Instruments That Talk Back will be a seven-month celebration of the work of Don Buchla, a pioneering electronic instrument designer who revolutionized music technology with unconventional touch- and motion-sensitive interfaces and instruments that blurred the line between human and machine. The exhibition is scheduled to open on September 19, 2026 and will close on April […]
The Community Synth Studio is a free, open studio where people can book time to use a collection of synthesizers and other electronic music equipment. It is open to all levels of experience, and the instruments are set up and ready to use during studio hours. You can use your session to patch a modular […]
Birdbath Sessions Ep. 1: Morphology Doors: 7 | Downbeat: 7:30 BIRDBATH SESSIONS brings four artists from different corners of Philly’s musical ecosystem together to form a temporary ensemble. The format is simple: each artist brings music from their own world, and then the group uses those different musical languages as a starting point for collective […]
Daniel Villarreal has long been a widely known and beloved character on the Chicago music scene, veering between psychedelic funk, spiritual jazz, soul, and the folkloric traditions of Latin America through an unmistakable sense of groove. Originally from Panama, he fuses his pan-Latin style with influences of psychedelic rock, Cumbia, afro-beat, boogaloo, rock, free experimental […]
Honoring 25 of years of the composer’s ambient masterwork ‘The Disintegration Loops’. William Basinski is a classically trained musician and composer who has been working in experimental media for over 40 years in NYC and Los Angeles. Employing obsolete technology and analogue tape loops, his haunting and melancholy soundscapes explore the temporal nature of life […]
Bowerbird is pleased to present an evening of music by Laura Cetilia from her two releases on the elsewhere label, performed by Jack Yarbrough (piano), Hannah Soren (cello), and Laura Cetilia (cello). Works included: laminae for solo piano, becoming of shadows for cello and piano, and soil + stone for two cellos. ABOUT THE ARTIST […]
Musicians: @violintriguing (Nathan Bishop), fiddle @flandrew.fleisenberg, percussion @ajkhaw, piano Matt Murphy, strings and objects (special guest from MA) Dancers: @desireamaiya @meganbridge_00 @vervetdance (Loren Groenendaal) Tickets Available at the door, $10–$25 sliding scale; barter options available. Venue is on the 4th floor and requires walking up 4 flight of stairs. Event is mask optional.
Bowerbird is pleased to present the Arcana New Music Ensemble performing its third iteration of “Postal Pieces,” a concert featuring living composers in Philadelphia and beyond composing postcard-sized works inspired by James Tenney’s unorthodox set of compositions. Tenney’s “Postal Pieces,” composed between 1954 and 1971, are a series of ten concise works each printed on […]
Modular synthesizers are wonderfully personal instruments: open-ended, endlessly flexible, and built on a few simple ideas. This four-part class starts with those foundations, including signal flow, voltage, gates, triggers, and clocks, then puts them to work across different kinds of music making. With extended hands-on time in the Neighborhood Sound Lab, you’ll build patches for […]
Sixty years ago, on November 11, 1966, John Coltrane played a concert at Temple University that became Offering: Live at Temple University. This November 11, we return to Mitten Hall to ask the question that night still raises: what does it mean to give, to receive, and to pass something on? The Summit is the […]
with Kris Davis, Robert Hurst, Terri Lyne Carrington and moreOn November 11, 1966, John Coltrane returned to his former hometown of Philadelphia for a performance at Temple University’s Mitten Hall that would become the stuff of legend. The concert, which finally saw a belated release in 2014 as the Grammy-winning Offering: Live at Temple University, […]
Teodora Stepančić resides in Brooklyn and has been producing the Piano + series for years as well as working as an incredibly active composer and performer of experimental chamber music and the like. She will be joined on this concert by a special guest composer and performer. They will perform some lovely music including some […]
Legendary sound collage group Negativland and “real-time cinema” visual artist SUE-C collaborate to bring you their latest audio-visual performance: SIGNIFICANTLY LESS DECEPTIVE! “Negativland are proud subverters of culture, causing trouble while having fun.” – NPR Tiny Desk Concert “Negativland have made a rewarding career out of being prodigious consumers of media who then digest it […]
Modular synthesizers are wonderfully personal instruments: open-ended, endlessly flexible, and built on a few simple ideas. This four-part class starts with those foundations, including signal flow, voltage, gates, triggers, and clocks, then puts them to work across different kinds of music making. With extended hands-on time in the Neighborhood Sound Lab, you’ll build patches for […]
This celebratory program honors the distinguished career of Don Liuzzi during his final season as Principal Timpanist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The evening explores a series of ethereal and rarely heard pieces, including Liuzzi’s original arrangement of Debussy’s Clair de lune, offering a profound farewell to a Philadelphia legend. Don Liuzzi, Christopher Deviney, Angela Zator […]
