PHI BETA KAPPA DELAWARE VALLEY ASSOCIATION
Upcoming Events
Mural Arts Walking Tour - Center City West - Sat. March 23, 1:30 - 3:00 pm; in-person; fee. Optional pre-tour group lunch.
Philadelphia Chamber Music Society: Quatuor Ébène - Sat. April 6, 7:30 pm; in-person; fee. Optional pre-performance group dinner. SOLD OUT.
Roxborough Orchestra, Venice Island Performing Arts Center - Manayunk, Philadelphia, PA. - Fri. April 12, 7:30 pm; in-person; no charge, donations welcomed.
Book Club - "The Fourth Man" - Thu. April 11, 7:00 pm; virtual; no charge.
Nature Walk - Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust, Huntingdon, PA - Sat. May 4, 10:30 am; in-person; no charge.
Movie Club - "Maestro" - Thu. May 9, 7:00 pm; virtual; no charge.
News Briefs
PBK's Saw Traditional Tile-Making Techniques & Toured an Eclectic Early 20th Century "Castle" in Doylestown, PA
On February 24, 2024, PBK's met in Doylestown, PA, to enjoy successive private guided tours of the adjacent locations of the Moravian Pottery Tile Works Museum and eclectic Fonthill Castle. Fonthill Castle was designed and built between 1908-1912 by Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), archaeologist, anthropologist, ceramicist, scholar and antiquarian, as both his home and a showplace for his collection of tiles and prints. Containing 44 rooms + 18 fireplaces, and mixing Medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine styles, it has a very convoluted floor plan with unique construction techniques and custom built-in features. Mercer's famed Moravian tiles were produced during the American Arts & Crafts Movement at the adjacent tile works, the exterior of which mimics in part a California mission.
PBK's Toured Delaware Art Museum Special Rossetti Exhibition plus Contemporary Art & Illustrations Galleries
On January 27, 2024, PBK's, family, and friends enjoyed two tours at the Delaware Art Museum with good conversation over lunch from the museum's Kaffeina Cafe in between the tours. The first tour was of an exceptional visiting exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite artists & intellectuals assembled by the Tate Britain, which covered the work of Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood founder Dante Gabriel Rossetti, alongside that of his wife, artist Elizabeth Siddal, and his siblings, writers Christina and William Michael Rossetti, which complemented the museum's own strong pre-Raphaelite collection on view in the regular galleries. The second tour consisted of "slow tours" combining audience participation in analyzing pieces of art from the Museum's excellent collections of Contemporary Art and American Illustration.
PBK's Enjoyed Philadelphia Chamber Music Concert by the Dover Quartet
On January 14, 2024, PBK's and friends attended a wonderful matinee performance by the eminent Dover Quartet, acclaimed Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music and world-wide performers, featuring Joel Link, violin; Bryan Lee, violin; Julianne Lee, viola; and Camden Shaw, cello. The ensemble performed Haydn's Quartet in G Minor, Op.74, No.3, Rider; Price's Quartet No 1 in G Major; and Shostakovich's Quartet No. 9, Op 117, at the Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center. The group enjoyed a pre-concert group lunch at nearby Jasmine Rice Rittenhouse Thai restaurant.
PBK's Tour Historic Laurel Hill East Cemetery
On November 18, 2023, PBK's had a private guided tour of historic Laurel Hill East Cemetery, which was established in 1836 as a garden-designed, non-sectarian cemetery (in a time when cemeteries were usually affiliated with a specific house of worship) to serve as a "school of instruction" in architecture, culture, landscape gardening, and arboriculture. It was not only a burial place, but a scenic riverside sanctuary for the living, away from the noise and grime of crowded city life, to which Philadelphians regularly came out from the city to enjoy an afternoon relaxing and socializing with friends & family. The tour covered the resting places of numerous notable men and women, some with quite creative memorials, including political, military, commerce, cultural and social leaders of the 19th and 20th centuries, leading to a lively interactive discussion with the very knowledgeable guide. An optional group lunch took place afterward at LeBus restaurant in nearby East Falls.
Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Public Lecture at St. Joseph's University
On October 23 -24, 2023, the St. Joseph's University Phi of Pennsylvania Phi Beta Kappa Chapter hosted one of PBK's 2023 Visiting Scholars, Trevon Logan, the Hazel C. Youngberg Trustees Distinguished Professor of Economics and Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, The Ohio State University. On Monday, October 23rd, from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m., Professor Logan delivered a public lecture entitled, “All We Have Is The Truth: Burdened Individuality, Abstract Equality, and Economic Interference” in the Teletorium in Mandeville Hall, to which PBK DV members were welcome to attend. The lecture asked if we are interpreting racial economic and social disparities appropriately.
PBK's Attended Philadelphia Chamber Music Society Bespoke Ensemble Concert
On October 22, 2023, PBK's and friends attended a wonderful matinee performance featuring Philadelphia Orchestra principal clarinet Ricardo Morales, violist and President of the Curtis Institute of Music Roberto Díaz, Seattle Symphony Principal Cello Efe Balticigil, and pianist and Artistic Director of the Kingston Chamber Music Festival Natalie Zhu. The ensemble performed Beethoven's Clarinet Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 11; selections from Bruch's Eight Pieces, Op. 83; Husa's "Evocations of Slovakia"; and Brahms' Clarinet Trio in A Minor, Op. 114, at the American Philosophical Society's Benjamin Franklin Hall. A subset of the group enjoyed a pre-concert group lunch at nearby "Franklin Social" restaurant.
2023 Annual Meeting - Phi Beta Kappa Association of the Delaware Valley
On October 17, 2023, PBK Delaware Valley members participated in the Association's 2023 Virtual Annual Meeting. The past year's activities & plans for the coming year were presented & discussed, along with discussion of a proposal for a new scholarship award, and election of Officers and Council members for 2023 - 2024 for the governing Council of the Association.
2023 PBK Delaware Valley "Key Connections" in-person Happy Hour Social & Networking Event
On September 28, 2023, approx. 30 new and current PBK's met to connect & network at an in-person Happy Hour at the Logan Square location of Misconduct Tavern over wine, beer, soft drinks, flatbreads, empanadas & a variety of sliders. In addition to lively conversation, there was a short program with presentations on PBK DV's activities, member support resources, community outreach through high school book awards and proposed scholarships, as well as Young Professionals activities. Then each attendee briefly introduced themself and said a few words. A good time was had by all and there was interest to have additional in-person Happy Hours in the future.