The evening featured a performance by soprano Rebecca Gulinello and the unveiling of a new artwork by Camillo Stepanek for 63rd Annual Viennese Opera Ball
Of all the possible places you could be at in February, there is no question the 63rd Viennese is not to be missed. The Viennese Opera Ball is more of a super-gala than a normal dinner and speech, lasting nearly nine hours with two meals, a multitude of performances and more than enough celebrities filling the ballroom. Past attendees include Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations; Samantha Power, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Archduke Dominik von Habsburg-Lothringen; Archduke Géza von Habsburg; Lauren Bush Lauren, CEO and CO-Founder of FEED Projects; News Anchor Chuck Scarborough; and Actor Stephen Baldwin. Yes, we went there with “Archduke”. We are playing simply no games.
We attended the annual kickoff event, a champagne reception held at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York hosted by Viennese Opera Ball’s president, Silvia Frieser and artistic director, Daniel Serafin. Soprano Rebecca Gulinello offered a stunning and intimate performance accompanied by piano and the event also marked the unveiling of original artwork by Camillo Stepanek, which will be auctioned off at the ball for charity. It’s a silky smooth work of red and gold on wood, a unique trait of Camillo’s practice.
Forget what you know: since 1955, the Viennese has always been drenched in ceremony, but not resistant to modern pleasures. The Ball operates as a cultural platform and builds bridges to connect present day New York City with 19th Century Vienna. What’s this actually translate to? Over 700 guests witnessing everything from performances by Metropolitan opera singers, a renowned Viennese orchestra, ballet dancers, the West Point color guard, to the midnight Quadrille.
There’s a three course dinner squeezed in there as well as a Tanz Bar- a full buffet supper with the Viennese Opera Ball’s Signature Goulash Soup. It’s a marathon of performance, too: the Orchestra plays continuous dance music throughout the Ball, stopping only for program highlights or performances by the featured Opera singers.
The ball will be held at the newly refurbished Ziegfeld Ballroom on 2 February 2018, under the auspices of the U.S. Austrian Chamber of Commerce. Tickets start at $600 and rise to $25,000 for a Diamond Tier table. To purchase tickets, please click the following the link: http://vienneseoperaball.us/
