Previous Black & White Galas

2019 Honoree – Betty Francis

Thank you for joining us for an extravaganza for the eye and ear. The event featured hosted cocktail reception, gourmet dinner, and entertainment- ribbon dancers, lion dancers, and more- Event Chair – JoAnn Wellner; Event Planner – Frank Goldstin’s Momentous Events;

2017 Honorees- Jan and Richard Oliphant

Gala Co-Chairs Drs. John D. Welty and Sharon Brown-Welty

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Hosted Cocktails
Gourmet Dinner
Piano program by 2015 Waring International Junior 1st Place Solo Winner Sarah Tuan
Dancing to the music of Doc Poster & his band

Thank you to all who supported the 2016 Gala Honoring Gloria Greer, in memoriam.

Event Chairs: Peggy Cravens & Chuck Monell

Honorary Chairs: Jerry Benston & Ruta Lee

Omni Rancho Las Palmas, Rancho Mirage

Hosted cocktails
Gourmet dinner
Musical interlude by Waring pianist
Dancing to the music of Doc Poster

2015 Black & White Gala Honors

The City of Palm Desert and Mayor Susan Marie Weber, Robert Spiegel, Mayor Pro Tem, Jan Harnik, Sabby Jonathan and Van Tanner, Council members
and Gary Hall with Wells Fargo – The Private Bank

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa, Rancho Mirage

Hosted Cocktail Reception
Gourmet dinner
Musical Interlude by 2007 Intermediate Concerto Winner Brian Lin, named a Jack Kent Cooke 2014 Graduate Arts Recipient Scholar – this award will enable Lin to continue his studies at Juilliard for up to the next 3 years.
Dancing

Gala Chair Donna MacMillan; Honorary Chair Gwen Weiner

2014 Black and White Gala honoring Harold!

Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014

Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa, Rancho Mirage

Hosted Cocktail Reception
Gourmet dinner
Musical Interlude by Scott Cuellar 2013 Wells Fargo Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall Performance Prize Winner and Ernst Krenek Prize Winner
Dancing

$300 general seating
$500 preferred seating

Table Sponsorships available – see Tribute Book Program Info below

Gala Chairs Helene Galen and Jamie Kabler

Honorary Chair JoAnn McGrath

The 29th Annual Black and White Gala honored Joyce and Joe Stein for their years of philanthropy and good works.

There was a special musical appearance by 2007 Junior Solo Winner Jan Lisiecki, who made his NY Philharmonic debut in December 2012.

Event chairs were Stephanie and Michael Landes – pictured here with Stephanie’s parents and 2013 Honorees Joyce and Joe Stein

Honorary Chairs were Lynda and Charles Biggs

Dinner Committee: Sherry & Ron Auen, Mary Ellen & Cooper Blanton, Sallie & Allan Bulley, Jr., Helene Galen, Karlene & Richard Garber, Joy & Harry Goldstein, Gloria & the Hon. Glen Holden, Anne Holland, June & Peter Kalkus, Harold Matzner, Dorothy & John Nocita, Carol Price, Stacey and Greg Renker, Sandy Woodson

Renaissance-Esmeralda Hotel, Indian Wells – Crystal Ballroom

THANKS!

28th Annual Black & White Gala benefiting the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, Sunday, February 19, 2012

Honorees:
Virginia Waring – Lifetime Achievement Award and
Marta Casals Istomin – Distinguished Arts Award
Special Youth Performers- Zihui Song and Allison To
Gala Chair – Rev. Patty Spicer
Honorary Chair – Gary Hall with Wells Fargo – the Private Bank
Dinner Chairs – Sherrie & Ron Auen

Longtime desert dweller, classical pianist and competition namesake VIRGINIA WARING plus cellist / international arts icon MARTA CASALS ISTOMIN were honored at the 28th Annual Black and White Gala for their musical contributions and encouragement of young musicians.

