PHILADELPHIA –Woodmere Art Museum continues to attract exceptional musical talents in historic Chestnut Hill with their popular, on-going Friday Night Jazz and Classic Sundays series. Each weekend in April, May and June, guests will have the opportunity to enjoy rotating exhibitions while listening to the music of Philadelphia jazz legends and discovering the work of a new class of rising stars in the classical music scene.
This season Music at Woodmere, which launched last spring, will introduce audiences to emerging national and international talents such as The Quattro Battute musicians Elicia Silverstein, Brendan Speitz, Max Geissler and Aaron Mossberg on April 22; Pianist Seymour Lipkin on April 29; Pianist Di Wu on May 13; violinist Kristin Lee and pianist Andrea Lam on June 17, and many more. The season also includes the return of favorite jazz and classical artists such as Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble (May 18, June 1), acclaimed pianist Oxana Harlamova (June 3), trumpeter Tony Smith (June 8), and flutist Lisamarie McGrath (June 10), as well as special concert performances by Sun Ra Arkestra (From Saturn to Woodmere, April 27), Charlie Ellerbee and Matrix 12:38 (A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix hosted by J. Michael Harrison of WRTI’s The Bridge, May 4) and vocalist Mary Ellen Desmond and her band performing I’ll Always Love My Mama: Music of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli on May 11.
Every Friday Night Jazz event includes a Friday Night Family Happening, a companion family-programming event from 6 – 7 p.m. offering visitors with children the opportunity to engage the whole family in a visit to the Museum. Hands-on activities on May 4 and June 1 will explore the upcoming exhibition Salvatore Pinto: A Retrospective Celebrating the Barnes Legacy (May 12-July 15).
Woodmere Art Museum is located at 9201 Germantown Avenue. Friday Night Jazz is held Fridays April 13-June 22 from 6-8 p.m. Classic Sundays are held Sundays April 15-June 24 from 3-4:30 p.m. Admission to Friday Night Jazz and Classic Sundays is $20 per person ($10 for members, FREE for children under 12). Tickets are available online or at the door. For more information, visit woodmereartmuseum.org or call 215-247-0476.
SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCES
FRIDAY NIGHT JAZZ
Fridays April 13–June 22, from 6 – 8 p.m.
CLASSIC SUNDAYS
Sundays April 15–June 24, from 3 – 4:30 p.m.
Performances include light fare and wine.
Location:Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA
Tickets: $20 each ($10 for members, Children under 12 are FREE). Available online or at the door.
Info: 215-247-0476, woodmereartmuseum.org
Friday Night Jazz performances also include free companion family programming for children from 6 – 7 p.m., offering visitors with children the opportunity to engage the whole family in a visit to the museum.
JAZZ, April 20: Take Five: The Dave Brubeck Songbook. The Eric Mintel Quartet celebrates the distinctive melodies and catchy rhythms of jazz legend Dave Brubeck. Drums, piano, bass, and saxophone blend to create an electric evening featuring many of Brubeck’s best-known songs, including works from this 1959 masterpiece, Time Out.
Friday Night Family Happening: 1, 2, Rhythm and Blue: Rhythmic Paintings
CLASSIC, April 22: Quattro Battute: Hayden, Webern, Beethoven. A love of Beethoven drew together The Quattro Battute musicians: Elicia Silverstein, Brendan Speitz, Max Geissler and Aaron Mossberg. They will perform: Quartet no. 31 in B minor, op. 33 no. 1 by Franz Joseph Hayden; Five Pieces for String Quartet, op. 5 by Anton Webern; and String Quartet no. 14 in C sharp minor, op. 131 by Ludwig Van Beethoven.
JAZZ, April 27: Sun Ra Arkestra! From Saturn to Woodmere. Since the 1960s, the Sun Ra Arkestra has attracted followers who love to take the trip to Saturn and beyond. Led by original member Marshall Allen, the Arkestra is known for its legendary performances and outlandish Egyptian and science fiction inspired costumes. You don’t want to miss this intergalactic jazz experience.
Friday Night Family Happening: Make an intergalactic headdress or helmet
CLASSIC, April 29: Seymour Lipkin and Laurie Smukler present Schubert. Join renowned pianist Seymour Lipkin and violinist Laurie Smukler as they celebrate the music of Franz Peter Schubert. The Artistic Director of the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival for the past twenty-five years, Mr. Lipkin teaches piano at the Curtis Institute of Music, his alma mater, and Julliard. He has served as Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic, Music Director of the Joffrey Ballet and the Long Island Symphony. Ms. Smukler has taught at the Manhattan School of Music and Conservatory of Music at Purchase College. She was the founding first violinist of the Mendelssohn String Quartet and has collaborated with many of the top musicians of our time.
JAZZ, May 4: Tribute to Jimi Hendrix with J. Michael Harrison. J. Michael Harrison, host of The Bridge jazz program on WRTI-FM, has planned a yearlong birthday bash for guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, who would have turned seventy this November. Harrison will emcee this evening’s program, which features internationally known guitarist Charlie Ellerbee. Ornette Coleman’s lead guitarist, Ellerbee will feature his new band, Matrix 12:38, in a spectacular celebration of Hendrix and his music.
Friday Night Family Happening: Salvatore Pinto: A Day at the Beach
CLASSIC, May 6: Emily Eisen and Laurie Rogers: The Quintessential American Song. Soprano Emily Eisen and pianist Laurie Rogers present a recital of American songs with selections from Charles Griffes, Samuel Barber, John Woods Duke’s Six Poems by Emily Dickinson, and selections from Aaron Copland’s Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson.
