High Ball, Low Ball

A new twist was added to the Minnesota Orchestra's Symphony Ball Saturday night. They threw two different parties -- a formal dress, $375-and-up dinner for more than 800 people at the Hilton, and a more casual, $100-a-pop dancing and karaoke bash for 550 revelers in the Orchestra Hall lobby.

Both crowds first heard an hour of Abba music performed by the orchestra and the Finnish singing sextet Rajaton led by music director Osmo Vänskä, who sported the custom white suit that made such a splash two years ago. This time, it was accessorized by a pair of metallic lime-green platform shoes.

"My son Perttu bought them for me online," said Vänskä. "I have to give them to him after tonight."

Perttu Vänskä was a hip hit in his own right with his huge wig (Mom Pirkko also wore one). The youngest of the three Vänskä children at 25, Perttu plays electric guitar in Helsinki -- who says you can't love classical and metal? -- and is studying for his master's in musicology.

Post-concert in the lobby, several "Low Ball" attendees wasted no time cutting a rug, including Karen Stiles of Edina and her husband, Bill, whose appliquéd blue jeans rivaled Osmo's suit for decorative interest. The concert "was like Boston Pops does Abba," said Chris Cunnington of Minneapolis, who called herself and her friends "secret Abba fans."

Over at the Hilton, the look was more formal, but the mood was just as merry.

Oboist Julie Gramolini, associate conductor Mischa Santora and his date, Emily Paulson, made a striking trio.

Gramolini said she enjoyed playing with Rajaton: "We can all use some variety."

Mary Sumners of Chaska, an orchestra board member for the last year and a half, was resplendent in head-to-toe gold. She said that she and her husband, Greg, have been orchestra fans since college.

This year's ball was chaired by Theresa Davis, wife of U.S. Bank's Richard Davis. Marilyn Carlson Nelson, the evening's honorary chair, was feted in a video tribute. She had fun recalling balls past as well as Minnesota Orchestra concerts she attended as a child with her father, Curt Carlson.

Once, she said, the senior Carlson remarked: "We have good seats -- we're on the keyboard side." When Nelson was chair of the Ball in 1973, she took the duty seriously, flying out to Los Angeles to check out a Danny Kaye performance before asking him to be the ball's celebrity guest. "Young lady," Kaye told her, "I haven't been auditioned in 30 years."

This year's live auction "felt electric," said orchestra spokeswoman Gwen Pappas. "I think people were more revved up because they'd just seen the musicians perform" (which Vänskä wisely insisted on for this year's ball).

The most heated contest between two bidders was for dinner with Vänskä. After pledging more than $25,000 each, both bidders ended up winning a meal with the maestro.

The auction alone raked in $150,000, Pappas said. The gross total raised was approximately $1.2 million.

Kristin Tillotson • 612-673-7046