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    Shelby About Town

    The $20 million Houston mansion hits the auction block, Law & Order takes over local couple's swanky apartment & tennis rocks

    Shelby Hodge
    shelby hodge
    Feb 5, 2013 | 2:34 pm

    The arrest being made at Lucinda and Javier Loya's New York City aerie this week has nothing to do with the Houston-based duo that is currently nowhere near Manhattan. Lucinda emailed on Monday that Universal Network Television is filming scenes for an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in that swank apartment.

    Lucinda wrote, "The story is based on a certain pop star hanging out in a NYC Boutique Hotel - Penthouse (my apt.) when police come to arrest her boyfriend!" Look for the Loya apartment, featuring her interior design talent, on Feb. 27.

    To make the whole thing even more exciting, one of the producers is booking an appointment with Lucinda. Stay tuned.

    And the starting bid is . . .

    The Houston Mansion, as this 25,000 square foot Memorial area abode is affectionately called, isn't going to be hanging around on MLS for long. Or that's the hope of owner Melanie Johnson, who has placed the house that once was listed (if ambitiously) for $20 million on the auction block with Premiere Estates Auction Co. Starting bid — $5.9 million. The same as the asking price when she had it on the market locally.

    You have only 14 days to get your bid in.

    Painting the town

    Artist John Ross Palmer has made his second splash in LA at the 18th annual Los Angeles Art Show, where his gallery featured the works of three graduates of his Escapist Mentoring program.

    Through John Palmer Fine Art, each of the grads — Edgar Medina, Nubia Gala-Seibert and Tra Slaughter — were able to sell their work.

    Palmer's mentorship program, founded in 2009, teaches artists how to sell on their own, self-promote and to work around the traditional art gallery system. The program is free for the young participating artists. Palmer takes on one each year.

    A grand slam

    The Houston Tennis Association was a winner with its second annual "Game, Set, Match" fundraiser headlining retired tennis champ Todd Martin. More than 375 supporters of the National Junior Tennis and Learning program filled the ballroom of the Westin Oaks Hotel for the dinner evening.

    Honorary chairs DeeDee and Wallis Marsh and chair Lara Lehmann led the fundraising charge while Bev Taylor serving as HTA and NJTL chair.

    Among tennis fans were Doug Pritchett, Harold Graham, Beverly and Dr. William Harmon, Brad Blume, Daryl and David Hall, Manfred Jachmich, Gwen and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, Shelley and Tracy Ludwick and Toni Lawrence.

    Edgar Medina, from left, Nubia Gala-Seibert, John Ross Palmer and Tra Slaughter celebrate their succes in LA.

    John Palmer Fine Arts exhibits at 2013 LA Art Show, Edgar Medina, from left, Nubia Gala-Seibert, John Palmer and Tra Slaughter
    Photo courtesy of John Palmer Fine Art
    Edgar Medina, from left, Nubia Gala-Seibert, John Ross Palmer and Tra Slaughter celebrate their succes in LA.
    unspecified
    news/society

    Toi Toi Toi

    Emerging opera stars take center stage at HGO’s vocal showdown

    Joel Luks
    Feb 11, 2026 | 2:30 pm
    Houston Grand Opera Concert of Arias 2026
    Photo by Jacob Power Photography
    Julien Benhamou, Khori Dastoor, first place winner Scarlett Jones, Patrick Summers, and Sasha Cooke.

    A bel canto soprano, a lyric tenor, and a Wagnerian chanteuse walk onto the Cullen stage.

    Houston Grand Opera Concert of Arias 2026

    Photo by Jacob Power Photography

    Julien Benhamou, Khori Dastoor, first place winner Scarlett Jones, Patrick Summers, and Sasha Cooke.

    It’s not a joke. No punchline here.

    It’s Houston Grand Opera’s Concert of Arias, where the drama isn’t just onstage, it’s in the agonizing question: How do you judge between wildly different operatic voices?

    The 38th edition of the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, chaired by Drs. Rachel and Warren A. Ellsworth IV, brought seven stellar finalists to the Wortham Theater Center, plucked from 18 international semi-finalists, all eyeing spots in the revered Butler Studio. Maestro Patrick Summers returned to conduct the HGO Orchestra, bringing extra lavishness to every high note and held breath.

    The judges — HGO’s Khori Dastoor, opera star and Shepherd School of Music alum Sasha Cooke, and Julien Benhamou, director of production for the Théâtre des Champs Élysées and casting consultant for the Metropolitan Opera and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence — had the impossible task of ranking vocal apples to oranges. Audience members, from industry insiders to aria aficionados and talent managers, whispered, scribbled, and guessed. We all texted, voted, and gossiped, wondering if our ears were aligned with the judges.

    For the record, this reporter’s predictions were dead wrong.

    The final verdict? Scarlett Jones, soprano, took first and a $25,000 prize. Tenor Misael Corralejo snagged second and the Audience Choice Award, walking away with a combined $20,000. Mezzo Lauren Randolph claimed third and $10,000. Viktoriia Shamanska earned the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award and $2,000, and each non-placing finalist walked away with $3,500 and roaring applause.

    Following the mainstage showdown, 470 guests swanned into the Grand Foyer for a seated dinner by City Kitchen, served under swoon-worthy décor from The Events Company. With $815,000 raised — that’s a record worthy of a standing o — the evening was about those high Cs and the high impact.

    Toi toi toi to the rising stars of opera were Donna and Ken Barrow, Astley Blair and Vivianna Jolie, Jill Schaar and George Caflisch, Janet and John Carrig, Theresa and Peter Chang, Anne and Albert Chao, Cheryl and Mike Clancy, Molly and Jim Crownover, Mindy and Josh Davidson, Valerie and Tracy Dieterich, Michelle Huth, Alexandra Ikeguchi, Teresa and José Ivo, Blair and Barbara Labatt, Stephanie and Rich Langenstein, Stephanie Larsen, Jackie Macha and Brian Faulkner, Frank Marchetti, Stan Marek, Diane Marcinek, Barbara and Pat McCelvey, Kelly and Cody Nicholson, Gloria Portela, Jill and Allyn Risley, David Satterfield and Elizabeth Fritschle, Keith Scott, Chuu Jen and Paul Sheng, Dian and Harlan Stai, Aaron, Sarah, Emerson and Tate Stai, Diana Strassman and Jeff Smisek, Vitalii Tarasiuk, Apurva Thekdi, Sylvia Barnes and Jim Trimble, Marcia and Alfredo Vilas, and Ilana Walder-Biesanz and Ellen Liu.

    fundraisershouston grand operaperforming-arts
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