Summer News
ACF Philadelphia and The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia announce that Andrea Clearfield as the 2nd Gerber composer in residence. Ms. Clearfield is well known and highly regarded as a composer nationally and internationally and we feel she is an excellent choice for the Migrations theme of the COP 2018-19 season. Ms. Clearfield’s residency will culminate in Spring 2019 with the premiere of a new work for electric guitar and chamber orchestra featuring guitarist Jordan Dodson – more info about the residency here: https://chamberorchestra.org/cop/the-americas/2019-04-01/
Read More
Open Spaces
This weekend The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia presents the world premiere of "Open Spaces " a concerto for Jazz Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra by Adam Vidiksis. Adam is composer in residence with COP with support from ACF Philadelphia and The Steven R. Gerber Foundation. Here's an interview with Adam, where he talks about the process of working with COP and the musicians from The Clef Club.
Read More
The Steven R. Gerber Composer Residency Program 2019
The American Composers Forum Philadelphia Chapter and The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia are very please to announce an exciting new opportunity for composers in the Philadelphia area. This will be the second year ACF Philadelphia has partnered with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.
Read More
Relâche Composer Residency
Philadelphia's new music ensemble Relâche, celebrating its 40th Anniversary in 2018, invites two Philadelphia-region composers for a residency with the ensemble this spring! Read more about this opportunity.
Read More
2017 ACF Philly Year in Review
Since the June 1st 2016 transition, ACF Philadelphia Director Gene Coleman, ACF Board President Stanford Thompson and our board members have made significant progress on the implementation of our Strategic Plan. We've had an amazing year with lots of exciting new directions for ACF Philadelphia.
Read More
New Voices with Nicholas Isherwood
A lecture and demonstration by vocalist Nicholas Isherwood, presented by ACF Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Music Department and Slought Foundation.
Read More
Marilyn Nonken Collaboration Opportunity
ACF Philadelphia is proud to offer an opporunity for three composers to write piece for spectral piano master Marilyn Nonken. The purpose of this project is to offer Philadelphia area composers the chance to collaborate with Ms. Nonken, who is one of the leading performers of new music in the world. Our goal is to give composers access to world class performers and to create the conditions for dynamic collaborative work.
Read More
Akikazu Nakamura: Performance and Conversation with Gene Coleman
ACF Philadelphia is launching a new series of events aimed at expanding everyone's musical horizons. The first event in the series will take place at 7:00 PM on February 21st, featuring the shakuhachi master and composer Akikazu Nakamura. Mr. Nakamura is an ideal first guest for the series, in that his musical universe encompasses a range of styles that may seem very unusual. He is a highly regarded master of the Shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) but also studied classical and jazz music in the USA at Berklee College of Music. In his unique style, many musical elements are combined in new and fresh ways.
Read More
Mixes from the Field
Mixes from the Field is a website and a collaborative project dedicated to connecting and inspiring those who use ambient or environmental sound recordings in their sonic works. Co led by ACF Composer and student of Deep Listening Pioneer Pauline Oliveros Michael McDermott. The projects seeks to make it a priority to reach and work with amateurs as well as more experienced musicians in a dedicated search to connect (art) students, (non-)musicians, field recordists, sound artists and their audiences. Following the principles of Deep Listening, Mixes from the Field seeks to form an inclusive platform for the sonic arts. Listening is innately inclusive. A day-long workshop for ACF Members and other artists will be help on Saturday March 25.
Read More
The Steven R. Gerber Composer Residency Program 2018
This is a 3-year initiative, which each year will select a different composer to create a new work for the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia (COP) and take part in various residency activities over the course of a full season. Each season will feature a new composer and focus on a specific theme, with the selected composer chosen for their abilities to make the most of that particular theme. This opportunity is made available to all composers in the Philadelphia area (including Camden County, NJ). In the event that the successful candidate is not a member of ACF Philadelphia, they will be expected to sign up for at least a 1-year membership.
Read More
Unsung at Rail Park
Sound artist and composer Nadia Botello and video artists Nadia Hironaka and Matthew Suib’s installation Unsung evokes the silenced and forgotten voices of women in the Callowhill neighborhood from its earliest days to our present moment. Interweaving the narratives of an 18th-century prostitute, the wife of an Irish railroad worker, an undocumented immigrant stuck in a cycle of dependency, and descriptions of the houses of pleasure in Philadelphia’s “Sin City” period, the artists create a timeline in image and sound that moves through the neighborhood’s tumultuous history. Four vocalists interpreted and recorded the score, and beneath the Reading Viaduct, their images are projected while industrial steel resonates with displaced voices. Amidst this immersive installation, the unsung women of the neighborhood are written into the historical record.
Read More
