Philadelphia Music Roundup - December 2021

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December 2021 Events

HOLIDAYS WITH NEW MUSIC

In celebration of the holiday season, Relâche presents Unsilent Night, an interactive performance in Rittenhouse Square on December 10, 2021.

Then, on December 12, head to Cherry Street Pier to hear Tuba Christmas presented by Kimmel Campus.

And on December 17 and 19, the Crossing Choir performs Carols After a Plague at the Church of the Holy Trinity and the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill.

PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA

The Philadelphia Orchestra finishes 2021 with four concerts featuring contemporary music. The first is December 2 - 4 featuring composer Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres). Then streaming December 8 - 15 the orchestra presents Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3. Principal Tuba Carol Jantsch premieres Wynton Marsalis’s Tuba Concerto December 9 - 12. And finally to bring in the new year, the orchestra gives the world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s Pachamama Meets an Ode. 

AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM

On December 6, American Composers Forum, Philadelphia Chapter presents an Artist to Artist Talk between composer Ellen Fishman and technologist Youngmoo Kim. They will discuss how they integrate technology into their art.


Then on December 9, American Composers Forum presents ACF Study Group: Davu Seru on Dead King Mother (2018) and Archiving History discussing the importance of archival projects.

STREAMING AND LIVE EVENTS

  • On December 5, Astral Artists presents flutist Beomjae Kim at the American Philosophical Society.

  • The University of Pennsylvania Department of Music presents the Philadelphia Student Composers Project with the PRISM Quartet at Rose Recital Hall on December 6 featuring newly composed works for the quartet.

  • At Johnny Brenda’s on December 7 hear guitarist and composer Julian Lage upstairs.

  • Bowerbird presents two events in December. First on December 8 a screening of Nam Jun Paik: Ridiculous Technology at University Lutheran Church. Then on December 19, a Liminal States virtual performance featuring Helena Espvall.

  • December 11-12 - Lyric Fest presents My Letter to the World, the story of the beguiling life of one of America’s most notable and beloved poets, Emily Dickinson, told with letters, narrations, and songs.

  • On December 17 The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presents vocalist Chrystal E. Williams and pianist Laurent Philippe performing among others works by composer BE Boykin. The Philadelphia Cleb Club continues its online master class series with Oliver Lake on December 18.

  • Fire Museum Presents two concerts in December. On December 17 in Fishtown, Uriol Korean Percussion Ensemble performs at 2223.fish. Then on December 19 at the Rotunda hear Grex and Sirius Juju.

ON GOING

  • Opera Philadelphia presents Organ Stops, a musical tour of Philadelphia’s historic pipe organs with the Opera Philadelphia Chorus. Among works to be performed are newer works written specifically for chorus and organ by contemporary composers Hannah Kendall, Melissa Dunphy, Marcus DeLoach, and David Hurd.

DECEMBER 2021 at a glance

CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING

ACF Philadelphia