November 2021

December 2021

January 2022
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  • 8:00 PMSOLD OUT! In-person! Chuck van Zyl: Live Concert Performance + CD Release
  • 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM

    REGISTRATION IS FULL BUT YOU CAN JOIN THE WAITLIST. THE EVENTBRITE LINK IS BELOW. 

    Chuck van Zyl: Live Concert Performance + CD Release

    After decades of music-making, electronic artist Chuck van Zyl is credited with a range of substantial live appearances, collaborations and album releases. Realized in the specific poetry of the Berlin-School his creations draw on a unique understanding of texture, atmosphere and scale. With its deep-space gateways and brilliant sequencer breakdowns, from the heights of heedless improvisation, on down to its quietly consuming fields, his work opens a zone of one's own.

    Spontaneously composed in the moment, performances by Chuck van Zyl evoke the sense of discovery first heard in early albums by Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream. Offering a quiet sense of mystery, his recitals are uniquely designed for an informed audience set for a journey. To riders of this aural plain his music is the perfect soundtrack. Somewhere between its mysterious sense of interiority and celestial yearning the audience will find room to contemplate the cosmos, or just as easily encounter the self.

    Gliding through the spaceways, Chuck van Zyl presents pulsing passages of rhythmic flight. Slow chords hold forth, while cycling sequencer notes echo out amidst lithe keyboard leads. As synthesizer harmonies rise and fall, in passages of dark and light, an unexpected beauty emerges. It is in this remarkable realm that we are asked to give in to the sensation of sound, and connect with our inner stillness.

    Perhaps best known as host of STAR'S END for the past 40+ years - one of the world's most successful radio programs of Spacemusic - or as founder of The Gatherings - Philadelphia's premiere concert series of innovative music - Chuck van Zyl has also been producing his own electronic realizations, in collaboration and solo, since the mid-1980s. He has played live at a variety of venues, and issued numerous studio works and concert recordings - all in service to an enduring impulse for expression. The new album "Votive" represents the diverse sonic terrain he is capable of achieving in the studio - the release of which coincides with the 4 December 2021 event at The Rotunda, his first public performance in well over two years.

    Doors open at 7:30pm.

    Following the performance will be a brief Q & A and CD signing.

    PLEASE MAKE A NOTE OF OUR COVID RULES:

    -Everyone over the age of two years old will be required to wear a mask the entire time they are indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

    - We will ask each person in attendance to sign in at the front desk, for contact tracing purposes.

    - Social distancing will be enforced.

    -Seating is very limited. Registration is required.

    This event is FREE. REGISTRATION IS FULL BUT YOU CAN JOIN THE WAITLIST. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chuck-van-zyl-live-concert-performance-cd-release-registration-208177623877

