From its African origins to the mountain music of the Appalachians, the banjo's presence in music parallels America's multi-national origins. Banjo players and historians from across the United States convene at the Ethical Society of Philadelphia to perform pieces that span the various genres and styles of banjo music.
Comprised of twin sisters Maria (cello) and Lucia (piano) and younger sister, Angella (violin), the Ahn Trio was formed as a professional ensemble after all three sisters graduated from the Juilliard School. Since then, they've been breathing new life into chamber music by fusing their classical instrumentation with deejays, dance companies, and Czech pop bands. Hailing from Seoul, South Korea, their new album, Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac, includes commissioned works from award-winning Juilliard classmate Kenji Bunch and renowned composers, Michael Nyman and Pat Metheny. They perform on a flower-adorned stage at Longwood Gardens.
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A.J. Racy and the MidEast Ensemble at Swarthmore College
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A.J. Racy, is a performer, composer and Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California at Los Angeles. Born in Lebanon, he comes from a well-known family of artists, scholars, and academics. Racy is internationally recognized for his extraordinary musicianship and numerous publications on Arabic music. The concert presents a repertoire of traditional, folk, and popular Arab music as well as original compositions and improvisations.
More Info: Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture »
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Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist and lyricist Andrew Bird picked up his first violin at the age of four. When Andrew Bird performs, he rarely replicates a song's perfect structure as it lives on the album. Songs shape within their loops, each one constructed on violin, guitar and glockenspiel, layered, then looped over themselves in a tangled and textured layer cake of sonics.
Andrew Bird is nothing but astounding to watch - one man, generating the wealth of sound normally produced by an orchestra. He performs at Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University.
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Recently awarded the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album for Song for Chico, Arturo O' Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, composed of 18 soloists, became a resident orchestra at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2002. Latin jazz is a general term given to music that combines rhythms from African and Latin American countries with jazz harmonies from the United States. Joining the orchestra is special guest and preeminent Latin jazz bassist, Andy Gonzales.
They bring the rhythms and heat of Latin jazz to Philadelphia when they perform at the Painted Bride Art Center.
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Born and raised in Center City, Philadelphia, Kevin and Michael Bacon began making music together 14 years ago. In light of their own careers, Kevin as a stage and screen actor, Michael as a composer for film and television, on their new album, New Year's Day, the gritty rock and soul of their hometown roots resonate most clearly. The Bacon Brothers entertain the audience at WXPN's Xponential Music Festival's River Stage in Camden, New Jersey.
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Influenced by Appalachian mountain music, contemporary outsider folk, and Library of Congress recordings of their great uncle, sisters Laura and Meg Baird have been performing in the Philadelphia area for several years. Intertwining natural harmonies with intimate acoustic guitar and banjo playing, their new album Lonely Town is at once foreboding yet wistful. Meg Baird is also a founding member of Espers, a psychedelic folk sextet.
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BalletX is redefining ballet for this century. A new Philadelphia dance company, BalletX, integrates athleticism, emotion and intimacy into their performances, while still rooting its practice in the rigorous, classical ballet tradition. Choreographed by Co-Artistic Director of BalletX, Matthew Neenan, Right to Spring embodies the essence of winter giving way to spring when after a long dormancy, the world reawakens and bursts forth with new life. A live band performs onstage with the dancers of BalletX as they artfully dance the metamorphosis from winter to spring.
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A 10-time-nominated and Grammy Award-winning sextet from Lafayette, La., is known for serving up delectable Cajun music since 1975. Their palate — extending to zydeco, New Orleans jazz, Tex-Mex, country, blues and other styles — has won over a worldwide following over the course of releasing 29 records.
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Named one of NPR Music's Top 10 Unknown Artists of 2007, Sollee is gaining recognition for his soulful voice and unique cello playing style. On his latest album, Learning to Bend, Ben plucks cello strings and uses percussive bow techniques to create sounds that encompass jazz, bluegrass, and folk.
Ben Sollee performs solo at the First Unitarian Church's sanctuary in Center City, Philadelphia.
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The band first received recognition when they were a featured band in the 1996 cult hit film, Swingers. At that time, swing music had a fad resurgence and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy found themselves performing for much larger audiences, including the half time show at 1999 Super Bowl. The swing fad came and went but the talent, energy and taut music skills from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy remain.
On their latest album, How Big Can You Get: A Tribute to Cab Calloway, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy pays tribute to Mr. Calloway's showmanship and influence. They perform at the Dennis Flyer Memorial Theatre at Camden County College.
