It’s always one of the most sought-after items in our Holiday Sparkles & Spirits live auction. And with good reason. Who wouldn’t want a delicious, multicourse Italian dinner prepared by the “maestro” himself, Joy of Music School Executive Director Frank Graffeo?

“It was magnifico,” reports Geoff Proud, who won the Graffeo dinner at the 2013 Holiday Sparkles & Spirits. In fact, he and his wife, Melody, enjoyed the dinner for eight so much they made the top bid in 2014 too! (The auction actually got so heated, Frank agreed to do two dinners—one for the Prouds and one for fellow top bidders Carey and John Merz.)

The menu: pasta (made from scratch at the party), eggplant and chicken parmagiana, Italian broccolini, salad, and gelato for dessert. The parmagiana recipe came from one of Frank’s conducting teachers back in his school days. Though he was Irish, Frank recalls, “he was an opera conductor, so he can be considered an honorary Italian!”

Be sure to attend our Holiday Sparkles & Spirits event at Cherokee Country Club on Tuesday, Dec. 8. You’ll have a chance to bid on wonderful gift items like this — and many more.