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  • 7:00 PMOnline! I'm Not a Christmas Celebrator Video Release Party
  • 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM I'm Not a Christmas Celebrator Video Release PartyCelebrate the new Ants on a Log music video, plus live music*, book reading**, and dance party! Join Julie Be for this show full of values you know and love (anti-consumerism, inclusion, fun) and want to pass on to your kids!https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81211009740?pwd=Z3B2RzhBaWRTQTNJbTBxUldVVmpVQT09Meeting ID: 812 1100 9740Passcode: 501482Suggested donation: $5-20, no one turned away.Venmo: Julie-Lipson-1PayPal: AntsonaLogMusic@gmail.comCashApp: $JBLAntsSupport socially conscious kids music! Just $3/mo helps make our work sustainable: www.Patreon.com/AntsonaLog. *Live performance includes a new Ants song(!) about gifts you can make yourself (read: anticonsumerism for kids).**Live reading of "The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming" by Lemony Snicket, Julie Be's favorite book that's about understanding others (and a little bit about Hanukah). 
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  • 8:00 PMIn-person! The Secret Cinema pres. LOST TELEVISION - films on 16mm
  • 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM The Secret Cinema to show LOST TELEVISIONThe Secret Cinema will return to The Rotunda for the first time since the pandemic, with a brand new program called LOST TELEVISION. The program, to be presented on Thursday, December 9, consists of rare and forgotten shows from the early era of television, which only survive thanks to now-aging 16mm film prints.The 16mm film format was crucial to early television broadcasters, in the days before videotape was perfected. Filmed recordings of live television, called kinescopes, were made using special equipment. Other programs were originally shot on film -- this was standard procedure for the popular 1950s TV genre of anthology dramas, short stories made with changing casts. And for many years 16mm prints were shipped to local stations as a convenient distribution medium for both programs and commercials. The Secret Cinema archive includes many original prints with examples of all of these uses, and these will be showcased in LOST TELEVISION.There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is free. Seating is limited. Masking and contract tracing enforced. All Secret Cinema presentations are projected in 16mm film on a giant screen (not video).This screening is part of The Rotunda's ongoing Bright Bulb Screening Series which offers free movies on the second Thursday of every month, throughout the year.Included in LOST TELEVISION will be:ROCKY KING, DETECTIVE (circa 1954) - This show, a cross between FILM NOIR and soap operas, originally aired on the nine stations of the DuMont network. It starred prolific Hollywood character actor Roscoe Karns as the title police detective on the homicide squad. In an odd (and budget-saving) touch, Karns would banter with his wife, who always stayed off-screen. This episode, complete with commercials, is not known to exist elsewhere.SCREEN DIRECTOR'S PLAYHOUSE: THE SILENT PARTNER (1955) - This series differed from many other anthology drama showcases in that it was created by the Directors Guild, and used top feature film directors to helm its stories, including John Ford, Rouben Mamoulian, Alfred Hitchcock, Leo McCarey and many more. This example was one of its most memorable episodes -- it stars the great Buster Keaton as a washed-up silent film comedian watching the Academy Awards telecast in a bar. The cast also includes Zasu Pitts, Joe E. Brown, Bob Hope and more. Directed by George Marshall.ZELDA (1962) - ZELDA was a pilot show for a series that went unsold and unproduced. It was to be a spin-off from the popular THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS. ZELDA starred Sheila James, reprising her role as Zelda Gilroy, a brainy, upbeat, and headstrong tomboy who opens the show by sharing her thoughts and worries to the camera (like DOBIE GILLIS): "My ambition is to find a fella…I'm really not much of a girl." It set an odd mood for an ostensible comedy series, and it's not hard to see why the show never sold, but James has a fascinating screen presence. After appearing in several TV series, she left acting. Under her birth name of Sheila Kuehl she went to law school to fight for women's workplace rights, and in 1994 became the first openly gay person elected to the California legislature. Today Kuehl serves on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.EXCURSION: ATOMIC ENERGY (1953) - Burgess Meredith introduces the star of this educational program, Princeton University professor Hubert Alyea. The funny and fast-talking academic, nicknamed "Dr. Boom," gives a rapid-fire lecture complete with demonstrations and explosions. Alyea was reportedly the real-life inspiration for the Walt Disney movie THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR. This show was a production of the TV-Radio Workshop of the Ford Foundation.SECRET CINEMA WEBSITE: http://www.thesecretcinema.com There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is free. Seating is limited. Masking and contract tracing enforced. 
  • 8:30 PMOnline! Sylvia Platypus Live from ElectricLatteLand!
  • 8:30 PM - 10:00 PM Sylvia Platypus Live from ElectricLatteLand!Watch the livestream for free at The Rotunda's YouTube channel! Direct link to this show: https://youtu.be/HmeO6nLw5L4About the band: If Edith Piaf partied with the Yardbirds on a windswept moor, the result might sound something like Sylvia Platypus. Sylvia Platypus is Philadelphia's (and possibly the world's) only psycho-celtic glam-blues band. Take the distinctive vocals and unusual poetic sensibility of Janet Bressler, add the soul-searing lead guitar work of Bill Barone (formerly of the 1970's era German symphonic rock band Wallenstein), the solid rhythmic foundation of Ruchama Bilenky (bass) and Quirky Tom Theurer (drums) and throw in some wailing highland and uilleann piping from Charlie Rutan ("the Eddie Van Halen of bagpipes"*) and you have an original sonic signature that rattles the cage of "genre".Direct link to this show: https://youtu.be/HmeO6nLw5L4This event is FREE but tips are MORE THAN WELCOME for the band. Just Paypal @Sylvia platypus during the performance [or any time, really!].
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  • 6:00 PMIn-person! Afterverse Comics presents: QPOC Draw-In
  • 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM

    Hey! Alex from The Afterverse here! We publish BLACK VANS and other Black and POC/LGBT comics! We are hosting a Draw-In (and a write-in, and a collage-in!) where POC and LGBT folks and allies gather to finish or perhaps start those comics, zines, short stories, novels, movie scripts that we've been working on! In a chill environment, we'll share snacks, watch some cartoons or sci-fi films, listen to some music, and make art and stories!