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Bobby Watson has been living and learning jazz for over 30 years. A saxophonist, composer, and professor of jazz, Mr. Watson was hand selected by Art Blakey to perform with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers at the age of 24. Since then, Mr. Watson has gone on to compose music for films (among them, Robert DeNiro's directorial debut A Bronx Tale) and perform around the world. In 2000, Bobby was selected as the first William D. and Mary Grant Distinguished Professorship in Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Bobby Watson and Live & Learn perform pieces from his 2008 album release From the Heart at the University of the Arts.
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Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural Jr., along with his band, Buckwheat Zydeco, is the preeminent ambassador of Louisiana zydeco music. This year marks Buckwheat Zydeco's 30th anniversary and the release of a new album, Lay Your Burden Down. His boundless energy and incredible instrumental and vocal talents are on display when Buckwheat Zydeco performs at Sellersville Theater 1894.
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Fusing classical, rock, blues, jazz, world music, progressive, as well as the quintessential California musical genre of surf music, California Guitar Trio's stunning virtuosity has earned them an enthusiastic following. Paul Richards of Salt Lake City, Utah, Bert Lams of Brussels, Belgium, and Hideyo Moriya of Tokyo, Japan first met in England at one of Robert Fripp's (of King Crimson) Guitar Craft Courses in 1987. Wanting to continue working together, Bert, Paul and Hideyo met up in Los Angeles and founded the California Guitar Trio in 1991. They've honed their intricate original compositions, surf covers, and classical re-workings into a repertoire that is striking to hear and mesmerizing to watch.
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She's been a dancer, musician, as well as a back up singer for David Bowie, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Cyndi Lauper, and Jackson Browne. In 2006, she made her debut album, Cat, and had the music world wondering why she hadn't stepped into the spotlight sooner. Catherine comes from a family of extraordinary musical pedigree: her mother, Carline Ray, is an outstanding bassist and vocalist and her father, the late Luis Russell, was a composer, pianist and long-time musical director for Louis Armstrong. Ms. Russell sings to an outdoor audience at the Wine and Jazz Festival at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square.
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The Cuartetango Music & Dance is an innovative group of musicians at the forefront of new tango, accomplishing all the aggressive nuances of the genre with a bare skeleton of instruments, just two violins, a viola and cello. Their 2006 debut record, L'Atelier, incorporates classic works from the golden age of tango and original arrangements from new tango. Cuartetango play at the Stockton Performing Arts Center at Richard Stockton College in New Jersey.
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Vancouver-born, Brooklyn-based composer-bandleader Darcy James Argue directs Secret Society, an 18-piece steampunk big band that envisions an alternative musical history, where the dance orchestras that ruled the Swing Era never went extinct. Argue recently released Infernal Machines, Secret Society's first studio recording. Presented by Ars Nova, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society performs at International House in West Philadelphia.
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Distinguished composer-pianist Dave Burrell says he performs because 'it's the only thing he knows how to do.' And he does it brilliantly. His compositions have roots in blues, gospel tradition, and free jazz. A musician-in-residence at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, Dave Burrell performs new compositions based on his research at the Rosenbach of early American settlements of what is now the state of Oregon.
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The psychedelic pop-rock band Dengue Fever features Cambodian singer Chhom Nimol backed by elements of surf-rock, and spy music, and the backing players' indie-rock sound. Brothers Zac and Ethan Holzman, a guitar-playing singer-songwriter and a keyboardist, respectively, re-discovered vintage Cambodian pop and decided to create a band inspired by the music. They found Chhom Nimol, a Cambodian singer with a startlingly beautiful voice who had recently moved to L.A., and formed a group called Dengue Fever.
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Integrating mariachi, rock, ballad, classical elements, and a theramin, the DeVotchKa set has evolved from its original days as a backing band for a burlesque show. Based in Denver, Colorado, this quartet’s multi-instrumentalists got their big break when filmmakers, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, asked them to compose and perform the music for their 2006 film, Little Miss Sunshine. Since then, the band has been touring the world, most recently with their 2008 album, A Mad & Faithful Telling. They perform at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia.
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Dolce Suono is a chamber music ensemble that is developing a dedicated following in the Philadelphia region. Founded by internationally acclaimed flutist, Mimi Stillman, Dolce Suono means 'sweet sound' in Italian, and originated out of Mimi's study of Dante's Divine Comedy. Ms. Stillman is known for her vibrant and lively performances as a soloist and chamber musician at major concert halls and festivals, including The Philadelphia Orchestra and Philadelphia Classical Symphony. At the First Unitarian Church, Dolce Suono highlights the diversity of American music, from George Gershwin, who mixed Broadway and jazz elements with classical music,to Nino Rota and Albert Hay Malotte, who wrote and composed music for film.
