San Diego Opera’s 2011 gala, set for Saturday, January 29, will honor Esther Burnham and will take place in conjunction with the opening of the company’s 46th season with Puccini’s masterpiece Turandot.
The black-tie event will begin at 5:30pm with an elegant pre-opera cocktail reception at The US Grant followed by a performance of Turandot at 7pm at the San Diego Civic Theatre.
Immediately following the opera, at approximately 10pm, participants will make their way back to The US Grant where they’ll be transported to Imperial Peking China for dinner and dancing with the cast of Turandot. In keeping with the theme of the evening, dinner will be Chinese cuisine.
Chairing this event are the Dow Divas (a full listing of the Dow Divas appears below) and the lead sponsor of the gala is Wells Fargo. Rancho Valencia is the Patron Party Sponsor.
This year’s gala will honor the contributions to the community by Esther Burnham, an investor, outstanding community volunteer, and a resident of San Diego since 1973. She is a past commissioner of the City of San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture, and her past board service includes the UCSD Board of Overseers and Chancellor’s Association, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Center for Children and the San Diego Community Foundation. She currently sits on the board of directors for the Neurosciences Institute. She is one of two life directors of San Diego Opera.
The cost to attend the gala begins at $1,250 per person and includes the pre-opera reception, access to the intermission tent, the post-opera dinner and party, and acknowledgement in the gala program (opera tickets are not included). Additional $2,500 packages are available that include everything above as well as an invitation to an exclusive patron party at Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa.
Tables for ten individuals can also be purchased for $12,500 and include the pre-opera reception, access to the intermission tent, the post-opera dinner and party, and acknowledgement in the gala program (opera tickets are not included).
Special all-inclusive tables for ten guests are also available for $15,000 and include opera tickets, the pre-opera reception, access to the intermission tent, the post-opera dinner and party, as well as multiple acknowledgments in the gala program.
A very special VIP table is available for $25,000 and includes everything in the all-inclusive package as well as Lead Sponsor recognition and invitation to the exclusive patron party at Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa.
Finally, a gala table can be purchased for $50,000 that includes everything in the VIP table package, prime reserved seating, specially selected wines at dinner, and a personal waiter for the table throughout the reception.
To purchase tickets to the gala, please contact Jan Kaplan at San Diego Opera. (619/232-7636, jan.kaplan@sdopera.com)
The Dow Divas were originally formed 15 years ago as women’s investment group but over the past decade have expanded their original vision and now also operate as community and cultural activists. The 2010 Dow Divas are: President Iris Lynn Strauss, Rusti Bartell, Barbara Bloom, Tanya Brandes, Lee Clark, Karen Cohn, Valerie Cooper, Olivia Farrell, Alberta Feurzeig, Jake Figi, Dawn Gilman, Lee Goldberg, Jennifer Greenfield, Joan Jacobs, Jeanne Jones, Wanda Kaufman, Lynda Kerr, Sheila Lipinsky, Mary Keough Lyman, Sarah B. Marsh-Rebelo, Sheila Potiker, Colette Carson Royston, Sheryl White, M. Faye Wilson, and Pamela Wygod. (www.sdopera.com)
