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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260605T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260605T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20260403T135044Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260615T151610Z
UID:10001316-1780689600-1780696800@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Morton Feldman: Three Voices
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present vocalist Charlotte Mundy performing Morton Feldman’s iconic work Three Voices at University Lutheran Church. \nFeldman’s “Three Voices” was written for the experimental vocalist and composer Joan LaBarbara in 1982. The original concept involved the live performer singing along with two pre-recorded parts projected through on-stage amplifiers\, creating an effect of three individual “voices”\, all with the same origin (Ms. LaBarbara). Three Voices is indeed a challenging and ground-breaking work\, and has very rarely been performed live with three singers due to its nearly impossible demands on the human voice and psyche – impeccable rhythmic concentration\, shrewd attention to tuning\, and the ability to sound as one voice in three parts. The text is based on Frank O’Hara’s poem\, Wind\, and shapes\, twists\, and morphs short phrases from the poem into an hour-long musical experience. \n\nABOUT THE ARTIST \nCanadian soprano Charlotte Mundy has been dubbed a “daredevil with an unbreakable spine” (SF Classical Voice)\, and “mesmerizing” (New York Times). As a founding member of TAK ensemble\, “one of the most prominent ensembles in the United States practicing truly experimental music” (I Care If You Listen)\, Mundy has performed at Lincoln Center and the Library of Congress\, premiering works by Tyshawn Sorey\, Erin Gee\, Eric Wubbels\, Brandon Lopez\, and Natacha Diels. Mundy is also a core member of Ekmeles\, described as “beyond expert – almost frightening in their precision” by Fanfare magazine and recent recipients of the Ernst von Siemens Ensemble Prize. \nMundy’s recent projects as a soloist include site-specific opera Newtown Odyssey by Kurt Rohde and Marie Lorenz; premieres of concert works by Alyssa Regent and Aida Shirazi\, and the debut of a new collaborative multimedia project with Christian Quiñones. Past performances include critically acclaimed renditions of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire\, Boulez’s Le Marteau sans Maître\, Feldman’s Three Voices\, George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill\, Iannis Xenakis’ Akanthos\, and a set of music for voice and electronics presented by New York Festival of Song\, described as “an oasis of radiant beauty” by the New York Times. \nAs a recording artist\, Mundy is featured on recordings ranging from contemporary classical music to black metal to prog rock to ambient music. Her recent album with Francisco del Pino\, The Sea\, was named one of the 25 best albums of 2025 by Steve Smith. Mundy is the vocal soloist on the studio recording of Bekah Simms’ Juno award winning composition Bestiary I & II\, and her recordings as a member of TAK and Ekmeles have been widely praised. \nHer compositions have been performed at Roulette\, JACK theater\, University of New Mexico\, Fuse Factory\, and the Higher Ground festival. They include SWEET FLAG!\, whose score consists of home-made rosaries\, The Empress Negligee and Leopard Queen Dream for voice\, piñata/thurible/shakers and percussion\, and the surround sound/light/wind/smell installation\, Light as a Feather\, presented by Harvestworks Digital Media Arts. \nBorn in Toronto and based in Brooklyn\, Mundy studied classical voice at the University of Toronto\, contemporary performance at the Manhattan School of Music\, and is working toward a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the CUNY Graduate Center. \n\n\n  \n\nFunding provided in part by New Music USA
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/morton-feldman-three-voices-2026/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/June-5-three-voices.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260411T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260411T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20260105T172236Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260615T151504Z
UID:10001297-1775937600-1775944800@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Audra
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present Audra performing an evening of music for voice and saxophone\, featuring Meredith Monk’s Hocket for Two Voices\, two moody folk-song arrangements by Karin Rehnqvist\, Cecilia McDowall’s dramatic White Fox Woman\, Thomas Kessler’s Cage-inspired Is it?\, Gelsey Bell’s spacious Avatrix\, and Griffin Candey’s love songs\, I Shall Be Coming Back To You. In some pieces\, voice and saxophone are combined into a hyper-instrument\, creating a new\, hybrid sound out of the two performers. In other cases\, the voice is in the story-telling spotlight with the saxophone playing a supporting role. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nNoa Even (saxophone) and Anika Kildegaard (voice) are Audra\, a genre-defying new music duo exploring the dynamic interplay and sonic intersections between soprano voice and saxophone. Their debut performances in early 2025 included the Spotlight Series at Rowan University (NJ)\, No Exit presents in Cleveland (OH)\, and the Fuse Factory in Columbus (OH). This season’s performances include the Andrea Clearfield Szalon\, Harrison Township Historical Society concert series (NJ)\, 2640 Space in Baltimore\, and Bowerbird in Philadelphia. \n\nFunding provided in part by New Music USA
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/audra-duo/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Bowerbird-Main-Img-2026-01-05T122044.409.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260213T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260213T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20251215T163437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260615T151347Z
UID:10001292-1771012800-1771020000@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Postal Pieces 2.0
DESCRIPTION: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. \nTenney’s “Postal Pieces\,” composed between 1954 and 1971\, are a series of ten concise works each printed on a postcard. These pieces capture Tenney’s exploration of sound and form\, focusing on minimalist structures\, intonation\, and what he called “Swell” forms—gradual crescendos and decrescendos that create a unique auditory experience. Conceived originally as musical “letters” to friends and collaborators\, such as Pauline Oliveros and La Monte Young\, these works reflect Tenney’s deep connections within the avant-garde music scene and his penchant for inviting listeners into meditative states of listening. \nSets of the these newly commissioned postcard works will be available for purchase at the concert\, with all proceeds benefiting the Arcana New Music Ensemble. Previous postcard sets will also be available and are available to purchase online. \nPROGRAM \nAndrew Burke: This One Time\nCynthia Folio: Neural Disarray\nElijah Daniel Smith: A Little\nEvan Kassof: A Note From The Future\nJay Fluellen: Arcana Variances\nMeredith Gilna: Meeting\nPaul Schuette: Building Blocks\nSarah Hennies: As Long As Possible \nARCANA NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE \nAlize Rosznyai\, voice\nCarlos Santiago\, violin\nDavid Hughes\, piano\nTom Kraines\, cello\nJonathan Leeds\, clarinet\nAaron Stewart\, saxophone\nTessa Ellis\, trumpet\nAndy Thierauf\, percussion \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nJames Tenney (1934–2006) was an American composer\, theorist\, and performer renowned for his innovative contributions to experimental and electronic music. A student of notable figures such as Carl Ruggles\, Edgard Varèse\, and John Cage\, Tenney was a central figure in the development of post-war avant-garde music. His work often explored concepts of indeterminacy\, microtonality\, just intonation\, and the physics of sound\, integrating mathematical and acoustical theories into his compositions.\nTenney’s diverse output includes works for computer-generated sound\, instrumental ensembles\, and unconventional notations that challenge traditional musical forms. He was also a significant educator\, teaching at the California Institute of the Arts and York University\, influencing a generation of composers with his boundary-pushing ideas. His collaborations and associations with artists such as Steve Reich\, La Monte Young\, and Philip Glass positioned him as a vital connector in the experimental music scene. Tenney’s legacy is marked by his relentless curiosity and his ability to blend rigorous theoretical frameworks with an intuitive approach to sound\, profoundly shaping the landscape of contemporary music. \nFounded in 2015\, the Arcana New Music Ensemble is a group of Philadelphia-based musicians dedicated to presenting interesting\, beautiful\, and unconventional music in interesting\, beautiful\, and unconventional places.\nThe Arcana New Music Ensemble is a Philadelphia-based chamber ensemble dedicated to contemporary classical music. Its mission is to perform works by living composers and to reexamine music from the past\, often focusing on composers whose work has been overlooked. A hallmark of Arcana’s programming is its frequent use of portrait concerts\, which allow the ensemble to explore a composer’s work in depth. These programs balance music by widely recognized composers with works by those who are less well known or historically underrepresented. \nFounded in 2015 by musicologist Thomas Patterson\, harpist Elizabeth Huston\, and curator Dustin Hurt\, Arcana was created to provide a platform for Philadelphia’s many skilled performers interested in exploring both new works and important compositions from the past hundred years. Since 2020\, the ensemble has been co-directed by Andy Thierauf and Dustin Hurt.\nIn 2016\, Arcana partnered with Pig Iron Theatre Company to present Samuel Beckett\, Words and Music by Morton Feldman and began a multi-year project devoted to the music of Moondog (Louis Hardin). The following year included a portrait concert of Galina Ustvolskaya\, collaborations with Variant 6 and Prometheus Chamber Orchestra\, and performances of works by Julius Eastman\, including Stay On It\, Femenine\, and Thruway. \nIn 2018\, Arcana presented rare works by Pauline Oliveros and portrait concerts of Tom Johnson\, James Tenney\, and Ben Patterson\, along with a second Moondog program. In 2019\, the ensemble presented concerts focused on Claude Vivier and Johanna Beyer and participated in a program of George Crumb’s chamber works. From 2020 onward\, the ensemble’s programming has included a retrospective of David First\, collaborations with the Wildflowers Composer Festival\, and concerts highlighting Iranian and Iranian-American composers. Recent seasons have featured portrait concerts of Sarah Hennies\, Raven Chacon\, and George Walker\, the launch of the annual Postal Pieces project\, and performances of Pauline Oliveros’s The Well and the Gentle and Lucia Dlugoszewski’s Black Lake. \n\nFunding provided in part by New Music USA
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/postal-pieces-2-0/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Bowerbird-Main-Img-2025-12-15T112654.671.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260117T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260117T210000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20260107T153658Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T201547Z
UID:10001299-1768676400-1768683600@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Tudor Piano
DESCRIPTION: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. \nBefore David Tudor became renowned for his pioneering electronic compositions\, he was celebrated as one of the most fearless and virtuosic interpreters of experimental piano music. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s\, Tudor served as the primary champion of the New York School composers and works associated with the Fluxus movement\, premiering scores that challenged every convention of notation\, performance\, and the relationship between composer and interpreter. His performances transformed indeterminate works and event scores into vivid sonic experiences\, treating open-ended instructions not as puzzles to solve but as frameworks for spontaneous decision-making and physical engagement. \nThis concert honors Tudor’s legacy as a performer by presenting a diverse program of works he premiered during this formative period—pieces that blur the boundaries between composition and improvisation\, notation and action\, music and theater. Adam Tendler brings his own adventurous spirit and deep expertise in experimental repertoire to these historically significant works\, continuing the tradition of radical interpretation that Tudor embodied. \n\nPROGRAM \nChristian Wolff — Suite I (1954) \nToshi Ichiyanagi — Music for Piano No. 4 (1960) \nMorton Feldman — Three Pieces for Piano (1954) \nEarle Brown — Forgotten Piece (c.1954) \nBo Nillson — Schlagfiguren (1978) \nHenry Cowell — The Fairy Bells (1929) \nJohn Cage — Solo from Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1957-8) with Indeterminacy (1959) \nJohn Cage — 4’33” (1952) \n\n\nThis event is part of DAVID TUDOR: A VIEW FROM INSIDE\, an exhibition at Drexel’s Pearlstein Gallery from January 15 to March 21\, 2026. \n\n\nABOUT THE ARTIST \nA “daring pianist” praised for his “adventurousness and muscular skill” (The New York Times)\, 2026 Grammy-nominated artist Adam Tendler has been called “the hottest pianist on the American contemporary classical scene” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)\, “relentlessly adventurous” (Washington Post)\, a “remarkable and insightful musician” (LA Times)\, an “intrepid… maverick pianist” (The New Yorker)\, and “one of contemporary classical music’s most intentional and daring pianists” (Seven Days). “If you’re a cutting-edge composer these days\,” said CBS Sunday Morning’s Lee Cowan\, “you want Adam to perform your pieces.” A pioneer of DIY culture in classical music\, at age 23 Tendler performed solo recitals in all fifty states as part of a grassroots tour called America 88×50\, and has since become one of classical music’s most recognized and celebrated artists\, receiving Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award\, the Yvar Mikhashoff Prize\, and appearing as soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra\, LA Phil\, Sydney Symphony\, Toronto Symphony Orchestra\, NJ Symphony\, Vermont Symphony Orchestra\, as well as on the main-stages of Carnegie Hall\, the Barbican Centre\, Sydney Opera House\, BAM\, David Geffen Hall\, Walt Disney Concert Hall\, Milan Fashion Week\, and other leading series and stages worldwide. His Inheritances album is a 2026 GRAMMY® for Best Classical Instrumental Solo and a New York Times Critic Pick\, which wrote\, “You will be moved\, profoundly and intensely.” Tendler has commissioned major works from composers ranging from Christian Wolff to Devonté Hynes (aka Blood Orange)\, Nico Muhly and Laurie Anderson. He is featured on Wild Up’s Grammy-nominated third volume of Julius Eastman’s music\, and has also released albums of music by Franz Liszt\, Robert Palmer\, and of his own original work. He is the author of two books\, a Yamaha Artist\, and serves on the piano faculty at NYU. \n\nMajor support for DAVID TUDOR: A VIEW FROM INSIDE has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage\, with additional support from the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia.
