Were charitable fundraisers given standing ovations, Houston Grand Opera's Concert of Arias on Thursday night surely would have received a resounding everyone-on-his-feet round of applause. It was just that great an evening on so many levels.

The nine finalists in the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers completely mesmerized the sell-out crowd in the Cullen Theater of Wortham Center with an array of talent that made voting on a personal favorite a tortuous task.

Then there was the ever-debonair chair of the evening — Jackson Hicks, with whom HGO music director Patrick Summers credited the success of the black-tie fundraiser. "This is one of the great nights of the Houston Grand Opera season," he told that gathering.

"The Cullen is bursting with friends of the studio [HGO Opera Studio] . . . and tonight's success is due chiefly to our chair, Jackson Hicks." Also credited with the evening's eminence were the honorees, long-time HGO patrons Bobbie-Vee and Jerry Cooney.

The post-concert dinner was a sellout with 640 opera fans signing on for the late-night repast in the center's Grand Foyer. While expenses haven't been completely tallied, it's a fact that a record $800,000 was raised, sending Summers, HGO managing director Perryn Leech and special events director Guyla Pircher over the moon.

Beyond the beautiful music and the dollars raised, it was an A-list group that turned out, beginning with Opera Ball chairs Cynthia and Tony Petrello, Phoebe and Bobby Tudor, Donna and Bob Bruni, Beth Madison and Ralph Burch, Denise Bush Bahr and Philip Bahr, Glen Rosenbaum, Margaret Williams and Jim Daniel, Mariquita Masterson, Molly and Jim Crownover, Jan Barrow, Cora Sue and Harry Mach, Franci Crane, Sandy and Lee Godfrey, Pat Breen, Susan and Dr. Dick Stasney and Dian and Harlan Stai.

Also in the audience was Bob Yekovich, dean of Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, who was there to root for competition finalists with Rice connections — Masters Degree candidates Carlton Ford and Carolyn Sproule as well as Masters graduate Sarah Larsen.

Interestingly, 22-year-old soprano Andrea Carroll earned not only the People's Choice award but she also received first place from the judges — Summers, Leech and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey, currently starring in HGO's The Rape of Lucretia.

Second place honors went to 24-year-old soprano Natalya Romaniw with Peixin Chen, a 30-year-old bass from China, ranking third.