A View from Inside: David Tudor at 100 celebrates the life, work, and legacy of David Tudor (1926–1996), a Philadelphia-born pioneer of experimental music and sound art. Tudor transformed the possibilities of sound by merging audio technology, tone generators, signal processors, loudspeakers, and electric circuits into instruments of radical invention. Tudor first gained prominence in […]

Felix Mendelssohn was 21 when he toured Italy, an impressionable, impassioned young composer alive to musical inspiration. He was already developing an international reputation, and this trip stirred his imagination. He described his “Italian” Symphony, rich in imagery and melody, as “blue sky in A major.” John Williams’s jaunty Tuba Concerto is a delightful opportunity […]

  John Cage: Solo for Cymbal (1960) David Tudor: Coefficient: Frictional Percussion and Electronics (1991) This event is part of A VIEW FROM INSIDE: DAVID TUDOR AT 100, an exhibition at Drexel’s Pearlstein Gallery from January 15 to March 21, 2026.

Felix Mendelssohn was 21 when he toured Italy, an impressionable, impassioned young composer alive to musical inspiration. He was already developing an international reputation, and this trip stirred his imagination. He described his “Italian” Symphony, rich in imagery and melody, as “blue sky in A major.” John Williams’s jaunty Tuba Concerto is a delightful opportunity […]

FIRE MUSEUM PRESENTS 25TH ANNIVERSARY: IVA BITTOVÁ & ANTONIN FAJT DUO + THE OTHER SIDE OF A DREAM Free-Donations Appreciated!   Iva Bittová: Hailing from the present-day Czech Republic, Iva Bittová is one of Europe’s most innovative and celebrated artists. She began her career as an actor in the mid-1970s, appearing in several Czech and […]

Fire Museum Presents 25th Anniversary: Dave Burrell Dave Burrell: 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 […]

Embark on a musical odyssey with renowned Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä. The evening begins with Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres), a swirling, celestial work inspired by planetary motion and the roiling drone of the medieval stringed instrument, the hurdy-gurdy. Henry Dorn’s powerful Transitions follows, a deeply personal tone poem reflecting on loss, transformation, and resilience. The program features the world […]

JACOB Concerto for Horn and Strings, arr. for Horn and PianoMadelyn Urbine, horn Yoni Levyatov, piano Gary KULESHA SonataJackson Howard, trombone TBD, piano PENDERECKI DivertimentoLaura Navasardian, cello Intermission SHOSTAKOVICH Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 107Kwanyun Loo, cello

The People’s Music Supply Composers Orchestra is an ensemble dedicated to performing compositions written by its members.  It is a space for experimentation and expression.  Each member brings their own unique background and experience representing a wide variety of philosophies, techniques, and aesthetics.  It is an outlet for ideas, a workshop to test what is […]

Tashi Dorji is a Bhutanese-born, Asheville-based experimental guitarist whose fiercely intuitive improvisations have carved out a unique space in the contemporary avant-garde. His expansive discography includes deeply felt solo works like Stateless (2020) and We Will Be Wherever the Fires Are Lit (2024), and his forthcoming electric album Low Clouds Hang, This Land Is on […]

Ravel Mother Goose Suite.   16 minutes Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1.   21 minutes Stravinsky The Rite of Spring.   33 minutes

Ravel Mother Goose Suite.   16 minutes Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1    21 minutes Stravinsky The Rite of Spring    33 minutes

Tyshawn Sorey, MacArthur Fellow, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and professor of music at Penn, pays tribute to jazz pioneer Max Roach and his 1968 album, Members, Don’t Git Weary, a recording with context embedded in one of the most pivotal cultural periods of the 20th century. For this Philadelphia premiere, Sorey’s new arrangements wink at the […]

SHOSTAKOVICH Chamber Symphony, Op. 73a

Miramar: Miramar reimagines the Latin bolero and carries the torch of bolero beat—a genre that rose to international fame in the 1960s by blending nostalgic ballads with psychedelic rock, bossa nova, funk, jazz, and more. An offshoot of the acclaimed indie-salsa band Bio Ritmo, Miramar was one of the first Latin bands to perform on […]

Bowerbird is pleased to present the Arcana New Music Ensemble performing Postal Pieces 2.0, the second 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 […]

