Live Auction Items
We have a fantastic list of live auction items lined up for the gala! Scroll down to see details about each item, and then get ready to bid! For more information on the live auction, see How the Live Auction Works.
Item Descriptions
Heads or Tails for the Tour
Bid: $25 to play
Last one standing wins! Spend an unforgettable week in the Virgin Islands at this St. Thomas vacation home—a Mediterranean-style retreat with stunning ocean views, on the north side of the island. Sleeps four.
Donor: Francesco & Tasha Isolani
Restrictions: Mutually agreeable date. Airfare not included.
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Best of Live Auction
The winner of our "Best of Live Auction" drawing can choose any live auction item, including a stay at the Lou Harrison House, above, or a week in an Italian villa, below.
Bid: $100 
champagne glass purchase required to play
Win your choice of any item from the live auction line-up. Only 100 champagne glasses are being sold for a one-in-100 chance to win. These odds are so much better than the lottery!
Restrictions: Must be present to participate.
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Conduct Fiddle Faddle
Opening Bid: $200
Value: priceless
A fantasy come true! Conduct The Crowden School Orchestra’s performance of Fiddle Faddle by Leroy Anderson at the 2009 Spring Concert. You’re the Maestro—shake your hair wildly; The Crowden School Orchestra will follow your every nuance.
Donor: The Crowden Music Center
Restrictions: Must be arranged with Michel Taddei.
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San Francisco Opera Getaway
Opening Bid: $300
Value: $750
A classic romantic getaway for two! Relish an elegant dinner at A16 from a menu inspired by the rich culinary history of Campania, Italy. Next, take your seats in the War Memorial Opera House orchestra section for a San Francisco Opera performance (2007–08 season). Finallly, retire to a deluxe accomodation room in the glamorous Westin St. Francis Hotel on Union Square, and enjoy a lovely breakfast in the Oak Room the next morning .
Donors: San Francisco Opera,
Westin St. Francis,
A16 Restaurant & Wine Bar
Restrictions: Monday–Thursday performances for the 2007-08 season. Hotel room subject to availability.
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“Time to Practice” Clock & New Century Chamber Orchestra Pass
Opening Bid: $200
Value: priceless
Inspire your child (or yourself) to practice daily. This clock is constructed from a professionally made violin top varnished by award-winning luthier Thomas Oliver Croen. Autograph and "Time to Practice" reminder by Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. In addition, see Nadja as the new music director of the New Century Chamber Orchestra with two flex passes for eight admissions to the New Century Chamber Orchestra 2008-2009 season!
Donors: Joan Balter,
New Century Chamber Orchestra
Restrictions: Tickets not valid for orchestra seats or during fundraising or special events.
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Golden State Warriors Tickets & Autographed Basketball
Opening Bid: $200
Value: $950
Two hot tickets—next to impossible to obtain elsewhere—to the April 8, 2008, Golden State Warriors game against the Sacramento Kings. These tickets are just four rows behind the Warriors bench (yes, bring your camera for some fabulous shots). These tickets include access to the Courtside Club and free parking in the courtside parking lot. Get revved up for the game with a basketball autographed by the 2007/08 Golden State Warriors.
Donors: David Bunnell & Jackie Poitier,
Golden State Warrior Raymond Ridder
Restrictions: April 8, 2008 game only
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A Week's Stay at Stinson Beach in Seadrift
Opening Bid: $800
Value: $3,000
Relax and listen to the surf! Examine the tide pools, soak in the view. Stay a week in this three bedroom, two-and-a-half bath Stinson Beach house in Seadrift. This fully equipped, family-friendly home sleeps eight, and includes a hot tub and patio with barbeque.
Donor: David Roe & Sukey Lilienthal
Restrictions: Available 4/15 – 10/15/08. Mutually agreeable date. Refundable security deposit required.
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Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe: 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape Methuselah (6-liter bottle)
Opening Bid: $300
Value: $1,000
You’ll want to throw an elegant party to honor the opening of this truly exceptional bottle of wine. Produced from grapes grown in the Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe vineyards, located on the La Crau Plateau in France’s southern Rhône River region, this Chateauneuf du Pape is ranked 53rd in the year’s top 100 wines, with a 92 rating by Wine Advocate and 93 by Wine Spectator. Tastings reveal delightful hints of dark cherry, plum, tobacco, pepper, and Asian spices. Drinkable 2008–2018. You won’t be cooking with this—it’s the real thing, baby.
