Christ Church

Musician/composers Chris Forsyth and Jesse Kudler premiere a site-specific work newly made from a residency in the historic Christ Church. Using acoustic guitars, electronics, church organ, recordings, and more, Forsyth and Kudler will present the results of their research and collaboration over many weeks in Christ Church and with the Christ Church community. Synthesizing the voices of two distinct Philadelphia experimental music veterans and the resonances of a National Historic Landmark, this special event will surprise fans of any of…

ABOUT THE EVENT Musician/composers Chris Forsyth and Jesse Kudler premiere a site-specific work newly made from a residency in the historic Christ Church. Using acoustic guitars, electronics, church organ, recordings, and more, Forsyth and Kudler will present the results of their research and collaboration over many weeks in Christ Church and with the Christ Church community. Synthesizing the voices of two distinct Philadelphia experimental music veterans and the resonances of a National Historic Landmark, this special event will surprise fans…

JOHN CAGE'S SONG BOOKS performed by Ne(x)tworks Ne(x)tworks Joan La Barbara - voice Shelley Burgon - harp Yves Dharamraj - cello Miguel Frasconi - glass Stephen Gosling - piano; Ariana Kim - violin Christopher McIntyre - trombone, laptop As with many of Cage's works, Song Books is indeterminate with regard to performance. In order to highlight the immense and open possibilities of the score, Cage: Beyond Silence offers audiences a rare opportunity to experience multiple versions of this work, further…

One of the ideas central to Cages philosophy was asking us to consider the way we listen to and perceive music. Monumental in its duration, this performance of Cages Organ2 / ASLSP challenges the traditional parameters of a concert and asks us to choose our own path to engage with the music. Presented by organist Parker Kitterman and others throughout the evening and into the early morning hours on Nov. 4, Organ2 / ASLSP will be performed on the powerful…

Blistering virtuosity from another dimension. Legendary saxophonist Marshall Allen and keyboardist Farid Barron - both from the cosmic Sun Ra Arkestra - join for a duo of sonic exchanges, at the very edge of possibility. Critics have described Marshall as one of the most distinctive and original saxophonists of the postwar era. Pianist Farid Barron was born and raised in Philadelphia and has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Ralph Peterson, Johnny Coles, Mickey Roker, and Bobby Durham, among others.

Blistering virtuosity from another dimension. Legendary saxophonist Marshall Allen and keyboardist Farid Barron - both from the cosmic Sun Ra Arkestra - join for a duo of sonic exchanges, at the very edge of possibility. Critics have described Marshall as one of the most distinctive and original saxophonists of the postwar era. Pianist Farid Barron was born and raised in Philadelphia and has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Ralph Peterson, Johnny Coles, Mickey Roker, and Bobby Durham, among others. Only Sleeping…

Pulling out all the stops: this is chance to hear the Curtis Organ played by its year-round keeper. Parker's newly appointed tenure at Christ Church has radically changed the musical content in the congregation. He is bringing a 17th century parish to the 21st by bringing amusical genres and traditions not often associated with the service. He also performs regularly as a recitalist, where his repertoire ranges from the late Renaissance and early Baroque to the French Romantic/Symphonic period to…

A chance to hear the organ played by its year-round keeper. Parker's newly appointed tenure at Christ Church has radically changed the musical content in the congregation. He is bringing the 17th century parish to the 21st by incorporating musical genres and traditions not often associated with the Service A dialogue between video and live performer, Only Sleeping treads inside the realm of contemporary loneliness and detachment; the contradiction of choice and inevitability. Subcircle's work, in collaboration with Geoff Sobelle,…

Steven and Billy Blaise Dufala practice in a variety of media, approaching sculpture, theater, performance, music, digital media, and good old-fashioned drawing with equal passion and zeal. They organized a now infamous toilet-trike race through the streets of Old City and they rode a cardboard tank across town on city streets during rush hour, amazing pedestrians, puzzling motorists, and in general, giving the audience a dose of dark, dark humor. Steven was a founding member of the experimental, performative band,…

