Birds of a Feather

DSO League's fashion show + luncheon soars with blooming benefactors

The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is already a stunning venue, but it was transformed into a fairy-tale vision of blue, lilac, silver, and gold for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League’s 11^th annual Fashion Notes Luncheon and Style Show on October 10.

Chaired by Madelaine Lam and Whitney Cameron, with Linda L. Burk, MD and her daughters Jane E. Gilmore, MD and Linda L. Gilmore as honorary chairs, the event took its enchanting inspiration from the feathered theme "Birdsong."

Guests were greeted with flutes of the signature cocktail, Bluebird 76, and the sight of the Instagram-worthy main staircase, which featured a 10-foot-tall gilded gazebo covered in flowers and surrounded by luscious green vines. Perched in the center was a chic bridal gown by the afternoon's Designer Award recipient, Esé Azénabor Grembowski.

DSOL Fashion Notes 2024 The breathtaking display greeted guests on arrival.Photo by Thomas Garza and Rob Wythe

After browsing the silent auction and raffle, which included a "glow-up" package, a "get fit" package, and an array of experiences promoting the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, guests took their seats for the program and fashion show.

Emcee and sports reporter Lesley McCaslin introduced DSOL president Dixey Arterburn and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's new CEO and president, Michelle Miller Burns, reminding the crowd that the day's celebration recognizes the art of music and fashion.

It also raises funds for the Dallas Symphony Association's education and outreach initiatives. To date, this organization of volunteers has raised more than $22 million in support of those efforts. The funds also support young musicians from communities across DFW who receive instruments and lessons from the world-renowned DSO.

DSOL Fashion Notes 2024 Young Strings members entertained guests.Photo by Thomas Garza and Rob Wythe

Photo by Thomas Garza and Rob Wythe

Luncheon chair Madelaine Lam, DSOL president Dixey Arterburn, luncheon chair Whitney Cameron.

Additional initiatives include:

Young Strings — members of which were performing that morning — and The Cecil and Ida Green Youth Concerts, which impact over 20,000 students.
DSO On the Go, which brings the orchestra outside the Meyerson Symphony Center and into neighborhoods and communities around North Texas.
MyDSO Concerts, which are specially designed for children and adults on the autism spectrum and with developmental disabilities, and their families, friends, and caregivers.
Kim Noltemy Young Musicians, which just celebrated its fifth anniversary this past summer. This transformative program establishes free after-school orchestras in southern Dallas, where many schools don’t have music programs. It provides instruments and expert teachers to help build orchestras in communities that are often underserved and underrepresented. This past summer, 380 students participated in these camps, which run alongside the Young Strings camps.

Kudos were given to the event's committee, which includes Katy Mendelsohn Brooks, Claire Catrino, Sharon Lee Clark, Jen Davis, Funmi Omotayo, Jen Sanders, Caitlin Wilson, First VP Fundraising Kristin Cordiak, Fashion Notes Advisor Nikki Beneke, and presenting sponsors Tanya and Daniel Rice.

DSOL Fashion Notes 2024 Urvi Dalal, Desirie Laugerud.Photo by Thomas Garza and Rob Wythe

The music rose again as the fashion show began, featuring Esé Azénabor Grembowski and Elah Grembowski; Linda Burke, MD, Jane Gilmore, MD, and Linda Gilmore; Whitney Cameron with Alex and Cole Cameron; Madelaine Lam with Preston Lam; Melissa Graham with Elise and Isla Graham; Tessa Smith and Kristin Hallam; Mandi Bonilla with Violet and Scarlet Wick; Laura Price with Ellie and Lucy Price; Sarah Williams with Mason Williams; Tama Tran and Erica McGraw and Sharon Lee Clark; Ellie Castro with Serena and Siena Castro; Jen Sanders with Jackson Sanders; Kelly Morgan with Myles Morgan; Vida Samii and Jen Huen; Katy Mendelsohn Brooks with Sophia Brooks; Caitlin Wilson with Chloe Wilson; and Urvi Dalal and Desirie Laugerud.