JeJaWeDa: The band features the great Dutch sound poet and improvisor Jaap Blonk, trombone virtuoso Jeb Bishop, and the versatile and powerful “rhythm section” of Damon Smith and Weasel Walter. Jaap Blonk is unique for his powerful stage presence and playful freedom in improvisation, combined with a keen grasp of structure. The frenetically prolific bandleader/composer/multiinstrumentalist […]

  Still traveling the spaceways after more than 100 years on the planet, the indefatigable Maestro Marshall Allen remains a brilliant imaginative force whose life has spanned nearly the entire history of jazz. A key member of the Sun Ra Arkestra for more than six decades and its dauntless leader for the last quarter century, […]

Nomad War Machine is an improvised metal duo consisting of guitarist James Reichard and drummer Julius Masri.  In 2023, both musicians entered Baltimore’s Tempo House Recording studio with pedal steel luminary Susan Alcorn Lobato. The release of the album Contra Madre (VG+ Records), on January 31 of 2026, marks the one year anniversary of her passing. The Fire Museum […]

is the acclaimed quartet of Pat Thomas (piano), Joel Grip (double bass), Antonin Gerbal (drums) and Seymour Wright (alto saxophone). Together, the group re-arrange and re-imagine in real time the music of composer, bassist and oud player Ahmed Abdul-Malik (1927-1993). In a review of their 2024 release Giant Beauty, The Quietus calls , “one of […]

Drum Major Instinct with Katherine Young: Drum Major Instinct is an experimental music duo from Asheville, North Carolina. Jeff Arnal plays (mostly) percussion and Curt Cloninger plays (mostly) modular synthesizer. The Wire describes Jeff’s drumming as a “highly original concept” having “a balletic sense of time and imaginative deployment of colour;” and Byron Coley says […]

Join us for the Experimental Music Ensemble Winter Concert at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery. This event is free and open to all, register for tickets here. Trough a grant from the Pew Center for Arts & Culture, The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery present exhibit Tudor (1926 – 1996) – A View from Inside: David Tudor will […]

Lia Kohl: Lia Kohl is a cellist, composer, and sound artist based in Chicago. Her wide-ranging practice includes composition and performance, installation, improvisation, and collaboration. She tours nationally and internationally, working in theater, jazz, rock, and experimental contexts. Her work centers curiosity and patience, an exploration of the mundane and profound possibilities of sound. Zachary […]

The Lepidopterans are a “supergroup” with Baltimore/Philadelphia long-time experimental scene players Toshi Makihara, Tom Borax, Jason Willett and John Dierker. Each member has decades of experience improvising and collaborating, having appeared in a dizzying list of projects, bands and records. They bring out virtuoso chops and strange and humorous theatricality to live sets that are like celebrations linking free jazz, […]

“One of the most vital and original ensembles on the American music scene,” (The New York Times) Alarm Will Sound performs American Stories, a collection of bold, contemporary works that reflect the vast, evolving landscape of our country’s identity. Celebrating 25 years of dynamic virtuosity, the ensemble, joined by composer and interdisciplinary artist Bora Yoon, […]

Kresten Osgood is an extraordinary drummer and improviser who, with the fullest respect to tradition, challenges it at any given moment of his creative endeavors. He has performed and/or recorded with such legends as Roscoe Mitchell, Paul Bley, Lee Scratch Perry, William Parker, Masabumi Kikuchi, Derek Bailey, Wadada Leo Smith, Jason Moran, Oliver Lake, Kurt […]

Presented in collaboration with Philly Iranians Niloufar Shiri & Bahar Badieitabar: Kamancheh player and composer Niloufar Shiri began her musical journey at the Tehran Music Conservatory in Iran. She later immigrated to the USA and pursued her studies in composition at the University of California, San Diego, and Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology (ICIT) at the University of […]

Orcutt Shelley Miller is an avant-rock trio comprised of three highly celebrated figures of experimental music: Bill Orcutt (Harry Pussy), Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) and Ethan Miller (Howlin Rain, Comets On Fire). Following in the footsteps of the high-firing free jazz and European outer-rock bands of the ‘60s and ‘70s and the Pacific Rim’s subterranean […]

  London-born Shabaka earned widespread renown as a saxophonist with his cosmically-oriented ensembles Shabaka and the Ancestors, Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming before taking an indefinite hiatus from the instrument and dedicating himself to the flute. For his flute-forward album Perceive its Beauty, Acknowledge its Grace, Shabaka tapped into a remarkable cadre […]

