2.10.12: Glamour, elegance, and tradition

Glamour, elegance, and tradition

Midnight Quadrille at the 57th annual Viennese Opera Ball.

For decades, the much-anticipated Viennese Opera Ball charity gala has delivered glamour, elegance, and tradition along with a carriage-load of fun! This year, the 57th Consecutive annual Ball doubled the pleasure: not one horse-drawn carriage but TWO drove into the Waldorf’s Grand Ballroom. Also: not one fabulous soprano but two -- Dueling Divas -- competing to star in Mozart's opera, “The Impresario.”

The February 3rd white-tie gala at the Waldorf=Astoria was also awash with Diplomats, Dignitaries and 20 Snow-White-gowned debutantes. The co-hosts for the evening included the red-hot dance czars from ABC-TV's hit show “Dancing With The Stars": brothers Maksim and Val Chmerkovskiy and their co-star from the dance show phenomenon, Tony Dovolani.

2012 Viennese Opera Ball Debutantes and Escorts

For a great party you start with the basics: Peter Duchin and his Orchestra; Metropolitan Opera Artists like Cyndia Sieden and Amy Shoremount-Obra; a Color Guard from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; a touch of the titles in the persons of Baroness Gabriela von Langendorff and Sheik Abdul Rahman Thuraya; the wines from the Royal Esterházy Estate Winery; and a great charity – for the 2nd year in a row -- Lauren Bush Lauren’s FEED Foundation, which is committed to helping ensure that people everywhere do not go hungry and have access to healthy nutritious food by working and supporting NGO partners around the world and in America.

Waltzing next to Lauren Bush Lauren and her husband David Lauren were her Mother, Sharon Bush with Dr. Jeffrey Moses, who took several turns on the floor -- as did Ambassador Carl Spielvogel with wife and force-of-nature, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel.

West Point Cadet Color Guard

Making it a family affair, Ashley Bush joined Lili Thomas Buffett (grand-daughter in-law of Warren), whose sister, Lynn Thomas, was one of the Debutantes being presented. Fresh from television appearances as a “Project Runway” All-Star, Austin Scarlett created an original gown for his debutante, Jillian Hetsko inspired by Austria's beloved 19th century Empress Elisabeth.

The emcee throughout the evening was Mike Woods of Fox 5's Good Day New York. And those of you who have been to the Ball in the past decade know it moves like an Austrian clock leaving no detail to chance, thanks to the Ball's creative Executive Director, Marcie Rudell. It has to -- the Ball's festivities continue until 4 in the morning and even at that hour it is packed with revelers.

2012 Viennese Opera Ball Debutantes and Escorts

Todd Wilander, tenor; Amy Shoremount-Obra; and Christopher Job, bass baritone, perform in "The Impressario"

We started out the story saying the Ball had doubled their fun, but actually in one case it tripled! Donald Trump’s Miss Universe Organization sent all three of its titleholders: the reigning Miss Universe, Leila Lopes, Miss USA Alyssa Campanella and Miss Teen USA Danielle Doty. It is rare indeed that these three beauties are ever in the same town at the same time, let alone at the same event. The trio led the presentation of the 2012 Viennese Opera Ball Debutantes into the Ballroom.

If you missed the Ball, you can still help FEED Foundations important work. The Ball hosts an on-line auction at www.charitybuzz.com/Viennese2012 with a deluxe visit to the Esterházy Palace outside of Vienna, Yankee Game Day tickets for 4, plus many more things money can’t usually buy.

Leena and Dr. Mel Sturman

Michelle and Dan Heidt

Dancing stars Tony Dovolani, Val and Maksim Chmerkovskiy break the red carpet routine with reigning Miss Universe Leila Lopes

Shermane Billingsley, daughter of Stork Club creator Sherman Billingsley

Austrian Ambassador to the U.S. Hans Peter Manz and Vienna Vice Mayor and Vice Governor Renate Brauner

Ambassador Carl and Mrs. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel

Katharina Manz with her father, Austria's Ambassador the U.S. Hans Peter Manz

Jean McCabe and Joseph Missbrenner

Tony and Lina Dovolani, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Nicole Volynets, and Val Chmerkovskiy

Mr. and Mrs. Siamak B. Samii, parents of VOB Debutante Leila Samii, with their daughter Safiyeh

Sheikh Abdullah Rahman Thuraya and Baroness Gabriella von Langendorff

Austrian UN Ambassador Martin Sajdik, Barbara Werewka and Austrian Counsel General Ernst-Peter Brezovsky

Dr. Marijana Feder and Dr. Theodore Feder, President of the Artists Rights Group, parents of Viennese Opera Ball Debutante Katarina Feder

Jane and John Sullivan

William Kane; H.E. Mr. Nestor Osorio, U.N. Ambassador to Colombia; Mrs. Angela Kane, U.N. Under-Secretary General for Management; Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting, Head of the European Union Delegation to the UN; Elisabeth Mayr-Harting; H.E. Mr. Herman Schaper, U.N. Ambassador Netherlands

Sharon Bush and Dr. Jeffrey Moses

Tony Dovolani and Nicole Volynets

Austin Scarlett and Viennese Opera Ball Debutante Jillian Hetsko

Reigning Miss USA Alyssa Campanella, reigning Miss Teen USA Danielle Doty, reigning Miss Universe Leila Lopes

FEED Foundation founder Lauren Bush Lauren

Stephanie Nass and Harrison Monsky

Nicole Volynets, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Austrian Ambassador to the U.S. Hans Peter Manz and Vienna Vice Mayor and Vice Governor Renate Brauner, Val Chmerkovskiy, Lina Dovolani, and Tony Dovolani

Austrian Counsel General Ernst-Peter Brezovsky and Barbara Werewka

This past Wednesday night a Cipriani Wall Street, AmFAR held its annual benefit black tie gala with Sarah Jessica Parker as host. Big turn out, big names: Woody Allen, Jennifer Hudson, Lindsay Lohan (uh-huh), Molly Sims, Stanley Tucci, Roberto Cavalli (who was being honored), Cindy Crawford, Elizabeth Hurley, Karolina Kurkova, Erin Heatherton, Heidi Klum.