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Extra Golden's members are natives of the United States and Kenya. Ian Eagleson, Otieno Jagwasi, Alex Minoff and Onyango Wuod Omari recorded the bulk of the group's debut, Ok-Oyot System, in 2004 in a restaurant. Jagwasi died a year later, and the record was released to wide acclaim in 2006. With the addition of Jagwasi's brother, Onyango, Extra Golden soldiered on and released Hera Ma Nono after recording it in the Poconos in 2007 and Thank You Very Quickly this year. The records blend the buoyant, bouncy sounds of benga, a genre of Kenyan music that features African guitar stylings and American-style rock 'n' roll, with bilingual lyrics.
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It's rare that a band's debut album makes critics as well as music lovers old and young take notice. Fanfarlo's Reservoir has modern pop tendencies and hooks and still manages to have a vintage timelessness to it as well. It might have to do with Fanfarlo's choice of instrumentation, some of which include mandolin, clarinet, and a musical saw! Fanfarlo's name comes from a fictional character from French writer, Charles Baudelaire's novel of the same name. Based in London, the self-described bookish quintet can't keep the crowd still at First Unitarian Church Sanctuary.
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Frank Bey has been entertaining audiences with his voice since the since the tender age of 4. Growing up in Millen, George, he enjoyed singing with his mother, Maggie Jordan, who was a gospel singer. After touring with various blues bands, Frank left the music industry in 1977 after a difficult record deal broke up his 10-piece band. Nearly 20 years later, Frank returned to the music industry and now he's back on the stage with a more expressive voice and the experience to back it up. He performs at the West Oak Lane Jazz & Arts Festival Pre-Fest Jams on Ogontz Avenue.
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With his unique and definable voice, Stanford plays all instruments except drums on his album, Big Drop. Growing up outside of Philadelphia, his parents' love of classic country and bluegrass by such legendary artists as Ralph Stanley, Hank Williams and Merle Haggard taught him the value of taking the listener on an adventure through song. "I love hearing people tell a story. That's probably why I like old country records so much," he says. George Stanford performs his country-inspired pop sound at the Tin Angel in Old City, Philadelphia.
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Since 2001, Toronto band Great Lake Swimmers has slowly and assuredly been garnering fans and notoriety. With their newest album, Lost Channels, they work with the same elements that have made them a longtime critical favorite, Tony Dekker's unforgettable voice, compelling songwriting, and their unique folk rock sound. Great Lake Swimmers perform at Johnny Brenda's.
Photo by Candace Meyer.
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Originally named Marvin Charles Peterson, trumpeter-composer Hannibal Lokumbe
studied with John Coltrane and performed and recorded with big-name bandleaders
such as Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, and Pharoah Sanders in the early 1970s. Lokumbe performs A Shepherd Among Us, an original piece commissioned by Arts Sanctuary in celebration of the organization's 10th anniversary.
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It's hard to imagine that Erika Wennerstrom, the lead singer and frontwoman for the Heartless Bastards, may not have ever been a musician. After so many years of working behind bars in Dayton, Ohio, she put pen to paper and voice to microphone. Erika's voice is a combination of Robert Plant and PJ Harvey and her lyrics cut to the heart of lessons learned the hard way. Touring with their most recent and critically acclaimed album, The Mountain, Heartless Bastards perform at The Electric Factory.
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Philadelphia based Hoots and Hellmouth create music that sounds like their name. It's raucous, spiritual, get-ready-for-a-showdown type of music and it makes you feel good. Their second album, The Holy Open Secret, is out now on MAD Dragon Records (out of Drexel University) and in their words is 'new music for old souls.' They perform for an energetic crowd at World Café Live.
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Comprised of musicians from around the globe, Intercultural Journeys explores and celebrates the commonalities and elements of cultural heritage. Udi Bar David, artistic director of Intercultural Journeys and cello player, performs with well-respected Native American flautist, RC Carlos Nakai, and Wu Man, a world renowned Chinese pipa player. The concert is a collection of improvised pieces, and music that hails from each of their cultural heritages.
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This dynamic tribe of musicians hailing from Philadelphia, Nigeria, and England, was forged by UK transplant Leon 'Rascul' Phillpotts in 2005. Integrating reggae, UK Soul, Ska, and Punk and Afro Funk rhythms, Iron delivers a live performance that is truly enjoyable and unlike anything you've ever seen or heard. They perform at Cianfrani Park in South Philadelphia.