JAZZ, May 11: I’ll Always Love My Mama: Music of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli. Vocalist Mary Ellen Desmond and her band perform a special Mother’s Day presentation featuring the music of vocal powerhouses Judy Garland and her daughter Liza Minnelli. The soulful and jazzy tribute to these stars of stage and screen will include songs such as: “Hello Dolly”, “Over the Rainbow”, “Cabaret”, and “Bye Bye Birdie”. The band includes Tony Lawton on piano and Philadelphia legend Larry McKenna on tenor saxophone.
Friday Night Family Happening: Make paper flowers for Mamma
CLASSIC, May 13: Astral Artists: Pianist Di Wu. Ms. Wu, an elegant and powerful musician, is from Xiamen, China. Praised in the Wall Street Journal as “a most mature and sensitive pianist” and named one of the “up-and-coming talents” in classical music by Musical America. Di Wu has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Beijing and Hamburg Philharmonics, and the National Symphony Orchestra. Di Wu will be playing several works by Alexander Scriabin, a Johannes Brahms Sonata, and “Variations and a Fugue” based on the Eroica Variations.
JAZZ, May 18: A Tribute to Drumming Legends: Max Roach, Art Blakey and Philly Joe Jones. The drumbeat is the heartbeat when Warren Oree & the Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble join three Philadelphia drummers to honor the significant work of jazz percussionist and composer Max Roach, rhythmic genius Art Blakey, and Philly Joe Jones (favorite drummer of Miles Davis and Bill Evans).
Friday Night Family Happening: Let’s make rhythm instruments!
CLASSIC, May 20: The Philadelphia Trio: Beethoven, Shostakovich, Brahms. Known internationally as recording and performing artists, the Philadelphia Trio has been a fixture in the area for many years. Pianist Elizabeth Keller, violinist Barbara Sonies, and cellist Deborah Reeder will perform: Trio in G major, op. 1, no. 2 by Ludwig Van Beethoven; Trio no. 2 in E minor, op. 67 by Dmitri Shostakovich; and Trio no. 2 in C major, op. 87 by Johannes Brahms.
JAZZ, June 1: Jazz and the Motown Sound. Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble with vocalists Patricia Scott and Ray Richardson. A spectacular evening celebrating jazz and Motown, songs will include: “Baby Love”, “Come See About Me by the Supremes, “My Girl,” “Get Ready” by the Temptations, and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing Baby” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, “My Cherie Amour” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder, “Heat Wave” by Martha and the Vandellas, and “Don’t Mess with Bill” by The Marvelettes, and other favorites.
Friday Night Family Happening: Salvatore Pinto: Make Circus Figures
CLASSIC, June 3: Oxana Harlamova. Acclaimed pianist Harlamova returns to Woodmere. Playing in the tradition of the Moscow ensemble, Ms. Harlamova combines energy, vigor, and sensitivity to each piece. She will perform Brahms, Schubert, Rachmaninov, and Schubert.
JAZZ, June 8: To Be or Not to Bop: Gillespie and Parker. Named after the title of Dizzy Gillespie’s famous memoir, To Be or Not to Bop, this program will transform Woodmere into the landmark jazz club Birdland for one night of jamming. Saxophonist Julian Pressley and trumpeter Tony Smith bring the bebop styles of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie “Bird” Parker to life.
Friday Night Family Happening: “Bird” art
CLASSIC, June 10: Lisamarie McGrath, Cynthia Folio, Jean-François Proulx: Music for Two Flutes and Piano. Flutists Lisamarie McGrath and Cynthia Folio are joined by pianist Jean-François Proulx in this special presentation of contemporary classical pieces with an Eastern influence. The program includes: Town Light and Au Dela du Temps by Yuko Uebayashi,Trio by Friedrich Kuhlau, and Z-3 by Cynthia Folio.
JAZZ, June 15: Jazzical: The Union of Jazz and Classical. Violinist Marina Vishnyakova and cellist Yoomi Kwon come together for this rare union of classical and jazz music. Performing jazz tunes with orchestral instruments, the dynamic duo will perform “Footprints” by Wayne Shorter, “Mr. PC” by John Coltrane, and “All Blues” by Miles Davis.
Friday Night Family Happening: String Art: Make instruments and other things
CLASSIC, June 17: Astral Artists: Kristin Lee and Andrea Lam. Rising international stars violinist Kristin Lee and pianist Andrea Lam will perform Sonata in B minor BMV1014 for Violin and Piano by J.S. Bach; Sonata for Violin and Piano by Maurice Ravel; Sonata for Violin and Piano no. 1 by George Walker; Meditation from Thaïs by Jules Massenet; and Tzigane by Maurice Ravel.
JAZZ, June 22: Summertime: Musical Selections from Porgy and Bess. Celebrate the sizzlin’ days and cool nights of summer as the Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble takes you to Catfish Row, South Carolina. The Gershwin classic Porgy and Bess comes to life with vocalists Sherry Butler as Bess and Roy Richardson as Porgy.
Friday Night Family Happening: Summertime with Salvatore Pinto: Make summer landscapes
CLASSIC, June 24: Violinist Bella Hristova: Corigliano, Puts, Piazolla, Bach. An incredible new talent, Ms. Hristova engages audiences immediately with her expressive nuance, power and control. Her performance includes: The Red Violin Caprices by John Corigliano, Arches by Kevin Puts, Three Tangoes by Astor Piazolla, and Partita no. 2 in D minor by J.S. Bach. Born in Bulgaria, Ms. Hristova studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Ida Kavafaian and Steven Tenenbom.
Sponsors and Partners
Friday Night Jazz is offered in partnership with LifeLine Music Coalition. Our special thanks to Bob Warth and the Raynier Institute and Foundation for generous gifts that help support Music at Woodmere.
