Haute Events: SF Symphony and SF Opera opening galas this week

Photo Credit: Kristen Loken

While Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week gets underway in New York this week, San Francisco’s fashion pantheon will put on its own show, donning haute couture gowns at the San Francisco Symphony‘s Opening Night Gala on Wednesday followed by San Francisco Opera Guild’s Opera Ball 2014 on Friday.

Photo Credit: Courtesy San Francisco Symphony

First on tap is the symphony, which kicks of its 20th season with Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas at 8 p.m. at Davies Symphony Hall. Singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt, a longtime friend of MTT, makes her debut with the Orchestra performing selected works from the American songbook of her father, Broadway singer John Raitt.

Pianist Yuja Wang, a young artist championed by MTT for nearly a decade, joins the Orchestra to perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The program also includes Stravinsky’s Scherzo à la russe, excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture.

The black-tie crowd will enjoy pre-concert cocktails, dinner (there are four separate ones) and an after-party in the glamorous, custom-designed tented pavilion with entertainment, dancing, cocktails, and treats from San Francisco’s finest restaurants.

Photo Credit: Courtesy Drew Alitzer Photography

There isn’t much time to rest because on Friday at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco Opera celebrates the opening of its 92nd season with a dazzling gala opening night like none other. San Francisco Opera Guild’s Opera Ball 2014: Passione will be created by event designer extraordinaire J. Riccardo Benavides to reflect the romantic and mystical themes of the evening’s performance –Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma.

Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts and American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky stars in one of opera’s most dazzling and demanding roles.

Always a highlight of the City’s cultural and philanthropic season, Opera Ball is an extraordinary event benefiting San Francisco Opera’s and San Francisco Opera Guild’s award-winning education and community programs.

The evening begins at 5 pm with cocktails and dinner in City Hall. Following the opening night performance of Norma, guests return to City Hall for cocktails, dessert and dancing.

Photo Credit: Courtesy San Francisco Opera

Haute Living will be on the scene to cover both so be sure to check back later in the week to see the hautest looks on the Bay Area’s glitterati.

Like Haute Living San Francisco? Join our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter @HauteLivingMag. Want Haute Living San Francisco delivered to your inbox once a week? Sign up for our newsletter.541468