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Fallingwater Soiree fundraiser resumes after 2-year break

Shirley McMarlin
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Tribune-Review
Guests talk on one of the cantilevered terraces at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater during a previous Twilight Tour fundraiser, now rebranded as the Fallingwater Soiree.

Edgar Kaufmann Jr. once described his family’s sylvan Fayette County retreat as “a great lantern in the forest giving shape to the dark.”

Of course, he was talking about Frank Lloyd Wright’s gravity-defying, world-renowned masterwork, Fallingwater.

The description is fitting as the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy prepares to revive its signature fundraiser, the Fallingwater Soiree, following a two-year hiatus due to the covid-19 pandemic.

The event, scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 13 at the iconic site at Mill Road, Mill Run, provides a rare opportunity to experience the architecture and natural landscape of Fallingwater at twilight, said Justin Gunther, WPC vice president and director of Fallingwater.

Attendees will be offered wine and signature cocktails crafted with local spirits and heavy appetizers curated by Chef Kate Romane of Black Radish Kitchen in Pittsburgh. Guests will encounter live music, provided by MCG Jazz in Pittsburgh, as they take self-guided tours of the house.

“We’re trying to create a regional- and local-specific event through the food and the music,” Gunther said. “Chef Kate Romane has pulled together a who’s who of the Pittsburgh food scene to create the evening’s menu and a really wonderful concept for the food. The idea of locally and sustainably sourced is driving the food experience.”

Food partners include Fet Fisk, AmBoy Urban Collective, Bar Marco, 412 Food Rescue, Soju, Churchview Farm, Driftwood Oven and Confections by Casey Renee. Lo Bar Cocktail Services and Dreadnought Wines will provide beverages.

Appetizers will be passed in the visitor center as guests arrive, with more passed appetizers and food stations available outside of the house.

The list of performers, assembled by MCG Jazz executive producer Marty Ashby, includes players well-known in the region, such as Roger Humphreys, Dwayne Dolphin, Alton Merrell, Mike Tomaro, Jeff Bush, Paul Costentino, Frank Cunnimondo, Bob Insko, Eric Susoeff and Rob Curto.

“The music is integrated into the house experience. Rather than sitting and listening to a performance, as people make their way through the house, they will encounter different touch points of music along with the experience of the architecture,” Gunther said.

“We’ll have some musicians performing in the living room, on the master bedroom terrace, on Edgar Kaufmann Sr.’s terrace, by the guest house swimming pool,” he said. “As people walk through, they’ll be able to stop and hear different sounds at these different points.”

“Building Fallingwater,” an exhibition chronicling the construction of the main house, will be open in the visitor center.

“It has a lot of archival photographs and even home movies of the actual construction of the house. You get to see the whole genesis of the architecture,” Gunther said. “It’s a fun thing to add on to the visit and expand the experience.”

The Soiree was last held in 2019, as a re-branding of the long-running annual Twilight Tour.

Tickets are $300 at fallingwater.org/soiree. Tickets for WPC and Friends of Fallingwater members are $250, available by calling 724-329-8501.

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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