    I've always found that a co-working space was good for my creativity, if this is also you come hang! This will be a good, super safe, queer empowering space to network, share ideas, meet collaborators and possibly even get real time feedback on what you're working on! It's also just a fun hang.

    Come through!

    Admission is FREE

    Masking enforced

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  • 3:00 PMIn-person! Redeemer Tabernacle Baptist Church-Kids United Christmas Program
  • 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

    REDEEMER TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH-KIDS UNITED

    PASTOR, DENISE TWYMAN

    Cordially Invites You to Our

    ANNUAL CELEBRATION “JESUS BORN IN BETHLEHEM”

    12/11/2021

    3:00 pm to 6:00 pm

    Lite snacks will be provided

    Feel free to bring your talent

    Social distance required and masks worn at all times

    Please R.S.V.P. by 12/5/2021 to

    LaVern Allen at 215-870-3917

    Anthony Robinson at 267-977-4206

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  • 6:00 PMOnline! Planning for 2022! Free Vision Driven workshop
  • 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

    Get your planners and calendars ready! Map out the coming year with us.

    About this event

    Vision Driven Artists (VDA) exists to increase resources and opportunities for local artists and arts organizations.

    Create your own artist statement and get an understanding of what makes a good one in this Rotunda-sponsored workshop.

    ABOUT THE WORKSHOP

    - Identify your goals for 2022 and break them into achievable tasks

    - Plot your tasks on a timeline or calendar for 2022

    - Create a plan to keep yourself accountable

    ABOUT VISION DRIVEN ARTISTS

    Vision Driven Artists - Philly RESOURCES is an online community of local artists who are interested in sharing resources, collaborating on projects, learning about opportunities, and building a more equitable arts scene.

    If you want to market your art, events, fundraisers, performances, etc. please do so at Vision Driven RESOURCES - Philly PRESENTS [Closed Group]: https://www.facebook.com/groups/VDAPhillyPresents

    If you would like to learn more about Vision Driven Artists, please follow our Facebook Page to learn about events, resources, opportunities, and workshops: https://www.facebook.com/VisionDrivenArtists/

    Registration is FREE and is required in order to receive the Zoom link for the workshop. Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vda-planning-for-2022-tickets-168319097953

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  • 4:00 PMIn-person! Black Art Conversations workshop
  • 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

    Black Art Conversations

    Wed. Oct. 20, 6-8pm, Sun. Nov. 14, 4-6pm, and Wed. Dec. 15, 6-8pm

    Black Art Conversations - a free in-person public video-streamed event encompassing curated discussions about the creative sector.

    About this event

    A 3-part series of moderated discussions and live performances showcasing local independent Black artists, intersecting cultures, spanning generations to celebrate the emerging works they've produced and their experiences in the industry.

    The event is organized by Shekhinah B. and supported in part by Creative Philadelphia (Office of Arts Culture and the Creative Economy) and The Rotunda.

    COVID Safety Guidelines & Precautions

    - Everyone over the age of 2 will be required to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status. 

    - Performers/presenters and attendees will be asked to stay home if they feel unwell or have been in contact with someone diagnosed with Covid within 14 days of the event.

    - Event organizers or the venue will register attendees and performers/presenters ahead of time or at the front desk, depending on the event, and will require them to alert us if they become sick after the event so that we can let everyone else know.

