An affair to remember

44 Dallas Symphony debutantes take their bows at 2025 Presentation Ball

In grand tradition that dates from Queen Victoria of Britain to Queen Charlotte of Bridgerton, 44 young women made full-court bows into society at the 39th Dallas Symphony Orchestra League Presentation Ball on February 15 at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

The opulent evening saw 1,200 guests don regal ballgowns and dapper tuxedos for one of Dallas’ most glamorous and formal events of the year. The Presentation Ball is the largest fundraiser for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League.

The annual event also represented a fun coming-together of generations: Debutantes’ parents and grandparents applauded them proudly from the lower levels of the concert hall, while their college-aged friends - many having arrived together via party bus - filled the grand tier to cheer them on with abandon.

What, exactly, were they cheering for?

A 90-second display of graceful gymnastics.

DSOL Presentation Ball 2025 Olivia Barber gets a kiss on the cheek from her dad, Brandon Barber during her presentation.Photo by Gittings

When her name was announced by master of ceremonies Stan Gardner, each debutante was escorted onto the stage by her father (or an uncle or family friend) as the Dave Alexander Band and Orchestra played a theme of her choosing - from "The Way You Look Tonight" to "Sweet Caroline" to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." Dad then kissed her on the cheek and carefully stepped to the side (avoiding stepping on their daughter's dress), and looked on proudly as she walked on to the front of the stage, independently.

Slowly, purposefully, gracefully, each woman curtsied all the way to the floor for her "Texas Dip" - arms out, head forward, head bowed, head to the side - while clutching a floral bouquet. A member of the Honor Guard then offered his hand to assist her rise from the floor and carefully escorted her off stage.

DSOL Presentation Ball 2025 Abigail Carlisle assisted by Honor Guard member David Curlin.Photo by Gittings

The noble curtsy is a maneuver the women rehearse hundreds of times, yet any number of things can go wrong, like a shoe heel getting caught on a crinoline petticoat underneath her billowing white gown. If any such snafus happened onstage, they weren't detected by the audience, who enjoyed a perfect performance by all 44 debs.

Photo by Deborah Brown

DSOL 2025 debutantes Sara Cashion, Mary Stone, Samantha Ward, and Harper Knight.

After all the women were presented, guests descended hastily to the lobby, where trumpeters lined the grand staircase to announce the procession of debutantes and Honor Guard members into the party. The women then joined their dads for a traditional father-daughter Grand Waltz to “Moon River."

DSOL Presentation Ball 2025 Olivia Coker dances with her father, Key Coker.Photo by Gittings

Patrons sat down to a sumptuous filet mignon dinner in the lobby, which was adorned with exquisite spring florals by Junior Villanueva's team at Garden Gate Floral Design. After supper, the Jordan Kahn Orchestra revved up for a high-energy after-party on the dance floor.

The 2025 DSOL debutantes were: Olivia Reese Chambers Barber, Brooke Lucille Barcus, Brooke Makenna Barnes, Lauren Elizabeth Brown, Abigail Claire Carlisle, Sara Grace Cashion, Sara Elizabeth Cavey, Elle Terese Chavis, Rebecca Lauren Ciarochi, Olivia Katherine Coker, Isabelle Catherine Eggart, Annabel Dianne Everitt, Finley Paige Galvin, Eliana Lourdes Garcia, Sophie Michelle Goelzer, Elizabeth Rose Goelzer, Alexa Christine Grabow, Camille LaClaire Gravel, Katherine Blaine Hess, Grace Alexandra Hoverman, Sydney Sherrill Hoyl, Madeleine Sutton Hubach, Katherine Anne Hudnall, Hannah Elizabeth Jackson, Harper Leigh Knight, Ella-Rose Marcus Levy, Lily Bauchet Lynch, Ivy Ann Mazzucchi, Julia Holliman Montgomery, Grace Cathryn Morrison, Natalie Brooke Newton, Anne Blanche Peacock, Ava Francis Perpall, Caroline Elizabeth Petrikas, Lauren Elizabeth Porray, Vivian Grace Potter, Alexandra Elise Sargis, Grace Isabelle Schlafer, Madelyn Grace Sporl, Mary Nash Stone, Ava Marie Tribolet, Natalie Elaine Van Arsdale, Samantha Renee Ward, and Annabeth Gracelyn Winn.

