“This definitely ain’t your father’s guitar band,” writes no less an expert on six-string subversion than Marc Ribot in the liner notes to the self-titled debut by Ches Smith’s latest […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
Bowerbird is pleased to present a free screening of Bandoneon! (a combine), a documentary about David Tudor’s groundbreaking 1966 performance, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Julie Martin. Bandoneon! was […]
Bowerbird is pleased to present pianist Adam Tendler in a solo performance of works by Christian Wolff, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Henry Cowell, Morton Feldman, John Cage, and others. Before David Tudor […]
Passages Season 4 | Program 4 Live sets: Shahzad Ismaily | Merope w/ Shahzad Ismaily DJ set: Westov Temple Visual Projections: Klip Collective Beverages: Forin
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. […]
sets @ 7:30 and 9:00 PM
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 […]
AIRLFT 2026 – Thursday! JAN 22 at 7PMPhilly’s super collective of composers, improvisors and sonic healers are back in action in the new year. Help us celebrate the birthday of […]
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 […]
Join us for an extraordinary multimedia performance with drummer Jonathan Kane (La Monte Young, Swans), guitarist Reeves Gabrels (The Cure, David Bowie) and bassist Jair-Rohm Parker Wells (Machine Gun, Embryo) […]
Dancers: Curt Haworth Leigh Huster Loren Groenendaal Katherine Kiefer Stark Michele Tantoco Musicians: A.J. Khaw (Piano) Connor Przybyszewski (Trombone) Flandrew Fleisenberg (Percussion) Morgan Evans-Weiler (Violin)
John Vogel / Buffalo Stance / Ialive / Tidal Prism + John Vogel – A Philadelphia multimedia artist formerly of the band + Grandchildren. John will be performing an abridged […]
Each summer, musicians from around the world gather in the Green Mountains of Vermont to participate in a “fundamentally natural and unique” approach to music-making (New York Classical Review). In […]
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 […]
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 […]
Sets @ 7:30 and 9:00 PM
Sets at 7:30 and 9:00 PM
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 […]
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 […]
Philadelphia visual artist Erik Ruin and his Ominous Cloud Ensemble will be trying out a slightly different format than usual, a new immersive long-form four-channel performance-installation with each musician […]
John Shaw (Believers, Son of Earth, Shackamaxon, Magik Markers) solo bass Frances Cordie (Philly) offering up some ambient techno improvisation Doors at 7pm, Music at 8pm – $10-20, cash only. […]
Ravel Mother Goose Suite. 16 minutes Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1. 21 minutes Stravinsky The Rite of Spring. 33 minutes
PROGRAM Earle Brown: Four Systems (1954) Earle Brown: December 1952 from Folio I (1952) Earle Brown: One Through Five from Folio II (1970) Morton Feldman: Only (1947) Morton Feldman: A […]
Ravel Mother Goose Suite. 16 minutes Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1 21 minutes Stravinsky The Rite of Spring 33 minutes
Sets at 7:30 and 9:00
Bowerbird is pleased to present an online talk with Nancy Perloff and Ron Kuivila, hosted by exhibition co-curators You Nakai and Dustin Hurt. Nancy Perloff, curator at the Getty Research […]
Sam Wenc + Friends: Sam Wenc pedal steel Sam Yulsman piano Joey Sullivan drums John Moran bass Victor Vieira Branco vibraphone Will Henriksen violin Matthew Lee bass clarinet/saxophone From […]
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 […]
Taji Ra’oofNahll/TR7 electronics with Jamal Moore – reeds and electronics Nate Totushek – drums Sharper than a Serpent’s Tooth Matt Engle/David Mcdonnell / Ryan Rogers
Bowerbird is pleased to present an online talk with John Driscoll and Phil Edelstein, hosted by exhibition co-curators You Nakai and Dustin Hurt. John Driscoll and Phil Edelstein are founding […]
SHOSTAKOVICH Chamber Symphony, Op. 73a
Bowerbird is pleased to present Audra performing an evening of music for voice and saxophone, with repertoire including Meredith Monk’s Hocket for Two Voices, two moody folk-song arrangements by Karin […]
The lineup is solo trumpeter Eyebee, a guitar and percussion duo called Earthen Jug, and the long-awaited debut of Angel Meat, which is @layer_meat on vocals and @mylesofdestruction on harp. […]
Spectral Forces Alex ( @alexoteric ) -Synths, Language Julius ( @zooolius ) -Percussion, Mysteries Pete ( @searchfortheinfinitelight ) Basses, Flutes Alex Smith is your guide enmeshed in the parallel universes […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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. […]
David Tudor is largely remembered for his performances of mid-twentieth-century avant-garde piano music and his close association with John Cage, but much less is known about his personal life or […]
Ars Nova Workshop presents Polish guitarist Raphael Rogiński, performing his transformative interpretations of the music of John Coltrane and the words of Langston Hughes at Solar Myth on Wednesday, February […]
~ Live Sets by David Moore & Discovery Zone ~ DJ Set by RVNG Intl. founder Matt Werth ~ Visual Projections by Klip Collective ~ Beverages by Forin
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 […]
Bowerbird is pleased to present an online conversation with John D. S. Adams, John David Fullemann, David Meschter, and Robert E. Miller, hosted by exhibition co-curators You Nakai and Dustin […]
