What a house! Just driving into that magnificent, softly lit driveway, guarded by gnarled and twisting banyans that reach up into a kind of arbor above you, is an almost-mystical experience. So is gazing out on that sweep of Palm Beach’s Intracoastal, with all the lights twinkling in the night. And then poking around the 20,000 square feet of Tova Leidesdorf’s home, looking at the art and mementos – pictures of the hostess with Bob Hope, Gerald Ford, Tony Bennett, Rose Kennedy, Zev Buffman, etc. Plus the carriage house, the bathhouse and cabana, the pool, the gardens. It’s not exactly a little red schoolhouse. (Could you roller-skate through the rooms in any red schoolhouse you ever met?)
But most of the guests were there Saturday night for a little schooling. A lesson about the New World Symphony.
Because these days, not only is the NWS International Committee (in South and North America and Europe) tooting its horn and drumming up support all over. So is Leidesdorf.
And that’s a coup in itself. Getting such philanthropists behind your cause is like hooking up another engine to push your train. Leidesdorf and her co-host, Nations Bank Trust and Private Banking, called the pre-Valentine’s Day party “Sweetheart Celebration.”She planned on 150 to 200 guests, and ended up with well over 300 – some sweethearts who already support the symphony, and scads of them she felt would help if they knew more about it.
So that’s what the delightful night was all about. Painless education. “My mission is peace,” Leidesdorf says. “And happiness. Think of these talented young people from all over the world, playing and giving happiness all over the world.”And happiness contributes to world peace. She’s got it all figured out.
Some campus. Who wouldn’t be willing to take a short course in anything at Leidesdorf’s mansion? (And if they fell so in love with it they wanted to stay, that could be arranged, says Toni Hollis of Sotheby’s, who attended the party, “You can buy it for $7.5 million.”Leidesdorf doesn’t need all that space anymore: she’s too busy with her interests and her mission.)
So what did the crowd learn Saturday night? That the New World Symphony is on a roll. One great bit of news after another. Supporters in Monaco are raising money for it these days – $250,000 at just one recent dinner party! They want to bring the NWS to Monaco to make music throughout the month of April each year. The symphony is planning to tour South America, too, playing in Caracas, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. And also in Madrid and Mallorca this year. It’s becoming an international star.
They learned that Miami Beach is home base to the NWS. That it’s under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. That it’s a talent pool second to none. (Its musicians are picked up by symphonies around the world, almost faster than they can be replaced.) That it has the enthusiasm and energy of youth, coupled with superb technical skills and flair.
It was a painless class. Wandering the rooms, twirling to danceable music, sipping champagne and tasting delicious shrimp, meatballs and such, and talking about NWS kept everyone busy during cocktails. Then everyone headed out to a tent that went on forever. The women were bobbing up and down as their heels sank in the grass – in time to the music, of course. (“I’m thinking of removing my shoes,” said former Palm Beach Mayor Deedy Marix.) In the tent, more music, a buffet dinner of chicken and filet of beef, and more enlightening words about the symphony.
And the topper was the lesson brought to life: a sample of lovely night music by the NWS brass quintet and string ensemble.
The celebration drew quite a crowd: Dolly Grimard, the wife of Canadian Sen. Normand Grimard; Elliott Schnall; Carol Hays, the Governors Club membership director; movie producer Larry Spangler; Fritz Jellinghaus, a director of the International Museum of Cartoon Art. It drew folks who know all about the symphony: its Director of International Development William Vaughn, Woody and Judy Weiser and Humberto Pacheco of Costa Rica. And people who were just learning about it: Alma and A.J. Tambone, Nigel and Deedy Marix, Belle Ruddy, and D.C. and Palm Beach philanthropists Irene Greenbaum and Charlie Smith.
And of course, Lin and Ted Arison (Carnival Cruise Lines tycoon) flew in especially for the party. After all, NWS was their baby. They founded it and nursed it along until it could walk by itself. And they’re still proud involved godparents. “I run it by remote,” laughs Lin.
And how do the Arisons feel about its success?
The way they beam at every New World Symphony event, you can tell they’re pleased down to their toes. Said Lin, “We’re living vicariously.”
