CARNEVALE! la vie parisianne!

Carnevale … la vie Parisienne!

Kentucky Opera’s black tie gala, Carnevale… La Vie Parisienne will be Saturday, January 21, 2012 at the Marriott Ballroom.  The event begins at 6pm with the grand wine and spirit tasting, followed by dinner and entertainment by Kentucky Opera Studio Artists.  The evening continues with the exciting live auction featuring rare wines and luxury items and finishes with dancing at Chez Maxim’s Lounge (conveniently located in the ballroom).  Carnevale tickets are $225 per person.  Michael Miller at 502.584.4500 or visit KYOpera.Org.

This year’s 1905 Paris theme, La Vie Parisienne is inspired by Kentucky Opera’s final production of the Brown-Forman 2011/12 Season, The Merry Widow.  The Event Company will bring turn of the century art nouveau Paris to modern-day Louisville and Kentucky Opera’s Studio Artists will sing arias and ensembles from Franz Lehar’s romantic comedy along with other musical delights.  

Throughout the evening partygoers will have the opportunity to bid on fun and festive silent auction items such as a beautiful Summer Eliason necklace; a foursome at Valhalla; a signed equine giclee by Jeaneen Barnhart and a night at the Brown Hotel. The silent auction has a little something for everyone, even a $5,000 total body makeover donated by Louisville Dermatology Clinic. After a scrumptious dinner, the premier live auction will begin featuring high-end luxury items such as dinners (Drs. Frank and Carolyn Burns put on a great party and have an AMAZING wine cellar), trips to Athens Greece and Sonoma Valley California, and of course, lots, and lots of hard-to-find wines.  

New to the event this year, the Opera will raffle a one-week stay at MaisonRose, the most beautiful house in the pettiest village (St-Jean) of Dordogne, France.  Kentucky Opera has printed just 30 raffle tickets and the lucky winner and five friends/family members will have a week in this beautiful home.  

The second prize is a wonderful dinner for eight with French food and wine at the beautiful Cherokee Triangle home of Tanja Eikenboom and Rick Albrink here in Louisville.  Not quite Maison Rose in France, but a prize more than worth the $500 price of a raffle ticket.

The winners need not be present to win.  Airfare and ground transportation are not included.  Commonwealth of Kentucky Charitable Gaming License #0534.

Chances are available for $500. To be one of the 30 entries in this raffle, contact Michael Miller at Kentucky Opera at 502.584.4500 or via email at Michael_Miller@KYOpera.org.

More information on Maison Rose can be found here.  Read a Wall Street Journal review here.

Carnevale is one of Kentucky Opera’s major fundraisers. Last year the event raised $115,000 supporting Kentucky Opera’s mission through its education programs and mainstage productions.

La Vie Parisienne! La Vie Masion Rose!

“It’s said that St-Jean is the prettiest of the countless pretty villages in the Perigord.  It’s also said, to our embarrassment, that Maison Rose is the most beautiful house in the village.  There’s some stiff competition for both of those titles.  All we know is that we feel unbelievably privileged to have found a house here, and to be able to share it with our friends.”  --Jim and Mary Oppel, owners of Maison Rose in Dordogne, France

(Photo by John Nation) - The back terrace; people who visit in the warm weather months say this is the best part of the house.

Kentucky Opera has printed just 30 raffle tickets and the lucky winner and five friends/family members will have a week in this beautiful home.  There are three bedrooms so go in with two other friends and the $500 ticket price is only $166 each.  What a wonderful vacation!  Those who have visited Maison Rose describe it as a gorgeous home in an equally gorgeous setting, convenient to many day trips and activities.

The second prize is a wonderful dinner for eight with French food and wine at the beautiful Cherokee Triangle home of Tanja Eikenboom and Rick Albrink here in Louisville.  Not quite Maison Rose in France, but a prize more than worth the price of a raffle ticket.