  London-born Shabaka earned widespread renown as a saxophonist with his cosmically-oriented ensembles Shabaka and the Ancestors, Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming before taking an indefinite hiatus from the instrument and dedicating himself to the flute. For his flute-forward album Perceive its Beauty, Acknowledge its Grace, Shabaka tapped into a remarkable cadre […]

Caroline Davis: Alive with nurturing visions of simple sonic offerings to morph our present situation, Caroline Davis’ main reason for playing music is to connect with others, beckoning new vistas among curious listeners. Her musical journey began in Singapore, in a humid climate, hearing sounds underwater that she would recreate by singing to her German […]

PROGRAM: Two Thoughts About the Piano Figment V for marimba Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux II Epigrams Enchanted Preludes Gra for clarinet Canon for 4 ARCANA NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE: Anna Lim – violin Tom Kraines – cello Nic Handahl – flute Jonathan Leeds – clarinet David Hughes – piano Andy Thierauf – marimba

Carlos Niño refers to himself musically, and in many aspects of his life, as a “communicator,” a role that encompasses his own work as well as his integral work on projects like André 3000’s New Blue Sun. Producing, playing and making music are just some of the facets of that title, as was his long-running, […]

Carlos Niño refers to himself musically, and in many aspects of his life, as a “communicator,” a role that encompasses his own work as well as his integral work on projects like André 3000’s New Blue Sun. Producing, playing and making music are just some of the facets of that title, as was his long-running, […]

Curtis New Music Ensemble celebrates composer-in-residence Jessie Montgomery with a concert featuring works by the Grammy-winning composer, violinist, and educator. Praised as “turbulent, wildly colorful, and exploding with life” (Washington Post), Montgomery’s music fuses classical with vernacular styles, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness—offering a profound reflection of 21st-century American sound. A winner of the Sphinx […]

For over 15 years, Cybersounds has brought the latest in electronic music and the digital arts to Philadelphia audiences. The Cybersounds concert series showcases electroacoustic works ranging from the historical to the most exciting recent innovations in the field of music technology. Each semester, leading artists from around the world present their work alongside Temple […]

Tatsuya Nakatani: Tatsuya Nakatani is an avant-garde percussionist, composer, and artist of sound. Active internationally since the 1990s, Nakatani has released over 80 recordings and tours extensively, performing over 150 concerts a year. His primary focus is his solo work and his large ensemble project, the Nakatani Gong Orchestra. He teaches master classes and lectures […]

TAKAAT: TAKAAT (pronounced tuh-cot), meaning “noise” in the Tuareg language Tamashek, for this tour is the duo of Ahmoudou Madassane & Mikey Coltun (joined by a blown out drum machine). Also known as the rhythm section of Mdou Moctar. TAKAAT is sonic chaos, improvisation, freedom of exploration, and the punk styles of bands such as […]

Alex Harding & Lucian Ban duo: The relationship between Alex Harding and Lucian Ban has been long and fruitful. Their combination of elements of improvisational music have helped the pair develop a unique musical language that transcends the expectations of the jazz genre. Pianist Lucian Ban arrived in New York City from Romania to study […]

Biotic (Shawn Lovato/Ingrid Laubrock/Henry Mermer): Shawn Lovato is a New York-based bassist, composer, and improviser “with a distinctive compositional approach and a knack for finding the right partners to bring it to life” (All About Jazz). Growing up on the outskirts of New York City, Lovato was deeply influenced by its underground scenes, including hip hop, […]

Celebrating the Orchestra’s 125th anniversary and its unique place in the City of Philadelphia, this bravura program opens with a world premiere by Philly-based composer Tyshawn Sorey, commissioned by the Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin and performed by the great pianist Aaron Diehl. The concert closes with Bruckner’s soaring, majestic, thrill ride of a symphony, his […]

Celebrating the Orchestra’s 125th anniversary and its unique place in the City of Philadelphia, this bravura program opens with a world premiere by Philly-based composer Tyshawn Sorey, commissioned by the Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin and performed by the great pianist Aaron Diehl. The concert closes with Bruckner’s soaring, majestic, thrill ride of a symphony, his […]