Social Circuit

The Philadelphia Orchestra opened its 110th season Saturday with a concert and gala at the Kimmel Center. The black-tie evening began with receptions held at the newly restored Academy of Music Ballroom and at the University of the Arts. The program, led by Philadelphia Orchestra chief conductor Charles Dutoit, featured actor Alec Baldwin narrating Copland's Lincoln Portrait as well as works by Berlioz and Saint-Saens. Former board chairman Peter A. Benoliel received the Philadelphia Orchestra Award from current board chairman Richard A. Worley. Dinner and dancing for 540 guests followed at the Kimmel Center. The gala, co-chaired by Susan J. Bancroft and Joseph A. Camarda, raised $433,880.

The March of Dimes held its Patrons Reception Sept. 14 in the boardroom of Philadelphia Media Holdings, publisher of The Inquirer and Daily News. Former Four Seasons chef Jean-Marie Lacroix was among the 75 guests attending the preview party for the nonprofit's Signature Chefs Auction to be held Nov. 13 at the Please Touch Museum. Inquirer publisher Brian P. Tierney will be honored at the event, which will feature Chef Rock, Season 3 winner of Fox's Hell's Kitchen, as well as food and chefs from more than 20 local restaurants.

Rock star Jon Bon Jovi, an advocate for the homeless, received Project HOME's inaugural Golden Heart Award at its 20th anniversary celebration, held Sept. 23 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation recently partnered with Project HOME and the Bethesda Project to build a $24.5 million, 79-unit apartment building in Center City for the homeless. More than 950 attended the event, which raised $1.4 million for Project HOME. "Coming Home at 20," presented by the Phillies and Comcast, was cochaired by Kathy Z. Anderson and Susan Sherman.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia celebrated the close of its record-breaking fund-raising campaign, "Hope Lives Here," at a party held Sept. 17 at the Fort Washington estate of Athena and Nicholas Karabots. The hospital raised more than $476.5 million since 2003, exceeding its goal by $76.5 million. Among the 150 guests at the party were hospital president and chief executive officer Steven Altschuler, campaign cochairs Lynne Garbose and Jeffrey Perelman, and Ruth and Tristram Colket. The Colkets' $25 million donation, the campaign's largest single gift, enabled the hospital to build an 11-story, state-of-the-art research building scheduled to open next week.

More than 1,600 civic, cultural, business, political, and education leaders gathered at the Academy of Music Thursday to remember philanthropist Leonore Annenberg, who died in March at 91. The 90-minute program, organized by Gerry Lenfest, featured remarks by Gov. Rendell, Mayor Nutter, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sandra Day O'Connor, Tom Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, among others, and performances by the Philadelphia Orchestra, soprano Frederica von Stade, and pianist Di Wu. During the reception the Academy Ballroom, newly restored to its 1857 grandeur with a gift from the Annenberg Foundation, was open to guests for the first time.