstage. Following a light buffet dinner, the Second Act was a fifteen item live auction that was the most enjoyable auction Ken and I can recall attending ever. Every other item or so included a musical production and the auction portion was ably handled by celebrity reader, Sharon Friel, and auctioneer, Brad Goode. The big bidders of the evening were Jim Towne, who kept the bidding lively and Cathy Boshaw and Rick & Kandi Holley. The Third Act following the auction included champagne and dessert onstage to celebrate the successful conclusion of the fundraising.

Kenny & Marleen Alhadeff, were thrilled to share the Tony award they recently received for their support in producing the musical hit, Memphis, with the enthusiastic audience. See third photo above. And a fitting finale to the program was the surprise singing performance of their hugely talented daughter, Andrea Alhadeff.

Wine, wine everywhere!

I was so impressed with the Seattle Wine Awards which occurred last Sunday at the Rainier Club!  Rainier Club Director of Wine and Spirits and Executive Director of the Seattle Wine Awards, Christopher Chan, organized another amazing wine event featuring 100 wineries with numerous awards presented.  See photos of Christopher above and a few of the people enjoying the event.  I saw several ZINO Society members there as well enjoying the afternoon of rubbing shoulders with the winemakers and vintners while sipping excellent Washington wines. 

I personally visited around 50 of the winery tables and though I limited myself to one sip at each table, it still became a blur by the time I had to leave in order to attend the Encore performance of Pacific Northwest Ballet. 

Congratulations to all the wineries who received awards!

Stop! In the name of love . . .

Yesterday, I was invited to a small private luncheon in the Blue Lounge at the Experience Music Project to meet Mary Wilson of The Supremes. I ran into friend and ZINO Society member, John Otter, in the parking lot on the way into EMP and we made our way to the elevator leading to the Blue Lounge. As we stepped off the elevator, we were greeted by Tina Orr-Cahall, CEO of EMP, Jasen Emmons , EMP Curator, Patty Isaacson Sabee, EMP Deputy Director and the lady of the hour herself, Mary Wilson. Other guests who joined us and also attended the small luncheon were Ann & Rick Yoder, owners of the fantastic Wild Ginger, Lorna Kneeland, Executive Director of PONCHO and Tom Rasmussen of the Seattle City Council. See photos above of John, Lorna, Tom and me each pictured with Mary Wilson. Also pictured in the bottom photo are John, Lorna, Ann & Rick with Mary as she shows us the exhibit.

Mary was a delight to be with; so warm and friendly and interested in other’s stories as well as sharing her own. She is in town for the installation of her exhibition Reflections: The Mary Wilson Supreme Legacy Collection featuring many of the distinctive gowns originally worn by The Supremes. The vestiges of their allure are evidenced here in Mary Wilson's stunning collection of gowns. Reflections: The Mary Wilson Supreme Legacy Collection features more than 50 Supremes costumes and rare memorabilia. The collection includes the first gowns purchased by Mary, Diana Ross and Florence Ballard when they were still known as the Primettes; a set of black velvet Bob Mackie gowns worn on the GIT on Broadway television special in 1969; outfits worn on the Supremes' television specials and featured on album covers; and those from their 1977 Farewell Performance.

After an excellent buffet lunch paired with a local rose wine and advise and consultation from the women on where Mary should shop in the next couple of days while in Seattle, Mary took us on a tour of her stunning gown collection. Mary is so animated and friendly, that in no time, we were being followed by dozens of fans, all of whom were clamoring for photos with Mary which she graciously agreed to pose for with each. Mary showed us that several of the gowns weighed more than 35 pounds

because they were so embellished with bugle beads and there was even a maternity gown that she had worn when she was pregnant and performing.

Following the tour, John and I stopped in the EMP gift shop and I purchased Mary’s book entitled “Dreamgirl & Supreme Faith: My Life As a Supreme” which I look forward to reading! It was a very special day with a generous and very special lady that I am so glad that I had the opportunity to meet!

Play Me a Tune, Mr. Piano Man

On Sunday, Ken and I were treated to a small afternoon Seattle Symphony Orchestra “Conversation, Cocktails and Repartee” reception at Barney Ebsworth’s beautiful home on Hunt’s Point to meet composer, Marvin Hamlisch.  SSO Board Chairman, Leslie Chihuly greeted us and we were so pleased to see our old friends, SSO Maestro Jerry Schwarz and his wife, Jody.  Also attending were friends, Jane and Dave Davis, Janet Ketcham and our soon-to-be neighbors, David Hovind and Shelley Kuni.