DSOL Presentation Ball 2025 2025 DSOL Debutantes and Honor Guard Photo by Gittings

The 2025 Presentation Ball took place under the guidance of co-chairs Ginger Sager and Barbara Averitt, along with DSOL president Dixey Arterburn. The evening’s honorary chairs were Shirley and Bill McIntyre.

Also in attendance were Michelle Miller Burns, new Ross Perot President and CEO of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, with her husband Gary Burns; and Roger Gault, new chairman of the board of the Dallas Symphony Association Board of Governors, with his wife, Marena Gault.

Per tradition, numerous family members were in attendance to support their deb. Among them: Terrence and Audra Chavis, Pamela Wills-Ward; Jennifer, Julian and Morgan Potter; Debbie, Alexandra, and Paul Sargis; John and Dianne Schlafer; Eryn Sporl; Mary Elizabeth and Gregory Porray; Sarah Morrison; John, Lester, Christine, and Marigny Winn; Cynthia, William, and William Everitt, Sr.; Katherine and Key Coker; Eduardo Garcia, III, Eduardo Garcia, Jr., Yolanda Garcia, Sofia Garcia, and Isabella Garcia; Celia, Patrick, Dawne, and Julia Tribolet; Ali, Abi, and Frederick Perpall; Miles and Carrie Eggart, and many more.

The evening held particular meaning for two former debutante mothers, Brett Levy (1988) and Laurie Peacock (1989), who watched their daughters, Ella-Rose Levy and Anne Blanche Peacock, make their own debuts. Several families celebrated the presentation of a second debutante, including the Joel Ciarochis, the Cyrus Barcuses, the William Newtons, the Julian Potters, and the Taylor Stones. Dawne and Patrick Tribolet proudly marked the debut of their third daughter.

DSOL Presentation Ball 2025 The Tribolet family: Celia, Patrick, Ava, Dawne, and Julia.Photo by Deborah Brown

Family bonds were further noted as many debutantes were escorted by their brothers, including Key Coker, Jr., Christopher Hess, JB Hudnall, Mitchell Jackson, Robert Peacock, James Petrikas, and Jack Schlafer.

The Dallas Symphony debutantes are of college age and typically are graduates of Dallas-area high schools, but may be attending college out of the area. Participation is open to all young women. Like pledging a sorority, participants pay fees and participate in parties, fundraisers, classes, and other events throughout the year, all leading up to the Presentation Ball.

Since its founding in 1946 by visionary philanthropist Tincy Miller, the DSOL has contributed over $23 million to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s education and outreach programs.

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The Rich List

Dallas visionary joins 18 DFW billionaires on new Forbes' richest list

Ben Lamm and George Church, Colossal cofounders

Courtesy of Colossal

Ben Lamm (left) and George Church (right) founded Colossal in 2021.

The richest billionaires in America have a collective worth of $8 trillion in 2026, a staggering $1.4 trillion increase since last year, says Forbes. And the Dallas-based billionaire best known for starting a company to resurrect the long-extinct woolly mammoth has become one of the richest people in America.

Biotech "serial entrepreneur" Ben Lamm, cofounder of Colossal Biosciences, has made his debut as one of the country's richest residents for 2026, according to the just-released Forbes 400.

The annual Forbes 400 list is a definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans, using interviews, financial data, and documentation provided by billionaires and their companies. In all, 43 billionaires across Texas made it on the 2026 list, and 19 are based in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Lamm, 44, cofounded the Texas-based "de-extinction" company with geneticist George Church in 2021 with the goal to resurrect extinct animals including the mammoth, Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo. The company is now worth over $10 billion, and Lamm's own net worth is currently estimated at $5.7 billion.

"Lamm believes that governments, which have long budgeted for conservation efforts, will pay Colossal to reintroduce extinct species or to prevent endangered ones from dying off," Forbes says in Lamm's profile. "In April Lamm spun Astromech out of Colossal. The company, which private investors valued at $3.8 billion in August, uses AI to forecast evolutionary change."

He is tied with Austin billionaire and Tito's Handmade Vodka founder Bert Beveridge as the No. 302 richest person in America.

