Black Tie & Tales

+ Singing for their supper
Good food and great music were on the menu for the Sarasota Opera’s Dec. 9 Co-Producers Dinner. The opera goes all out for this event, the only event it hosts on the stage, this year using the set of “The Golden Cockerel.” The dashing duo of Victor DeRenzi, artistic director, and Richard Russell, executive director, welcomed a full stage of 140 guests. The performance by baritone Sean Anderson ranged from murderous rage (“Un Amico de la Patria” from Andrea Chenier) to romantic love (Sigmund Romberg’s “One Alone.”) Guests enjoyed appetizers and dinner by Phil Mancini at beautifully set tables with floral design by Elegant Designs Floral Art Studio. Teri Hansen, Veronica Brady and Scott Anderson represented dinner sponsor Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

+ A votre santé
Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation hosted its 20th annual Corinthian Society Celebration Dec. 11, at Bird Key Yacht Club. Phil Delaney, president of long-term event sponsor Northern Trust, cited the remarkable growth from the original 35 guests to 225 plus this year. Foundation President Alex Quarles reported a total of $60 million raised for the hospital. And hospital President and CEO David Verinder, making his first presentation in that role, reported that Sarasota Memorial has the lowest readmission rate in the country for hospitals with 500 or more beds. 

The foundation welcomed new members to the Corinthian and Legacy Societies, and honored new doctors and pillars of philanthropy. Its highest honor, the Ambassador of Philanthropy for vision and leadership went to the Roberta Leventhal Sudakoff Foundation, represented by Gary Buckholz. Among the guests were Margaret Wise; Sharon Black Floyd and Bill Davidson; Charlie Ann and Jim Syprett, vice chair of the foundation board; Flora Major; Flori Roberts; foundation board member Susan Brennan; and, happily, Marcia Jean Taub and her recently recovered father Ronald Taub, looking great.

+ Magical musicale
It’s a rare event in which the content, the cause and the crowd are in perfect harmony, but it happens regularly with La Musica’s Sonata a Due. This year’s party took place Dec. 8 at the Charles Ringling mansion at New College. There was lots of news for board President Frederick Derr to share, beginning with Simply Sonatas, a new addition to the April concert. He also introduced new board member Jerry Bilik, a composer and former professor of music at the University of Michigan, whose credits include scoring big-name TV shows like “Charlie’s Angels.” Federico Agostini and Derek Han performed Mozart, Brahms and Saint-Saëns at Sonata a Due, which was a sellout for the first time in its 25-year history, attracting more than 200 guests including Teri and Dan Callender, Kathleen Gurney and Mel Syrbnik, Kameron and Bart Hodgens, Hillary Steele, Terry and Robyn Sullivan, Stephen and Linda Rei, Brigitte Von Kessel and Judy Zuckerberg with her son Michael Zuckerberg.

+ Tidbits
Once more with feeling … The good news is that USF’s Dennis Stover and Andrea Stevens are back on their feet. They suffered minor injuries in a bizarre accident; incredibly, someone rear-ended their vehicle three times … With a song in their hearts … The Dec. 9 date of the Opera Co-Producers Dinner marked six years to the day since June LeBell and Edward Alley had their first date. They wed in New York City a mere six months later … L’amour, l’amour … Acknowledging that it might embarrass her, Richard Russell announced to Sarasota Opera Co-Producers Dinner guests that development assistant Claire Wallace and baritone Joseph Ryan, who met at the opera house, would marry Dec. 13 … Blessings for Betty ... Beloved nonagenarian Betty Schoenbaum, who is the oh-so-aspirational role model for so many of us, was hospitalized briefly last week for respiratory problems. At press time, she was recovering at home with nursing care, her daughters who are rotating in from out of town and her wonderful assistant Ray Watson, who says that it’s going to take some time, but Schoenbaum is doing more every day.