Asian Performing Arts of Colorado (APAC) kicked off its 20th anniversary celebration by traveling to New York to attend composer Tan Dun’s celebrated opera, “The First Emperor,” at the Metropolitan Opera House. Placido Domingo sang the title role and Denver-trained (Lamont School of Music) bass Hao Jiang Tian was in the role of the General.
APAC was established in 1986 as a non-profit organization fostering cultural exchange and supporting and showcasing young talents of Asian heritage. Tian was one of the first young singers APAC sponsored.
Following his performance at the Met, the Colorado delegation adjourned to the Jing Fong restaurant in New York’s Chinatown where they joined 300 others for a nine-course banquet hosted by Tian’s wife, Martha Liao, the president and co-founder of Asian Performing Arts of Colorado, and Shirley Young of the U.S.-China Cultural Institute and a member of the Committee of 100.
The Committee of 100 is a national, non-partisan organization composed of American citizens of Chinese descent. Each member has achieved a position of leadership in the United States in a broad range of professions. The president of Committee of 100, General Fu, and Alice Mong, the executive director, also were guests at the dinner.
Tian and Tan Dun are members of the Committee of 100, as is Denver resident John Sie, who made his mark in the telecommunications industry. Other well-known members are cellist Yo Yo Ma; AIDS researcher Dr. David Ho, a former Time magazine Man of the Year; Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, and architect I.M Pei, who was scheduled to be at the dinner but had to cancel at the last minute when his wife became ill.
The dinner drew many New York VIPs, including Placido Domingo; the Met’s general manager, Peter Gelb; Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson; former World Bank President James Wolfensohn; Donald Newhouse, CEO of Newhouse Publications; Mercedes Bass, vice chair of the Metropolitan Opera Board, and her husband, Sid Bass; and almost the entire cast of “The First Emperor.”
Denver attendees included APAC board members Gayle Ray and her husband, Gary; Jennifer Heglin; Denise Gliwa with husband Kevin and daughter Catie; Celeste Fleming, whose husband, John,
is a Central City Opera board member; and Lorraine and Darby Smith.
Also, Julia White, a former assistant curator at the Denver Art Museum, flew in from California where she is senior curator of Asian Art of University of California Berkeley Art Museum. Greg and Desiree Smith came all the way from their home in Hong Kong to take part in the festivities.
They’re the son and daughter-in-law of Lorraine and Darby Smith, and were among 13 family members joining the Smiths for both the opera and to help Lorraine celebrate her birthday. Tian surprised Lorraine by singing “Happy Birthday” as she blew out the candles on her cake.
A number of Central City Opera supporters were among the guests, too. The grand finale of APAC’s 20th anniversary will be the July 7 world premiere of Tan Dun’s newest work, “Poet Li Bai,” performed at the historic Central City Opera House.
The Central City folks included Guild President Susan Stiff; General Artistic Director Pelham (Pat) Pearce; chairman of the board Ed Nichols; Nancy Parker, the president emeritus; Jim Groebe and his wife, Martha; Liz Martin, wife of board member Hilton Martin, who stayed home to nurse a broken ankle; Ann C. Levy, Judy Tucker and Christina Bearman Von Wald.
The company’s public relations director, Valerie Hamlin, and marketing director, Deb Hruby, also made the trip and spent time working with NYC media to promote the Central City Opera’s 75th anniversary festival. Also, Diana Liao, librettist of “Poet Li Bai,” and soprano Ying Huang, who will be the Moon in the opera.
Ellie Caulkins was thrilled to see Elizabeth Futral and Paul Groves, two of the young singers that she saw sing on the Met stage for the first time when she was president of the Metropolitan Opera National Council in 1991. Futral and Groves had major roles in “The First Emperor.”
Lamont School of Music Director Joe Docksey and his wife. Nancy, also were there, as was CH2MHill Chairman Ralph Peterson and his wife, Betty. CH2MHill is a major sponsor of “Poet Li Bai” and Ralph Peterson is an honorary chair of APAC’s 20th anniversary along with Anna and John Sie, Dan Ritchie and Pat Cortez.
Celeste Fleming brought her sister, Midge Eason, from Hampton, VA. Midge’s husband is a former mayor of Hampton, the oldest English-speaking town in the U.S.
Gayle and Gary Ray hosted a wine and cheese party the evening before the opera for their guests from New York, New Zealand, Beaver Creek, Texas, Cape Cod, Arkansas, Nebraska, Virginia and California. Other than Martha Liao, Gayle certainly won the prize for having the most guests in attendance.
APAC volunteers Sandy Bolton, Bert and Max Buckman, Ruth Hart Segal, Jimmy and Linda Yip, Meiko and R.V. Bailey and Harvey and Joanne Sender also were there, along with Dr. Burt and Fe Myers, who will co-chair the April 5 kick off party for the “Poet Li Bai” gala.
Opera Colorado was represented by board members Charles and Ursula Kafadar, Marcia Robinson and Kalleen Malone.
Other Denver guests were Sherrye Berger, Nancy Benson, Bill and Bei-Lee Gold, Ginnie Maes, Diana Lee and Dr. Roy Stahlgren, Jim Creamer, Margaret Cunningham, Deanna Leino, Ginnie and Tom Maes, Dr. Alan and Vicki Rosenberg, Zoni Pluss and Anne Sneed and her daughter, Alison.
For tickets to the world premiere gala, call the Central City Opera at 303-292-6700 or visit its website: centralcityopera.org.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. She thanks Denise Gliwa for taking the copious notes that provided the foundation for this blog.
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