Philadelphia Chamber Music Society

 

On March 14, 2025, Steve Tillery led a group to hear a concert by the Elias String Quartet from Great Britain, who performed the final string quartets of three masters of the genre. Haydn’s unfinished D Minor Quartet, Op. 103, Britten’s distinctive Quartet No. 3, Op. 94, and Mendelssohn’s F Minor Quartet, Op. 80, at the Perelman Theater in the Kimmel Center. Many of the group had earlier enjoyed dinner together for good conversation before the concert at nearby Jasmine Rice Rittenhouse Thai restaurant.

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Movie Club - American Fiction

 

​On March 13, 2025, Patricia Kapur led a thoughtful virtual discussion of the 2023 satirical drama, American Fiction, starring Jeffrey Wright as the protagonist, an African American literary professor navigating the complexities of race and identity while trying to write serious literature, finally becoming "...a pseudonymous success writing a potboiler he loathes". Directed by Cord Jefferson, it tackles issues of race, cultural appropriation, and the commodification of Black narratives with humor and insight. Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor (Wright), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Jefferson), the latter of which it won along with multiple other notable awards for Best Adapted Screenplay. Rotten Tomatoes score 93%. 

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Woodmere Art Museum

 

On February 22, 2025, Bill Howard led a group for a private guided tour of the permanent collection of the Woodmere Art Museum in the Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia.  The museum is dedicated to "telling the story of Philadelphia's art and artists", including regional artists, and is housed in a National Register of Historic Places 19th century estate with a sculpture garden. Many participants then enjoyed an optional group lunch after the tour for more good conversation at nearby historic (since 1743) Brittingham's restaurant in Lafayette Hills

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Book Club - James

 

On February 13, 2025, Brigid Connolly led an insightful virtual discussion of the 2024 novel, James by Percival Everett, distinguished professor of English at the Univ. of Southern California.  A retelling of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" as a first-person narrative from the perspective of Jim: "When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. Thus begins their dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive promise of the Free States..."  2024 National Book Award and Kirkus Prize winner, shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, and a NY Times Bestseller. Good Reads score 4.5 out of 5.

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Movie Club - Farewell Mister Haffman

 

On January 9, 2025, Tali Segal led a thoughtful virtual discussion of the gripping 2022 French historical suspense drama, Farewell Mr. Haffmann, starring the legendary Daniel Auteuil in one of his most superlative screen performances. Based on Jean-Philippe Daguerre's celebrated, multi Molière Award-winning play, the film takes place in occupied Paris in 1941 when jeweler Joseph Haffmann (Auteuil) arranges for his family to flee the city while his employee (Gilles Lellouche) takes over the store presumably until the conflict subsides. When Haffman's own escape is thwarted, he finds himself living hidden in his basement while the employee and skeptical wife live in his home above. The agreement turns into a Faustian bargain, one that will forever change the fate of all. Rotten Tomatoes score 98%.

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