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/tudor-piano-adam-tendler/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Jan-17_-Tudor-Piano.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251206T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251206T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20250804T153846Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260615T151254Z
UID:10001279-1765051200-1765058400@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Blackbox Ensemble
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present the Blackbox Ensemble performing contemporary chamber works by Annie Nikunen\, Ileana Perez-Velazquez\, Baldwin Giang\, and James Diaz at University Lutheran Church. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nThe BlackBox Ensemble is a collective of contemporary music performers based in New York City dedicated to exploring the wide-ranging world of the music of our time. Founded in 2018\, our upcoming 2024-2025 season includes concerts at home in New York and around the country\, including the season-opening performance of the Southern Exposure Series at the University of South Carolina\, a performance at the Timucua Arts Foundation\, and residencies at the University of Chicago\, University of Florida\, and University of Central Florida. Our 2023-2024 season included major performances in New York City and beyond\, including touring engagements in Washington\, DC\, Florida\, Michigan\, and throughout the Northeast. Our season began with The Sound of Space Between Us\, a site-specific\, outdoor music and dance performance at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown\, Massachusetts. We then presented the live premiere of Borrowed Landscape\, a radio play by German playwright duo tauchgold with music by Dai Fujikura\, at the Noguchi Museum\, in a program that also features music by Anna Thorvaldsdottir\, inti figgis-vizueta\, and Toru Takemistu. We then reprised our performance of Borrowed Landscape at the Smithsonian Institute of Asian Art as part of a two-concert series. In addition\, we celebrated our 5-year anniversary with our inaugural BlackBox Festival\, including our debut at Roulette Intermedium. Finally\, our season included residencies at University of Florida\, University of Michigan\, NYU\, and the Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music School. \nOur 2022-2023 season included a season-opening performance marathon on Pier 45 in Manhattan\, a portrait concert of Jessie Cox\, and performances at Culture Lab LIC and the Columbia University Sacred Music Series. Throughout the season\, the ensemble was supported by the Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward grant for emerging ensembles\, through which they received coaching and mentorship from Alan Pierson\, Conductor and Co-Artistic Director of Alarm Will Sound. Past projects include world premieres by Paul Novak (for the 2021 New Music Gathering Conference)\, Annie Nikunen\, Erich Barganier\, and composer-vocalist Tanner Porter; Gallery of Sound” a performance of solo pieces performed in isolated rooms at an underground bar and record store in Midtown Manhattan; a performance of Julius Eastman’s “Femenine” on the Brooklyn waterfront; and “Elegy\,” a video concert featuring music by Juhi Bansal\, Carlos Simon\, Yaz Lancaster\, Brittany J. Green\, and Jessica Mays. Reviewing this program\, I Care If You Listen wrote” “the 45-minute chamber music program showcased five worthy contemporary composers\, with earnest performances that did justice to the extramusical connotations.” \nOur name\, BlackBox\, is inspired by this term’s meaning in other fields. In theatre\, a Black Box is a type of performance space – usually a square room with black walls – that offers flexible staging and seating arrangements\, creating an environment ripe for creative experimentation and intimate human connection. Meanwhile\, in science\, computing\, and the humanities\, a “black box” is a system with defined inputs and outputs whose inner workings are unknown. We believe that music\, as a cultural medium\, fills the role of the black box\, enacting an ambiguous but vital relationship between artistic expression and social life. In doing so\, we follow the inspiration of the theatrical definition – to foster experimentation\, innovation\, and human connection. In all of our programs\, we aim to present contemporary classical music in a format that is approachable\, innovative\, and impactful. \n\n\n\nFunding provided in part by New Music USA
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/blackbox-ensemble/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bowerbird-Main-Img-2025-08-04T113454.192.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251205T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251205T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20250723T170449Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251206T230230Z
UID:10001280-1764964800-1764972000@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Sova
DESCRIPTION:We are pleased to present Sova in a solo set at University Lutheran Church with an opening set by Koof Ibi. \n\nABOUT THE ARTIST \n“Ghostly\, delicate\, elegant…” (Independent Clauses) \nFor Sova – the stage name of New York-based pianist/composer Sophia Subbayya Vastek – the piano has always been home. A second generation pianist\, she holds a deep reverence for her collective history\, coupled with an exploratory ear\, and moves quietly between musical worlds. Over the years\, her intuitive playing style — rooted in tenderness\, improvisation\, and classical training — has evolved into a dynamic\, cinematic sound. \nDescribed as performing with “passion and profound tenderness” (Second Inversion) and “serene strokes and lyrical beauty” (Brooklyn Rail)\, her music is quietly devastating\, blossoming into ambient-inspired soundscapes that range from whisper-soft echoes to expressive cascades.  \nHer most recent LP\, In Our Softening\, produced by Sam Torres (Polymouth Music)\, features nine of her own beguiling piano compositions\, each track a part of a thoughtfully woven tapestry. Recorded entirely on an upright piano built in 1902 – complete with a giant crack in the soundboard – the album draws listeners in with its vulnerable and vibrant intimacy. Exploring themes of loss\, rebirth\, and finding softness within an increasingly hard world\, the album has been called “a tender and revelatory balm” by editors at I Care If You Listen\, “heaven on earth” (Sun 13)\, and “one of the very best things I’ve heard all year” by longtime music journalist Steve Smith (Night After Night). The record also made it onto Bandcamp’s All-Time Best Selling Solo Piano list. \nHer music has been released on OPIA\, the record label founded by Ólafur Arnalds\, Innova Recordings\, and more. Her debut album\, Histories (2017)\, was produced by Grammy-winning engineer Adam Abeshouse\, and described as “a beautiful mosaic of the larger cultural intersections of our world” (Second Inversion). She has also released an EP of the complete solo piano works by composer Lili Boulanger (1893-1918)\, entitled Lili (2020\, reissued 2023).  \nEqually important to the music itself are the spaces in which Sova’s music exists. Whether she is performing or presenting\, she is dedicated to creating musical experiences that are grounded in care and intentional gathering. In that spirit\, she is a co-curator of the popular Lift Series at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall\, which finished its sold-out fifth season. She also hosts concerts in her home – a converted church-space in Troy\, NY called Troy Listening Room – that highlight risk-taking\, independent musicians.  \nIn 2022\, Sova was recognized as a composer by the New York State Council on the Arts and New York Foundation For the Arts (NYSCA/NYFA) as a Music/Sound Fellow\, a statewide program focused on the evolution of contemporary art. Her music has been featured on NPR\, BBC\, and KEXP\, and she has performed across three continents. \nKoof Ibi is a multi-instrumentalist in the Philadelphia area. On any given day you could find him strolling down Broad Street straight into the Kimmel Center with brass bands like The West Philadelphia Orchestra\, sharing the big stage with Japanese Breakfast\, or performing in the Philadelphia Museum of Art with poet/musician Moor Mother. Koof effortlessly blends his diverse musical influences into his own distinct style. At his solo shows Koof combines live instruments\, loops\, and effects pedals to create surprising soundscapes\, re-invented covers\, and sonic liberation.\nwww.koof.bandcamp.com\nwww.koofibi.com \n\n
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/sova/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bowerbird-Main-Img-2025-07-23T125159.760.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251114T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251114T213000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20251003T144509Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251116T221020Z
UID:10001287-1763148600-1763155800@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Stuart Bogie & Buck McDaniel
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present composer-clarinetist Stuart Bogie and composer-keyboardist Buck McDaniel performing two concerts in one day\, continuing their acclaimed collaboration that began with the 2024 project November Variations. \nAt University Lutheran\, performing as a clarinet and piano duo\, the more percussive pairing invites rhythmic nuance and spontaneous turns showcasing both composed works and improvisations highlighting each composer’s individual voice and another view of their shared improvisational language. \nFirst conceived in 2024\, November Variations began as a series of five improvised 9 a.m. concerts at New York’s Church of Our Saviour\, recorded live to capture each composition as it unfolded. The resulting five-part album is being released in parts leading up to the 2025 five-concert residency in Manhattan\, November 17 – 21. \nThe November 14 performances in Philadelphia offer an opportunity to experience the duo’s ethos of stillness\, connection\, and sonic exploration in two distinct instrumental settings. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nComposer and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Bogie was born in Evanston\, Illinois. He studied for 6 Years with Gary Onstad and at the Music Center of the North Shore before attending Interlochen Art Academy and the University of Michigan where he studied with Debra Chodacki. He is the recipient of a Meet the Composer grant and he composed the score for the Oscar nominated documentary How To Survive a Plague\, featuring performances by the Kronos Quartet. He has written for film\, television\, commercials\, and the stage. He has released 9 albums as a leader. \nDuring the pandemic lock-down\, Bogie performed a daily series of improvised solo clarinet pieces using the accompaniment drone tracks sent to him by over 50 different collaborators including Arcade Fire\, Richard Reed Parry\, Colin Stetson\, Sam Cohen\, Josh Kaufman\, Peter Murray\, E Dan\, Craig Finn\, Ryan Sawyer\, Dave Harrington\, Yuka Honda\, and James Murphy. Began in the second week of lock-down\, the series ran for over 150 days consecutively and has been collected into four volumes\, with more volumes in the works. An LP\, Morningside\, presenting 2 of the pieces made with James Murphy was released on October 27 on DFA records. This music is featured in a worldwide exhibition of photographs by Gregory Crewsden\, and can be heard in the documentary accompanying the exhibit. In July of 2023 Bogie premiered Morningside at Les Recontres d’Arles\, live scoring the documentary by Harper Glantz. His latest release is Patient Music\, a collaboration with longtime friends Josh Kaufman & Sam Cohen available now from Historical Fiction Records. \nBuck McDaniel is a composer\, conductor\, keyboardist\, and improviser based in New York City. His music blends the American Minimalist tradition with a personal storytelling practice. McDaniel’s work often explores site\, text\, and memory\, engaging both concert\, sacred\, and non-traditional spaces with equal depth and curiosity. \nHis compositions have been performed and broadcast internationally\, including on NBC’s Saturday Night Live\, BBC Radio 3\, WQXR\, and NPR’s The Moth Radio Hour. His work appears in Oliver Hermanus’s film The History of Sound\, starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor\, which premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. A frequent collaborator\, McDaniel has worked with artists including Sam Smith\, Nico Muhly\, Sam Amidon\, and Stuart Bogie. \nMcDaniel is a former Kulas Composer Fellow at Cleveland Public Theatre\, and his projects have been supported by institutions such as the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA)\, the Mississippi Museum of Art\, and the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. His work has been presented by the Boston University Tanglewood Institute\, the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn\, and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony\, among others. \nHis music and interdisciplinary projects have been covered by The New York Times\, Time Out New York\, and Relix. Recordings of his work are available on Etymology\, Gold Bolus\, and Telarc labels. He serves as Artist-in-Residence at The General Theological Seminary and Director of Music at the Church of Our Saviour\, Murray Hill and Chapel of the Sacred Hearts\, Kips Bay. \n\n
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/stuart-bogie-buck-mcdaniel/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Bowerbird-Main-Img-2025-10-13T132551.014.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251108T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251108T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20250814T213057Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251110T151129Z
UID:10001283-1762632000-1762639200@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Beehive Cathedral
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present American traditional music trio Joseph Decosimo\, Luke Richardson\, and Cleek Schrey performing music from their recent album Beehive Cathedral. \nJoseph Decosimo\, Luke Richardson\, and Cleek Schrey\, three of the most compelling musicians in the American traditional music scene\, explore traditional repertoires from Appalachia and the broader South\, gleaned from visits with older players\, field recordings\, vintage 78s\, and archival tune collections. Working with fiddle\, hardanger d’amore (a fiddle with sympathetic strings)\, banjos\, and a 19th-century pump organ\, the trio conveys both the sonic details of their instruments and a generous musical interplay rooted in a dozen years of collaboration. Their 2024 debut album Beehive Cathedral\, released on Dear Life Records\, presents resonant\, thoughtful\, and expansive explorations of Appalachian and American music. Irish fiddle luminary\, Martin Hayes\, declares it “a hypnotic recording that is grounded\, subtle and refined.” The trio departs from the string band format that has defined the genre\, especially since the Old-time music revival of the 1970s made guitar\, bass\, and chordal accompaniment features of the music. Untethering the music from chord patterns and guitars\, they reimagine older approaches to the music filled with tonal ambiguity\, drone\, and dissonance. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nThe members of the trio are veteran performers in the Old-time scene\, where they’ve worked with renowned string bands The Bucking Mules and Bigfoot. Beehive Cathedral draws on the group’s experiences making music together at Southern fiddlers’ conventions\, in the back of NYC pubs\, on stages\, and in their homes. It also sources energy from their broader musical lives\, including Schrey’s participation in NYC’s experimental sound community and Decosimo’s collaborations with Durham\, NC projects Wye Oak\, Hiss Golden Messenger\, and Jake Xerxes Fussell. \n\nBeehive Cathedral by Joseph Decosimo\, Luke Richardson\, Cleek Schrey \n\n\n
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/beehive-cathedral/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Bowerbird-Main-Img-2025-08-14T172701.427.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251024T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251024T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20250804T151641Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260615T151215Z
UID:10001281-1761336000-1761343200@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Nexus
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present vocal sextet Variant 6 performing NEXUS\, a program featuring a wide expanse of a capella repertoire for three treble voices\, featuring Jessica Beebe\, Rebecca Myers\, and Elisa Sutherland. From rarely performed works of the Medieval era to contemporary works by some of our favorite composers\, this concert will showcase a dazzling display of virtuosity performed by long-time collaborators: the founding trebles of Variant 6. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nVariant 6 explores the expressive potential of the human voice through vocal chamber music that is at once virtuosic\, poignant\, and approachable. Composed of artists with a diverse set of skills and a wide range of expertise\, we seek out repertoire that embodies this potential. We collaborate with artists of many disciplines\, creating refreshing interpretations of music of the past and innovative premieres of new works. Our concerts are unique and intimate musical experiences that foster deep conversation between artists and audience. Variant 6 shares our unique take on vocal chamber music with people all over the city of Philadelphia. Our approachable and collaborative projects create an environment where audiences of different backgrounds will feel inspired to attend our events\, respond to our music\, and get to know us as individuals.\nvariantsix.com \n\n\n\n\n\nFunding provided in part by New Music USA