In nearby Fort Worth, Walmart heiress Alice Walton, 76, who leads as the richest woman globally, still reigns richest woman in America, the third-wealthiest person in Texas, and the richest resident in Fort Worth for 2026.

Walton's net worth has grown by $12 billion since last year, bringing her current net worth to $118 billion. She is the only daughter of late Walmart cofounder Sam Walton, though she focuses her attention on other endeavors like the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville, Arkansas. Forbes still lists her residence as Fort Worth.

Alice Walton in 2026 Walmart heiress and Fort Worth resident Alice Walton is $12 billion richer than she was a year ago.Alice Walton/Facebook

Walton is one of only 62 women billionaires on the Forbes 400 list, making up just 16 percent of the total list.

"Shares of the retailing giant are up more than 10 percent since last year, helping Walton widen her lead over the nation’s second-wealthiest woman, Julia Koch (estimated net worth: $84.6 billion), an heir to the Koch, Inc. conglomerate fortune," Forbes says.

Missing from this year's list is David Dean Halbert of Colleyville. Halbert, 70, earned his billionaire status last year when his diagnostics firm, Caris Life Sciences, went public. He became one of the 400 richest Americans in 2025, but his net worth is currently estimated at $3.7 billion, which — shockingly — makes him one of the 590 American billionaires that are "too poor to make the cut" this year, according to Forbes.

"With the AI and data center boom in full swing and the U.S. stock market near an all-time high, it now takes a record $4.4 billion to rank among the nation’s 400 wealthiest people," the publication said. "That’s $600 million more than last year and $2.7 billion more than a decade ago.

Here's how the rest of Dallas-Fort Worth's billionaires fared on this year's list:

Koch, Inc. stakeholder Elaine Marshall and her family rank No. 34 nationally with an estimated net worth of $32.2 billion. Last year: $28.3billion.
Endeavor Energy Resources chairman Lyndal Stephens Greth and her family rank No. 37 nationwide with an estimated net worth of $30 billion. Last year: $27.4 billion.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones of Dallas sits at No. 49 in the U.S. with an estimated net worth of $23.5 billion. Last year: $19.6 billion.
Money manager Ken Fisher of Dallas ranks 83rd nationally with an estimated net worth of $15 billion. Last year: $13.2 billion.
Banking and real estate mogul Andy Beal of Dallas holds the No. 110 spot nationally. His estimated net worth is $12.3 billion. Last year: $12 billion.
Gas tycoon Kelcy Warren of Dallas ranks No. 170 nationally with an estimated net worth of $9.3 billion. Last year: $7.5 billion.
Hotel and investment guru Robert Rowling of Dallas ranks 187th nationally with an estimated net worth of $8.8 billion, unchanged from 2025.
Oil and real estate titan Ray Lee Hunt of Dallas ranks 199th nationally with an estimated net worth of $8.3 billion. Last year: $6.9 billion.
Real estate bigwig H. Ross Perot Jr. of Dallas ranks No. 233 nationally with an estimated net worth of $7.4 billion. Last year: $6.5 billion.
Oil and investment mogul Robert Bass of Fort Worth ranks 245th nationally with an estimated net worth of $7 billion. Last year: $6.1 billion.
Media magnate and Cost Plus Drugs cofounder Mark Cuban of Dallas ranks No. 255 nationally with an estimated net worth of $6.8 billion. Last year: $6 billion.
Margot Birmingham Perot of Dallas, widow of tech and real estate entrepreneur H. Ross Perot Sr., ranks No. 264 nationally with an estimated net worth of $6.4 billion. Last year: $5.7 billion.
Oil and gas honcho Trevor Rees-Jones of Dallas ranks as No. 269 nationally with an estimated net worth of $6.2 billion. Last year: $5.9 billion.
Airplane leasing industry founder Steven Udvar-Hazy of Westlake ranks No. 336 nationally with an estimated net worth of $5.1 billion. Last year: $4.5 billion.
Oil and gas magnate Ray Davis of Dallas ties for 375th nationally with an estimated net worth of $4.6 billion. Last year: $3.5 billion.
Oil heir Sid Bass of Fort Worth and private equity firm cofounder Carl Thoma of Dallas tie for No. 380 nationally with an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion. Last year: $3.8 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively.

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