    You must register to attend, seating is limited due to COVID restrictions. Please register at:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-art-conversations-tickets-164183839283

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  • 8:00 PMIn-person! Fire Museum Pres. Grex & Sirius Juju
  • 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM The curators of this event require that everyone in attendance show proof of vaccination at the door. Masking and contact tracing enforced. Seating is limited for purposes of social distancing, advanced registration is strongly recommended.Grex:Karl Evangelista – guitar, voice, drums, samples, misc.Rei Scampavia – synth, voice, drums, misc.Grex is an art rock/experimental music duo based out of Oakland, California. In biological terms, a “grex” is an entity composed of several smaller organisms. Grex (the band) explores the meeting point between surreal songcraft and the dark outer reaches of experimental music. The group has been called an “otherworldly experience” (Eugene Weekly) and “true genre warping music” (KFJC), recalling at turns the ecstatic energy of John Coltrane, the electronic squall of Death Grips, and the lilting indie rock of Mitski.Grex has performed at The Great American Music Hall, Slim’s (SF), Myra Melford’s New Frequnices Festival, The Switchboard Music Festival, The Sonic Circuits Festival (DC), and the United States of Asian America Festival, and organized multiple online Lockdown Festivals in the midst of the 2020-2021 coronavirus outbreak. The band has worked with Fred Frith, Tony Levin, Marshall Trammell (Black Spirituals), Scott Amendola (Nels Cline, TJ Kirk), and Asian Improv aRts, and Evangelista is an active improvising guitarist alongside the likes of Andrew Cyrille, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Oliver Lake, Ben Goldberg, Alexander Hawkins, and Trevor Watts.Sirius Juju:heru shabaka-ra, trumpetwatsun, bass clarinetdan blacksberg, trombonesam gellerstein, sousaphone, pedalsjulius masri, situations and conundrums“(Sirius Juju) executed free improvisations, which they called “The Ninth Pitch,” with the finesse of seasoned jazz men but with all the freedom of expression that the avant-garde brought into jazz.” – Victor Schermer/All About JazzAt this time in this planet’s history, the work of Sirius JuJu can be summed up as such: “..while they murder, we re-drum.” – Heru Shabaka-ralinks at https://firemuseumpresents.com/events/grex-sirius-juju/The curators of this event require that everyone in attendance show proof of vaccination at the door. Masking and contact tracing enforced. Seating is limited for purposes of social distancing, advanced registration is strongly recommended. Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/grex-sirius-juju-tickets-203076997767
  • 11:00 PMOnline! Liminal States featuring Helena Espavall
  • 11:00 PM - 11:40 PM Bowerbird is pleased to present Liminal States, a series of late night, live streamed concerts intended to be listened to as you fall asleep. Aiming to center and calm, the musicians will seek to lead listeners to that magic space between awake and asleep. Tune in and bliss out. Musician Helena Espavall will perform from her home in Lisbon, Portugal.

    This event is part of the Liminal States Series

    ABOUT THE ARTISTHelena Espvall started to play electric guitar as a bored teenager in northern Sweden, and went on to take cello lessons and was never bored again. After having played in rock bands, a silent movie orchestra, an Arabian ensemble and being inspired to play free improvised music by a shocking Eugene Chadbourne performance, she went on to live in the US between 2000-2012,  where she performed with dancers, recorded and toured with folk psych band Espers, sang Swedish traditional songs, played concerts at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, the High Zero Festival of improvised music in Baltimore, MD, at the Improvised and Otherwise Festival in Brooklyn, NY, at Big Sur experimental festival in California and at Terrastock among others. Espvall has received grants for artist residencies in Mojacar, Spain, at CESTA in Tabor, Czech Republic, and at Binaural / Nodar, Portugal, and she was the recipient of an Individual Arts Award from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She has worked with Lukas Ligeti, Fursaxa, Damon & Naomi, Bert Jansch, Masaki Batoh (Ghost), Vashti Bunyan,  Marissa Nadler, Pauline Oliveros and many more. Now residing in Lisbon, she has collaborated with musicians like Norberto Lobo, Manuel Mota, Sei Miguel, and Vitor Rua, among others. She currently plays with the improv collective Lantana, that has collaborated with Lula Pena, and performed at Lisboa Soa Festival in the Estufa Fria, at the Jazz Ao Centro Festival in Coimbra, and at Jazz 2020, Gulbenkian. She is also a member of the band Beautify Junkyards that released an album this year on British label GhostBox.  Espvall has done solo performances at Out.Fest, ZDB, Bar Irreal, Damas and the Panteão, and invited by Culturgest, she recently created a solo piece for acoustic guitar, as a part of the project Abrindo o Livro dos Sons, a tribute to German composer Hans Otte.

