In a city that knows how to do dinner and a show, DaCamera brought both to the stage at its 2025 Gala: Music Salons and Supper Club. Held at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston, the evening was equal parts elegance and energy, spotlighting the organization’s commitment to chamber music and jazz while raising more than $250,000 to support its programming.

A devoted crowd of arts patrons turned out for the soirée, which began with a vibrant cocktail hour and an artful wine pull. Adding a touch of old-school charm, DaCamera Young Artists turned the venue into an impromptu music salon with intimate performances echoing through the room, conjuring the refined spirit of 18th-century Parisian gatherings.

With Len Cannon, longtime KHOU 11 news anchor and DaCamera supporter, steering the evening as emcee, the program flowed with warmth and ease. The night crescendoed with a dynamic set from jazz trumpeter Etienne Charles and his band Creole Soul. Charles, whose musical DNA blends calypso, folk, and Afro-Caribbean influences, delivered a performance that was anything but background music. From smoky solos to syncopated rhythms, his set captured the genre-defying ethos that DaCamera champions.

DaCamera, long known for blending intellectual rigor with artistic innovation, continues to push boundaries. Its programming bridges classical and contemporary, east and west, familiar and surprising, offering musical experiences that are as rich in meaning as they are in melody. By evening’s end, DaCamera reaffirmed its role as a cultural vanguard.

Among the music cognoscenti were Robert Azencott and Sarah Rothenberg, Brandon Bell and Yvonne Chen, Bernadette Verzosa, Collin and Jacquelyn Cox, Elaine Finger, Robert and Mary Fusillo, David and Heidi Gerger, Ron Franklin and Janet Gurwitch, Bill and Lynn Hargrove, David and Claudia Hatcher, Garfield and Jakeen Johnson, Alton and Ann McDowell, Matt Ringel and Rebecca Rabinow, Hal and Marjana Roach, Steve and Anne-Laure Stephens, and Randall and Crystal Wright.

  

Photo by Katy Anderson

Anthony Brissett, Etienne Charles, Annette Brissett, and Garvin Davis.