Top this, Houston social scene.

Houston Grand Opera’s latest fête glowed with the kind of radiance you can’t bottle, no matter how many votives you line up. The 2026 Opera Ball, dubbed Brilliance Ball: A Celebration of Light and Legacy, set the Wortham Theater Center aglow, leaving this guest with one lingering question: How exactly does one top this next year?

Chaired by longtime HGO supporters John Turner and Jerry Fischer, the evening was a love letter to opera and a curtain call for honoree Patrick Summers, whose 25-plus years of HGO artistic leadership have shaped Houston’s operatic identity into a global phenomenon.

Nearly 400 guests gathered in white tie finery, drifting through a cocktail hour where caviar-topped blinis made the rounds and martinis appeared out of nowhere. The Events Company leaned into the theme with softly illuminated dreamscape of candlelight, gold accents, and cloudlike white florals.

Soprano Renée Fleming mused over her decades-long artistic friendship with Summers. Accompanied by chief artistic officer Richard Bado on the piano, Fleming’s set included Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro” to “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to a number that could be the closest the chanteuse will get to Hip Hop.

Khori Dastoor paid tribute to Summers’ “unshakable vision,” while the maestro himself reminded the crowd that Houston’s role in the future of opera is significant. The presentation of the Silver Rose award was a gorgeous moment that marked the close of a transformative chapter as Summers prepares to step into his next role as Music Director Emeritus.

Incoming music director James Gaffigan and wife Marta made a transatlantic cameo, flying in just for the occasion before heading back to Valencia the next day. Despite canceled flights and the typical ugh that’s flying nowadays, we did hear the couple made it back to Spain in one piece.

With a starting bid of $150,000, a Steinway Spirio — pre-loaded with Summers’ performances and signed by Fleming — was another star of the show. The Big Beyond ensured the dance floor stayed anything but theoretical well into the night. Some of us, not quite ready for party to end, let Fleming’s Bel Canto album — with Summers at the helm — spill through the speakers on the drive home before we inevitably turned into pumpkins.

The ball raised more than $1.8 million in support of HGO’s productions and community initiatives.

CultureMap seen were Farida Abjani, Tom Ajamie, Margaret Alkek Williams, Abdullah and Asuman Antepli, Ann and Jonathan Ayre, Chris Bacon and Craig Miller, Astley Blair and Viviana Jolie, Kristy and Chris Bradshaw, Zane and Brady Carruth, Theresa Chang, Louise Chapman, Jane Cizik, Cheryl and Mike Clancy, Brittany and Adam Clark, Isabel and Danny David, Anna Dean, Hallie Vanderhider and Bobby Dees, Marty Dudley, Rachel and Warren Ellsworth, Elaine Finger, Jen and Ben Fink, Claire Liu and Joe Greenberg, Matthew Healey and Denise Reyes, Elizabeth Husseini and Richard Husseini, Teresa and José Ivo, Mady and Ken Kades, Brigitte Kalai, Elizabeth and Bill Kroger, Blair and Barbara Labatt, Michele Leal, Sarah and Bryant Lee, Matthew Loden, Beth Madison, David Peavy and Stephen McCauley, Laura McWilliams, Denise Monteleone, Beth Muecke, Terrylin Neale, Kelly and Cody Nicholson, David Peck and Michelle Phillips, Cynthia and Tony Petrello, Rosemin Premji, Rebecca Rabinow and Matthew Ringel, Kelly and David Rose, Louisa Sarofim, Dian and Harlan Stai, Sarah and Aaron Stai, Marguerite Swartz, Valerie and Stephen Toups, Phoebe and Bobby Tudor, Jesse Tutor, Geraldina and Scott Wise, and Huda and William Zoghbi.

Photo by Dave Rossman

Tania Kanga, Nancy Gonzalez, Denise Reyes, Ona Alicia Okeke, and Destiny Fernandisse.