DSOL Fashion Notes 2024 Attendees enjoyed an elegant lunch.Photo by Thomas Garza and Rob Wythe

After the energetic live auction and paddle raise, guests were served an elegant lunch of mini quiches, butternut squash soup, a plated salad trio, and alternating coconut and pineapple parfait and hazelnut praline tart.

The DSOL’s fundraisers each year include Fashion Notes, the Junior Symphony Ball, Presentation Ball, and Savor the Symphony. The 2025 Presentation Ball will be held February 15, 2025, chaired by Ginger Sager and Barbara Averitt with honorary chairs Bill and Shirley McIntyre.

fashion show fundraisers symphony luncheons

A Glittering Celebration

Christine Baranski brings Hollywood sparkle to Dallas luncheon

Photo by Kim Leeson

Karen Hughes White, Caren Lock, Christine Baranski, Shonn Brown.

The Omni Dallas Hotel shimmered in ruby tones on November 14 as more than 950 supporters gathered to celebrate a milestone four decades in the making: the Texas Women’s Foundation’s Ruby Anniversary Luncheon.

The afternoon blended Hollywood sparkle — courtesy of award-winning actress Christine Baranski — with heartfelt tributes to the visionary women who sparked a movement in Texas 40 years ago.

The annual luncheon, one of the region’s most significant events advancing women and girls, raised an impressive $840,000. More than $112,000 of that came in during the program itself, underscoring the energy in the room and the urgency of the mission.

TXWF used the occasion to announce a landmark figure: a cumulative $115 million in impact since its founding in 1985. That number includes nearly $90 million in grants to organizations serving women and girls, as well as more than $25 million invested in research, advocacy, and leadership initiatives designed to shape long-term change.

Board chair Cris Zertuche Wong opened the program by welcoming seven of the Foundation’s 11 living founders, who also served as the event's honorary co-chairs: Susan Shamburger Bagwell, the Honorable Harryette Ehrhardt, Catalina E. Garcia, Frances Griffin-Brown, Helen LaKelly Hunt, the Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison, Madeline Mandell, Patricia Meadows, Gwendolyn Oliver, CoYoTe PhoeNix, and Rebecca Russell Sykes.

Their presence cast a powerful through line from 1985 to 2025, reminding guests how a collective of 19 bold women stepped across differences in background, beliefs, and political leanings to create an organization with the singular purpose of supporting Texas women and their families.

Wong also recognized former Foundation leaders and Ruby Anniversary co-chairs from across the decades: Gail Griswold and Brenda Jackson representing the 1980s; Laura Estrada, the 1990s; Helen Frank, the 2000s; and Shonn Brown, the 2020s.

TXWF president and CEO Karen Hughes White spoke to the road ahead, noting that while the founders’ vision remains timeless, the challenges facing Texas women have grown more complex. “It will take all of us to create meaningful, lasting, systemic change that levels the playing field for women and, in turn, creates a strong and vibrant Texas for all,” she said.

Throughout the luncheon, guests were treated to archival video clips of the founders recalling how they built TXWF from scratch: the meetings held around kitchen tables, the spirited debates, the shared belief that change was not only possible but necessary.

Brown then honored each of the 11 living founders, as well as those who have passed, noting that their collective voice will be further amplified in a forthcoming 40-story collection documenting TXWF's history.

The afternoon’s featured guest, introduced by Target executive and event sponsor Sabrina Thomas, was the incomparable Christine Baranski, the Emmy and Tony-winning actress of The Good Wife, Cybil, and The Gilded Age.

In an onstage conversation moderated by former board chair Caren Lock, Baranski charmed the audience with stories from her upbringing in Buffalo, New York, where she grew up in a working-class Polish American family. She spoke of perseverance, discipline, and dreaming big, qualities that carried her to Juilliard and ultimately into a celebrated four-decade career spanning television, film, and theater.

As the luncheon drew to a close, the mood was equal parts celebratory and forward-looking. Forty years in, the Texas Women’s Foundation continues to push for equity with the same passion that fueled its founding.

Photo by Kim Leeson

Karen Hughes White, Caren Lock, Christine Baranski, Shonn Brown.

fundraisers christine baranski texas womens foundation nonprofits the gilded age luncheons celebrities