Photo Credit:  Drew Altizer Photography

The San Francisco Symphony Opening Night is always synonymous with beauty and style, and this year brought the best of the best!  On September 5th,  Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony kicked off its 24^th season with the annual Opening Night Gala celebration, featuring an unforgettable performance by world-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman, who performed music from beloved Hollywood film scores before being joined on stage by students of his Perlman Music Program.

Along with the Gala Concert, the SF Symphony hosted a cocktail reception and four separate formal dinners attended by San Francisco’s finest fashion crowd. The Patrons’ Dinner was the largest and took place in the Tented Pavilion next to Davies Symphony Hall. The Symphony Supper and Symphonix Dinner took place at City Hall’s Grand Rotunda and North Light Court, respectively, and the fourth dinner was in the Wattis Room of Davies Hall.

(Photo – Drew Altizer Photography)

It was the foremost fête of the 2018-19 gala season, and while the performance was the main attraction of the night, the San Francisco Symphony Gala serves as a style preview for looks that will be on forefront of this season’s fashion and beauty scene. This year, the amazing sounds emanating from the stage were just as memorable as the Insta-worthy looks we saw in the crowd.

The Eyes Have It

While the classic red-lip made an appearance on kisses of many at Gala, the Statement Eye was the standout beauty look of the night. A revved-up version the standard smokey eye look- the statement eye brings even more drama with full-length lashes, heavy black or metallic eyeliner and high-impact, glossy shadow on the lid.

Sakurako Fisher (Photo – Drew Altizer)

Navid Armstrong (Photo – Drew Altizer)

Daring and Dramatic Dresses

Scene-stealing floral and textured ball gowns were a popular choice, as well as dramatic jewel-toned and dazzling metallic sheaths. We also saw an array of dresses with distinctive necklines, full and partial-length sleeves and one-of-a-kind headpieces.

Karen Caldwell (Photo – Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)

Camille Bently (Photo – Drew Altizer)

Tara Dollinger (Photo – Katie Ravas for Drew Altizer Photography)

Sonya Molodetskaya (Photo – Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)

Long hair, Don’t Care

While many ladies tend to opt for an updo at black-tie events, this year we saw lots of length, including soft-swept tresses and long, loose curls- reminiscent of the popular ‘beachy waves’ look that was all the rage this the summer. The longer hairstyles were prefect compliment to soften the drama and sophistication of the dresses.

Alexandra Stoelzle and Valentin Kint (Photo – Arthur Kobin for Drew Altizer Photography)

Kevin Yeh, Catherine Meng, Jerica Lee and Ariel Anaya  (Photo – Drew Altizer)

Steve Walske and Jennifer Walske (Photo – Drew Altizer)

Komal Shah (Photo – Natalie Schrik for Drew Altizer Photography)

Proceeds from the Opening Night Gala benefit the San Francisco Symphony’s myriad artistic, education, and community programs, which serve nearly 100,000 children, students, educators, and families in the Bay Area each year.

Lawrence Lui, Michael Tilson Thomas and Gorretti Lui (Photo – Drew Altizer)

(Photo – Susana Bates for Drew Altizer Photography)

(Photo – Drew Altizer)