Still in his early 30s, trumpeter Adam O’Farrill has earned the respect of his peers and elders alike, not to mention music-school hopefuls who transcribe him alongside bop-era greats. The New York Times ranks him, “among the leading trumpeters in jazz” and hails him as, “ perhaps the music’s next major improviser.” He’s a musician […]
If there’s one constant with Resavoir, the sprawling and adventurous project from Chicago-based producer, trumpeter, and composer Will Miller, it’s perpetual evolution. In the years since Miller started releasing music under the moniker, he’s released two acclaimed self-titled LPs that masterfully merged knotty electronics with pastoral natural textures and a serene and verdant 2025 LP […]
Bowerbird presents Arcana New Music Ensemble in a second performance of Cornelius Cardew’s landmark graphic score Treatise at The Rotunda. Last November the ensemble performed about 20 of the score’s 193 pages. This year they take on a different set of pages, with the score projected so the audience can follow along. About Treatise Treatise […]
Jen Shyu is a groundbreaking,multilingual vocalist, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and dancer. Born in Peoria, Illinois, to Taiwanese and East Timorese immigrant parents, Shyu is widely regarded for her virtuosic singing and riveting stage presence, carving out her own beyond-category space in the art world. She has performed with or sung the music of such musical […]
The Jazz Gallery is America’s premier performance venue for emerging artists who challenge convention, take creative risks and lead their field as performers, composers and thinkers. The cultural center developed its Joyce Wein Mentorship Program to cultivate a group of senior-level jazz musicians as mentors and to provide aspiring musicians with the opportunity to learn […]
MANAS: Tashi Dorji: guitar Thom Nguyen: drums Che Chen: guitar, percussion, homemade instruments MANAS was formed in 2012 in Asheville, NC by guitarist Tashi Dorji and drummer Thom Nguyen. The intensity of their live shows, characterized by Dorji’s angular guitar preparations and Nguyen’s multi-limbed maelstroms exploding outwards in parallel, immediately caught the ear of the […]
Bowerbird is pleased to present Matthew Levy at The Rotunda for a record release concert of music for tenor saxophone and electronics. Matthew Levy — founding member of the world-renowned PRISM Quartet — steps out as soloist for a record release recital celebrating his ongoing exploration of music for tenor saxophone and electronics. The concert […]
Dave Burrell & Steve Swell duo: Distinguished composer-pianist Dave Burrell is an African-American performing artist of singular stature on the international contemporary music scene. Standing out as a leading figure of the New York avant-garde scene in the second half of the ’60s, Burrell quickly established himself as one of the most innovative pianists, collaborating with the emerging […]
Bowerbird presents pianist Sam Yulsman and vibraphonist Victor Vieira-Branco performing GLASS BODY. PHANTOM HORSE., Yulsman’s tone parallel to Wilson Harris’ Carnival trilogy. GLASS BODY. PHANTOM HORSE. is the first movement of an Ellingtonian tone parallel written by Yulsman for Wilson Harris’ Carnival trilogy. Featuring Victor Vieira-Branco on vibraphone and Yulsman on piano, the piece parallels […]
Magic Tuber Stringband: Hailing from North Carolina, Magic Tuber Stringband probes the undercurrents of the landscapes around them. Highly skilled players and writers, the trio are leaders within the burgeoning avant composition world utilizing folk instrumentation. Their music appears to weave in and out of the fabric of their surroundings, reflecting their time spent living […]
Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, pianist and composer Marta Sánchez is actively working in the contemporary creative music scene in New York City and around the globe. Charting a significant path through her innovative and original music, she has reached an international audience and earned broad critical recognition. Sánchez has released four acclaimed albums […]
*This program is co-curated by Rebecca Myers and James Reese Variant 6 presents Hologram, in a program that explores the unique scope of light and color created by an exquisite blend of low voices. For the first time, the ensemble’s tenors and basses alone come together to create a warm and sonorous soundworld, from the […]
An innovative percussion ensemble and renowned drummer team up to celebrate Philip Glass’ 90th birthday. Known for pushing the genre “in new directions, blurring musical boundaries and beguiling new listeners” (NPR Music), Third Coast Percussion makes its Philadelphia debut alongside Glenn Kotche, composer and drummer of Wilco, hailed as one of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest […]
Bowerbird presents Variant 6 in an evening featuring a program of music entirely by Philadelphia composers, past and present. Variant 6 presents Mosaic, a program of music for six a capella voices that celebrates the rich musical history of composition and music-making in Philadelphia. The centerpiece of this program will be a world-premiere by Philadelphia […]
In 1975, filmmaker Godfrey Reggio joined forces with composer Philip Glass to create Koyaanisqatsi, a non-narrative, experimental film that explores the balance between humanity, technology and the environment. This cult classic’s score is a landmark in minimalist music, hailed as one of the most influential film soundtracks of the modern era. In a rare Philadelphia […]