Escaping the torrid temps of July in Houston, a handful of Houston Grand Opera patrons recently made the annual sojourn to Santa Fe, N.M., for a round of parties and performances.
In between gathering under the night sky at the Santa Fe Opera house for performances of The Marriage of Figaro, The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein and La Donna Del Lago, they engaged in Santa Fe-style socializing.
HGO board chair Beth Madison got the ball rolling by hosting a welcome reception at the Eldorado Hotel's Agave Lounge. The partying included a dinner hosted by Santa Fe summer residents Donna and Robert Bruni at The Compound Restaurant where their special guest was international star mezzo-soprano Susan Graham.
Janie and Wayne Patterson rolled at the welcome mat at their swankl La Tierra Nueva home while Connie and Byron Dyer hosted a brunch at the Las Campanas Log Cabin, where guests swooned over the spectacular vistas of the Sangre de Christos and Jemez mountains.
The HGO group included managing director Perryn Leech, Bobbie-Vee and Jerry Cooney, Kate and Greg Robertson, Cynthia Parish, Avery Huddleston, Bill Guest, Gwyneth Campbell and Robin McCorquodale.
Polo season
While Houston's polo ponies are taking their own summer respite from the heat, the ponies have begun kicking up the divots in Santa Barbara, where the season has just kicked off. Among the serious polo fans there are Houstonians Carol and Mike Linn, who became enamored of the sport last summer after buying a vacation home in Montecito.
For the start of the season, the Linns hosted Sheridan and John Eddie Williams for a long weekend in the cool California setting. The Linns and Williamses took in not only the polo but also the newest and rarest Lamborghini, the 2013 Aventador Roadster, along with the 2013 Maserati Gran Tourismo convertible, presented by the Auto Gallery. Joining them was Dallasite Charles Ward, summers in Santa Barbara as the Bombardier Polo manager.
Keeping the Lone Star spirit going through the season, which ends Sept. 1, are polo patrons Scott Wood of Houston and John Muse of Dallas.
Game, set, match!
Italian tennis pro Francesca Schiavone, 2010 French Open women’s singles champion and finalist in 2011, was a surprise guest at the West University Place home of Souad Nassar where he hosted a fundraising party for the Houston Tennis Association National Junior Tennis & Learning program. That non-profit which provides free tennis lessons and educational opportunities to at-risk Houston area youth.
Schiavone is in Houston to work on her game with Peter Lundgren, tennis pro at the Galleria Tennis and Athletic Club. Tennis club member and National Junior Tennis League committee member Sonia Goodrum met Francesca the day of the event and invited her to the party — a win, win for all.
Sight 'ems
Kristina Hornberger and Paul Somerville, Carol and Dr. Gary Gartsman, Lucinda and Javier Loya and loads more filling Tony's to the rafters . . .
Former Texas Gov. Mark White, Charles Hurwitz, Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff, Shelly and Doug Masterson, Dr. Romy Mitchell and Tod Eason, Jessica Rossman and Gordon Bethune and Dominique Sachse and Nick Florescu among those tyring out the newly-refurbished steakhouse The Palm.
Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, center, joins Donna and Bob Bruni in Santa Fe during a Houston Grand Opera dinner.
