Friends of LSO plan gala
By Casey Gillis on Feb. 03, 2010
The Friends of the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra are going “a la Francaise” for their latest fundraiser.
The eighth Annual Valentine Gala, scheduled from 7 to 11 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Boonsboro Country Club, will have a French theme this year.
“We thought it would be an interesting, fun thing to do,” says Linda Edwards, president of the Friends of the LSO. “The romance of Valentine’s Day really goes right along with the French theme.”
High school French students will greet guests as they arrive, before they settle in for the night’s entertainment: local soprano Marcia Thom singing French love songs, like “La Vie En Rose,” with a strolling accordion player “to create the sense that we’re on a street in Paris,” says Edwards.
Dinner will be a menu that includes a sautéed scallops amuse-bouche (basically a single, bite-sized hors d’oeuvre; in French it translates to “mouth amuser”), a salad of tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers and Roquefort sauce, and a pork entrée with browned potatoes and green beans.
There will be an open bar from 7 to 8 p.m. and cash bar from 8 to 11 p.m.
A silent auction will also be set up to look like a Parisian flea market. Items up for grabs include a case of wine, five pieces of antique sterling silverware, a night at the Craddock Terry Hotel and dinner for six with Bruce and Ellen Habitzruther, LSO’s conductor and concertmaster.
“I didn’t know this, but not only are they such accomplished musicians,” Edwards says, “they are also gourmet cooks and master gardeners.”
The night will end with dancing to the music of Bill Carroll’s Big Rhythm Sound Band (Carroll is one of LSO’s charter members).
“The neat thing about it is it will benefit the symphony,” Edwards says, adding that in its eight years, the gala has raised more than $160,000.
“It is such a jewel in our city.”
Tickets — $125 per person — can be purchased online at http://www.Lynchburg
Tickets.com. For more information, call (434) 525-9058.
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