Donor: Francesco & Tasha Isolani
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Ken Kalman Sculpture—Piglet
Opening Bid: $1,000
Value: $3,000
Her name is "Piglet," and you’ll want to welcome her into your family! She was lovingly crafted for the Crowden Music Center's 25th Anniversary Gala by sculptor/Crowden parent Ken Kalman. Born of aluminum sheet, cast aluminum, and rivets, she can live either indoors or outdoors in your garden.
Donor: Ken Kalman
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Sugar Bowl Getaway for Four
Opening Bid: $500
Value: $1,250
- $1,600
Do you love to sit by the fire, watching skiers schuss down the mountain, while you sip your tea or hot cocoa? Or do you prefer to test your skills on beautifully groomed slopes after a fresh snowfall? Then this fabulous—and nearby—mini-vacation is for you! The Inn at Sugar Bowl offers guests the only snowbound lodge experience in the country. After leaving your car in the hotel garage near the highway, take a gondola across the valley to the hotel, where you’ll luxuriate in a three-night stay for four people. Includes breakfast and lift tickets.
Donor: Sugar Bowl Corporation
Restrictions: Valid through April 11, 2009.
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Eyewitness Blues Band Performance
Opening Bid: $500
Value: priceless
KCBS and KPIX newsmen by day—rockin' musicians by night. This well-known San Francisco band will play for your party! Enjoy a private performance by tonight's emcee Stan Bunger's band, the Eyewitness Blues Band. A rare opportunity, only available here tonight!
Donor: Eyewitness Blues Band
Restrictions: Subject to band availability.
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Movies and Pizza Party for 40 at Meyer Sound
Opening Bid: $2,000
Value: priceless
Invite 40 of your friends and family for an unforgetable sonic experience. To begin your evening, you’ll have a pizza party with hosts John Adams and Deborah O'Grady. Next, you and your guests will enjoy a night at the movies unlike any other, in the Meyer Sound Studio. This is the pinnacle of sound—state of the art.
Donors: John & Helen Meyer,
Deborah O'Grady & John Adams
Restrictions: Children's attendance discretionary.
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A Day of Sailing for Eight on the Bay
Opening Bid: $400
Value: $1,000
Have you ever watched the beautiful sailboats on the SF Bay and thought to yourself, "I should really try that some day"? Now is your chance! Skippers Fred Konkel and Neal Holmlund will host a party for up to eight peoplewhile sailing around the Bay. Leave from the Olympic Circle Sailing Club at the Berkeley Marina and spend the day on a 36-foot yacht, cruising your way through Racoon Strait and around Angel Island on the way out to the Golden Gate. Your return voyage will snake along the SF cityfront and Treasure Island. You can enjoy this memorable day either relaxing or joining in on the sailing fun as part of the "crew."
Donors: Fred Konkel, Neal Holmlund
Restrictions: Mutually agreeable date. Special events such as Fleet Week, July 4th, and KFOG Kaboom are excluded.
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Jay Haide à l'Ancienne Violin, Case, and Bow
Opening Bid: $1,000
Value: $2,929
Solo night is fast approaching! Is it time for your favorite student to move to a full-size violin with a beautiful warm tone? This is Ifshin Violins' top-of-the-line violin—so lovely! Ifshin Jay Haide à l'Ancienne violin, case, and Jay Haide pernambuco, silver-mounted bow.
Donor: Ifshin Violins
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Scholarship Fund
All bids accepted—everyone is a winner! You’ll help support music scholarships, so hold your paddle high!
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California Shakespeare Theater Package for Four
Opening Bid: $200
Value: $500
You will have your very own English teacher—yes, Brad Johnson—for a lively discussion of the play you’re about to see. Ask questions and enjoy Shakespeare in the Bruns Amphitheater after a boxed dinner entrée with wine. Four house seats to a 2008 performance, VIP parking for up to two cars, picnic table reservation included.
Donor: California Shakespeare Theater, Classic Catering, Brad Johnson
Restrictions: Based on availability of Brad Johnson on performance date. Must be used by the end of the 2008 season.
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A Crowden Party—Piano Trio and Hors d’oeuvres
Opening Bid: $500
Value: $1,000
Our very own Miles Graber, Sara Usher, and Monica Scott will perform as a Piano Trio for an elegant cocktail party, with hors d’oeuvres catered by chef/best-history-teacher-ever Sara Webster. Entertain either in your home, or in the lovely Berkeley home of June Wiley. Enjoy incredible chamber music in an intimate setting—the way it was meant to be heard.
Donor: Sara Usher, Miles Graber, Monica Scott, Sara Webster, & June Wiley
Restrictions: Mutually agreeable date.