Special thanks to the Brown Bear Festival.
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At the age of fifteen, Janis Ian wrote and sang her first hit single, Society's Child about an interracial romance forbidden by a girl's mother and frowned upon by her peers. In her 2008 autobiography, Society's Child, Janis Ian recalls how the song's lyrical content was too taboo that it was banned by radio stations. With a career that spans over forty years later, Janis Ian plays her music to a loyal audience of fans at the Grand Opera House.
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Keren Ann draws from international pop, blues, and folk music to create melodies that are subtle and captivating. Her French and English lyrics evoke what she describes as 'the shades of gray,' a nostalgia that acknowledges a fortuitously uncertain future. Born to a Dutch-Javanese mother and a Russian-Israeli father, Keren Ann lived in Israel and Holland before her family settled in Paris. At the age of 9, her parents bought her a guitar where she learned to play songs by Serge Gainsbourg and Joni Mitchell. Having earned several nominations for France's equivalent of the Grammy as a singer, songwriter and guitarist, Keren Ann is a musician in every sense of the word.
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Koresh Dance Company of Philadelphia has created high-energy, emotional dance performances since Israeli-born choreographer Ronen "Roni" Koresh founded the troupe in 1991. The company's repertoire exceeds 50 pieces, which fuse ballet and jazz into an innovative style of choreography. In their piece, Theater of Public Secrets, dancers examine the complexity of relationships by entering people's homes and their most intimate and private moments.
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British singer-songwriter Devonte Hynes takes his obsessions with super heroes and women to musical heights with his album, Falling Off The Lavender Bridge. Hynes fuses genres and styles of music in deftly serious ways, even if he doesn't intend them to be. Hynes' new group, Lightspeed Champion, is a creative indie-folk group that intertwines lush Britpop with countrified rock. He performs at the basement of the First Unitarian Church in Center City, Philadelphia.
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Lionel Loueke's first gig was an accident: He was at a club while the performing band was taking a break. In need of money, Lionel went onstage and started playing his guitar. Expecting reproach from the manager of the club, he asked Lionel to keep playing. Since then, he's gone on to play with some of jazz's greatest musicians including Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, and Cassandra Wilson. Combining the improvisational natures of jazz and African music, Lionel Loueke plays in trio at The Painted Bride Art Center.
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Singer/pianist Marcia Ball works her infectious, intelligent and deeply emotional brand of southern boogie and roadhouse blues at Montgomery County Community College. Over the course of her three-decade career, Ball has earned a huge and intensely loyal following all around the world. Her passionate piano playing and playful vocals fuse New Orleans and Gulf Coast R&B with Austin's deep songwriting tradition into a sound that is, in every sense of the word, moving.
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Born in the Pakistani border town of Kasur, brothers Mehr and Sher Ali were trained from an early age in Sufi philosophy, poetry, texts and Qawwali, the spiritual and devotional music performed by Sufis.
Philomel is one of the nation's foremost baroque chamber ensembles in the Philadelphia and Delaware region. Choosing to perform in venues that possess the history and charm of life in the cultural capital of the emerging nation, Philomel plays at the Mercer Museum.
Tempesta di Mare, one of the only permanent baroque ensembles in Pennsylvania, showcases baroque opera in a new and alternative way with the help of master puppeteer, Doug Roysdon.
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Philadelphia native Melody Gardot's one and only thrill is music. On her new album, My One and Only Thrill, her voice is sometimes accompanied by an orchestra of string instruments or a bare acoustic guitar. Either way, it's clear that at the ripe age of 24, the blues and jazz inspired Ms. Gardot has a wealth of talent and experience to draw from. She performs to a sold-out house at Sellersville Theater 1894.
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Michael Iron Man Burks earned his nickname for his hours-long performances, soulful voice, and ingenious guitar attack. A modern blues hero, Michael spends most days of the year touring and driving his band from one venue to the next, earning die-hard fans that follow him around the world. Raised with a blue collar work ethic in Arkansas, Michael Burks is a musician with deep roots in the blues tradition. He performs at the 27th Annual Bucks County Blues Society R&B Picnic.
