For
the 20th year, the Women's Association of the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra (CSO) sponsored Corporate Night at Symphony Center. Held
this year on Tuesday, May 19th, the evening featured a performance
by Sting, a musical legend and the winner of 16 Grammy Awards. Sting's
performance was supported by Anne and Ken Griffin.
How does Corporate Night work? Corporations/companies purchase
dinner and concert packages that include 2 –16 seats. It
is an evening with elegant cuisine, magnificent décor and stellar
music for only Chicago's corporate community and their guests.
There were several dining areas within Symphony Center, each with a different
floral display. Grainger Ballroom featured copper linen with roses in
gold urns; the Club atop Symphony Center had silver linen with blue hydrangea;
Buntrock Hall had lily grass with mango tulips; Rhapsody had copper urns
and leonidis roses and the Rotunda's displayed black roses and
trailing burgundy amaranthus. Cocktails were followed by
dinner that included a carpaccio and mache salad, rack of lamb and a
dessert assortment.
Music was by members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conducting
the Orchestra was David Hartley and the program opened with the Overture
to Candide followed by a very generous performance by Sting
who sang a selection of his greatest hits.
The 2009 sponsors were National City, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, bp, Ernst & Young,
Bentley Gold Coast, Exelon, Kirkland & Ellis LL.P, Deloitte, Winston & Strawn
LL.P, Sidley Austin LL.P, BlueCross BlueShield, Bank of America, Abbott,
Motorola, United, Performance Trust, and Chicago Tribune.
The 2009 Corporate Chairman was David B. Speer, Chief Executive Officer,
ITW. Annette Dezelan was the CSO Women's Association Chairman
and her co-chair was Linda Neumann. Members of her committee included
Diane Collison, Liz Stein, Carol Brosk and Judy Konen, Jetta
Bushonville, Angie Youngman and Maria Livaditis. The President
of the Women's Association is Penny Van Horn.
This project is a tribute to Chicago's business community and
is the main fundraiser for the CSO Women's Association. The
attendance numbered 900 for dinner and a total of 2,000 for the concert. Chair
David Speer announced that the evening raised $l.4M.