Virginia Morley Waring devoted her life to music, nurture, and public service. Born in Dinuba, California, her talent gained musical honors at Mills College, and then a full scholarship at the renowned Music Academy of Fontainbleau, France. There she studied with the great Robert Casadeus and Nadia Boulanger, and joined with another gifted American pianist, Livingston Gearhart. They formed a piano duo, and in time a marriage and family. The specter of impending war brought them back to the USA where they toured extensively as “Columbia Artists” for thirteen years, appearing regularly on the “Fred Waring Show.” In 1954 Virginia married Fred Waring and became not only wife and mother, but an integral part of the extensive Waring music and publishing organization. With Fred’s declining health, Virginia assumed the baton as conductor and master of ceremonies, becoming Chairman of the Board of Fred Waring Enterprises and President and Owner of Shawnee Press, a highly regarded publisher of Choral Music. She is the author of two books, her own autobiography, “Return to Fontainbleau,” and the biography, now in its 2nd printing, “Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians.” She is Namesake
and Founding President of the VWIPC.

Marta Casals Istomin is an internationally known figure in the arts:
President of the Manhattan School of Music in New York from 1992 to
2005; former General Director of the Recontres Musicales d’Evian Festival International (France, 1990-1997); member of the National Council on the Arts (USA, 1990-1997) and Artistic Director, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, DC, 1980 to 1991). During her 16-year marriage to the legendary cellist Pablo Casals, she helped the Maestro establish the Casals Festival, the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, and the Conservatory of Music. For five years after his death, she was co-Chairman of the Board and Music Director of the entire Casals Festival Organization and added a children’s string program to the conservatory. She taught cello at the Conservatory of Music in Puerto Rico and was visiting cello professor at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. She has received numerous honors, awards and honorary doctorates in the US, Europe and Latin America. She was married to the internationally eminent American pianist Eugene Istomin from 1975-2003.

The Waring’s 2011 Honoree was Condoleezza Rice. She received the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award on February 20, 2011 at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa.

The 66th United States Secretary of State and former National Security Advisor is an accomplished musician and concert pianist. Dr. Rice is known for her brilliance in many fields: professor, politician, diplomat and musician. Dr. Rice is currently Professor of Political Economy at Stanford University and co-director of the Center for Global Business and the Economy at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

The Waring celebrates Condoleezza Rice’s life-long dedication to the piano and her immense dedication to education, public service and humanitarian ideals.

Our Black and White Gala was held on, January 31, 2010 at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage.

The 2010 Honoree was Betty Barker, Outstanding Community Leader and Patroness of the Arts and Sciences, with a special Tribute to the late Leonore Annenberg, Philanthropist.

Event chairs were Mary Ellen Blanton and Sandra Cooper Woodson.

The special guest pianists were 2007 Prize winners Sarina Zhang and John Yoo.

Renowned American concert pianist Byron Janis was honored at the 2009 Black and White Ball with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage.

The Black Tie event was co-chaired by Dr. Gerald Benston, Dr. Charles Monell and Dr. Judith Zacher.

The gala was part of a “Byron Janis” Festival that included a master class conducted by Janis, a recital by concert pianist, former Hodges winner and former Janis student, James Giles, and a showing of a working biographical documentary on Janis.

The 2008 Black and White Ball honoring Carlo Ponti, Jr. was a huge success. Thank you to our fabulous co-chairs Peggy Cravens, Mark Adams, Jerry Benston and Chuck Monell.

Over 400 people feasted at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa on February 8, 2008. Carlo was “roasted” by his younger brother, Edoardo. 2007 Junior Concerto Winner, Colton Peltier (who just turned 13) played Chopin’s Impromptu Fantasie and Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz. Tony Rose and His Orchestra provided dinner and dance music, and the dance floor was never empty.

Left Photo: Jerry Benston, Virginia Waring, Peggy Cravens, Mark Adams, Chuck Monell. Right photo: Colton Peltier, Virginia Waring, Carlo Ponti, Jr.