By Ellen Sturgill

Glamour and excitement were in the air at The 2011 Atlanta Opera Ball. Last Saturday, opera-lovers came together at the St. Regis-Atlanta for a night of good food, great music, wonderful people, and lots of fun! The ballroom was stunning with design provided by Tony Brewer and Company and truly captured this year’s theme of “Indulge Your Senses.”

Guests at the Ball were able to participate in silent and live auctions, partake in a gourmet dinner, and enjoy performances from The Atlanta Opera Chorus. Also, as mentioned in last week’s blog, the Ball honored The Atlanta Opera Chorus and Chorus Master Walter Huff.

Below is a photo of Zurich General Director Dennis Hanthorn (right) honoring Walter Huff for his 23 years of dedication and work with The Atlanta Opera.

Performances by members of The Atlanta Opera Chorus followed and provided guests the opportunity to hear some of opera’s greatest repertoire from The Pearl Fishers by Georges Bizet, Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, and the sextet “Chi mi frena in tal momento” from Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. If you missed these fabulous performances, don’t worry! You can still hear The Atlanta Opera perform the sextet when Lucia di Lammermoor opens this November!

Former and current chorus members performing the sextet included (from left to right) Rob Cromwell, Brent Davis, Nathan Munson, Melissa Kelly, Megan Mashburn and Zachary Brown.

Maria Clark (above) delighted the audience with “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess.

Once the program ended, the band “The American Flyers” took to the stage and guests danced the night away! For more photos from this evening, check The Atlanta Opera’s Flickr and Kodak pages.

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