Mr. Cavalli’s voice was a little on the scratchy side. “I will give my speech with this voice,” he told a reporter. “It’s more sexy.”

There was a video tribute to Elizabeth Taylor who was AmFar’s Founding International Chairman.

Cindy Crawford and Kenneth Cole

Dr. Mathilde Krim

Jennifer Hudson and Roberto Cavalli

Karolina Kurkova

Ilona Saic

Carol Alt

Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele

Lindsay Lohan

Heidi Klum and friends

Leila Lopes

Michelle Harper

Maggio Cipriani and friends

Shane Warne and Elizabeth Hurley

Sarah Jessica Parker

Joan Smalls

Janelle Monae

Lynn Collins

Hofit Golan and Michael Lillelund

Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict

Natalia Andrade and Chloe Bello

Julie Henderson

Erin Heatherton

Rose Byrne

Jessica White

Nicky Hilton

David Furnish

Erin Heatherton

Julianne Moore

Leigh Lezark

Carine Roitfeld

Padma Lakshmi

Fabiola Beracasa

Robert Konjic and Julia Restoin-Roitfeld

Leighton Meester

Kenneth Cole and Paula Zahn

?, Deborah Harry

Linda Evangelista and Stephen Gan

Rachel Roy

Elisa Sednaoui

Lorraine Schwartz

Allegra Carpenter

Liya Kebede

Felicity Blunt and Stanley Tucci

Denise Rich

On Saturday, February 4, Peter Brown, Yoko Ono Lennon and Craig and Deborah Cogut hosted an intimate reception and performance featuring young Israeli musicians from The Polyphony Ensemble performing alongside star mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier and renowned-pianist Saleem Abboud-Ashkar.

The Polyphony Ensemble is an effort of the Polyphony Foundation, which seeks to create channels for dialogue between Arab and Jewish youth communities in Israel via music education and other innovative educational programs. It currently serves nearly 1,500 students and with the enormous success of the program, hopes to expand to include 3,000 students by 2015. Polyphony was founded in 2011 by Craig and Deborah Cogut; renowned concert violinist Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar and
Cher.

14-year-old violinist Yamen Saadi acknowledges the audience's enthusiastic ovation

Majd Machour of Nazareth and Uri Tibon of Tel Aviv play Mozart

Waltraud Meier treated guests to a stunning performance of the last three songs of Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder with Abboud-Ashkar on piano. Meier was recently
awarded the "Medal of the Palau de la Música de Valencia 2011" for her extraordinary artistic achievement, and is currently featured in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Götterdämmerung directed by Robert Lepage.

From The Polyphony Ensemble, 14-year-old Yamen Saadi opened on violin playing a Hungarian Dance of Brahms arranged by Kreisler and accompanied on piano by Saleem Abboud-Ashkar. Polyphony's Majd Machour and Uri Tibon played a Mozart Four Hands Sonata, which was especially poignant since Machour hails from Nazareth and Tibon from Tel Aviv. Their collaboration epitomizes the way music has brought diverse Israeli communities together through music. The program closed with a riveting Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 played by brothers Nabeel and Saleem Abboud-Ashkar and Yutam Baruch.

More than 50 guests attended this special event held at the home of Polyphony Foundation co-founders, Craig and Deborah Cogut.

Saleem Abboud Ashkar, Craig Cogut, Waltraud Meier, Deborah Cogut, and Nabeel Abboud Ashkar

Yoko Ono, Peter Brown, Nabeel Abboud Ashkar, HRH Princess Firyal of Jordan, Gil Shiva, and Deborah Cogut

Susan Calhoun Moss and Charlie Moss

Imogen Lloyd Webber and Michael Kaplan

Olivia Hoge and Eden Collinsworth

Craig Cogut with Joan and George Hornig

Nona Hendryx and Yoko Ono

Majd Machour, Yamen Saadi, and Waltraud Meier

Saleem Abboud Ashkar and Waltraud Meier

Debbie Dunn and Martin Dunn

Yoko Ono and Barry Tucker

Nabeel Abboud Ashkar, Yoko Ono, and Peter Brown

Graham Bowley, Vera Haller, and Chrystia Freeland

Amy Lipton with Amir and Dafna Meitar-Nehmad

Also, this past Wednesday night at the Hammerstein Ballroom, they held the the Heart Truth’s Red Dress Collection 2012 fashion show. The annual event has been created to raise awareness about women and heart disease. The participants are a host of actresses, singers, celebrities, all turned out on the runway looking stunning in red.

Among those participating were Chaka Khan, LaLa Anthony, Vivica A. Fox, Phylicia Rashad, B. Smith, Aisha Taylor.

The Collection was created by Million Hearts, a U. S. Department of Health and Human Services initiative working to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States, and for African-American women the risk of heart disease is especially great.

To learn more, click here.