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Miguel Zenón was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, studied classical saxophone at the famed Escuela Libre de Musica. Although Zenón was exposed to jazz while in high school, it wasn't until he began his studies at the Berklee School of Music that his formal jazz training began. Esta Plena, his latest release, creates a bridge between elements of jazz and plena music from Puerto Rico. Unanimously heralded as one of the best jazz releases of 2009 by The Village Voice, The Chicago Tribune, and Jazz Times, among others, it also received two Grammy Nominations, for Best Latin Jazz Album and Best Improvised Jazz Solo. Miguel Zenón performas at the Painted Bride Art Center.
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Hailing from Indiana, Natalie has called Philadelphia her home for the last six years. Formerly the lead singer of downtempo electronic group, Daughter Darling, Natalie Walker stepped out to make her own music and hasn't looked back. Walker's clear voice contrasts with a haunting sonic landscape to create songs that are ethereal, reflective, and elegant.
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Award-winning Orchestra 2001 has grown into one of America's most influential and important cultural institutions since its founding in 1988 as ensemble-in-residence at Swarthmore College. Under the artistic direction of James Freeman, Orchestra 2001 is noted for its adventurous programming and focus on contemporary American music.
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Fusing styles from the Gypsy mountains of Romania to the Saharan and Middle Eastern deserts and back to the streets of Philadelphia, Oud Blues is comprised of the upright bass, saxophone, trumpet, percussion, drumset, and the oud. Led by Philadelphia native, Brian Nadav, Oud Blues doesn't want to break with tradition but add to it. The oud is a fretless, short-necked, pear-shaped, plucked lute of the Arab world, the direct ancestor of the European lute, mandolin and guitar.
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Born and raised in Cuba, Paquito D'Rivera can't remember a time when he wasn't playing the saxophone or clarinet. Considered a child prodigy at the age of six, Paquito blurs delineations between Afro-Latin jazz, jazz, and classical music. A multiple Grammy winner and National Medal for the Arts recipient, Paquito continues to be true to his cultural roots and musical passions. Paquito and his talented quintet keep the audience on their musical toes at Montgomery County Community College.
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Pascal Gallois is one of the world's most celebrated and most active bassoonists. Specializing in music of the postwar and beyond, Gallois performs pieces that were specifically composed for him. He performs with pianist, Charles Abramovic at Temple University's Rock Hall.
Sponsored by the Philadelphia Chapter of American Composers Forum and funded by Philadelphia Music Project
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Philadanco, or Philadelphia Dance Company, has had a significant impact in the dance world since its inception in 1970. Founded by Joan Myers Brown, Philadanco is a modern contemporary dance company that tours nationally and internationally. Performing pieces by choreographers Gene Hill Sagan and Christopher L. Huggins, Philadanco's seemingly limitless range is a reason the group is among the nation's most progressive dance companies.
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A Brooklyn-based quartet, Pistolera borrows from traditional styles of Mexican music, fusing it with indie-rock sensibilities to amass a melodic, danceable sound. Singing in Spanish, their lyrics teem with political vigor, covering U.S.-Mexico border issues, the plight of immigrants and other topics. Watch them perform at the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater in Philadelphia.
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The members of Ra Ra Riot met in 2006 while attending Syracuse University and have created a sound they describe as combining "elements of new wave and classic indie with sweeping orchestral chamber pop." Incorporating sweeping violin and cello arrangements, The Rhumb Line, the sextet's debut album, embodies youthful energy and haunting melancholy.
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Combining artistic virtuosity and aesthetic beauty, Ragamala Dance presents the highly sophisticated Indian dance tradition of Bharatanatyam with contemporary ideas and cross-cultural collaborations. In their presentation of Sva (Vital Force), Ragamala explores the connections between Japanese Taiko and Baratanatyam and the spiritual traditions from which they emerge.
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Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists and songwriters of his generation. The son of folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, he most recently completed his first opera, Prima Donna, which premiered in Manchester. He performs at the open air theater of Longwood Gardens with special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche.
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Shemekia Copeland at Wiggins Waterfront Park for
WXPN's XPoNential Music Festival
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When Shemekia Copeland sings, you can't help but be captivated. She was first encouraged to sing by her father, the late Texas blues guitar legend, Johnny Clyde Copeland. She would sing onstage with him, but never considered it as a career for herself. It's hard to see why when you see her literally bring the house down at Wiggins Waterfront Park for WXPN's XPoNential Music Festival.
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Watching Shearwater live is a bit like watching musical chairs. In addition to their own instruments, original band members, Jonathan Meiburg, Kimberly Burke, and Thor Harris play each other's and additional hand-made instruments as well. On their new album, The Golden Archipelago, their beautiful sparseness remains, but the music is more epic in scale and scope. In typical Shearwater style, they have the crowd at Johnny Brenda's entranced at first song.
