Jazz singer Michelle Lordi at Glencairn's 'Summer Soiree' May 31

Celebrate the beginning of summer with “Summer Soirée at the Museum” on Friday, May 31, 7-11:00pm at Glencairn Museum. Enjoy live jazz, dessert selections, beer and white wine in the Museum’s serene and lovely cloister garden, and then explore other select areas of the Museum at your leisure with friends and other guests.

The Michelle Lordi trio will perform “three generations of love songs” through the evening. In addition to programs around the country at a variety of venues, the nationally recognized Philadelphia-based jazz vocalist, songwriter and bandleader holds popular weekly jazz nights at Vintage Bar & Grill in Abington.

Purchase your tickets early for this limited-admission event: $30, $20 for Museum members and designated drivers; must be 21 to attend. Tickets and information: 267.502.2990 or info@GlencairnMuseum.org.

“We’re inviting those who know and love Glencairn—as well as those who have been looking for an excuse to visit this amazing castle for the first time—to join us for our now-annual ‘summer opener,’” says Joralyn Glenn, Glencairn’s marketing and public relations coordinator.

“While our tours are more structured and our concerts, festivals, seasonal programs and workshops each have a specific focus, the Soirée is simply a time to relax into summer, wander a beautiful setting and enjoy Glencairn’s unique features at your own pace.”

Besides strolling through the medieval-styled cloister garden, guests also have access to the visual and aural delights of LED-lit fountains on the North terrace and in the cloister, first-floor Museum collections in the Great Hall and Upper Hall, the current temporary exhibition, and much-coveted views from the tower as evening falls.

The cloister at the former home to the Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn family replicates in smaller scale the serene covered colonnades and open quadrangles attached to European cathedrals, monasteries and convents to provide protected walkways for the religious orders living there.

The Pitcairns chose an avian theme for their cloister’s stone work, so observant visitors will find a variety of birds carved into the capitals of the supporting columns. The tranquil setting also features white-themed gardens laid out by award-winning designer Danielle Odhner, who created and maintains the gardens at Bryn Athyn Cathedral as well as Glencairn.

The current temporary exhibition in Glencairn’s Upper Hall is Hex Signs: Sacred and Celestial Symbolism in Pennsylvania Dutch Barn Stars. Featuring actual examples of barn stars, decorated objects and related images, it explores themes of sacred and celestial imagery in the traditional arts of the Pennsylvania Dutch with special emphasis on the decorated barns of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Explore the exhibition during the Soirée and try your hand at “decorating” a Pennsylvania barn with hex signs at our interactive station, then enter your design to be in the running to win a prize.

Glencairn Museum is at 1001 Cathedral Road, Bryn Athyn 19009. GlencairnMuseum.org.

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Nationally recognized Philadelphia-based jazz vocalist, songwriter and bandleader Michelle Lordi will sing at the Summer Soirée on May 31. Credit: Michelle Lordi
Glencairn’s cloister, with white-themed gardens by award-winning landscape designer Danielle Odhner, is the setting for May 31’s “Summer Soirée” with live music and light fare. Credit: Glencairn Museum