The Chicago Symphony Orchestra kicked off its 2011-2012 season on Saturday night with prosecco and Verdi. Following a cocktail reception at Symphony Center, a 90-minute concert led by conductor Riccardo Muti included the Italian composer's "Four Seasons." Then, it was off to the Hilton Chicago, where a dinner-dance for 600 guests took thematic cues from the celebrated concertos. The event raised nearly $1 million.
Last year's Symphony Ball took place in Millennium Park, but returned to a hotel setting this year for a pretty straightforward reason: "Millennium Park was not available on September 24," said Kim Duffy, senior project manager at the orchestra.
Planners tasked Event Creative and hotel chefs with bringing the "colors, flavors, textures, and liveliness from each season" into the grand ballroom, Duffy said. Designer Jeffrey Foster developed a decor scheme that was meant to "represent the seasons, but not rigidly," he said. "There was, for example, no snow on the winter tables nor autumnal leaves on the autumn tables."
Instead, each table got a towering glass vase with floating candles and submerged orange or white orchids. Cloth Connection's twist linens had a moss, lilac, and chocolate color scheme. On the ceiling of the ballroom, Event Creative projected a colorful graphic that also appeared on the ball's invitation and menu cards.
The four-course dinner incorporated local, seasonal ingredients, and included cucumber sorbet, Midwestern beef, and ginger cake topped with sweetened grapefruit salad.