Steven and Billy Blaise Dufala practice in a variety of media, approaching sculpture, theater, performance, music, digital media, and good old-fashioned drawing with equal passion and zeal. They organized a now infamous toilet-trike race through the streets of Old City and they rode a cardboard tank across town on city streets during rush hour, amazing pedestrians, puzzling motorists, and in general, giving the audience a dose of dark, dark humor. Steven was a founding member of the experimental, performative band,…

Only Sleeping is a dance and design rabbit hole with unseen possibilities revealed at every moment. A dialogue between video and live performer, a silent film faces a live dancer with an original score that tests the boundary of imagination, loneliness and detachment. Subcircle's work, in collaboration with Geoff Sobelle, of rainpan 43, and with music by Michael Kiley asks the audience to come with them on an adventure yet unknown. The goal remainsto test people's ideas of where they…

Andrew is probably best known as half of Pattern is Movement, a indie rock band where he sings and plays keys. Its sounds like he's going to be drummer and a couple of horn players. We can't decide: will it be the indie-cabaret-lumberjack-crooner vibe or the shimmering-orchestral-polyrhythmic pop that's going to be most amazing to hear transferred onto the big pipes of Christ Church.

We invited ten of the most interesting performers - five musicians and five dancers - and paired them up with someone they've never performed with - on a Blind Date. We played match maker - and we were careful to take risks. What will happen? We don't exactly know, but Blind Date is here to inspire that conversation, to bring the possibilities between music and dance into focus, to help us understand and challenge the continuum of improvisation and composition…

Tony Conrad is considered one of the first minimal composer / performers, associated in his early period with La Monte Young, John Cale, Henry Flynt and legendary New York underground filmmaker Jack Smith. Conrad is also acknowledged as a pioneer of structuralist filmmaking (his 1960s film The Flicker is one of the key early works of the structural film movement), and in recent years he has presented and performed at festivals and events worldwide. During the last ten years, Conrad…

Specific. Abstract. Specifically abstract. Meg is an all around movement geek. She makes astonishingly specific movement with dancers who love discussion. Match vs. Match pulls apart a dance while putting it back together, in a relentless search for identity and connection. A layered examination of architecture and space and the dancing body within (How many parts are you composed of? How about now?), all is revealed over time. Sometimes slowly. Sometimes all at once. PIMA Group so clearly defies categorization…

Troy Herion is a composer, sound designer, music director and improviser. His music brings together interests in fields relating to biology, traditional cultures, visual art, drama, and improvisation. Dramatic collaborations have included music for International Opera Theater, Pig Iron Theatre, The Wilma Theater, The Arden Theatre, and Azuka Theater. He has been nominated for three Barrymore Awards, including the prestigious F. Otto Haas Emerging Artist Award, and his work was pronounced Best Sound Design 2006 in Philadelphia Weekly. In 2008…

Troy Herion is a composer, sound designer, music director and improviser. His music brings together interests in fields relating to biology, traditional cultures, visual art, drama, and improvisation. Dramatic collaborations have included music for International Opera Theater, Pig Iron Theatre, The Wilma Theater, The Arden Theatre, and Azuka Theater. He has been nominated for three Barrymore Awards, including the prestigious F. Otto Haas Emerging Artist Award, and his work was pronounced Best Sound Design 2006 in Philadelphia Weekly. In 2008…

A extraordinarily gifted and diverse musical mind and recent MacArthur Fellow, John Zorn is probably the closest thing avant-garde music has had a house hold name in since John Cage. And despite his prolific output as a composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist, opportunities to hear Zorn live in performance, especially in Philadelphia, are very rare. The chance to hear John Zorn perform a solo organ concerts - truly once in a lifetime.

A extraordinarily gifted and diverse musical mind and recent MacArthur Fellow, John Zorn is probably the closest thing avant-garde music has had a house hold name in since John Cage. And despite his prolific output as a composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist, opportunities to hear Zorn live in performance, especially in Philadelphia, are very rare. The chance to hear John Zorn perform a solo organ concerts - truly once in a lifetime.   Specific. Abstract. Specifically abstract. Meg…