Eve Foussard and Laila Conlin

 

Santa Ana, CA – Over 200 guests attended Opera Pacific’s Gold Ring Society of Founders and Guild Alliance Gala, “A Seafaring Life” on Sunday, June 26, 2005, at the Harborside Grand Ballroom at the Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach.  This year’s gala marks the 21st anniversary of the event and was co-chaired by Eve Foussard and Laila Conlin.  The gala raised over $40,000 for the company while honoring active community member and founding member of Opera Pacific and the Guild Alliance, Margaret L. Price. 

             “Eve and I have been working together on projects for the opera for about 20 years,” exclaimed Laila Conlin, Co-Chairman of the event. “We do all this work because we love the voices.  Opera gives us the opportunity to become someone else for an evening and we love doing all we can to support Opera Pacific.”

            The evening began at 6:00pm with a reception aboard the yacht Mara Vanessa and continued with dinner at 7:00pm, followed by live entertainment and dancing to the music of Shanda Lear…and All That Brasss! as the sun set over the harbor.  Both silent and live auctions were conducted and featured theme-appropriate items celebrating the California coastal lifestyle.

            Gala Honoree Margaret Price was recognized for her years of outstanding service and dedication to promoting opera in Orange County.  She originated Opera Pacific’s pre-performance lectures and founded and chaired the Prologue series and Guild Alliance opera tours for eight years, along with appearing in the Opera Pacific production of My Fair Lady and as a supernumerary in productions of Aida and La Bohème.  Mrs. Price is an honorary Board of Director and currently serves on the Executive Committee.  Aside from her commitments to Opera Pacific, Mrs. Price is a professional singer, performer, director, and teacher who is a founder of the Contra Costa County Youth Concert series and a charter member and chair of Orange County Affiliates of Metropolitan Opera Western Regional Auditions. 

            “Maggie is like the mother of our opera family.  I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to honor her at this beautiful event.  Her ideas, strength, and commitment to Opera Pacific are truly inspiring,” said Co-Chairman Eve Foussard.

            Maggie Price and Opera Pacific Executive Vice President and Director of Production Patricia Houk spoke about Opera Pacific’s Opera Camp, a three-week youth education program that will culminate in public performances on July 29, 30, and 31, 2005 at the Claire Trevor Theatre located on the UCI campus.

            The evening’s entertainment was pianist Kelly Kuo (Opera Pacific Artistic Administrator) who accompanied soprano Maria Cristina Navarro and tenor Kevin St. Clair, performing selections from the operas La Bohème, Faust, and Lucia di Lammermoor.
           The story of the Founders began with the first annual Opera Ball in 1983 when a challenge grant of $50,000 was announced and met by December of that same year.  This original underwriting group became known as The Founders.  In 1986, this same group, under the leadership of Robert and Maxine Gibson, became known as the Gold Ring Society of Founders and they set out on a mission to expand support for the company.

 

Renée Adler	Elaine Keck	Barbara Roberts
Donna Brantman	Myril Kreuder	Bette Rodeno
Laila Conlin	Betty Lou Lamoreaux	Joan Simonoff
Ruth Ding	Shanda Lear-Baylor	Georgene Smith
Loren Ehlers	Charles Ledgerwood	Babs Soros
Bob Eichenberg	Rudy Lukes	Bev Spring
Catherine Emmi	Nancy Lusk	Esther Ujifusa
Leonardo Flores	Betty McClellan	Elizabeth Vincent
Katie Ford	Maggie Murdy Lusk	Janice Wallace
Eve Foussard	Graziella Outmans	Gayle Widyolar
Gloria Green	Donata Plumley	Nancy Wilson
Jane Grier	Maggie Price	Sharon Wood
Ginny Hale	Julia Rappaport