An Evening of Food and Music
with
Chef George Sabatino
and
Kalmia
String Quartet
September 25th, 2026
6:30-10:00pm
A unique evening of fine food, wine and music in a venue overlooking Rittenhouse Square.
Event participation is limited to 30 guests.
All registrants are required to complete a $500 donation to Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania in order to reserve a spot at this event.*
Donations in support of the event will be matched 1:1 by the event hosts.
Event location, menu, and musical program will be provided to registrants prior to the event.
*For tax purposes the value of goods and services received by donors to this event is $250.
The Chef
GEORGE SABATINO
George Sabatino began cooking in Philadelphia over twenty years ago. He spent time in the kitchen at Fork, Monk’s Cafe & Ansill before landing on 13th Street in 2006. There, George was mentored by Chef Marcie Turney first at Lolita, her modern Mexican restaurant. Over the next few years he also opened Bindi, a 3-Bell Indian kitchen, and Barbuzzo, James Beard nominated for Best New Restaurant. George undertook his first Executive Chef position at Stateside on East Passyunk Avenue in 2011, where he and his hand-picked crew helped revitalize a great neighborhood that is now one of the buzziest restaurant neighborhoods in Philadelphia. While there, George was selected as Best of Philly® Chef in Philadelphia Magazine, took home the gold at Ommegang Brewery’s Hop Chef Competition and Stateside was named Philadelphia Magazine’s Best Restaurant in Philadelphia. George left Stateside in early 2013 to spend his summer running the kitchen at Morgan’s Pier where he created a refined and elevated picnic menu for the massive beer garden style restaurant and bar. In 2014, George opened his first restaurant, Aldine, in Rittenhouse Square. The restaurant was a “Top 50” restaurant in Philadelphia Magazine’s annual listing each year and achieved a coveted 3-Bell rating by Philadelphia Inquirer critic Craig Laban. After four years, George left his restaurant and took the reins at Rooster Soup Co., the luncheonette owned by Michael Solomonov & Steve Cook, that dedicated all profits to feeding hungry Philadelphians. George went on to a residency as a farm hand on an organic farm in Princeton, where he worked with the farmers in cultivating crops and livestock and studying the practices of the local farmers who produce our food. While developing Fleur’s, George returned to his earlier roots and served as Culinary Director for Safran Turney Hospitality. In this role, he oversaw the menu development, hiring & staffing, training, and all day-to day operations for the kitchens in the company’s restaurants (Barbuzzo, Darling Jack’s Tavern, Bud & Marilyn’s and Little Nonna’s). After years in development, George opened Fleur’s with his partners – a culmination of his diverse background in culinary work, and his passion for showcasing the work of our local producers.
The Musicians
Kalmia String Quartet
presents a selection of classical and modern pieces
with ensemble as well as solo performances.
Violinist Dara Morales joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as assistant principal second violin at the start of the 2007-08 season. She came to the Orchestra from the Utah Symphony and Opera, where she served as principal second violin. She has previously held the positions of principal second violin and interim associate concertmaster of the Puerto Rico Symphony and concertmaster of the Northern Kentucky Symphony.
As soloist Ms. Morales has performed with the Utah Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Puerto Rico Symphony, the Bangor Symphony, and the Lancaster Symphony, among others. During the summers she teaches at the Philadelphia International Music Festival and previously had been a regular participant in the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Park City Chamber Music Festival, and the Intermezzo Chamber Series (Salt Lake City).
A native of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, Ms. Morales earned both her bachelor and master’s degrees in music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she acted as graduate teaching assistant and taught in the Starling Preparatory Program. Her principal teachers include Kurt Sassmannshaus, Helen Kwalwasser, and Dorothy DeLay. Ms. Morales also studied chamber music with Peter Oundjian, Henry Meyer, and members the Tokyo Quartet.
Mr. Polk has performed as an orchestral musician with orchestras across the United States. He currently serves as a member of the first violin section of The Philadelphia Orchestra, having joined the ensemble in 2007. He previously served as associate principal second violin of the Minnesota Orchestra beginning in 2005. Prior to that he was guest principal second violin of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
An active chamber musician, Mr. Polk is a member of the Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble, the oldest continuously performing chamber music ensemble in the Delaware Valley. The group presents concerts throughout the year at Historic Old Pine St. Church (1768) in the heart of Society Hill. He also enjoys performing chamber music with his Philadelphia Orchestra colleagues and others at various venues throughout the region and at music festivals throughout the country. Together with his wife, Kerri Ryan, now assistant principal viola of The Philadelphia Orchestra, violinist Vali Phillips, and cellist Joseph Johnson, Mr. Polk founded the Minneapolis Quartet, which performed to critical acclaim from 2002 to 2007 and won a McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowship in 2006.
Assistant Principal Viola Kerri Ryan joined The Philadelphia Orchestra at the beginning of the 2007-08 season. She came to Philadelphia from the Minnesota Orchestra, where she was assistant principal viola for seven seasons. Following her graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1998 she served as associate concertmaster of the Charleston Symphony. Ms. Ryan and her husband, violinist William Polk, are founding members of the award-winning Minneapolis Quartet.
In Philadelphia, while pursuing a violin performance degree at Curtis, Ms. Ryan began studying viola with Karen Tuttle. Ms. Ryan also studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music as a member of its Young Artist Program. Her violin teachers include Lee Snyder, Jascha Brodsky, Rafael Druian, and Arnold Steinhardt.
Hai-Ye Ni joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as principal cello at the beginning of the 2006–07 season after having served as associate principal cello of the New York Philharmonic since 1999. She first came into prominence after her critically praised New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1991, a result of her winning First Prize at the Naumburg International Cello Competition. Other awards include First Prize in the 1996 International Paulo Cello Competition in Finland, Second Prize in the 1997 Rostropovich Competition in Paris, and a 2001 Avery Fisher Career Grant.
In the summer of 2025, Ms. Ni performed at the Kingston Chamber Music Festival and the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland. She also performed Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. She made her solo debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2010 in Saint-Saëns First Concerto and has also been featured in Tan Dun’s The Map, Concerto for Cello, Video, and Orchestra; Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1; Brahms’s “Double” Concerto; and Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto.
Among the ensembles with which Ms. Ni has appeared as soloist are the Chicago, San Francisco, Vancouver, Shanghai, Singapore, and Finnish Radio symphonies; the New York, Hong Kong, and China philharmonics; the Orchestre National de Paris; and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. Her recital credits include the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institute, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the Wallace Collection in London. She has performed at festivals such as Ravinia, Marlboro, Sarasota, La Jolla SummerFest, Chamber Music Dolomiti (Italy), Kuhmo (Finland), Spoleto (Italy), Aspen, and Pacific Music Festival.
Ms. Ni’s recent performances include The Lonely Camel Calf, a new cello concerto by Yu Mengshi, at Bard College and Jazz of Lincoln Center and a trio concert at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. Highlights of past performances include an all-Baroque concertos program with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra as soloist and conductor. Ms. Ni has been featured in Strad magazine, Strings magazine, and on NPR. Her 1998 debut solo CD on the Naxos label was named CD of the week by Classic FM London, and her CD Spirit of Chimes (Delos) featured music by Zhou Long.
A respected musician, Ms. Ni served on the jury of Finland’s V International Paulo Cello Competition in 2013 and has given master classes at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Mannes College of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, the Shanghai Conservatory, the Central Conservatory in Beijing, and Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore. In summer 2026, she will be teaching again at the National Orchestra Institute at the University of Maryland.