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Apartment for Four in Italy
Opening Bid: $1,000
Value: $2,000
ITALIA! Spend an unforgettable week in 16th-century splendor. Stay at lovingly restored accommodations in a villa in the hills above Fiesole, 15 minutes from the heart of Florence. This trip includes a guided art tour of Florence with your host, Piero Mancini, one of the founders of The Crowden School. You'll end the tour at a Tuscan farmhouse nestled in ancient olive groves, savoring the culinary delights and viticulture provided by Janet and Stefano (of Sagittario Olive Oil), who will prepare a sumptuous meal of locally grown and harvested food and wine.
Donors: Piero & Brigitte Mancini, Sagittario Olive Oil
Restrictions: Must use during summer 2008.
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Wine-stocked Refrigerator
Opening Bid: $300
Value: $690
Imagine a ready-made wine cellar, all set for your next party! We’ve put together a selection of 18 bottles of lovely, drinkable wines in a wine refrigerator, ready to take home and plug in.
Fridge contains:
- Baretto 2002 Merlot
- Baretto 2005 Pinot Noir
- Steven Rhodes 2004 Cabernet Franc
- Domaine Le Sang des Cailloux, Vacqueyras 2005 Red Rhône
- Marsann ay Les Longeroies 2005 Red Burgundy
- Cellier des Dauphins Côtes du Rhône 2003
- Les Traverses de Fontanes Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Donor: Cara & Tim Hoxie, Crowden Families
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Lou Harrison House
Opening Bid: $500
Value: $2,000
This is a rare opportunity to spend four nights and days in the Harrison House Retreat, built by composer and environmentalist Lou Harrison near Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. The straw-bale, acoustically sensitive house has been established as an artists' residency where artists come to live and work for awhile. Bring your instrument and see how it sounds in this “composer's cave.” Sleeps four.
Donor: Eva Soltes
Restrictions: Adults (and children aged 10 or older). Must use 4/15 – 12/31/08
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Elegant Persian Cuisine Dinner for Eight
Opening Bid: $200
Value: $600
Invite your friends to a traditional Persian dinner for eight—five courses of homemade cuisine with wine—then relax, as dinner will be served at the home of Mehrdad and Adrian Talaifar. Take in the lovely strains of traditional Persian music while mingling around the Haft-Seen, a 2,500-year-old tradition originating from the Zorastrian celebration of spring. This is the ultimate "Happy Meal": elegant and delicious, and you didn't have to prepare it.
Donor: Adrian Hughes Talaifar & Mehrdad Talaifar
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Del Sol String Quartet Private Concert
Opening Bid: $800
Value: $4,000
The Del Sol String Quartet, 2006 winner of Chamber Music America/ASCAP’s First Prize for Adventurous Programming (Mixed Repertory), is a "dynamic, San Francisco-based ensemble recognized for its ability to showcase living composers in relevant, responsive, and deeply passionate performances." The Del Sol Quartet will perform a concert for your party in your home. An unbelievable opportunity!
Donor: Del Sol Performing Arts Organization
Restrictions: Performance to be scheduled on a mutually agreeable date between June 2008 and December 2009.
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“Underground Dinner”
Opening Bid: $300
Value: priceless
Treasure this rare opportunity for an "Underground Dinner" in San Francisco. David Brownstein and sous-chef Grace Shohet (his wife) both trained at the famed École Ritz Escoffier in Paris. Come taste their expert cuisine! Your party will enjoy an elegant evening of dining, drinking, and fun at the Brownstein/Shohet home on Alamo Square in San Francisco, hosted by Tim and Cara Hoxie. It promises to be a memorable evening.
Donors: Cara & Tim Hoxie,
David Brownstein,
Grace Shohet
Restrictions: Mutually agreeable date.
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Fantasy Cakes—One Large and One Small
Opening Bid: $200
Value: $500
Pastry chef and Crowden parent Anna Durr will create a Fantasy Cake for you and up to 50 friends. While you lick the frosting from your lips, listen to the beautiful strains of chamber music provided by a Crowden ensemble. It doesn't get better than this! Winning bidder will also receive a small Fantasy Cake for 10-15 people, served the night of the Gala.
Donor: Anna Umar-Durr
Restrictions: Date for large cake is to be mutually agreeable.
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How the Live Auction Works
The live auction is held in the dining room at the end of dinner. The auctioneer will introduce an item, give the starting bid amount, and then ask people to bid on increasing amounts. To bid on an item, you will raise your number, and he will call it out. He will then ask for a higher amount, and people raise their numbers to bid that amount. If someone has bid a higher amount than you, you can raise your number again to bid higher. When no one else raises their number, the item is sold to the last bidder for the highest bid.
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