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/nexus/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Bowerbird-Main-Img-2025-08-20T113529.935.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251018T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251018T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20250908T151851Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251019T191753Z
UID:10001284-1760817600-1760824800@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:David Grubbs Duo
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present a duo performance featuring films about and sonic work by Brunhild Ferrari. \nPROGRAM: \nTwo films by LF:\n     N’Importe Quoi (for Brunhild) (2023\, 9 min.)\n     N’Importe Quoi (Extérieur-Jour) (2024\, 11 min.) \nErrant Ear\, Brunhild Ferrari (fixed media) \nJ’ai pensé sans paroles\, duo performance\, sound material provided by Brunhild Ferrari \n(note: Brunhild Ferrari will not be present for the concert) \nNOTES: \nN’Importe Quoi (for Brunhild) (2023\, 9 min.)\nThe film N’Importe Quoi (for Brunhild) in many ways stands in the tradition of Fowler’s impressionist portraits of persons who have made an impact on his personal and artistic life. Quite often\, the person being portrayed remains unseen\, with Fowler concentrating instead on their voice and traces of their presence in the form of personal ephemera or the atmosphere of their room. Yet\, in this new film\, the performativity of his subject Brunhild Meyer-Ferrari is self-evident. Composer Brunhild Ferrari\, born 1937 in Frankfurt a.M.\, Germany moved to Paris in 1959 where she would meet and marry the composer Luc Ferrari. Brunhild Meyer\, who produced a number of works of radio art in the 70’s and 80’s for SWF\, slowly began to emerge as a composer in the last decade (adopting her husband’s surname only after his death). Luc Ferrari\, was a pioneer of musique concrète and a founding member of Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM) with Pierre Schaeffer in Paris. Fowler’s film provides peripheral glimpses into their collaborative life and work but resists a traditional biographic narrative. \nN’Importe Quoi (Extérieur-Jour) (2024\, 11 min.)\nPart 2 of N’Importe Quoi. Filmed with Brunhild Ferrari at her home in Montreuil and in several locations in Paris\, with sound recordings by Eric La Casa and music by Brunhild Ferrari. Cinema didn’t quite begin with the face\, but its role quickly became central. From as early as the research of Vertov and Epstein\, the face in motion was understood as uniquely compelling\, capable of betraying a whole new range of expressive possibilities too subtle for stillness to capture. It’s odd\, then\, how rarely artists have produced filmed portraits free of any narrative framework. There are\, of course\, by now thousands of biographical documentaries—many based around the oft-derided ‘talking head’—but with the towering exception of Warhol’s Screen Tests\, cinema’s most sophisticated and accomplished pure portraits have tended to work obliquely\, drawing together fragments around the empty centre of their subject\, whose face appears rarely\, if at all. Luke Fowler’s two decades of work comprise\, I think\, the most significant body of cinematic portraiture produced to date. He has fashioned a canon of eccentric\, obscure\, or under-recognized artists and thinkers out of the sediment of their lives\, the documents of their archives\, the places they passed through. Biography is absent; anecdote\, even\, is minimal. If classical portraiture attempts to pluck its subject from the world and refashion them as a symbol of it (Goldin’s work depends on showing just how unwilling the world is to let go of its subjects)\, Fowler works by the inverse\, beginning with the world at large and searching out the tiniest traces that might speak to a single\, specific path through it. N’importe quoi. Anything goes\, it’s all game\, as the world forever is before the camera. And so finally we arrive at his remarkable new film\, N’Importe Quoi (for Brunhild)\, a portrait of Brunhild Meyer-Ferrari\, who\, alongside her husband Luc\, did as much as anyone to realize the post-Cagean whatever of musical composition\, to test the thin line between the form of the world and the forms of art. Fowler begins in Meyer-Ferrari’s charmingly cluttered studio\, catching glimpses of her amidst endless stacks of tapes and analog devices for the recording and manipulation of sound. “Je pense sans parole\,” she says—“I think without words”—and Fowler cuts to a pair of glasses upon a tabletop in burnished\, golden light: some think with microphones\, others with lenses. Meyer-Ferrari departs the studio with her microphone to collect the sounds of Parisian parks and train stations. At the moment of this transition from studio to city\, she recounts her earliest meetings with the man who would become her husband and collaborator\, “He engaged me for work that was really interesting to me: it was research on [the] relationship between sound and image.” The final image we see of the studio in this opening passage is a tape box labeled presque rien—next to nothing—then\, after a rhythmic cut to black\, Meyer-Ferrari alone in the dusty bowl of a park as urban ambience fills the soundtrack. Fowler holds on thismedium shot for 10 seconds or so\, before moving into one of his typical series of quick reframings\, culminating in another cut to black which leads on to an instance of his other recurring gesture: rotating the Bolex’s turret mid-shot\, drawing a curved image down as the lens pops into place. The sound\, previously continuous\, changes abruptly at this last cut; where we heard chatter and sporting thwacks that might have seemed appropriate to a park on a sunny day\, there is only sparse birdsong and the rustle of leaves. This layering of potential realities is\, I’ll suggest\, the ground of Fowler’s practice. (Text by Phil Coldiron) \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nDavid Grubbs is a musician and writer based in Brooklyn. He was a founding member of the groups Gastr del Sol\, Bastro\, and Squirrel Bait\, and has performed with the Red Krayola\, Will Oldham\, Tony Conrad\, Pauline Oliveros\, Loren Connors\, Susan Howe\, and many others. His books include Good night the pleasure was ours\, The Voice in the Headphones\, Now that the audience is assembled\, and Records Ruin the Landscape: John Cage\, the Sixties\, and Sound Recording (all published by Duke University Press). Grubbs is a 2024-25 Berlin Prize recipient from the American Academy in Berlin as well as Distinguished Professor of Music at Brooklyn College and The Graduate Center\, CUNY. \nBrunhild Ferrari: “Like most of my fellow human beings\, I was born\, I grew up\, I attended schools\, I passed exams\, I failed\, I loved\, I worked hard sometimes\, I enjoyed life; I continue. I worked with Pierre Schaeffer in the ORTF research department on the relationship between sound and image. Of German origin\, I have had an activity as an interpreter and translator. Following Luc Ferrari’s advice in matters of life\, music\, and composition\, and working with him over the course of our 40 years together\, I made my own Hörspiele and radio plays broadcast on France Culture\, in the United States\, and the main German radio stations. Since Luc left us in 2005\, I have taken care of the preservation of his vast archives; founded the Association Presque Rien—Friends of Luc Ferrari—initiated and organized the biennial competition PRESQUE RIEN Prize by providing artists with original sound material from Luc’s sound recordings; and edited a book of his writings and documents (Musiques dans les spasmes\, published by les Presses du Réel\, France) as well as one more book in English together with Catherine Marcangeli (Luc Ferrari: Complete Works\, published by Ecstatic Peace Library). I composed music; I continue.” \n\n
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/david-grubbs-duo/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Bowerbird-Main-Img-2025-09-08T111351.994.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251004T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251004T190000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20250716T170706Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260615T151135Z
UID:10001277-1759597200-1759604400@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Explorations
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present the New Thread Quartet performing their program Explorations. The ensemble invites the audience to a reception following the performance. \nNew Thread Quartet presents Explorations\, Vol. 8: Energy Flows\, featuring music by Marilyn Shrude\, Georg Friedrich Haas\, Hannah Kendall\, James Tenney\, and a world premiere by Hong-Da Chin. The quartet’s annual Explorations Series\, now in its 8th iteration\, is dedicated to programming important works of our time. The unifying element that brings these works together is the undulation of sonorities. \nWishing doesn’t make it so was inspired by the same phrase from Stephen King’s Heart of Atlantis. Hong-Da Chin is intrigued by these words\, because they point to how our “minds can run like a child in a world full of winter\,” but it’s not until we take action that our ideas become real and hold meaning. This transfers to the action a composer takes when they engrave the ideas they have in their mind. Chin takes the trill\, a standard technique used for centuries\, to a whole new level. \nenergy flows nervously . . . in search of stillness is seeped in the chromatic motion and harmony typical of Marilyn Shrude’s music. Pulsating\, churning\, and thickly layered\, the intensity waxes to its loudest\, most dissonant sonorities\, finally waning to calmness and silence. \nHannah Kendall’s Gilt was inspired by Hew Locke’s 2022-2023 Facade Commission of the same name\, created for The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Kendall represents Locke’s four shimmering\, golden sculptures with each voice in the quartet. The extreme saturation of sound and layered texture mirrors the meaning and symbolism behind Locke’s piece. \nSaxophonquartett is a spectral motor of microtones\, swelling and rubbing against each other until they explode into wailing overtones. The piece is a masterful display of Georg Friedrich Haas’ ability to take musicians to the edges of their instruments. \nJames Tenney\, American music theorist and composer\, included Swell Piece in his collection entitled Postal Pieces\, short works that could fit on a postcard. Instrumentation is not specified and the instructions are simple. Players swell from nothing to as loud as they can play and return to nothing with as little timbre and intonation shift as possible. The piece demonstrates Tenney’s interest in harmonic perception\, minimal material\, meditation\, among other parameters. \nNew Thread Quartet Program Notes \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nNew Thread Quartet was formed with the mission to develop and perform impactful new music for the saxophone\, and to provide high level ensemble playing to feature today’s compositional voices. In 11 seasons\, the quartet has commissioned and premiered over 45 new works by composers such as Amy Beth Kirsten\, Richard Carrick\, Ben Hjertmann\, Ebun Oguntola\, Scott Wollschleger\, Kathryn Salfelder\, Taylor Brook and Emily Koh. \nBased in New York City\, New Thread has performed at Carnegie Hall\, Roulette\, Dance Theatre of Harlem\, Morgan Library\, Bang on a Can Summer Festival Benefit\, and Monadnock Music. The quartet has performed\, toured and recorded more than 30 important works for saxophone quartet including Kati Agócs’ Hymn in New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall; Marilyn Shrude’s Evolution V and energy flows nervously… in search of stillness\, as part of a 75th Birthday Celebration Concert at the Dimenna Center featuring Lost Dog Ensemble and the Momenta Quartet; Erin Rogers’ Urban Composites at the World Saxophone Congress in St. Andrews\, Scotland; and the premiere recording of Elliott Sharp’s seminal work Approaching the Arches of Corti for 4 soprano saxophones\, recorded with Grammy-winning engineer\, Judith Sherman\, now available on New World Records. New Thread released its debut album Plastic Facts in 2018 on New Focus Recordings and in 2020 recorded three works on [word]plays\, an album by Emily Koh now available from Innova Recordings. \nNew Thread has a track record of working closely with composers in a workshop environment during the formation of new works. The quartet strives for multiple performances of newly commissioned works in an attempt to bring new music to different audiences as often as possible. New Thread’s annual self-presented Explorations Series showcases works by emerging composers\, adding exciting new voices to the saxophone canon. \nNew Thread has conducted masterclasses\, residencies\, and performances for student saxophonists and composers at Peabody Conservatory\, University of Virginia\, Berklee Conservatory\, Bronx Community College\, Aaron Copland School (Queens College)\, Montclair State University\, and New York University. A strong community supporter\, New Thread attends NASA Regional and Biennial conferences across the US. The quartet encourages young composers to create new works for saxophones through an open submission policy\, conducting reading and feedback sessions throughout the year. New Thread is a presenting partner of Composers Now. \nEnsemble members are Jonathan Hulting-Cohen (soprano saxophone)\, Noa Even (alto saxophone)\, Erin Rogers (tenor saxophone)\, and Zach Herchen (baritone saxophone). \nwww.newthreadquartet.com/ \n\n\n\nFunding provided in part by New Music USA
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/explorations/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bowerbird-Main-Img-83.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250919T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250919T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20250716T163654Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T200117Z
UID:10001276-1758312000-1758319200@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Moondog on the Keys
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to bring back Julian Calv\, Sarah Penna\, and Alex Stewart to perform the music of Moondog at University Lutheran. Also on the program will be organist Gavin Black\, who collaborated with Moondog on his organ and harpsichord works. \nThe concert features piano works\, vocal canons\, and other songs by the maverick composer Moondog performed by trimbist/vocalist Julian Calv\, pianist Alex Stewart\, and vocalist/percussionist Sarah Penna joined by two guest vocalists for the vocal rounds – Emma Bockrath\, and Liam Mulligan. Louis Hardin AKA Moondog composed music creating an unexpected link between the resurgent science of counterpoint\, Arapaho\, Navajo\, Blackfoot\, and Sioux rhythms and song forms\, the art of jazz improvisation\, and the beginnings of a repetitive and minimalist aesthetic. The concert spans Moondog’s career with selections from The Last Concert\, Moondog: Piano Trimba\, In Europe\, A New Sound Of An Old Instrument\, Moondog (1956); and includes background about the music from Julian- who studied with Moondog’s only student\, Stefan Lakatos. