Last Saturday night, in a swanky ballroom at Flushing’s Terrace on the Park, sponsors of the borough’s only professional orchestra schmoozed, wined, dined and later got down to the live band’s rendition of the rock classic, “Purple Haze.”
It was the Queens Orchestra’s first gala in five years, a triumph considering that “cultural organizations are amongst the first to feel the pain” in times of economic insecurity, as Board President Herbert Chain acknowledged.
Music Director Constantine Kitsopoulos reveled in his first gala with the symphony, thanking the community for its generosity, and directors Lynda Herndon and Kate Oberjat for their diligent work in coordinating the event.
Along with Herndon and Chain, he presented former orchestra board member and current City Comptroller John Liu, with an award for his contributions to the orchestra.
Liu made only a brief appearance, so he missed cocktail hour, a sit-down dinner, performances by Oberjat, an opera singer, and Broadway stars Martin Sola and Kerry O’Malley, live music for ballroom dancing, raffle prizes, and a silent auction for a chamber concert at home with Oberjat and dinner prepared for four by Kitsopoulos himself.
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