Bowerbird is pleased to present the Berlin-based trio Sawt Out at the Rotunda with an opening set by Philadelphia-based musician Julius Masri. ABOUT THE ARTISTS Since its foundation in 2015 the Berlin-based trio Sawt Out has shaped and refined its profile as a prominent improvisational unit. With their unusual acoustic instrumentation of trumpet and two…
Bowerbird is pleased to present Ikue Mori and Charmaine Lee at The Rotunda for an evening featuring solos from each artist as well as a duo performance. ABOUT THE ARTISTS Since her emergence in New York’s No Wave scene in the late 1970s as a percussionist in DNA, Japanese native Ikue Mori has used…
Bowerbird is pleased to present the TAK Ensemble in Philadelphia. Painting a portrait of new American composition through intensely virtuosic and visceral works TAK Ensemble will perform works by Tyshawn Sorey, Natacha Diels, Ashkan Behzadi, Erin Gee, Golnaz Shariatzadeh, and David Bird. PROGRAM Natacha Diels: Second Nightmare for KIKU Ashkan Behzadi: Arqueros Erin Gee:…
Bowerbird is pleased to present Ensemble Terrain (Theo Bleckmann*, Jodie Landau, Ashley Bathgate, and Jacob Cooper) performing selections from Jacob Cooper's acclaimed album "Terrain" (Amsterdam Records, 2020). "Terrain" displays Cooper’s passion for kinetic collaboration. He worked intensively with three poets who created original text for each work, and developed the music alongside vocalists Theo Bleckmann…
Bowerbird is pleased to present Philadelphia favorites Alash at The Rotunda for a FREE concert. Alash are masters of Tuvan throat singing (xöömei), a remarkable technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time. Masters of traditional Tuvan instruments as well as the art of throat singing, Alash are deeply committed to traditional Tuvan music…
Bowerbird is pleased to present Matt Davis' Aerial Photograph at The Rotunda. The ensemble will perform Davis' recent compositional suite, The Sway of Rivers, exploring the elusive nature of time: how it is inconsistently felt, marked, and expressed in sound. ABOUT THE ARTISTS Established in 2002, Matt Davis’ Aerial Photograph is a “wildly imaginative” (Jazziz…
Bowerbird is pleased to present Philadelphia's Bismuth Quartet in a special concert featuring compositions by quartet members Carlos Santiago and Veronica Jurkiewicz. For this performance the Bismuth Quartet welcomes special guests Tom Kraines and Matt Engle. PROGRAM Carlos Santiago: Arc for string quartet Veronica Jurkiewicz: Chora for string quartet Arc/Chora sonically explores being alone and…
Bowerbird is pleased to present a rare performance by George Stavis, an American banjo player perhaps best known for his 1969 album Labyrinths , an album considered a landmark in the development of improvisational banjo performance. Opening the evening will be Elkhorn, the Philadelphia based guitar duo Jesse Sheppard and Drew Gardner, who are celbrating…
Bowerbird is pleased to present musician JJJJJerome Ellis and Philadelphia-based duo Jupiter Blue at The Rotunda. ABOUT THE MUSICIANS JJJJJerome Ellis is a blk disabled animal, stutterer, and artist. He prays, reads, gardens, cycles, wanders, and plays. Through music, literature, performance, and video he researches relationships among blackness, disabled speech, divinity, nature, sound, and…
Bowerbird is pleased to present a sneak preview screening of Sound Mechanic by Skizz Cyzyk about Baltimore native Neil Feather. Neil invents new musical instruments and sound making devices, frequently incorporating bicycle parts, bowling balls and sex toys. His inventions are then used in live performances and installations. This observational documentary feature gives the audience…
Philadelphia favorites Alash return to The Rotunda for a FREE concert. Alash are masters of Tuvan throat singing (xöömei), a remarkable technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time. Masters of traditional Tuvan instruments as well as the art of throat singing, Alash are deeply committed to traditional Tuvan music and culture. At the…
Bowerbird is pleased to present Franck Vigroux and Ulrich Krieger performing Dodécaèdre, a new piece for electronics and amplified-processed saxophone at The Rotunda. Made of tectonic tensions, beats, and electronic textures the new work is a very personal approach to sonic exploration. Opening the evening will be a solo set by Philadelphia-based multi-instrumentalist Julius Masri.…
Philadelphia favorites Alash return to The Rotunda for a FREE concert. Alash are masters of Tuvan throat singing (xöömei), a remarkable technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time. Masters of traditional Tuvan instruments as well as the art of throat singing, Alash are deeply committed to traditional Tuvan music and culture. At the same…
Austrian laptop music pioneer Fennesz recently released his first album in nearly five years, Agora, and it reinforces the inscrutable beauty of his aesthetic. His work is steeped in romanticism, with each piece patiently wending its way through meticulously plotted narratives of remarkable concision, marked by orchestral swells and shimmering ambience. Using a blend of…
Due to circumstances beyond our control this concert has been postponed to a date to be announced later. George Stavis is a singular player, among the finest 5-string banjo players of his generation. Although trained in the traditions of Pete Seeger and Earl Scruggs, in the late 1960s Stavis developed a unique approach to the…
Since her emergence in New York’s No Wave scene in the late 1970s as a percussionist in DNA, Japanese native Ikue Mori has used auto didacticism to forge one of the most singular aesthetics in contemporary music. Since switching from a richly intuitive approach to drums to electronics during the 1980s she’s refined an elusive,…
Ithaca composer and percussionist Sarah Hennies presents a cinematic version of her stunning 2017 video work Contralto, a bracing yet tender meditation on gender dysphoria viewed through the lens of transgender women finding a comfortable new speaking voice. Based on her experience in Ithaca College’s Voice and Communication Modification Program for People in the Transgender…
Bowerbird is pleased to present "Neil Feather: Sound Mechanic" an evening dedicated to the sonic contraptions of Neil Feather, inventor of such fantastical instruments as "The Wiggler", "The Nondo," "Thunderwheels," "Magnapooters," "Apex Roto-Zither," and the "Thumbsnake." The night will feature a performance of a work-in-progress chamber concerto composed for Feather’s instruments alongside the Arcana New…