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nLouis T. Hardin AKA Moondog was an American composer\, musician\, performer\, music theoretician\, poet and inventor of musical instruments. Largely self-taught as a composer he composed music with an unexpected link between the resurgent science of counterpoint\, Arapaho\, Navajo\, Blackfoot\, and Sioux rhythms and song forms\, the art of jazz improvisation\, and the beginnings of a repetitive and minimalist aesthetic. His strongly rhythmic\, contrapuntal pieces and arrangements were recognized by Igor Stravinsky and other contemporaries; and influenced American minimalist composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Due to an accident\, Moondog was blind from the age of 16. He lived in New York City from the late 1940s until 1974\, during which time he was often found on Sixth Avenue\, between 52nd and 55th Streets\, selling records\, composing\, and performing poetry. He briefly appeared in a cloak and horned helmet during the 1960s and was hence recognized as “the Viking of Sixth Avenue” by passersby and residents who were not aware of his musical career. \nJulian Calv is an American composer\, singer\, and trimbist. Born February 18 1999 in New Brunswick\, NJ\, Julian grew up in Bethlehem Township\, NJ. He graduated from Moravian University in 2021 with a Bachelor’s of Music focusing on composition\, education\, and classical piano. While there he studied piano with Barbara Thompson and Dan DeChellis. In 2021 he completed an independent study of 20th c. American composer Louis T. Hardin\, AKA Moondog’s\, creative life. Throughout the course of this impactful project he established an apprenticeship with Stefan Lakatos. Self proclaimed as Moondog’s grand-student\, Julian is the sole prodigy of Stefan Lakatos– who is “the leading [and only] exponent of the Moondog method of drumming.” Quote Moondog himself. Calv traveled to Stockholm\, Sweden\, in 2022 to meet Stefan and understand this tradition first hand. Through both this mentorship and dedicated study of Moondog’s creative life\, he upholds Louis’ dying wish to “please take care of my music.” Following Stefan’s death in 2023\, Julian continued through 2024 with projects featuring solely the music of Moondog and himself. \nAlex Stewart is a musician\, architect\, and man about town. This year’s musical projects include: Darkness to Light\, a recital in January with violinist Charlotte Perkins. In April 2024\, he led the Kearsarge Community Band in regional premieres of Carmen Fantasy for Symphonic Band (Bizet/Suzuki) and Howl’s Moving Castle Fantasy (Hisaishi/Kojima). He’s played in “MOONDOG: On The Keys” since November 2024. \nSarah Penna is a dynamic artist who feels most at home deep in the intersection of education\, the arts\, and the natural world. She synergizes her love of Nature\, Music\, and Community in all corners of her life\, professionally and personally. With her heart and eyes wide open\, she savors every new experience\, collecting them each like tiles in the game of Life. Sarah is many things; a New Englander\, lover\, daughter\, poet\, singer\, park ranger\, Girl Scout\, forest bather\, herbalist\, gardener\, and more\, but above all she is unabashedly herself. \nGavin Black is best known for his recordings of seventeenth-century keyboard music on the PGM label. He studied organ and harpsichord with Paul Jordan and Eugene Roan\, and conducting with Jahja Ling and Otto-Werner Mueller\, and attended Princeton University and Westminster Choir College. He served as Associate University Organist at Princeton from 1977 to1979\, while a student there\, and was Organist and Senior Choir Director at Hillsborough Reformed Church\, Millstone\, New Jersey\, from 1988 until 1994. He has been a teacher of organ\, harpsichord\, clavichord and continuo-playing since 1979\, teaching from time to time at Westminster Choir College and at the Westminster Conservatory of Music. He currently writes a monthly column on organ and harpsichord teaching for The Diapason. \nAs a performer\, Gavin Black has focused on 17th-century keyboard music\, especially music of Dutch\, German\, or Italian origin\, and on the organ music of Bach\, which he has performed in its entirety. In the year 2002 he performed Bach’s Art of the Fugue on the new organ at the Princeton Theological Seminary\, and elsewhere. His recording of harpsichord music of Sweelinck\, played on a Philip Tyre copy of a Ruckers transposing double was released in 2006 by Centaur Records and his recording of music of Frescobaldi played on a 17th century Italian harpsichord will be released soon. Gavin Black has also specialized in the music of the 20th-century American composer Moondog\, recording a selection of his harpsichord music for the Musical Heritage Society in 1978. He has made a specialty of Bach’s Art of the Fugue\, and has recently recorded that work in a version for two harpsichords\, with George Hazelrigg (see The Art of the Fugue.com). In 2023 and beyond Gavin will be performing The Art of the Fugue in concert as a solo harpsichord work. \nGavin Black has also been a founding member of several chamber ensembles\, including the Princeton Baroque Ensemble\, Whitechapel Baroque\, Channel Crossings\, and Col Legno. \n
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/moondog-on-the-keys-2025/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bowerbird-Main-Img-2025-07-16T122752.895.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250802T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250802T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20250523T163341Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T195136Z
UID:10001272-1754164800-1754172000@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Sahba Motallebi and Reza Mohsenipour
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird along with Philly Iranians and Fire Museum Presents\, are pleased to present Grammy Award winner Sahba Motallebi joined by fellow countryman and Tar virtuoso Reza Mohsenipour. Sahba and Reza will illuminate us on the history behind their musical selctions which are deeply rooted in Persian culture. Their lives and careers have been profoundly influenced by the deep history of their homeland\, Iran. Through their musical selections they will demonstrate\, explore and discuss how sound\, frequency and vibration are important in our lives. There is healing to be found through the experience of live music when there are also shared intentions such as seeking peace\, health and positive relationships. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nMesmerizing with her command of the tar\, setar and shoorangiz\, Sahba Motallebi captivates audiences globally with music born from centuries of Iranian tradition\, interpreted through a contemporary lens\, creating brand new music rooted in the past. She takes the listener on a journey of enchanted song\, through a flurry of rhythmic chord hits and punctuated finger-work. Her hands dance across the strings\, agile and flexible\, effortless even at lightning speed. Known as “Queen of the Tar\,” or “Jimi Hendrix\, but on Tar\,” Sahba invites us into a terrain of perfected sound with nuanced harmonics and siren-like whispers. \nBorn into a Baha’I family in Tehran and later relocating to Sari near the Caspian Sea\, Sahba began her musical career at age 11 by learning the setar. Three years later\, her talent earned her a place at the prestigious Tehran Conservatory of Music. She defied societal norms by moving to Tehran in 1992 where she lived independently and studied music despite the fact that women were not allowed to be seen carrying instruments in public. She experienced a life-altering moment when she was introduced to the tar at age 15 which led her to study with Master Fariborz Azizi and Master Ostad Hossein Alizadeh. She began practicing 8hours a day\, learning the “radif\,” systems of Persian music. At the Conservatory\, she earned the award of Best Tar Player from 1993 – 1996. Then Sahba surpassed all expectations and won first prize for all levels\, ages\, and genders as the “Best Tar Player” in all of Iran for four years in a row in all festivals and competitions\, from 1995 – 1998. In 1999\, Sahba was invited to join the Iranian National Orchestra and began her international career. She also founded the first all-female Iranian band ever called “Chakaveh” despite the rule that women were not allowed to perform without men in Iran. At the time\, women weren’t even allowed to perform with men in the main concert hall. Since then she has played concerts all over the world as a soloist and with renowned musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma\, Keyhan Kalhor\, Rahim AlHaj\, and Arturo O’Farrill. \nReza Mohsenipour is a leading Iranian musician having studied at the Tehran Conservatory and later from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome and La Sapienza University in Rome. He performed with the Tehran Symphony and the Iranian Television Orchestra in addition to founding The Barbad musical project with his brothers Hamid and Navid Mohsenipour. \n\n\n  \n\n\nPresented in collaboration with Fire Museum Presents and Philly Iranians
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/sahba-motallebi-and-reza-mohsenipour-2025/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Bowerbird-Main-Img-66.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250214T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250214T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20241118T155606Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250217T150944Z
UID:10001245-1739563200-1739570400@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Leah Asher\, Dennis Sullivan\, and Christopher Goddard
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present violinist/violist Leah Asher with percussionist Dennis Sullivan and pianist Christopher Goddard to perform a program of works by Lewis Nielson\, Anahita Abbasi\, Leah Asher\, and Michael Hersch. \nFeatured on this program is Lewis Nielson’s new work clang clash roar\, whose title taken from a line in Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Bells\,” emanates from the array of sound that are produced by large metal instruments\, some familiar\, others less so\, capable of considerable rhythmic discretion as well as the typical\, more sonorous and haunting sounds\, rich in timbre. There is an inevitability in the direction of the structure in which the dialogue between viola and percussion unfolds\, the outcome of which is visually prefigured but the persistence of the viola’s insistent percussion resists the tolling and rattling of the percussionist\, leading to a point of resolution that acts more as a point of departure. \nAnahita Abbasi’s violin solo\, Situation IV/lo E iO\, is a work from her series of situation pieces\, which explores the idea of the ‘dialogical self.’ In this case\, exploring the dialogical self of the musician herself\, a multiplicity of ‘self -positions\,’ an and infusion of external and internal dialogues. \nLeah Asher’s duo for violin and percussion\, A\, open. Open\, features texts of Gertrude Stein to whimsically and obsessively reflect on the perpetual cycles of everyday life. \nMichael Hersch’s epic work\, the wreckage of flowers is a set of 21 short pieces accompanying writings of the Polish-born 1980 Nobel Laureate in Literature\, Czesław Miłosz (1911-2004). Rife with imagery of barren landscapes\, frigid winters\, and vast skies\, this piece emanates a feeling of resilience amidst dark circumstances. \n\nABOUT THE MUSICIANS \nViolinist/violist\, composer\, and visual artist Leah Asher is an avid performer of contemporary music and creator of new artistic works. Leah has been a member of The Rhythm Method string quartet\, an innovative ensemble of composer-performers\, since 2016. A sought after performer and collaborator\, Leah can be found performing as a regular guest with New York-based ensembles such as International Contemporary Ensemble\, Talea Ensemble\, and S.E.M. Ensemble. She is also the co-creator of Meaningless Work\, an interdisciplinary performance collaboration with Nicolee Kuester and half of the violin-piano duo Aether Eos with Christopher Goddard. \nLeah maintains an international career with performances presented by the Lucerne Festival\, Lake George Music Festival\, Omaha One Festival\, MATA Festival\, TriBeCA New Music\, Festspillene i Nord Norge\, Music Mondays\, and Codes d’accès. Leah has equally enjoyed performing at such celebrated venues as The Wiener Musikverein\, Disney Concert Hall\, Carnegie Hall\, Miller Theatre\, and the KKL Lucerne\, as well as smaller\, more intimate venues such as The Owl Music Parlor\, Kimaira\, Echoraum\, the cell theatre\, Konsthall C\, and JACK. Leah has been featured as a concerto soloist with the Arctic Philharmonic Sinfonietta and Oberlin’s Contemporary Music Ensemble. Leah formerly served as solo violist of the Arctic Philharmonic Sinfonietta and co-principal viola of the Arctic Philharmonic. \nAs a guest artist and educator\, Leah has given performances and worked with students at universities including Rice University\, New York University\, Bowling Green State University\, Zurich University for Art and Music\, Arkansas State University\, Tulane University\, Peabody Conservatory\, Hunter College\, Brown University\, and Youngstown State University. \nAs a composer\, Leah has been commissioned by several ensembles\, including andPlay\, Chartreuse\, Periapsis\, NorthArc Percussion Group\, The Great Learning Orchestra\, Du.0\, and solo artists such as Meaghan Burke\, Tristan McKay\, and Jennifer Torrence. Recent releases include Leah’s solo album ‘Retreat into Afters’ (SCRIPTS Records)\, and The Rhythm Method’s self-titled debut album (Gold Bolus Recordings). Leah joined the faculty of Manhattan School of Music as of 2022. \nLeah completed her undergraduate degrees at Oberlin College and Conservatory\, studying violin with Gregory Fulkerson and studio art primarily with John Pearson. As a recipient of the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship\, she completed her Master’s in Contemporary Performance at Manhattan School of Music with Curtis Macomber\, then continued studies at UCSD under the tutelage of János Négyesy. \n  \nBased in New York City\, Dennis K. Sullivan II is a percussionist\, composer\, and electronicist\, focusing on new and contemporary music. His music has been performed across the globe by the International Contemporary Ensemble\, yarn/wire\, New Thread Quartet\, DECODER\, Ensemble Adapter\, Hypercube\, and Dal Niente in venues such as the Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg)\, The Stone (NYC)\, Nymusikk Bergen (Norway)\, Omaha Under the Radar\, Splendor (Amsterdam)\, and the Edmonton Fringe Festival (Canada). He is a founding member and core performer in Radical 2\, a classification-defying duo that explores the use of theatric\, vocal\, percussive\, and prototype electronic mediums\, and Popebama\, an experimental duo that applies text\, electronics\, and high-energy performances to non-traditional sounds. \nAn active chamber and orchestral percussionist\, Sullivan has shared the stage with leading contemporary music ensembles such as The Argento New Music Project\, Either/Or\, The International Contemporary Ensemble\, ECCE Ensemble\, Ensemble Court Circuit (Paris)\, Ensemble Pamplemousse\, Wavefield Ensemble\, Newband\, Mivos Quartet\, The Darmstadt Preistrager Forum\, and Ensemble Modern Academy\, among others. He has performed in notable NYC venues such as BAM\, Roulette\, Merkin Hall\, Miller Theater\, Symphony Space\, Le Poisson Rouge\, The Shed\, and The Stone. Equally at home in the world of improvisation\, he has shared the stage with luminaries such as Brandon Lopez\, Erin Rogers\, Peter Evans\, Tom Rainey and Dana Jessen. An advocate for the new music community\, Sullivan successfully curated an annual series of theatrically driven new music\, bringing together classical music\, theater\, rock\, heavy metal\, and film at Jack (Brooklyn) from 2015-17. \nPerformance awards include grand prize at the Van Rooy Competition for Musical Excellence\, the Stipiendienpreise at the Darmstadt International Ferienkurse fur Neue Musik (Darmstadt\, Germany) and a STEIM Center composer residency for electroacoustic music (Amsterdam\, Netherlands). Sullivan has recorded for the New Amsterdam\, Mode\, GoldBolus\, New Focus\, Original Abstraction and INNOVA labels. \nSullivan holds a Bachelor of Music (BM) from the Hartt School of Music and Master of Music (MM) / Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA) from SUNY Stony Brook University (New York). Sullivan currently serves as instructor of percussion and music tech as well as director of the wind ensemble at Adelphi University. \n  \nChristopher Goddard is a Canadian composer and pianist. As a composer\, he has collaborated with NYO Canada\, Esprit Orchestra\, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne\, Quatuor Molinari\, Continuum\, Ensemble Paramirabo\, l’Orchestre de la Francophonie\, andPlay duo\, No Exit New Music Ensemble\, NOISE-BRIDGE\, and others. Recent commissions have come from the Lucerne Festival\, the Royal Conservatory/ \nKoerner Hall for the 21C Festival and the City of Reutlingen. He was selected for the 11th International Forum for Young Composers with the NEM\, and has participated in the Wellesley Composers Conference\, the National Arts Centre Young Composers Program\, and the Rencontres de Musique Nouvelle at Domaine Forget. His work has been recognized by the MacDowell Foundation\, the Graham Sommer Competition for Young Composers\, the Prix Collégien de Musique Contemporaine\, the SOCAN Young Composer Awards\, and the Robert Avalon Competition for Young Composers. \nHe was recently named as the 2022 protégé of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards\, a mentorship program in collaboration with 2021 GGPAA laureate Alexina Louie. The Canadian League of Composers presented him with the 2015 Friends of Canadian Music Award to share with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada\, who would later select him as their 2016 RBC Foundation Emerging Composer-in-Residence. The resulting work received its premiere in Lisbon and was broadcast on CBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 3. \nAs a performer and advocate of contemporary music\, Christopher Goddard has presented dozens of premieres by his colleagues\, appearing with new music groups such as Ensemble Moto Perpetuo\, Columbia Composers\, Penn Composers Guild\, the Wet Ink Ensemble and others. He has participated in the Samos Young Artist Festival\, the Avant Music Festival in New York and was a member of the Lucerne Festival Academy. He performed with TACTUS\, the contemporary music ensemble at the Manhattan School of Music\, while studying with pianists Christopher Oldfather and Anthony de Mare. Previous piano studies took place with Nicole Presentey in Ottawa and Kyoko Hashimoto in Montreal. \nChristopher Goddard holds a D.Mus. in composition from McGill University\, an M.M. in contemporary performance from the Manhattan School of Music\, an M.M.\nin composition from Rice University\, and a B.Mus. in composition and theory from McGill University. Principal past composition mentors include John Rea\, Pierre Jalbert\, Karim Al-Zand\, Chris Paul Harman and Brian Cherney. He is an associate member of the Canadian Music Centre and has received support from the Canada Council for the Arts. He served as Artistic Director of Ottawa New Music Creators from 2017-2019 and currently teaches theory and aural skills at the University of Florida.