After spending a little time talking with many of the guests and co-hostess, Judith Fong, and viewing Barney’s incredible art collection, we were invited to join Marvin around the grand piano.  He told some funny stories including one about trying to see if he could get teenagers interested in listening to his pops style music.  He spoke to them in his dressing room prior to a concert and told them that they were welcome to join him backstage after the concert if they liked it.  He assumed that there might be no takers, but was pleasantly surprised when all 40 teenagers were there to see him after the concert.  He was thrilled that the difference between the responses he received from his regular concert-goers who would say “God bless you!”  and the teens who told him his concert was “Awesome!!”

He then played several of his well-known compositions on the piano including a medley from “A Chorus Line” and not surprisingly, the music was upbeat and toe-tapping and it was fantastic to watch his fingers fly across the keyboard.  What an amazing talent he is!  Jerry later told me that he has earned more honors and awards than any other composer in history with the possible exception of Leonard Bernstein.

A Dance Tribute to Brady Richardson

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a fascinating studio rehearsal for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s new production of Coppelia in honor of past PNB board member, Microsoftee, and friend, Brady Richardson who passed away a year ago from cancer.  We all still miss Brady!  His wife, Sharon, in the purple dress in photos above hosted the studio rehearsal in his honor and invited those of us that had donated to PNB in Brady’s name to join her.

A studio rehearsal is always the most interesting opportunity to see dancers at work, because you can really see how hard they are working.  They are close enough that you hear their loud breathing from the exhausting, athletic moves that they are making.  Plus, you can see how hard their muscles are working as the men lift the women, etc. while making it all look effortless and graceful.  Brady and Sharon have both been very active supporters of PNB and many of the dancers have been invited to their home on a regular basis.

Sharon continues to actively support PNB and has been an active and involved member of PNB STARS, the womens’ auxillary group that raises money for PNB as well as provides educational opportunities.  The top photo is of several of the STARS members who attended the rehearsal including Susie Ostrander, Carrie Lee, Amy Andersen, Lisa Hanna, Sharon Richardson and Cindy Lee.

Jordan Pacitti, in the 2^nd and 3^rd photos above, a PNB Corps de Ballet dancer and audience favorite, who is retiring at the end of this season, is dancing the role of Dr. Coppelius, in several of the upcoming ballet performances this week and next.

 

Art is in the Eye of the Beholder

Last night I attended the Junior League of Seattle Northwest Art Project Preview at the Wright Exhibition Space.  As a Past President of the Junior League of Seattle and past chairman of the JLS Northwest Art Committee, I was especially interested to see the entire art collection hung in one location.  One of the services that the Junior League of Seattle has provided the community is taking our art collection (usually one piece at a time) out to school classrooms and spending time talking about art and encouraging children to share what they see.  Each year, the Northwest Art Project introduces over 20,000 children to the rich production of these Northwest artists by exhibiting our highly respected art collection in local schools.

This event was a kick-off to the 50^th Anniversary of the JLS Northwest Art Project and was attended by both active and sustaining members of the Junior League of Seattle as well as many of the artists whose works are part of the collection.  Artists in attendance were Catherine Eaton Skinner, Joe Max Emminger, Norman Lundin (top photo with me above), Sherry Markovitz, Jose Orantes (2^nd photo above), Elizabeth Sandvig and Michael Spafford (3^rd photo above).  I was so pleased to meet Norman Lundin since husband, Ken, and I have one of his works and it has always been one of my favorite pieces of art in our collection.  It was also fascinating to watch artist, Michael Spafford, produce a new work on the spot as a door prize drawing, which unfortunately I did not win.

Honorary Event Chairs were Junior League of Seattle members, Dee Dickinson, who was the original founder of Northwest Art Project 50 years ago, Alexis Phelps and Janet True.  As an active member, Alexis also chaired the 30 year Anniversary Celebration of the Northwest Art Project which occurred the same evening that I took the gavel as President of the Junior League of Seattle (gulp!) 20 years ago.  See photo of Alexis and 2008-2009 JLS Past President, Joanne Petitto, above (4^th photo).

In addition to the Honorary Chairs, it was fun to catch up with many friends from Junior League including Colleen Willoughby, Pam Green and daughter Paige Dunn, Ann McCutcheon, Pam Eakes, Janet True and daughter Effie, Lorna Kneeland, Joanne Petitto, Betty Rubenstein and Pat Wallace to name a few.  (See bottom photo of Joanne, Betty & Pat.)  All in attendance enjoyed viewing the art, connecting with one another, sipping wine and nibbling on hors d’oeuvres and miniature cupcakes.