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. […]
Ars Nova Workshop hosts the record release party for I Want To Be Ready, the latest from Philly-based post-rock experimentalists The Early, at Solar Myth on Sunday, March 1, 2026. […]
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 […]
After nearly a decade away from recording as a leader, saxophonist Jason Rigby made his triumphant return in August 2025 with Mayhem, a groundbreaking duo album featuring renowned drummer Mark […]
Amy Williams is a composer of music that is “simultaneously demanding, rewarding and fascinating” (Buffalo News), “fresh, daring and incisive” (Fanfare). Her compositions have been presented at renowned contemporary music […]
Bowerbird is pleased to present pianist Amy Williams and a performance of David Tudor’s Forest Speech led by Phil Edelstein with additional performers to be announced. This concert celebrates David […]
Drummer Brendan Canty and bassist Joe Lally were the rhythm section for the iconic D.C. punk band Fugazi from its inception in 1987 until its hiatus in 2002, reuniting for […]
At once a bass-forward string quartet and at times a downtown band, Owls challenge the way that meaningful concert experiences are conceived. Weaving new works together with original arrangements of […]
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, […]
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 […]
“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 […]
Bowerbird is pleased to present Composers Inside Electronics—Phil Edelstein, Ron Kuivila, and Michael Johnsen—performing works by David Tudor. Composers Inside Electronics (CIE), formed in 1973 with David Tudor, pioneered a […]
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 […]
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 […]
Drummer/composer John Hollenbeck is a composer of music uncategorizable beyond the fact of being always identifiably his: a conceptualist able to translate the traditions of jazz and new music into […]
For over 25 years, the Miró Quartet has performed on the world’s most prestigious stages, showcasing their “collective intelligence uncanny precision” (Musical America). Their program includes excerpts from master works […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Irreversible Entanglements are a liberation-oriented free jazz collective formed in early 2015 by saxophonist Keir Neuringer, poet Camae Ayewa (a.k.a. Moor Mother) and bassist Luke Stewart, who came together to […]
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 – […]
In conjunction with The Living Temple, the ongoing exhibition celebrating the life and work of Swedish visual artist and designer Moki Cherry, Ars Nova Workshop presents the Philadelphia-born free jazz […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
n March of 2000, Ars Nova Workshop hosted the first of what would become hundreds of performances across Philadelphia, presenting saxophonist Chris Speed and his creative quartet yeah NO at […]
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). […]
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 […]
Few artists have done more to both honor and reinvent the 2000-year history of the pipa than soloist, vocalist and composer Min Xiao-Fen. Classically trained in her native China, she […]
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 […]
Takuya Kuroda is a highly respected trumpeter and arranger born in Kobe, Japan and based in New York City. Over the course of his seven albums to date, Kuroda has […]
Sam Prekop’s work over the last 30 years, whether created primarily on his guitar or on his modular synth, is consistent in its powerful melodicism, delicate arrangements and subtle evolution. […]
Ars Nova Workshop presents punk-jazz power trio The Messthetics, joined by fire-breathing saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, at Solar Myth on Friday, May 8, 2026. Drummer Brendan Canty and bassist Joe […]
Best known as the drummer for the two-time Grammy winning, iconic rock band Living Colour, Will Calhoun has played with artists across a diverse range of styles, genres and traditions. […]
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 […]
Serving as the centerpiece for this program is Philadelphia composer Benjamin C.S. Boyle’s first Cantata: To One in Paradise. The poem “To One is Paradise” is a poem by Edgar […]
Sun of Goldfinger builds upon an enticing web of relationships: David Torn and Tim Berne have worked together since the ‘90s, with the guitarist producing many of the saxophonist’s prolific […]
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 […]
Bowerbird is pleased to present the NakedEye Ensemble performing a concert of music by Ben Nobuto. PROGRAM Lucid (2020) for piano and electronics Tell Me Again (2022) for piano, electronics, […]
Hailing from the musical hotbed of Houston, Texas, saxophonist and composer Walter Smith III developed under the wings of many of the music’s greats. Smith has been a member of […]
With its roots in the San Francisco Bay Area, the collective ensemble Get Up With It has been exploring the electric music of Miles Davis since the late 90s. Best […]
With its roots in the San Francisco Bay Area, the collective ensemble Get Up With It has been exploring the electric music of Miles Davis since the late 90s. Best […]
With its roots in the San Francisco Bay Area, the collective ensemble Get Up With It has been exploring the electric music of Miles Davis since the late 90s. Best […]