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/leah-asher-dennis-sullivan-and-christopher-goddard/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250118T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250118T213000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20241209T154857Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250121T160305Z
UID:10001246-1737228600-1737235800@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:New Thread Quartet: Album Release
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present New Thread Quartet’s album release show featuring “A Little Night Music\,” and Tori Cheah’s Walk for a Shell from their new album\, Saxifraga. \n$15-25 suggested donation\, which includes a CD and digital download; No one turned away for lack of funds \nWhile Irish composer Emma O’Halloran was living in Miami\, she listened to the ocean waves at night for comfort and reflection. Her Night Music ripples and whirls like the sea with a nod to Latin music and Miami Sound Machine\, the mixtape that kept O’Halloran company during that year abroad. LA-based Kay Rhie composed Night Blooms for mixed trio following her father’s death in 2019. Adapted for saxophone quartet\, the piece tells the story of his final days in the hospital. As she watched his breathing machine expand and contract\, Rhie was reminded of flowers that bloom at night and how “many first-generation immigrants probably dreamed of beautiful ‘blooms’ during the quiet hours when not too many people took notice.” Helena Tulve‘s Öö\, which is “night” in Estonian\, sets an unsettled atmosphere of impending doom. The concert concludes with Walk for a shell\, which Tori Cheah describes as a reference to a pilgrimage wherein one applies time and effort across a distance in an offering of respect for forces greater than oneself. Short lullaby interludes composed by New Thread members weave the program together. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nNew Thread Quartet was formed with the mission to develop and perform impactful new music for the saxophone\, and to provide high level ensemble playing to feature today’s compositional voices. In 11 seasons\, the quartet has commissioned and premiered over 45 new works by composers such as Amy Beth Kirsten\, Richard Carrick\, Ben Hjertmann\, Ebun Oguntola\, Scott Wollschleger\, Kathryn Salfelder\, Taylor Brook and Emily Koh. \nBased in New York City\, New Thread has performed at Carnegie Hall\, Roulette\, Dance Theatre of Harlem\, Morgan Library\, Bang on a Can Summer Festival Benefit\, and Monadnock Music. The quartet has performed\, toured and recorded more than 30 important works for saxophone quartet including Kati Agócs’ Hymn in New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall; Marilyn Shrude’s Evolution V and energy flows nervously… in search of stillness\, as part of a 75th Birthday Celebration Concert at the Dimenna Center featuring Lost Dog Ensemble and the Momenta Quartet; Erin Rogers’ Urban Composites at the World Saxophone Congress in St. Andrews\, Scotland; and the premiere recording of Elliott Sharp’s seminal work Approaching the Arches of Corti for 4 soprano saxophones\, recorded with Grammy-winning engineer\, Judith Sherman\, now available on New World Records. New Thread released its debut album Plastic Facts in 2018 on New Focus Recordings and in 2020 recorded three works on [word]plays\, an album by Emily Koh now available from Innova Recordings. \nNew Thread has a track record of working closely with composers in a workshop environment during the formation of new works. The quartet strives for multiple performances of newly commissioned works in an attempt to bring new music to different audiences as often as possible. New Thread’s annual self-presented Explorations Series showcases works by emerging composers\, adding exciting new voices to the saxophone canon. \nNew Thread has conducted masterclasses\, residencies\, and performances for student saxophonists and composers at Peabody Conservatory\, University of Virginia\, Berklee Conservatory\, Bronx Community College\, Aaron Copland School (Queens College)\, Montclair State University\, and New York University. A strong community supporter\, New Thread attends NASA Regional and Biennial conferences across the US. The quartet encourages young composers to create new works for saxophones through an open submission policy\, conducting reading and feedback sessions throughout the year. New Thread is a presenting partner of Composers Now. \nEnsemble members are Jonathan Hulting-Cohen (soprano saxophone)\, Noa Even (alto saxophone)\, Erin Rogers (tenor saxophone)\, and Zach Herchen (baritone saxophone). \nwww.newthreadquartet.com/ \n\n
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/new-thread-quartet-album-release/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241102T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241102T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20240805T143823Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241104T165922Z
UID:10001237-1730577600-1730584800@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Chamber Music of George Walker
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present a concert of chamber works by composer George Walker performed by the Daedalus Quartet\, Dynasty Battles\, David Hughes\, and members of the Arcana New Music Ensemble. \nAs an aspiring pianist in his early teens\, George Walker (1922-2018) gave his first public recital at Howard University’s Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel before studying performance and composition at Oberlin College and the Eastman School of Music.   Walker graduated from Philadelphia’s prestigious Curtis Institute with Artist Diplomas in piano and composition in 1945\, as one of the first Black graduates of the music school.  Walker was a trailblazer within the landscape of twentieth and twenty-first century American music. He was the first African-American performer to appear in performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the first African-American musician to receive a doctoral degree from Eastman. Walker’s many firsts are perhaps best captured by his singular achievement in 1996: the Pulitzer Prize for Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra. Despite Walker’s many achievements\, much of his chamber music is not widely known.  \nPROGRAM \nPerimeters for Clarinet and Piano\nJonathan Leeds\, clarinet\nDavid Hughes\, piano \nPiano Sonata 1\nDynasty Battles\, piano \nSelection of Songs\n“In the Time of Silver Rain”\n“What If I Say I Shall Not Wait”\n“I Have No Life But This”\n“Bequest”\nAlize Rozsnyai\, soprano\nDavid Hughes\, piano \nPiano Sonata 4\nDavid Hughes\, piano \nString Quartet No. 1\nDaedalus Quartet \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nPraised by The New Yorker as “a fresh and vital young participant in what is a golden age of American string quartets\,” the Daedalus Quartet has established itself as a leader among the new generation of string ensembles. Since winning the top prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2001\, the Daedalus Quartet has impressed critics and listeners alike with the security\, technical finish\, interpretive unity\, and sheer gusto of its performances. The New York Times has praised the Daedalus Quartet’s “insightful and vibrant” Haydn\, the “impressive intensity” of their Beethoven\, their “luminous” Berg\, and the “riveting focus” of their Dutilleux. The Washington Post in turn has acclaimed their performance of Mendelssohn for its “rockets of blistering virtuosity\,” while the Houston Chronicle has described the “silvery beauty” of their Schubert and the “magic that hushed the audience” when they played Ravel\, the Boston Globe the “finesse and fury” of their Shostakovich\, the Toronto Globe and Mail the “thrilling revelation” of their Hindemith\, and the Cincinnati Enquirer the “tremendous emotional power” of their Brahms. \nDynasty Battles\, the recipient of the 2021 Career Advancement Award by the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia\, has been featured with soprano Marietta Simpson in The Philadelphia Inquirer\, and on music critic David Patrick Stearns’ radio program “Creatively Speaking” on Philadelphia’s WRTI (90.1FM). \nOne upcoming highlight: Battles will debut a piano concerto by composer Nina Shekhar\, whose music has been performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra\, Chicago Symphony Orchestra\, and many more. Battles recently debuted a composition by multiple Grammy nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Ted Hearne\, composed for Dynasty himself\, which was featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Other recent engagements include hall debuts at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in a concert curated by John Adams\, the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall as a featured artist in the International Music Foundation’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts\, and the Benjamin Franklin Hall with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Additionally\, he made his international debut at the Barbican Centre in London while in residency with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. \nCareer highlights include an invitation to perform George Walker’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in a private engagement at the distinguished composer’s home. In a project profiled by The New York Times\, he also performed in Bowerbird Philly’s ongoing series highlighting the works of Julius Eastman. \nBattles studies with concert pianist Leon Bates and Eve Wolf\, pianist\, and Executive Artistic Director of Ensemble for the Romantic Century. He also studied counterpoint and harmony and analysis with Jonathan Coopersmith\, Chair of Musical Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. A native of Philadelphia\, Dynasty received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance\, cum laude from Temple University\, under the instruction of Harvey Wedeen as a recipient of the Esther Boyer College Scholarship. \ndynastybattles.com \nDavid Hughes is a Philadelphia-based pianist with a wide-ranging repertoire that places a special emphasis on modern and lesser-known works\, as well as chamber music. Hughes has performed at the Kennedy Center\, Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw and the Spanish Embassy in Washington\, DC. He has been featured on Philadelphia’s WRTI radio station in an hour-long segment of solo repertoire\, and can also be heard playing four different keyboard instruments on John Zorn’s violin concerto\, “Contes de Fées\,” on the Tzadik label. Mr. Hughes has a strong interest in contemporary music and received third prize in the Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition—one of the world’s premier competitions for modern music—as a member of Outer Banks Duo with saxophonist Stacy Wilson. This was followed by the release of their debut CD\, L’Incandescence. He regularly works with instrumentalists at the Curtis Institute of Music and has appeared on Curtis’ student recital series. He is also a past recipient of a fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center\, a prizewinner in the MTNA National Chamber Music Competition\, and holds a doctoral degree in piano performance from Indiana University. \nAlize Francheska Rozsnyai\, soprano and graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music “displaying profound imagination and control” (Philadelphia Inquirer)\, is building a diverse and exciting performance career as a classical soprano with a “superb voice” (Harrogate News) which is “sparkling” (ArtBlog)\, all while serving up “deliciously diva performances” (I CARE IF YOU LISTEN). This season she appears with St. Petersburg Opera as an Emerging Artist and cover for Morgana in Handel’s Alcina\, Minerva and Cookie in the World Premiere of Five Ways to Die with Experiments in Opera NYC\, and makes her role debut as Frasquita in Carmen with Boheme Opera NJ. Recent performances include Serpina in La Serva Padrona with Hub City Opera\, Katherine Hutchinson in Silk City with Garden State Opera\, and Rivka in the world premiere of Part I of Misha Dutka’s Liebovar with Opera Boheme New Jersey. Recently\, Alize portrayed Zina in Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters with Opera Fayetteville\, Soloist in Beth Morrison Projects’ Next Gen Concert with Contemporaneous Ensemble at National Sawdust\, Morgana in Alcina REVAMPED with Alter Ego Chamber Opera\, and Phyllis in Iolanthe at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Harrogate\, England. Alize has performed with Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro\, Den Nye Opera in Bergen\, Norway\, Opera Philadelphia\, San Diego Opera\, Chautauqua Opera\, Seattle Symphony [Untitled 3] Series\, Carnegie Hall\, The Kennedy Center\, Opera Fayetteville\, Center for Contemporary Opera\, The Cape Cod Symphony\, and favorite role credits include Adina (l’elisir d’amore)\, Susanna (le Nozze di Figaro)\, Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites)\, Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare)\, Eurydice (Orphée aux Enfers)\, Königin der Nacht (Die Zauberflöte)\, Thérèse (Les Mamelles des Tirésias)\, Hilda (Elegy for Young Lovers-Henze)\, and Ilia (Idomeneo). Alize is also an accomplished librettist and is has had several works performed with companies including Experiments in Opera\, Hub City Opera\, ENA Ensemble\, and the University of Connecticut. \nFounded in 2016\, the Arcana New Music Ensemble is a group of Philadelphia-based musicians dedicated to presenting interesting\, beautiful\, and unconventional music in interesting\, beautiful\, and unconventional places. Built on a flexible roster of 25 musicians\, Arcana is able to perform a broad range of repertoire in numerous configurations. Composers featured in recent programs include Julius Eastman\, Morton Feldman\, Galina Ustvolskaya\, Pauline Oliveros\, Tom Johnson\, Moondog\, and James Tenney. Arcana has performed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art\, Fleisher Art Memorial\, The Rotunda\, The Kitchen (NYC)\, and collaborated with Variant Six\, Prometheus Chamber Orchestra\, and Pig Iron Theater Company. \n\nSupport for this program provided by the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/chamber-music-of-george-walker/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241004T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241004T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20240703T163533Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241007T144323Z
UID:10001234-1728072000-1728079200@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Tiziana Bertoncini and Thomas Lehn
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present violin and synthesizer duo Tiziana Bertoncini and Thomas Lehn with opening set by Tom Borax playing microtonal harpsichord. \nThe duo have been collaborating since 2002. The special feature of the duo is the alchemy created by the meeting of the classical and the electronic instrument. The different nature of sound\, the characteristics and histories of violin and analogue synthesizer could recall a friction. Actually\, what happens is a sort of mirror game\, in which the roles of the instruments are continuously exchanged. Bertoncini and Lehn move in an abstract territory\, their approach to sound is contemporary. Nevertheless their consideration to music is quite classical insofar as based principally on tension/release\, rupture\, intensity and expressivity in all its facets. The duo will also be performing at the High Zero Festival in Baltimore. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nThomas Lehn is a pianist\, analogue synthesizer player and a composer-performer of contemporary music. He has been one of the most innovative and successful musical personalities in the field of electroacoustic music in the practices of improvisation and composition for years. He was trained as a sound engineer and pianist at the music academies in Detmold and Cologne from 1979 to 1987. Rooted in the experiences as an pianist\, he has been developing his unique live electronic music since the early 1990s\, focusing on the use of analog synthesizer systems\, which allow direct access to the elements of electronic sound synthesis. As a synthesizer interpreter – live and on CD studio productions – he has realized works by Éliane Radigue\, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati\, Bogusław Schaeffer and Zbigniew Karkowski\, among others. He was soloist in the world premiere of Peter Jakober’s dort with Klangforum Wien at musikprotokoll festival and in the CD recording of Christopher Fox’s Topophony with the WDR Symphony Orchestra. \nTiziana Bertoncini graduated with a Master in Violin at Siena Conservatory and a Master in Painting at the Fine Arts’ Academy in Carrara. Completed by Studies in Art history\, and specialization masterclasses for chamber music and music didactics.\nAfter being playing in orchestras and chamber music ensembles\, she focused on contemporary music\, written and improvised. Her work is developing from interpretation ad improvisation towards composition and collaboration with artists of other medias. At the same time her interest is focused on the crossing and synthesis between visual elements and music/sound.\nShe has been performing in many international festivals and contexts and has been part of numerous dance\, theatre\, video and multi-media projects\, contributing the musical part of them. Her solo work includes composition\, performance and installation. \nTom Borax aka “Tom Boram” is a Baltimore native\, multimedia artist and musician. His live performances are all improvised\, focusing on intense physical techniques on the modular synthesizer and the harpsichord. His synthesizer work takes on a much more gestural approach than what is usually thought of with the instrument\, going from whisper quiet to explosive dynamics\, comprising sounds ranging from the natural – water\, human digestion\, storms\, animals – to the unnatural: broken radios\, rocket launches\, and fax machines. His harpsichord playing utilizes unique tunings – dissonant mathematical temperaments or Eastern/Asian intonations – and uses the shimmering overtones of the instrument to create synthetic-sounding shards of sound\, fractured melody\, and swarming textures. Borax is a founder of Baltimore’s High Zero Festival and Improvised and Experimental Music\, which is now enjoyings its 26th year. \n\nSupported in part by BMKÖS Austria
