When was the last time you heard The Beatles’ “Penny Lane” played on piccolo trumpet? If you had attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Gala, you could answer that question with enthusiasm. The annual black-tie event was filled with unexpected melodies, joyous collaborations, sumptuous surroundings, and a shared love of music that bound the patrons into a cohesive, enthusiastic audience. The evening begins in the Conservatory’s renovated lobby, a stone, steel and glass marvel that encourages grand entrances down the sweeping stairway. After an hour of libations and exclamations about the evening’s attire, the dulcet weather, and the news of the day, guests were ushered into their assigned seats for a concert of the Conservatory’s students and affiliates, “An Evening Celebrating Distinguished Alumni.” Following a virtuoso Paganini piano performance by 12-year- old student Sara Tuan, and a little Donizetti from undergraduates Evan Kardon and Mario Rojas, the opera diva Elza van den Heever presented a richly performed version of Wagner, and Bellini accompanied by Warren Jones. A 2004 graduate of the Conservatory, van den Heever made a point of thanking the school for enabling her education, and for admitting her in the first place. Then a Second Line of Canadian Brass tooted through the auditorium, creating whole symphonies of sound out of six horns. Bach, Gershwin, Handy, Rimsky-Korsakoff made appearances along with the Beatles. They managed to sound full and rich and not at all, well, brassy, with obvious enthusiasm matched only by their superlative skill. The trombone was played by class of 2006’s Achilles Liarmakopoulos, and compatriots were happy to be honoring him as they joined van den Heever, Jones, and almost-graduated Mark Grisez on trumpet for Kurt Weill’s “I’m a Stranger Here Myself.” Then the assembly tootled off to dinner in Riccardo Benevides’ reimagined tent, pitched alongside the Conservatory. Inside, chandeliers glowed, walls were softly draped, and the tables were set with gilded chargers and an English garden full of arrangements. Roses, hydrangeas and plum blossoms perfumed the room, casting a fairy tale spell over the otherworldly space that felt very far away from Franklin Street. McCall’s delivered an equally exquisite dinner, starting with a marquise of Hamachi and avocado, followed by a Moroccan spiced lamp chop with lentil and chickpea succotash, and a strawberry-rhubarb crisp with strawberry gelato that tasted as mellifluous as a Beatles song. Then the Punch Brothers bluegrass band, featuring alumnus Chris Thile got everyone on their feet, or at least tapping them, to some rip-roaring roots music. For a crowd that is used to a controlled evening of classical fare, the response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. The Conservatory was showing off its versatility, and its broad range of alumni talents, and its commitment to teaching a wide swath of performers to succeed in the musical arts.
Keeping it brassy and classy: Gala Co- chairs Susan Marineau and Deepa Pakianathan in gorgeous red Rubin Singer gown attended by the designer himself, President David Stull, Board Chair Timothy Foo, Officers Karen Kubin, Joshua Rafner, William K. Bowes, Michael Whitman, and Edward Beck. Also of note: Ann and Gordon Getty, Richard Blum, Helen and John Meyer, Marie-Jose and Kent Baum, Denise Littlefield Sobel, Nancy Probst, Barbara Walkowski, Fred Levin and Nancy Livingston, Pitch Johnson, Louise Renne, John Osterweis, Carol and Dixon Doll, Ann and Daniel Girard, Gretchen Kimball, Charlot and Gregory Malin, Dede Wilsey, Philip Marineau, Michael and Anne-Renee Feldman, James Hormel and Timothy Foo, Dr. Chi-Foon and Rebecca-Sen Chan, Claire and Jeff Fluhr, Alan Morrell, Zornitza Stefanova and Payam Mirrashidi, Lorna Meyer and Dennis Calas, Bernice and John Lindstrom, Vivienne Miller, Phil Pemberton, Frederica von Stade and Michael Gorman, Robin Sutherland and Carlos Ortega, Delia Ehrlich, Dix and Didi Boring, Michael and Marilyn Cabak, Gary Garabedian, Milton Mosk and Thomas Foutch, Emily Marcus, Barbara Brown, Virginia Foo, Patricia and Edwin Berkowitz, Carolyn Chandler, Lisa and John Grotts, Scott Sandmeier, Sande and Sabrina Schlumberger, Ben Singer, Keerali Kothari, Jan and Jim Buckley, Biren Bhandari, Nancy and Richard Bohannon, Scott Fogelsong, Marybeth LaMotte, Lorna Meyer Calas and Dennis Calas, Robert Destino, Robin Laub, Nina and Mike Rowe, Ron and Emely Weissman, Marianne Peterson, and many more who know the score.