Datebook: An Idiosyncratic Calendar

Wednesday, November 7
Shape-note singing. Willie Israel will lead a workshop on this early American tradition, invented by the Moravians. When done properly, it’s almost as much of a meditative experience as the Tibetan bowls (below). 6:00 p.m. pot-luck supper, 7:00 p.m. workshop, Saal, Moravian Theological Seminary. 610 625-6735.

Saturday, November 10
Bus trip to Baltimore. Sponsored by the Art Club. Includes Walters Art Gallery and Baltimore Museum of Art. (Did you know: BMA looks like a pint-size version of the National Gallery of Art because both were designed by architect John Russell Pope.) With time to shop in the Inner Harbor. Cost: $30 students, $40 faculty/staff/guests. For just the Inner Harbor, pay $20 and skip the museums. Bus leaves at 8:00 a.m. and returns about 10:00 p.m. Ext. 1680.

Tibetan singing bowls, which produce an unusual contemplative music, will be demonstrated by Benjamin Lobst during a meditation workshop, 1:30-4:30 p.m. in the Rec Room of the HUB. No prior meditation or bowl-playing experience needed; just bring a blanket and pillow and wear loose clothes. This event is part of “Two Weeks on Nepal,” a series of informational displays and films. Ext. 1491.

Thursday, November 15
Gary Graffman, one of America’s great pianists, director of the Curtis Institute of Music, and holder of an honorary doctorate from Moravian, will conduct a master class for music students. 11:30 a.m., Peter Hall. $10, $5 seniors/students. Ext. 1650.

Saturday, November 17
The Christmas Vespers preview concert has everything but the candles. 8:00 p.m., Foy Hall. Donation.

Sunday, November 18
The Wister Quartet, a foursome of Philadelphia Orchestra musicians, will re-create the first concert to be presented by the then-new Bethlehem Chamber Music Society on November 29, 1951. It featured the Curtis Quartet—with Jascha Brodsky, who taught at the Curtis Institute of Music until his death in 1997, on first violin—playing Mozart’s “Hunt” quartet, Beethoven’s “Harp” quartet and Paul Hindemith’s “Eight Pieces” at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity. Btw, the quartet is named for Owen Wister, author of The Virginian, a native Philadelphian. 3:30 p.m., Foy Hall. $20, $18 seniors, $7 students. 610 435-7611 or www.cmsob.org.