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/tatiana-bertinova-and-tom-leonardson/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241002T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241002T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20240828T150847Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241003T232854Z
UID:10001238-1727899200-1727906400@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Postal Pieces
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is excited to present “Postal Pieces\,” a concert featuring the Arcana New Music Ensemble that draws inspiration from 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 a postcard. These pieces capture Tenney’s exploration of sound and form\, focusing on minimalist structures\, intonation\, and what he called “Swell” forms—gradual crescendos and decrescendos that create a unique auditory experience. Conceived originally as musical “letters” to friends and collaborators\, such as Pauline Oliveros and La Monte Young\, these works reflect Tenney’s deep connections within the avant-garde music scene and his penchant for inviting listeners into meditative states of listening. \nFor this concert\, the Arcana New Music Ensemble presents a new collection of postcard-sized works commissioned from nine Philadelphia-based composers\, each inspired by the spirit of Tenney’s originals. The program features pieces by David Middleton\, Andrea Clearfield\, Erin Busch\, Natacha Diels\, Sepehr Pirasteh\, James Diaz\, Adam Vidiksis\, Gene Coleman\, and Nick Millevoi. Each composition reflects a dialogue with Tenney’s approach\, exploring the boundaries between notation\, interpretation\, and experience. \nSets of the nine newly commissioned postcard works will be available for purchase at the concert\, with all proceeds benefiting the Arcana New Music Ensemble. \nPROGRAM \nJames Tenney: Swell Piece\nDavid Middleton: All the Alleys Home\nAndrea Clearfield: The Rest Between Two Notes\nErin Busch: wave tones\nNatacha Diels: watermusic\nSepehr Pirasteh: New Norm\nJames Diaz: total internal reflection\nAdam Vidiksis: Orbital Mechanics\nGene Coleman: Rippling Waves\nNick Millevoi: Greetings from the Alligator Farm \nARCANA NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE \nNicholas Handahl\, flute\nAaron Stewart\, saxophone(s)\nTessa Ellis\, trumpet\nJay Krush\, tuba\nErin Busch\, cello\nAndy Thierauf\, percussion \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nFounded in 2016\, the Arcana New Music Ensemble is a group of Philadelphia-based musicians dedicated to presenting interesting\, beautiful\, and unconventional music in interesting\, beautiful\, and unconventional places. Built on a flexible roster of 25 musicians\, Arcana is able to perform a broad range of repertoire in numerous configurations. Composers featured in recent programs include Julius Eastman\, Sarah Hennies\, Raven Chacon\, Anahita Abbasi\, Morton Feldman\, Galina Ustvolskaya\, Pauline Oliveros\, Tom Johnson\, Moondog\, and James Tenney. Arcana has performed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art\, Fleisher Art Memorial\, The Rotunda\, The Kitchen (NYC)\, and collaborated with Variant Six\, Prometheus Chamber Orchestra\, Pig Iron Theater Company\, and Wildflower Composers. \nJames Tenney (1934–2006) was an American composer\, theorist\, and performer renowned for his innovative contributions to experimental and electronic music. A student of notable figures such as Carl Ruggles\, Edgard Varèse\, and John Cage\, Tenney was a central figure in the development of post-war avant-garde music. His work often explored concepts of indeterminacy\, microtonality\, just intonation\, and the physics of sound\, integrating mathematical and acoustical theories into his compositions.\nTenney’s diverse output includes works for computer-generated sound\, instrumental ensembles\, and unconventional notations that challenge traditional musical forms. He was also a significant educator\, teaching at the California Institute of the Arts and York University\, influencing a generation of composers with his boundary-pushing ideas. His collaborations and associations with artists such as Steve Reich\, La Monte Young\, and Philip Glass positioned him as a vital connector in the experimental music scene. Tenney’s legacy is marked by his relentless curiosity and his ability to blend rigorous theoretical frameworks with an intuitive approach to sound\, profoundly shaping the landscape of contemporary music. \n\nSupport provided by The Presser Foundation
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/postal-pieces/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240920T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240920T210000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20240903T142843Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240923T153121Z
UID:10001239-1726858800-1726866000@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:The Musical Offering
DESCRIPTION:***Please note this concert is at 7:00pm*** \nBowerbird is pleased to present Filament with flautist Héloïse Degrugillier performing J. S. Bach’s The Musical Offering. In the spring of 1747\, J.S. Bach paid a visit to King Frederick the Great\, where his son Carl Phillip Emmanuel was employed as a court musician. Curious to test Bach’s contrapunctal prowess\, Frederick presented Bach with a subject to improvise two fugues\, first one in three parts\, and then one in six. Declining the second of these tests\, Bach took Frederick’s subject home with him to create one of his most fascinating collections of music\, The Musical Offering. \n  \n\n\nABOUT THE MUSICIANS \nFILAMENT is a chamber ensemble\, formed in 2019\, of Philadelphia-based period-instrument soloists. Comprising a core trio of violin\, viola da gamba\, and keyboards\, its respective founding members are Evan Few\, Elena Kauffman\, and John Walthausen. As a collective\, its mission is to be the bright connective thread—that eponymous filament—linking the world of its audience with that of its repertoire\, illuminating the delightful\, sometimes uncanny familiarity of the emotions and images it evokes. \nFilament is building a reputation as a leading proponent and champion of 17th- and 18th-century chamber music. The Broad Street Review praised Filament for a “fervor and delight that make early music seem current\, and easy\, joyful communication\,” and the Lancaster News noted Filament’s “profound understanding” of its repertoire. Filament’s programs bridge the gap between music from some of history’s most celebrated and familiar composers and music that is completely unknown. Recent concerts have featured unpublished music by anonymous composers\, Filament’s own original transcriptions\, and music by female composers. \nFilament presents concerts in its core formation and in collaboration with other musicians in \nPhiladelphia\, the Delaware Valley\, and across the country. In its hometown\, Filament performs on numerous concert series\, including Main Line Early Music and the PhilaLandmarks Early Music Series\, and in self-presented concerts in a variety of sacred and secular spaces\, including Gloria Dei “Old Swedes” Church and the Fleischer Art Memorial. Regionally\, Filament has been featured on Gotham Early Music Scene’s Midtown Concert Series and Musae (New York\, NY); Early Music at St. James (Lancaster\, PA)\, Market Street Music’s Festival Concerts (Wilmington\, DE)\, Concerts at Locktown Stone Church (Flemington\, NJ)\, and Immanuel Concerts at Immanuel on the Green (New Castle\, DE). Recent performances in South Carolina and Florida have expanded Filament’s reach. Of its 2023 collaboration with vocal ensemble Variant 6\, the Chestnut Hill Local cited a “sterling performance.” Filament was a featured ensemble in Early Music America’s 2021 Emerging Artists Showcase\, and in 2022 was featured on the American Bach Society’s TinyBach series. \nDuring the 2023-2024 season\, marking its fifth anniversary\, Filament made its debut at Penn Live Arts at the University of Pennsylvania with renowned mezzo soprano Meg Bragle and Friends\, presenting seldom-heard music of Salamone Rossi. In February 2024\, Filament traveled to New Orleans to perform 18th-century music from that historic city in partnership with fellow Philadelphia chamber ensemble Variant 6 in a concert presented by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. \nVisit www.filamentbaroque.com to learn more. \nFilament is joined by Héloïse Degrugillier who has worked extensively as both a recorder and traverso performer\, and teacher throughout Europe and the United States. She has performed with leading period ensembles\, including the Boston Camerata\, Boston Early Music Festival\, Piffaro and Tempesta Di Mare. \nHeloise also enjoys an active teaching career. She teaches at Tufts university and Rhode Island College. She is the president and music director of the Boston Recorder Society. She has completed her studies in the Alexander Technique and has a Masters in Music from the Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands.
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/the-musical-offering/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240802T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240802T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20240703T142446Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250523T163720Z
UID:10001231-1722628800-1722636000@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Sahba Motallebi and Reza Mohsenipour
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird along with Shabahang\, Philly Iranians\, and Fire Museum Presents\, are pleased to present Grammy Award winner Sahba Motellabli joined by fellow countryman and Tar virtuoso Reza Mohsenipour. Sahba and Reza will illuminate us on the history behind their musical selctions which are deeply rooted in Persian culture. Their lives and careers have been profoundly influenced by the deep history of their homeland\, Iran. Through their musical selections they will demonstrate\, explore and discuss how sound\, frequency and vibration are important in our lives. There is healing to be found through the experience of live music when there are also shared intentions such as seeking peace\, health and positive relationships. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nMesmerizing with her command of the tar\, setar and shoorangiz\, Sahba Motellabli captivates audiences globally with music born from centuries of Iranian tradition\, interpreted through a contemporary lens\, creating brand new music rooted in the past. She takes the listener on a journey of enchanted song\, through a flurry of rhythmic chord hits and punctuated finger-work. Her hands dance across the strings\, agile and flexible\, effortless even at lightning speed. Known as “Queen of the Tar\,” or “Jimi Hendrix\, but on Tar\,” Sahba invites us into a terrain of perfected sound with nuanced harmonics and siren-like whispers. \nBorn into a Baha’I family in Tehran and later relocating to Sari near the Caspian Sea\, Sahba began her musical career at age 11 by learning the setar. Three years later\, her talent earned her a place at the prestigious Tehran Conservatory of Music. She defied societal norms by moving to Tehran in 1992 where she lived independently and studied music despite the fact that women were not allowed to be seen carrying instruments in public. She experienced a life-altering moment when she was introduced to the tar at age 15 which led her to study with Master Fariborz Azizi and Master Ostad Hossein Alizadeh. She began practicing 8hours a day\, learning the “radif\,” systems of Persian music. At the Conservatory\, she earned the award of Best Tar Player from 1993 – 1996. Then Sahba surpassed all expectations and won first prize for all levels\, ages\, and genders as the “Best Tar Player” in all of Iran for four years in a row in all festivals and competitions\, from 1995 – 1998. In 1999\, Sahba was invited to join the Iranian National Orchestra and began her international career. She also founded the first all-female Iranian band ever called “Chakaveh” despite the rule that women were not allowed to perform without men in Iran. At the time\, women weren’t even allowed to perform with men in the main concert hall. Since then she has played concerts all over the world as a soloist and with renowned musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma\, Keyhan Kalhor\, Rahim AlHaj\, and Arturo O’Farrill. \nReza Mohsenipour is a leading Iranian musician having studied at the Tehran Conservatory and later from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome and La Sapienza University in Rome. He performed with the Tehran Symphony and the Iranian Television Orchestra in addition to founding The Barbad musical project with his brothers Hamid and Navid Mohsenipour. \n\n\n  \n\n\nPresented in collaboration with Fire Museum Presents\, Philly Iranians\, and Shabahang Iranian Cultural Center of America
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/sahba-motallebi-and-reza-mohsenipour/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240612T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240612T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20231103T160403Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240613T203552Z
UID:10001209-1718222400-1718229600@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Dynasty Battles
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present pianist Dynasty Battles at University Lutheran Church. \nPROGRAM \n\nFranz Schubert: 4 Impromptus\, Op. 90\, D. 899 with Improvised Interludes in-between loosely based on its themes. \nFranz Schubert: Allegro molto moderato in C minor\, No.1\nDynasty Battles: Improvised Interlude\nFranz Schubert: Allegro in E-flat major\, No. 2\nDynasty Battles: Improvised Interlude\nFranz Schubert: Andante in G-flat major\, No.3\nDynasty Battles: Improvised Interlude\nFranz Schubert: Allegretto in A-flat major\, No.4 \nJohannes Brahms: Rhapsody\, Op. 79\, No.2 (Part 1)\nPaul Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XI. Interludium (Part 2)\nJohannes Brahms: Ballade\, Op. 118\, No.2 (Part 3)\nAlexander Scriabin: Piano Sonata\, Op. 30\, No.4 \n\nABOUT THE ARTIST \nDynasty Battles\, the recipient of the 2021 Career Advancement Award by the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia\, has been featured with soprano Marietta Simpson in The Philadelphia Inquirer\, and on music critic David Patrick Stearns’ radio program “Creatively Speaking” on Philadelphia’s WRTI (90.1FM). \nA highlight include a composition Battles debuted by multiple Grammy nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Ted Hearne\, composed for Dynasty himself\, which was featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Recent engagements comprise of hall debuts at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in a concert curated by John Adams\, the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall as a featured artist in the International Music Foundation’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts\, and the Benjamin Franklin Hall with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Additionally\, he made his international debut at the Barbican Centre in London while in residency with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. \nCareer highlights include an invitation to perform George Walker’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in a private engagement at the distinguished composer’s home. In a project profiled by The New York Times\, he also performed in Bowerbird Philly’s ongoing series highlighting the works of Julius Eastman. \nBattles studies with concert pianist Leon Bates and Eve Wolf\, pianist\, and Executive Artistic Director of Ensemble for the Romantic Century. He also studied counterpoint and harmony and analysis with Jonathan Coopersmith\, Chair of Musical Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. A native of Philadelphia\, Dynasty received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance\, cum laude from Temple University\, under the instruction of Harvey Wedeen as a recipient of the Esther Boyer College Scholarship. \nmore at www.dynastybattles.com \nPhoto: Helena Raju \n  \n\n
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/dynasty-battles/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240518T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240518T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20230913T150957Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240520T154824Z
UID:10001205-1716062400-1716069600@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Un bel sol