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Led by world-renowned pianist, arranger, and producer, Oscar Hernández, he says the coming together of Spanish Harlem Orchestra was 'divine intervention' because he never expected to arrange his own music. Determine for yourself just how divine the intervention is when the thirteen member ensemble reinvigorates New York Salsa music at Montgomery County Community College. They perform music from their newest album, United We Swing, the follow-up to their 2004 Grammy-award winning album, Across 110th St.
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Guitarist Stanley Jordan ushered a new sound into the world of instrumental music with this "touch" or "tap" technique, a method that allowed him to play two independent parts simultaneously. With his new album, State of Nature, Jordan uses music to illustrate the unifying truths about man's relationship to nature and humankind. Watch him play the guitar and incorporate the piano into his music at Wiggins Waterfront Park in Camden, New Jersey.
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Tamagawa's performances consist of speed, fluidity, and an energy that can only be described as contagious. From one of the best performing arts schools in Japan, the Tamagawa University Taiko Drumming and Dance troupe, led by professor and renowned choreographer, Isaburoh Hanayagi, presents resonating drumming medleys with visually stunning Japanese dance at the Painted Bride Art Center. Taiko drummers carry out intense acrobatic movements while combining theater, music and motion in a high-energy performance. The Tamagawa University troupe is ranked among the top taiko groups in the world.
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Terence Blanchard is an internationally renowned jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and arranger. Born and raised in New Orleans, Blanchard emerged on the scene in 1980 with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and then shortly thereafter with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. His trumpet can be heard on nearly fifty film scores. He has composed music for many of Spike Lee's films including Malcolm X, Jungle Fever, and Inside Man. He most recently composed the music for Darnell Martin's film, Cadillac Records and won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo.
Funded by The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage through the Philadelphia Music Project with additional support from the Marketing Innovation Program.
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Thao Nguyen can't help but play the guitar with insatiable talent and intuition. From Falls Church, Virginia, Thao Nguyen, a self-taught musician and graduate from William and Mary College, originally aimed to work in social activism. After performing in cafes all throughout college, Thao began to garner attention for her skillful guitar playing and compactly soulful lyrics. Watch her perform with the Get Down Stay Down at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia.
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When Zach De Pue, Nick Kendall, and Ranaan Meyers would jam together at The Curtis School of Music, they never expected their experimental sessions might one day be a part of a professional recording. Blending jazz improvisation, classical music, and gypsy ballads, Time for Three is comprised of two violins, a double bass, and a healthy dose of emotional resonance. They perform at McCarter Theatre.
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Bob Musso's Transonic Band is an improvisational jazz fusion ensemble. Transonic features drummer, Claude Coleman, Jr., and bassist, Dave Dreiwitz, both from the alt-rock group Ween. Legendary Philadelphia jazz saxophone/flute artist Elliott Levin and producer/guitarist Robert Musso bring over 50 years of musical experience to the Transonic band.
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With a name derived from creation mythology found in Native American folklore, Turtle Island Quartet has been creating chic and daring trends in chamber music for string instruments since 1985. Winner of the 2006 and 2008 Grammy Awards for Best Classical Crossover Album, Turtle Island Quartet embodies the classical quartet aesthetic with contemporary American musical styles.
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Philadelphia's poet laureate, Ursula Rucker, shares her songwriting talent and mesmerizing voice to an excited audience at the Gordon Theater at Rutgers-Camden. As a poet and performance artist, Ursula has enchanted critics and fans across the globe with her captivating vocals and accessible poetic verse. Ursula has collaborated with an array of recording artists and producers including King Britt, 4 Hero, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Josh Wink and The Roots.
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The classically trained pianist began performing at local coffee shops in northern California while still in college but never considered it to be a solo career. It wasn't until a couple years later when Vienna was coding for Cisco Systems that she made her full-fledged leap into music. Her latest album, Inland Territory, is without a doubt, her most personal and daring effort to date. Vienna Teng performs at Sellersville Theater 1894.
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The Marian Anderson Award, in partnership with Astral Artistic Services and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, present the 5th Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists competition. The winners of the Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists perform famous opera arias and songs and show a Philadelphia audience why they are the upcoming opera singers of their generation. The Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists was created to support significantly talented, classically trained singers who are beginning their professional careers. It was inspired by the example of the many individuals who provided vital assistance to contralto and Philadelphia-native, Marian Anderson, as she began her own artistic journey.
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