The winners of these two fabulous prizes will be drawn at Kentucky Opera’s black tie event--Carnevale. . .la vie parisienne! at the Louisville Marriott Downtown Hotel
at 10 pm on Saturday, January 21, 2012. 
The winners need not be present to win.  Airfare and ground transportation are not included.  Commonwealth of Kentucky Charitable Gaming License #0534.

To be one of the 30 entries in this raffle, contact Michael Miller at Kentucky Opera at 502.561.7934 or via email at Michael_Miller@KYOpera.org.

More information on Maison Rose can be found here.

Read a Wall Street Journal review here.

News, Reviews and lots of to dos...

Our dear friend, Charles Parsons from Opera News wrote a review of Madame Butterfly which closed Kentucky Opera's Brown-Forman 2010 Fall Season. The review made Opera News' online version and you can read it here.

Perhaps some of you who joined us at Kentucky Opera's black-tie fundraiser on January 11, Carnevale noticed a "news crew" in the early part of the evening. That was Becca White and Chris Caswell from the CW Louisville with Laura Snyder from NFocus Magazine who chatted with David Roth and Kara Shay Thomson. Carnevale was the first on-location event for NFocus and they have posted the video online.

You can pick up a copy today (Wednesday, February 2) at the NFocus February launch party at the Peterson-Dumesnil House at 301 S. Peterson Ave from 5:30 - 7:30pm.

If you can't make it tonight, the issue will be available on newstands throughout the city. Pick one up!

Tomorrow (Thursday, February 3) is a big day for Kentucky Opera, with one of the last public performances of OH FREEDOM! at 5:30 at the Frazier International History Museum AND the opening night for our co-production with the The Burning Fiery Furnace at St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church, 6710 Wolf Pen Branch Road. Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 for seniors and $10 for students. For more information, call (502) 228-1176.

Congratulations to the Fund for the Arts for another successful campaign kick off lunch. It was a great presentaiton of the great arts our city shares! When the Fund comes knocking on the door of your business, remember they are our largest individual donors and we appreciate all they do for us.

Welcome to the Big Top!

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the big top! Step right up and experience the most outrageous Carnevale orchestrated by Kentucky Opera. The event will take place in the magnificent Medallion Ballroom of the grand Seelbach Hilton Hotel on Saturday, January 17, 2009. Individual tickets are $225. Your ticket entitles you to grand wine tastings, a delectable dinner, live and silent auctions, musical entertainment and dancing! To join the circus, contact Michael Miller at 502.584.4500 or log on to kyopera.org.

The jubilant event starts at 6pm and will feature flowing wine and daring acts of philanthropy. Prepare yourselves for an amazing array of high flying live and silent auction items that will make the young girls blush. One of the perfectly packaged highlights include a limo which will transport you to dinner prepared and staffed by Kentucky Opera board members at the home of Opera Trustee, Paula Harshaw, with entertainment by Kentucky Opera Studio Artists.

Of course the evening will have a variety of high-end and hard to find wines for which the event for has become known. Carnevale committee chair, Pete Walton said “There are a lot of Carnevale patrons that attend just for the wine, myself included.” For the last two years, Walton has donated dinner for 8 at his home with wine parings from his extensive wine cellar.

In the center ring you will be stunned by the incredible talent of soprano Anya Matanovič! Matanovič will give a preview of her thrilling vocal color at Carnevale; she will return for the 2009-10 Season to sing the role of Gretel in Kentucky Opera’s production Hansel & Gretel.

This year’s Carnevale is dedicated to Mason C. Rudd who was the initial benefactor of the Studio Artists’ program (which was called the Rudd Young Artists Program for the first three years). Rudd was the founder of Rudd Equipment Company and was Chair of the Louisville Metro Board of Health for over three decades.

To join the circus, contact Michael Miller at 502.584.4500 or log on to kyopera.org.

Carnevale time!

Just learned about the new Executive Pastry Chef Aaron Stordeur at the Seelbach Hilton who will be constructing fabulous yummies for the patrons of the Opera's main black-tie fundraiser, Carnevale on January 17. I hear there is an interesting story about this guy. I will investigate and get the scoop for you, our faithful blog readers, first!
Here's a video of him in an egg separation battle...