Fashion and Philharmonics at the Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Hall of Fame awards at its Opening Night Gala on June 19 with a celebrity-packed event that included a dash of Los Angeles fashion.
In addition to Hall of Fame inductees Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Josh Groban, performers included Angelique Kidjo, Frederica von Stade, Trisha Yearwood, Roger Daltrey and conductor Thomas Wilkins and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Composer John Williams, a past honoree, conducted the finale—music from “Star Wars” performed under the Hollywood Bowl fireworks.
In the crowd, we spotted Priscilla Presley, William Shatner, Ann Rutherford, Ann Jeffreys, Eric Idle and Fred Willard.
Heading up the evening’s fashion component was designer Raymundo Baltazar, who, with his partner Jonathan Weedman, were among the co-chairs of the Gala committee.
Baltazar enlisted a team of fashion-industry insiders—including designer Nick Verreos, textile importer Julie Ward, California Apparel News Publisher Molly Rhodes and me—to help coordinate gift-bag donations for the guests seated in the Bowl’s box seats. Among the goodies were silk scarves in original prints by Single, cotton scarves made from African fabrics from Ward’s Gallery Asha collection and a tee by Obvious Clothing tee—all packed in a Radcliffe London denim bag. (In addition, dinner was catered by Patina and served on all-natural dinnerwear provided by Verterra.)
Guests at the pre-show VIP party got a glimpse of the Bowl’s fashionable history, thanks to Baltazar, who coordinated a Hall of Fame all-stars showcase of some of the Bowl’s most-fashionable performers.
The Opening Night event was sold out—first time in Bowl history, Baltazar tells me.
The Gala helped raise nearly $1 million for Music Matters, the music education fund sponsored by the L.A. Phil. Each year, Music Matters helps bring musicians and music education to more than 120,000 children, educators and adults through a variety of music programming. The program establishes residencies in schools and communities, professional development for teachers, concerts for students at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the SummerSounds children’s festival at the Hollywood Bowl.
Josh Groban and Kiri Te Kanewa (Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times)
Nick Verreos and David Paul
Raymundo Baltazar and Jonathan Weedman
Nick Verreos in front of the Hollywood Bowl fashionable all-stars installation
Verreos has more information about the event on his blog.
The Los Angeles Times has a review of the Opening Night Gala here.
There’s more information about the Hollywood Bowl’s current season here.
And to find out more about Music Matters, go here.
