Social Circuit
Dinner and duets The Curtis Institute of Music held its third annual Cool. Classic. Curtis. benefit April 4 at the school's Field Concert Hall. The evening featured duet performances by Curtis students, dinner, and dessert at one of six private homes on Rittenhouse Square
Dinner and duets
The Curtis Institute of Music held its third annual Cool. Classic. Curtis. benefit April 4 at the school's Field Concert Hall. The evening featured duet performances by Curtis students, dinner, and dessert at one of six private homes on Rittenhouse Square. Among the dessert hosts were Evelyn and Bernard Korman and Linda and Harold Yaffe. The live auction, which brought in $13,000, included a private piano lesson with Gary Graffman in his New York apartment. The benefit for 150 guests raised $35,000 for the Curtis Student Assistance Fund.
From China with love
Touted by Drexel University's Westphal College as the first exhibition of contemporary Chinese art in the region, "Ink not Ink" opened at
a preview reception April 1 at Drexel's Bossone Center.
The exhibit, organized by Abbie Dean, a Drexel trustee,
and Joseph Gregory, Drexel's
art and art-history department head, showcases more than 90 paintings, prints, sculptures, and videos by more than 40 Chinese artists. The show is open to the public through May 9.
From bingo to boas
An evening of dinner, dancing, and bingo at the 10th annual Black-Tie GayBINGO, held April 3 at the Crystal Tea Room, got going when the Bingo Verifying Divas (the BVDs) kicked up their stilettos and performed "Big Spender" from the Broadway show Sweet Charity. John Cella, director of the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office of the city's Department of Health, received the Favorite Straight Person of the Year award. The benefit for 200 raised $25,000 for the AIDS Fund.
Operatic overture
Nearly 300 guests saw tomorrow's stars today at the annual Viva la Voce! benefit for the Academy of Vocal Arts April 4 at the Please Touch Museum. Among the 18 AVA resident artists who performed at the gala was soprano Angela Meade, who will be featured in the Metropolitan Opera's new documentary, The Audition, to be screened Sunday at local movie theaters. Among the live-auction items was a chef's table for six at Lacroix that went for $3,200. The black-tie benefit raised more than $75,000 for AVA's opera-training program.
Sentimental journey
The Geographical Society of Philadelphia
hosted a Centennial Dinner April 6 that re-created a dinner held by the society on that date in 1909 at the Bellevue Stratford's Rose Garden Room to honor explorer Adm. Robert E. Peary. The Centennial Dinner, also held at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue's Rose Garden Room, featured a similar menu of planked salmon, candied pecans, and baked Alaska. Among the 139 guests were 22 descendants of guests who attended the 1909 dinner, including Bob Peck, Sandy Cadwalader, Margaret Madeira, Pierre LeBoutillier, Terry Oldham, Charles Mather, Arthur Newbold IV, and Trina Vaux.