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present vocal ensemble Variant 6 performing an acapella program that explores the timeless theme of the natural world and its influence on the human condition. In a stunning presentation of music spanning over 1\,000 years – from Medieval composers like Hildegard Von Bingen and Claude le Jeune all the way through music of today by Edie Hill\, Edith Canat de Chizy\, and Pelle Gudmunsen-Holmgreen – this program will showcase the wide range of composer’s reflections of the world we inhabit. \nPROGRAM \nO Viridissima Virga\nHildegard Von Bingen (1098-1179) \nGreen (to the greenwood we must go\, alas)\nPelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (1932-2016) \nLe Chant des Oiseaux\nClément Janequin (1485-1558) \nSweet Suffolk Owl\nThomas Vautor (1592 – 1619) \nIl Bianco e Dolce Cigno\nJacques Arcadelt (1505 – 1568): \nIl Mio Più Vago Sole \nSulpitia Cesis (1577 – 1619) \nO Radiant Dawn\nJames MacMillan (1959-) \nAlma Beata et Bella\nEdie Hill (1962-) \nSolhyme – Movements II & III\nVagn Holmboe (1909 – 1996) \nOctonaires de la Vanité et Inconstance du Monde (excerpts)\nQuand la terre au Printemps\nLa glace est luisante et belle\nLors que la fueille va mourant\nVois tu l’Hyver accroupi\nCe luy qui pense pourvoir\nCe Monde est un pelerinage\nRevecy Venir du Printemps\nClaude Le Jeune (1528 -1600) \nTEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS \n  \nVARIANT 6 \nRebecca Myers – soprano\nJessica Beebe – soprano\nTim Parsons – counter-tenor\nNick Karageorgiou – tenor\nSteven Eddy – baritone\nDan Schwartz – bass \n  \nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nLauded as having a “honey-colored tone” and “the most radiant solo singing” (Opera News)\, soprano Jessica Beebe is an affecting interpreter of repertoire from the Renaissance and Baroque to contemporary American opera. As a sought-after concert soloist\, Ms. Beebe has performed as a soloist with several major orchestras and ensembles across the world including The New York Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall\, The English Concert at the Barbican Theatre and Carnegie Hall\, The Los Angeles Philharmonic\, The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra\, The Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra\, The Folger Consort\, Utah Symphony\, Omaha Symphony\, Baltimore Symphony\, Lancaster Symphony\, The Washington Bach Consort\, Piffaro\, Gamut Bach Ensemble\, Bach Choir of Bethlehem\, Philadelphia Bach Collegium\, Lyric Fest and more. Some of Beebe’s solo operatic highlights include premiering multiple operas by Jennifer Higdon\, Lembit Beecher and David Hertzberg with Opera Philadelphia\, Bergen National Opera in Norway\, and a Los Angeles Philharmonic debut in Meredith Monk’s opera\, Atlas. Ms. Beebe is a member of Variant 6\, The Crossing\, Seraphic Fire\, Clarion\, Lorelei\, Trio Eos\, The Thirteen\, and is on several GRAMMY-nominated albums with The Crossing and Clarion Ensemble. Most recently\, Ms. Beebe was placed as a finalist in the New York Oratorio Society competition. Ms. Beebe is a graduate of The University of Delaware and Indiana University. Ms. Beebe has been a voice faculty member at Franklin and Marshall College since 2015.  \nAn accomplished concert artist and Baroque music specialist\, baritone Steven Eddy has garnered praise as a soloist and professional choral singer with such ensembles as The New York Philharmonic\, The Oratorio Society of New York\, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra\, Seraphic Fire\, True Concord Voices and Orchestra\, Spire Chamber Ensemble\, Clarion Music Society\, American Classical Orchestra\, Sacred Music in a Sacred Space\, Choral Arts Philadelphia\, Handel Choir of Baltimore\, and Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity. \nUpcoming projects in the 2023-2024 season include Considering Matthew Shepard with Spire Chamber Ensemble\, the premiere of Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg’s Any of Those Decembers in conjunction with LyricFest\, Bach’s Mass in B Minor with American Classical Orchestra and The Thirteen\, and concert projects with Seraphic Fire\, Variant 6\, and Choral Arts Philadelphia. \nTenor Nick Karageorgiou has established himself as a formidable chamber musician and soloist. A resident of Brooklyn\, Nick is a member of the Trinity Wall Street Chorus\, performing a wide array of choral repertoire\, from baroque gems\, to new commissions. Last fall\, Nick sang the reimagined role of Narrator in Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard. \nHe can also be heard singing in ensembles like Seraphic Fire\, TENET\, and Clarion Music Society. Previous engagements have also included ensembles such as Pegasus Early Music Society\, True Concord\, The Crossing\, Spire\, The Thirteen\, and The Rose Ensemble. \nOutside of a busy performance season\, Nick is frequently seen with needles and yarn\, biking through the park\, or going on a hike. Nick is excited to join Variant Six for their ‘23-‘24 season! \nPhiladelphia based artist Rebecca Myers is a soloist\, vocal chamber singer\, collaborator\, recording artist\, and creator in high demand. Rebecca has gained a reputation for her “timbral clarity and flawless pitch”\, “nimble coloratura” and “vulnerability and grace”. She has appeared on three GRAMMY winning albums\, most notably as a soloist on The Crossing’s Born\, winner of the 2023 GRAMMY for Best Choral performance. Last season she made her New World Symphony Debut under the baton of Patrick Dupre Quigley in 2023 as soprano soloist in Carmina Burana. This past summer she performed at the esteemed Institute de France in Paris for the European premiere of Philip Lasser’s A Mask in the Mirror with Verità Baroque. \nHer 2023/2024 season includes the world premiere of David T. Little’s SIN-EATER with The Crossing\, the world premiere of Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg’s Any of Those Decembers with Lyric Fest\, the role of Vagaus in Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans with Tempesta di Mare\, several solo and ensemble engagements with Seraphic Fire\, and an appearance as the the soprano solo in J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion at the annual CalPoly Bach week. Rebecca is thrilled to be taking on this new role as Artistic Director of Variant 6. \nTimothy Parsons is an acclaimed and GRAMMY®-nominated countertenor & choral conductor. \nHe has traveled and performed extensively – as an ensemble & consort singer\, and as soloist – in such venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall\, Metropolitan Museum of Art\, and Alice Tully Hall\, London’s St John’s Smith Square\, Montreal’s Salle Bourgie\, and Utrecht’s Tivoli Vredenburg. Timothy has performed with many of North America’s top early music ensembles\, including TENET Vocal Artists (for whom he has also served as programming consultant) and Apollo’s Fire\, and has twice toured with the English Concert performing Handel oratorios. He has had the great privilege of premiering two Pulitzer-prize winning operas\, Ellen Reid’s p r i s m\, for LA Opera and the Prototype Festival\, and Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone\, for the Prototype Festival. He is a former Lay Clerk of Christ Church Cathedral\, Oxford\, and a longtime member of two GRAMMY®-nominated New York ensembles\, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and the Clarion Choir. Timothy can be heard on numerous recordings\, including the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom and the GRAMMY®-nominated Vespers by Benedict Sheehan\, recordings of p r i s m and Angel’s Bone\, and numerous recordings with the Clarion Choir and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street. Highlights of the ’23/’24 season include a marathon concert of Ockeghem at the Metropolitan Museum’s Cloisters\, festival appearances in Norway and Germany with Ekmeles\, and debut appearances with Blue Heron and Variant Six. He is an avid hiker\, meditator\, and vegan. He is the co-artistic director of Ampersand\, a vocal chamber music ensemble and resides in Vermont. \nA Philadelphia native\, Daniel Schwartz received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Temple University where he studied voice with retired Metropolitan Opera baritone Daivid Arnold.  Upon his graduation in 2011\, Daniel was honored with the Elaine Brown Award for musicianship\, dedication to excellence\, and humanitarianism. \nAfter graduating\, Daniel won the position of Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Voices of Pride\, Philadelphia’s LGBT mixed voice chorus. From 2014-2017 Daniel sang with the Opera Philadelphia chorus where he performed a number of roles such as The Foreman in the east coast premiere of Oscar.  Daniel also sings with The Crossing and has performed on three of their Grammy winning albums.  In 2014 he traveled to California to perform Louis Andriessen’s De Materie with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and seven other singers from The Crossing\, who also made their Carnegie Hall debut that year.  In 2018 he made his debut as a soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra for Pat Metheny and the American Beat.  Most recently\, he has performed with The Crossing alongside the New York Philharmonic. Daniel also teaches voice at Haverford College. \nVariant 6 explores the expressive potential of the human voice through vocal chamber music that is at once virtuosic\, poignant\, and approachable. Composed of artists with a diverse set of skills and a wide range of expertise\, we seek out repertoire that embodies this potential. We collaborate with artists of many disciplines\, creating refreshing interpretations of music of the past and innovative premieres of new works. Our concerts are unique and intimate musical experiences that foster deep conversation between artists and audience. \nVariant 6 shares our unique take on vocal chamber music with people all over the city of Philadelphia. Our approachable and collaborative projects create an environment where audiences of different backgrounds will feel inspired to attend our events\, respond to our music\, and get to know us as individuals.  \nVariant 6’s artists have performed with internationally recognized ensembles and orchestras including The Crossing\, Lorelei\, Seraphic Fire\, Roomful of Teeth\, The Santa Fe Desert Chorale\, Apollo’s Fire\, Chicago Bach Project\, Piffaro\, Tempesta di Mare\, TENET Vocal Artists\, the Philadelphia Orchestra\, Opera Philadelphia\, The New World Symphony\, The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra\, The Aspen Festival Orchestra\, Opera Philadelphia\, American Bach Soloists\, The Philadelphia Orchestra\, Lyric Fest\, and more.  \n\n\n 
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/un-bel-sol/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240426T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240426T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20231213T162741Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240429T161544Z
UID:10001214-1714161600-1714168800@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Ghost Ensemble
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present Ghost Ensemble performing works by Catherine Lamb and Ben Richter.  Based in New York the ensemble fosters groundbreaking music that blurs borders of genre\, style\, and scene\, expanding perceptual horizons through shared immersive experience. \nBen Richter’s Rewild\, inspired by nonhuman perspectives and distant orders of magnitude in the universe of life\, explores the thresholds at which pitch becomes rhythm\, harmonic interval becomes beating rate\, and timbres morph over time. By offering an aural metaphor for the interacting gradual processes of quantum and cosmic systems\, Rewild’s pulsing\, breathing sonic ecosystem aims to auralize the vast and infinitesimal timescales we do not experience in everyday life. Catherine Lamb’s interius/exterius explores multi-dimensional harmonic space\, investigating how collective intentions or focal points allow various and sometimes unusual pathways to emerge. As the group links together in phase\, the greater web of activity aligns intention and desire within a community of musicians sounding together\, the initiation of sound constantly shifting\, unfolding new sonic dimensions. \nPROGRAM \nBen Richter: Rewild \nCatherine Lamb: interius/exterius \nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nGhost Ensemble fosters groundbreaking music that blurs borders of genre\, style\, and scene\, expanding perceptual horizons through shared immersive experience. Collaboration with living composers is its primary focus. Since its 2012 inception\, the ensemble has performed over 100 works and commissioned 34 new compositions by a diverse range of highly original composers who share a belief in music’s potential for individual and community transformation. Rethinking the norms of composer/performer collaboration\, Ghost Ensemble conducts innovative workshops to nurture adventurous new music over the course of multiple seasons. The resulting work often draws from contemporary classical\, experimental chamber music\, avant-garde jazz\, environmental sound art\, and territories in between. Critics have praised Ghost Ensemble performances as “prodigious … a thrilling listen” (Christian Carey\, Sequenza21)\, “wonderful work … both exhilarating and a bit scary” (Peter Margasak\, Bandcamp Daily)\, “beautifully performed and recorded … a body-felt sound mass … a multifaceted texture that evokes the primeval” (Meg Wilhoite\, Sound Meets Sound)\, and “cloudy\, mysterious\, and dark … Beckettian in its slow spread … certainly a group to keep an eye on” (Brian Olewnick\, Just Outside).\nwww.ghostensemble.org \nBen Richter is a composer\, accordionist\, and founding Artistic & Executive Director of Ghost Ensemble. Inspired by nonhuman consciousness\, Ben’s immersive\, gradually evolving compositions seek new orders of magnitude in musical parameters to mark humanity’s transient yet vital role within the immensity of geologic time. A student of Pauline Oliveros\, Ben also explores the extended microtonal and timbral potential of the accordion in solo works such as Panthalassa: Dream Music of the Once and Future Ocean\, hailed as “likely to offer a profound impact on the very nature of listening” (Stephen Smoliar\, The Rehearsal Studio).\nwww.benrichtermusic.com \nCatherine Lamb is an active composer exploring the interaction of tone\, summations of shapes and shadows\, phenomenological expansions\, the architecture of the liminal\, and the long introduction form. She began her musical life early\, later abandoning the conservatory in 2003 to study Hindustani music in Pune\, India. She received her BFA in 2006 under James Tenney and Michael Pisaro at CalArts in Los Angeles\, where she first developed her research into the interaction of tone. She mentored under the experimental filmmaker/Dhrupad musician Mani Kaul until his death in 2011. In 2012 she received her MFA in music/sound from the Milton Avery School of Fine Arts at Bard College in New York. She toured Shade/Gradient extensively and was awarded the Henry Cowell Research Fellowship to work with Eliane Radigue in Paris. In 2013 Lamb relocated to Berlin\, Germany where she lives currently\, and has written for ensembles such as the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra\, Konzert Minimal\, Dedalus\, Ensemble neoN\, the London Contemporary Orchestra\, as well as the JACK Quartet\, while collaborating regularly with Marc Sabat\, Johnny Chang (Viola Torros)\, Bryan Eubanks\, and Rebecca Lane. In 2019 she co-founded the collectively oriented Harmonic Space Orchestra. She is a 2020 recipient of the Ernst von Siemens Composer’s prize\, a 2018 recipient of the Grants to Artists award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts\, a Staubach Fellow for the 2016 Darmstadt Summer course\, and a 2016-2017 Schloss Solitude Fellow. \nGhost Ensemble’s concerts with premieres by Catherine Lamb\, Sky Macklay\, and Miya Masaoka are presented\nwith the friendly support of
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/ghost-ensemble/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240417T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240417T210000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20240401T144939Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240421T175449Z
UID:10001228-1713380400-1713387600@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Opening Day: Baseball in Experimental Film and Video
DESCRIPTION:”It’s a paradise of balls and bats” — George Kuchar \n  \nWhat does baseball mean to the experimental filmmaker? In the great taxonomy of American archetypes\, the jocks and the artists don’t tend to sit together at the same proverbial table. So it’s unsurprising that although baseball was the most popular American sport from the days of early cinema through at least the Vietnam War and an unquestionable symbol of Americanism\, film outside of the mainstream paid little attention to the sport. But it was only a matter of time until filmmakers would begin mining baseball and its iconography to tackle subjects that have always been near and dear to the American avant-garde: nationalism\, nostalgia\, masculinity\, identity\, and celebrity. \nIn honor of the beginning of the baseball season\, Opening Day presents five very different films and videos which use baseball as raw material. Pittsburgh-based filmmaker Brady Lewis playfully works with his town’s obsession with the Pirates and much more in a dense collage of references. Robert Breer\, one of the legends of hand drawn animation\, incorporated his youthful love of baseball into Bang!\, a kaleidoscopic hybrid of drawings\, animation\, film\, and video. In Breer’s hands baseball takes a role as a symbol of nostalgia and American boyhood. Sharon Couzin similarly uses baseball as a marker of nostalgia and boyhood but to very different effects. Cousin’s OdilonOdilon looks back at the swirl of cultural and political forces surrounding young Odilon coming of age in World War II. Vanalyne Green’s A Spy in the House that Ruth Built is a quintessential work of 1980s feminist video art\, deconstructing the male-dominated sport and desire for their bodies with a confessional edge. With Joe Dimaggio 1\, 2\, 3\, Anne McGuire takes the obsession with the icons Green intellectualizes and turns it pure Id as she stalks and sings to the elderly Hall of Famer around San Francisco. Without any knowledge that McGuire is following him and McGuire’s performative total lack of self-awareness\, Joe Dimaggio 1\, 2\, 3 is the missing link between the earlier generation of videography and the current “weirdo” strain of YouTube and Vine video art. \nCo-presented with Nightletter. \n\nPROGRAM\nBang! / Robert Breer / 1986 / 10 min / 16mm\nOdilonOdilon / Sharon Couzin / 1984 / 21 min / 16mm\nQuick Opener / Brady Lewis / 1987 / 5 min / 16mm\nA Spy in the House that Ruth Built / Vanalyne Green / 1990 / 29 min / Digital\nJoe Dimaggio 1\, 2\, 3 / Anne McGuire / 1991 / 11 min / Digital
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/opening-day/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240410T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240410T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20240117T154612Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240415T141134Z
UID:10001220-1712779200-1712786400@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Bennardo-Larson Duo
