Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Mainly sunny and very windy on the second day of this year’s Daylight Savings with temps in the high 40s; but not too cold and still light at 7 p.m. The Social Calendar is just beginning to heat up but nevertheless busy with a variety of events.
There was the 63rd Annual Quadrille Ball, a white tie event that took place at 583 Park Avenue. This gala showcased once more an elegant evening where guests enjoyed a cocktail reception and a three-course dinner followed by dancing and the premiere highlight of the evening — the Quadrille performance.
This annual ball is a fundraiser for scholarships awarded to highly qualified students enrolled at U.S. or German universities. The Quadrille was founded decades ago to enhance and strengthen transatlantic relationships through education and exchange.
Through its non-profit parent, the Germanistic Society of America, the Quadrille supports undergraduate, Master and PhD students. The Quadrille Stipend Fund offers students the opportunity to study and conduct research across the Atlantic.
Scholarship recipients are chosen in cooperation with highly regarded organizations: the Fulbright program, the Institute of International Education (IIE), and Columbia University. More than 700 students have benefited from the Germanistic Society of America’s support over the years.
This year’s Ball welcomed Guest of Honor Dr. Bernd Scheifele and his wife Dr. Kornelie Schütz-Scheifele in addition to friends including The Consul General of Germany in New York, David Gill and his wife Ms. Sheila Shrivastava.
The Ball also welcomed the Austrian Consul General Ms. Helene Steinhäusl and her husband Hubert Heiss as well as the acting Consul General of France M. Damien Laban and Mme Rebecca Laban.
Among the Sponsors were The Mejean Family Foundation (Full Scholarship Sponsor), Microsoft, The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, The Max Kade Foundation and Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Shiva (Platinum Sponsors).
The Diamond Sponsors of this year’s Ball included Mrs. Lya and Mr. Joseph Pfeifer and Dr. William Radin. Benefactors included Mr. David Detjen, Dr. Barbara and Dr. Karl Elling, Dr. Timothy DeZastro and Freiherr und Freifrau von Arnim.
Among the guests were Dr. Barbara Elling, Lya Pfeifer, Irmintraud Jost, Jean-Baptiste Kresser, Mrs. Heide Herz, Ryan Smith, Mr. Thorsten Schmidt (Ball Committee Vice Chair), Gordon Cooper, Katherine Pfeiffer, Susanne von Türk and Philipp von Türk, Stephanie Heintzeler, John Vricella, Brian Hutchinson, Dr. Zoran M. Budimlija, Markus Hoecherl, Jon Omahen, Priya S. Nayar, Bettina Lindner-Lippisch, Dr. Kathrin DiPaola, Christopher Adams, Emma Sweeny, Andrew Bevan, Conrad C. Steinmann, Jr., Dr. William Radin and Olga Gold, Baron and Baroness von Arnim, Dr. Paul Trotta, David Chou, Christine Romulus, Dr. Claudine Holt, Bettina W. Bennett, Simon and Arabelle Liepold, and Matthew Yokobosky.
Meanwhile, news from out East — LongHouse Reserve’s Larsen Salon Series honors its founder, Jack Lenor Larsen (1927-2020), and carries on his tradition of conversations with designers, architects, and artists working at the intersection of art, architecture, design, and craft. These talks take place in Manhattan and East Hampton, at various spaces; and are important dialogues of meaning for our complex world.
Recently they convened at the Park Avenue offices of Robert A.M. Stern Architects with architect Michael Arad in conversation with critic Paul Goldberger, exploring Arad’s latest project, the memorial for the 2015 shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina.
LongHouse Director, Dr. Carrie Rebora Barratt, pointed out that, “Memorials are to honor those who have passed but, like LongHouse, they are for the living to experience.”
The evening was made possible by Donna and Ben Rosen, and Stern architect Michael Jones, a member of the LongHouse Reserve board of directors.
“It was important to us,” opened Arad, “to create a space where the community would feel included. For me, someone who’s completely from the outside – I’m not Christian, not black, not local, not from Charleston – to presume what would be the correct design direction without engaging in conversation would have been fruitless … We approached this project by considering the nature of forgiveness.”
Goldberg interjected, “The act of forgiveness transcends those identity markers … Certain things about human experience transcend culture. Even though we don’t normally think of it this way, feeling is itself a function. Gothic cathedrals inspire feeling and emotion. There is a long history of form following feeling.”
In closing the thought-provoking evening, Arad offered, “Public spaces are important in our society — for many reasons — but primarily, I think, because it gives us a shared sense of identity. As an architect, when you can contribute to that, it’s very gratifying.”
Guests included LongHouse President Nina Gillman, Board Members Dianne Benson (President Emerita), Emma Clurman, Gael Towey and Stephen Doyle, Elizabeth and Mark Levine, Deborah Nevins, Peter H. Olsen, Suzanne Slesin, and Dr. Yung Yang Chung, Ronne Fisher, Edgar Gonzaga, Fitzhugh Karol, Eileen O’Kane Kornreich, Rita Meusburger, Lee Skolnick, Jade Netanya Ullmann, and Paul Whelan.
The next Larsen Salon March 20th features architect Calvin Tsao of Tsao & McKown Architects, in conversation with Sherri Donghia at the New York Academy of Art. To reserve tickets click here.
The LongHouse Reserve season in East Hampton opens March 30th. Jonathan Adler, Liz Collins, and Machine Dazzle continue the Larsen Salon series out-East.
OH, WHAT A NIGHT!! Meanwhile, the APRES SKI JUNIOR PARTY at Doubles was truly fantastic.
Everyone was dressed for The Slopes, although unfortunately there was no snow outside. At all. On this passing season. However, the artichoke and snap pea salad and turkey pot pie were real crowd pleasers.
After the ice cream sundaes, the DJ played ABBA, the disco lights went on, and all the ‘skiers’ filled the dance floor including: Mercedes De Guardiola, Mimi and James Cushing, Erin and Justin Nance, Sarah Scott, Bythe Brock, Kate Earls, Amy Hutchings, Alexandra Pappas, Ann Hunter Van Kirk Press, Krissie Darr, Tara Tunney and many, many more. And they had the best time, snow or no snow.
Meanwhile, there’s more on the next page and it’s not even in New York — although they got a lot of their sponsors and activities from a lot of New Yorkers down in Palm Beach!
There was the The Society of MSK’s Palm Beach event Cycle for Survival, the official rare cancer fundraiser of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). The high-energy poolside event included an instructor-led ride on stationary bicycles, food & beverages, and many more activities.
And: The 2nd annual Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival presented by MorseLife at the Kravis Center in West Palm.