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present the Bennardo-Larson Duo – violin and piano – at UniLu performing works by Anthony Vine and Maya Bennardo. \n\nPROGRAM \nAnthony Vine: Worshipful Company \nMaya Bennardo: dormant gardens \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nMaya Bennardo (she/her) is an active performer and composer living in Stockholm\, Sweden. Maya is interested in opening the dialogue and blurring the boundaries between composers and performers\, and is devoted to performing music of the present. She is a founding member of the violin/viola duo andPlay\, described by I Care If You Listen as “enthusiastic champions for new music and collaboration.” She is a member of the internationally acclaimed Mivos Quartet and also performs new and traditional repertoire for violin and piano with pianist Karl Larson in their Bennardo/Larson Duo. Maya’s compositions are characterized by slow\, unfolding timbral movements–exploring the co-existence of pitch and noise. Her compositions have grown naturally out of her improvisational practice on the violin\, and the two continue to inform each other. This season Maya is composing new works for NoExit + andPlay\, Lamnth\, Alkemie + Amanda Gookin\, Bennardo/Larson Duo\, and a new long-form piece for solo violin. \nKarl Larson is a Brooklyn-based pianist and specialist in the music of our time. A devoted supporter of contemporary composers and their craft\, Larson has built a career grounded in commissioning and long-term collaborations. He frequently performs in a variety of chamber music settings\, most notably with his trio\, Bearthoven\, a piano / bass / percussion ensemble focussed on cultivating a diverse new repertoire for their instrumentation. As a soloist\, Larson is known for championing the works of his peers and the recent canon alike\, often gravitating towards long-form\, reflective works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Through his work with Bearthoven\, collaborations with a wide variety of chamber musicians\, and his solo projects\, Larson has helped to generate a large body of new work\, resulting in world premiere performances of pieces by notable composers including David Lang\, Sarah Hennies\, Chris Cerrone\, and Michael Gordon. \nAnthony Vine is a composer and guitarist living in Brooklyn. He creates music about spirituality\, beauty\, and acoustics. His work across different media—performance\, installation\, and sound sculpture—is minimal yet acoustically rich and deeply emotive. Currently his imagination is most at ease with medieval liturgical and devotional music. His recent work has been inspired by medieval motets\, church acoustics\, the sound of prayer\, and how medieval notation communicates to the eye and ear. These projects range from hagiographic concertos to archaeoacoustic research. His music has been presented by Blank Forms\, Carnegie Hall\, Gaudeamus Muziekweek\, Lévy Gorvy\, The Metropolitan Museum of Art\, Musiikin Aika\, Pioneer Works\, Transit Festival\, and Ultima Festival\, and performed by Alarm Will Sound\, AndPlay\, Quatuor Bozzini\, Bearthoven\, Dudok Kwartet\, Gareth Davis\, Duo Axis\, Madison Greenstone\, Hotel Elefant\, Mari Kawamura\, The La Jolla Symphony and Chorus\, David Lackner\, Will Lang\, Karl Larson\, loadbang\, longleash\, The Minnesota Orchestra\, Ensemble Modelo62\, Palimpsest\, The Rhythm Method\, Steven Schick\, Trio SurPlus\, and Yarn/Wire. Recordings of his music have been released on Cantaloupe\, Galtta Media\, and Yarn/Wire’s imprint. \n\n
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/bennardo-larson-duo/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Bowerbird-Main-Img-59.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240320T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240320T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121913
CREATED:20231120T183747Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T150451Z
UID:10001212-1710964800-1710972000@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:POSTPONED: Ensemble Pamplemousse
DESCRIPTION:Photo by Joe Lamberti \nTHIS CONCERT IS POSTPONED. STAY TUNED FOR A NEW DATE \n  \nBowerbird is thrilled to bring Ensemble Pamplemousse back to UniLu featuring new works performed and composed by David Broome\, Natacha Diels\, Andrew Greenwald\, and Bryan Jacobs. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS:\nComposer/performer collective Ensemble Pamplemousse was founded in 2003 to provide a focal point for like-minded creators with a thirst for sonic exploration. The ensemble is a close-knit group of divergent artistic personalities\, emergent from training in disparate musical fields. Their collective love for the exquisite in all sonic realms leads the ensemble to persistently discover new vistas of sound at the frayed edges of dissective instrumental performance technique. Compositions aggregate each member’s unique virtuosic talents into extraordinary magical moments. In the flexible moments of performance\, the ensemble weaves together shapes of resonance\, clusters of glitch\, skitters of hyper action\, and masses of absurdity into impeccable structures of unified beauty. \nwww.pamplemoussies.bandcamp.com/album/shadows \n\n\n\n  \n 
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/ensemble-pamplemousse/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Bowerbird-Main-Img-57.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240113T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240113T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121914
CREATED:20221128T215536Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240115T185522Z
UID:10001181-1705176000-1705183200@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present a two night residency featuring pianist Adam Tendler. On the second evening Adam Tendler will be performing “Sonatas and Interludes”\, John Cage’s groundbreaking cycle for prepared piano. 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the the work composed shortly after Cage’s introduction to Indian philosophy and the teachings of art historian Ananda K. Coomaraswamy\, both of which became major influences on the composer’s later work. Significantly more complex than his other works for prepared piano\, Sonatas and Interludes is generally recognized as one of Cage’s most important compositions. The cycle consists of sixteen sonatas (thirteen of which are cast in binary form\, the remaining three in ternary form) and four more freely structured interludes. \n  \nPROGRAM \nJohn Cage: Sonatas and Interludes  \n  \nABOUT THE ARTIST\nA recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists\, “currently the hottest pianist on the American contemporary classical scene” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)\, a “remarkable and insightful musician” (LA Times)\, and “relentlessly adventurous pianist” (Washington Post) “joyfully rocking out at his keyboard” (New York Times)\, Adam Tendler is an internationally recognized interpreter of living\, modern and classical composers. A pioneer of DIY culture in concert music who has commissioned and premiered major works by Christian Wolff and Devonté Hynes alike\, at age 23 Tendler performed solo recitals in all fifty United States as part of a grassroots tour he called America 88×50\, which became the subject of his memoir\, 88×50\, a Kirkus Indie Book of the Month and Lambda Literary Award nominee. He has gone on to become one of classical and contemporary music’s most recognized and celebrated artists\, active as a soloist\, recording artist\, composer\, speaker and educator. He has curated and performed series for the Broad Museum and Little Island\, and in 2022 alone\, appeared as soloist at BAM and Carnegie Hall\, and with the LA Philharmonic. Tendler recently released an album of Liszt’s Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses on the Steinway Label\, Robert Palmer: Piano Music on New World Records\, and published his second book\, tidepools. In 2022 he will premiere 16 newly commissioned works by composers including Laurie Anderson\, Nico Muhly\, Missy Mazzoli\, Christopher Cerrone\, Timo Andres and Pamela Z as part of a project called Inheritances. Adam Tendler is a Yamaha Artist.
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/john-cage-sonatas-and-interludes/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/TendlerCage.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240112T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240112T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121914
CREATED:20221128T220554Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240115T185314Z
UID:10001182-1705089600-1705096800@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Wolff: Fantail + Schumann: Carnaval
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present a two night residency featuring pianist Adam Tendler. On the first evening Adam Tendler will perform the Philadelphia premiere of FANTAIL\, a new work by iconic American composer Christian Wolff. Commissioned by the pianist\, FANTAIL is a 22 movement\, unofficial response to Robert Schumann’s Carnaval\, and like Schumann’s legendary set\, a tour of Wolff’s musical laboratory and universe. Tendler will intersperse Wolff’s FANTAIL with Schumann’s Carnaval in a mash-up that puts both complete works\, and their composers\, in a fresh dialogue – reframing\, blurring\, even challenging our notions of what is classical and what is contemporary. \nPROGRAM \nRobert Schumann: Carnaval Op. 9 (1834-35)\nChristian Wolff: FANTAIL (22 pieces for a pianist) (2020) \nABOUT THE ARTIST\nA recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists\, “currently the hottest pianist on the American contemporary classical scene” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)\, a “remarkable and insightful musician” (LA Times)\, and “relentlessly adventurous pianist” (Washington Post) “joyfully rocking out at his keyboard” (New York Times)\, Adam Tendler is an internationally recognized interpreter of living\, modern and classical composers. A pioneer of DIY culture in concert music who has commissioned and premiered major works by Christian Wolff and Devonté Hynes alike\, at age 23 Tendler performed solo recitals in all fifty United States as part of a grassroots tour he called America 88×50\, which became the subject of his memoir\, 88×50\, a Kirkus Indie Book of the Month and Lambda Literary Award nominee. He has gone on to become one of classical and contemporary music’s most recognized and celebrated artists\, active as a soloist\, recording artist\, composer\, speaker and educator. He has curated and performed series for the Broad Museum and Little Island\, and in 2022 alone\, appeared as soloist at BAM and Carnegie Hall\, and with the LA Philharmonic. Tendler recently released an album of Liszt’s Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses on the Steinway Label\, Robert Palmer: Piano Music on New World Records\, and published his second book\, tidepools. In 2022 he will premiere 16 newly commissioned works by composers including Laurie Anderson\, Nico Muhly\, Missy Mazzoli\, Christopher Cerrone\, Timo Andres and Pamela Z as part of a project called Inheritances. Adam Tendler is a Yamaha Artist.
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/wolff-fantail-schumann-carnaval/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Bowerbird-Main-Img-14.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231209T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231209T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121914
CREATED:20230810T151537Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231211T152028Z
UID:10001198-1702152000-1702159200@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Satoko Fujii + Kappa Maki
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present Japanese musicians Satoko Fujii and Kappa Maki performing at University Lutheran. The duo consists of piano and trumpet performing an improvised set. Jesse Kudler will open the evening with an improvisation on the church’s organ. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nCritics and fans alike hail pianist and composer Satoko Fujii as one of the most original voices in jazz today. She’s “a virtuoso piano improviser\, an original composer and a band-leader who gets the best collaborators to deliver\,” says John Fordham in The Guardian. In concert and on more than 80 albums as a leader or co-leader\, the globe-trotting Japanese native synthesizes jazz\, contemporary classical\, avant-rock\, and Japanese folk music into an innovative music instantly recognizable as hers alone. \nJapanese trumpeter and composer Kappa Maki is internationally recognized for a unique musical vocabulary that blends extended techniques with jazz lyricism. This unpredictable virtuoso’s seemingly limitless creativity led François Couture in All Music Guide to declare that “… we can officially say there are two Kappa Makis: The one playing angular jazz-rock or ferocious free improv…and the one writing simple melodies of stunning beauty…How the two of them live in the same body and breathe through the same trumpet might remain a mystery.” \nJesse Kudler is a musician\, composer\, performer\, and sound artist using improvisation\, collaboration\, and site-specificity to examine authorship\, intention\, agency\, ambiguous affects\, and modes and practices of listening. He works with guitar\, electronics\, recordings\, keyboards\, synthesizers\, radios\, tapes\, movement\, and text. \n\n  \n\n 
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/satoko-fujii-kappa-maki/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Bowerbird-Main-Img-37.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231201T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231201T220000
DTSTAMP:20260621T121914
CREATED:20230911T175756Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231202T192637Z
UID:10001204-1701460800-1701468000@www.bowerbird.org
SUMMARY:Peter Evans and David Taylor
DESCRIPTION:Bowerbird is pleased to present two brass virtuosos: Trumpeter Peter Evans and Trombonist David Taylor in a solo/solo/duo performance at University Lutheran. \n\nABOUT THE ARTISTS \nPeter Evans is a trumpet player and composer based in New York City since 2003. Evans is part of a broad\, hybridized scene of musical experimentation\, and his work cuts across a wide range of modern musical practices and traditions. Peter is committed to the simultaneously self-determining and collaborative nature of musical improvisation as a compositional tool\, and works with an ever-expanding group of musicians and composers in the creation of new music. His primary groups as a leader are the Peter Evans Ensemble and Being & Becoming (with Joel Ross\, Nick Jozwiak\, and Savannah Harris). Evans has been exploring solo trumpet music since 2002 and is widely recognized as a leading voice in the field\, having released several recordings over the past decade. He is a member of the cooperative groups Pulverize the Sound (with Mike Pride and Tim Dahl) and Rocket Science (with Evan Parker\, Craig Taborn\, and Sam Pluta) and is constantly experimenting and forming new configurations with like-minded players. As a composer\, he has been commissioned by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)\, Wet Ink\, Yarn/Wire\, the Donaueschingen Musiktage Festival\, the Jerome Foundation’s Emerging Artist Program\, and the Doris Duke Foundation. Evans has presented and/or performed his works at major festivals worldwide and tours his own groups extensively. He has worked with some of the leading figures in contemporary music: John Zorn\, Peter Broetzmann\, Pauline Oliveros\, Brian Ferneyhough\, Kanye West\, George Lewis\, Anthony Braxton\, Mary Halvorson\, Ambrose Akinmusere\, Weasel Walter\, Ingrid Laubrock\, Jeff “Tain” Watts\, Tyshawn Sorey\, Jim Black\, Ikue Mori\, Steve Schick\, and performs with both the ICE and Wet Ink. As an interpreter of notated concert music Evans’ has performed works by Varese\, Xenakis\, Bach\, Stravinsky\, Elliott Carter\, Marcos Balter\, Agusta Read Thomas\, Roscoe Mitchell\, and many more. Peter Evans has been releasing recordings on his own label\, More is More\, since 2011. \nReceiving B.S. and M.S. degrees from The Julliard School of Music\, David Taylor started his playing career as a member of Leopold Stowkowski’s American Symphony Orchestra\, and with appearances with the New York Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez. Simultaneously\, he was a member of the Thad Jones Mel Lewis jazz band\, and recorded with groups ranging from Duke Ellington to The Rolling Stones. He has also recorded numerous solo CDs on the following labels: Koch\, New World\, ENJA\, DMP\, Tzadik\, CIMP\, PAU\, and TLB. Mr. His last releases on TLB are: And If All Were Dark\, and Atomic Bomb Blues. \nMr. Taylor performs recitals and concerti around the world: from Lincoln Center in NY to the Musikverein in Vienna and Suntory Hall in Japan. In addition to his own compositions\, he has been involved in dozens of commissioning projects for solo bass trombone collaborating with composers including Alan Hovhaness\, Charles Wuorinen\, George Perle\, Frederic Rzewski\, Lucia Dlugoszchewski\, Eric Ewazen\, Dave Liebman\, and Daniel Schnyder. He has appeared and recorded chamber music with Yo Yo Ma\, Itzhak Perlman\, and Wynton Marsalis and performed with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society\, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra\, Orpheus\, and the St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra. Throughout his career\, Taylor has appeared and recorded with major jazz and popular artists including Barbara Streisand\, Miles Davis\,JJ Johnson\, Quincy Jones\, Frank Sinatra\, and Aretha Franklin. Mr. Taylor has won the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Most Valuable Player Award for five consecutive years\, and has been awarded the NARAS Most Valuable Player Virtuoso Award\, an honor accorded no other bass trombonist. He has been a member of the bands of Gil Evans\, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis\, Jaco Pastorius\, Charles Mingus Big Band\, Joe Henderson\, George Russell\, Michelle Camillo\, Bob Mintzer\, Dave Matthews\, Dave Grusin\, Randy Brecker\, the Words Within Music Trio with Daniel Schnyder\, and Kenny Drew Jr.\, B3+\, Moppa Elliot’s Mostly Other People Do The Killing\, and The Sarah Weaver Ensemble. He has performed on numerous GRAMMY Award winning recordings.\nDavid Taylor is on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music\, Mannes College\, and NYU. \n\n\n\n
URL:https://www.bowerbird.org/event/peter-evans-and-david-taylor/
LOCATION:University Lutheran\, 3637 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.bowerbird.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Bowerbird-Main-Img-43.png
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END:VCALENDAR