    Admission to this online event is Free / Pay What You Wish ($20 suggested). REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/helena-espavall-tickets-203244288137 A link will be sent to you the day of the event. The performance will start at 11:00pm Eastern Time and will run approximately 40 mins.

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  • 11:30 PMOnline! Stay at home NYE: Brandon Lopez Trio
  • 11:30 PM - 12:30 AM

    Stay at home NYE: Brandon Lopez Trio

    DONATE TO FIRE MUSEUM PRESENTS:

    https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/fire-museum-presents

    Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZlVWFWlcKE

    We are sharing this video on New Year’s Eve, join us for a viewing/listening party at home if like us you’d like to bring in the new year with a joyful noise at home!

    This video will be taken down after the premiere – the audio from this performance is going to be released on the wonderful Relative Pitch label in the future!

    Brandon Lopez works at the fringes of jazz, free improvisation, noise and new music. This collaborative powerhouse never lets up with underground sax hero Steve Baczkowski and Gerald Cleaver who is among the most agile and wide-ranging first-call musicians on the 21st century jazz scene.

    Brandon Lopez:

    New York-based composer and bassist working at the fringes of jazz, free improvisation, noise and new music. His music has been praised as “brutal” (Chicago Reader) and “relentless” (The New York Times).

    From the New York Philharmonic’s David Geffen Hall to the DIY basements of Brooklyn, Lopez has worked beside many luminaries of jazz, classical, poetry, and experimental music, including Fred Moten, John Zorn, Okkyung Lee, Ingrid Laubrock, Tony Malaby, Tyshawn Sorey, Bill Nace, Chris Potter, Edwin Torres, Tom Rainey, Cecilia Lopez, Sun Ra Arkestra, Susan Alcorn, Mette Rasmussen, and many others.

    Brandon was a 2019–2020 Artist in Residence at Roulette, a 2018 Artist-in-Residence at Issue Project Room and 2018 Van Lier Fellow at Roulette Intermedium, Recent highlight performances include opening the 2018–2019 season of the New York Philharmonic as a featured soloist in Ashley Fure’s “Filament” and a number of works with John Zorn, including the Zorn’s 35th anniversary of “Cobra”.

    Steve Baczkowski:

    Steve Baczkowski is an improviser, saxophonist, and multi-wind instrumentalist. Baczkowski began playing alto saxophone at age eight and switched to baritone by the time he was twelve. He studied music in high school at Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts and went on to studies in music, saxophone performance, literature, and ethnomusicology at the State University of New York at Buffalo from 1994 to 1999. In 1999, Baczkowski became the music director of Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center in Buffalo, N.Y, where he has since produced and presented hundreds of concerts of contemporary music as well as numerous community-based artist residencies.

    In addition to organizing multiple ensembles, such as the Buffalo Improvisers Orchestra, and the Buffalo Suicide Prevention Unit, Baczkowski also performs with the 12/8 Path Band, Genkin Philharmonic, Ubudis Quartet, Rey Scott’s Unusually Different, in duos with percussionists Ravi Padmanabha and John Bacon and guitarists Bill Nace, Omar Tamez, and Bill Sack and in numerous other ensembles as well as solo. He has collaborated with many renowned musicians and has appeared at festivals in North America, Mexico, and Europe.

    Gerald Cleaver:

    Drummer Gerald Cleaver was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and is a product of the rich music tradition found there and also in his home. Inspired by his father, John Cleaver, also a drummer, he began playing the drums at an early age. He also played violin in elementary school and switched to trumpet during junior high and high school. While in his teens, he gained early working experience with Ali Muhammad Jackson, Lamont Hamilton, Earl Van Riper, and Pancho Hagood and later with Marcus Belgrave, Donald Walden, Rodney Whitaker, A. Spencer Barefield and Wendell Harrison. Cleaver earned a B.A. in music education from the University of Michigan. During his studies he was awarded an National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Study Fellowship to study with drummer Victor Lewis. After graduating he began teaching in Detroit, and later joined the jazz faculty at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. He relocated to New York in 2002.

    Cleaver has worked with Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Jacky Terrasson, Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Mario Pavone, Charles Gayle, Matthew Shipp, Reggie Workman, Joe Morris, Craig Taborn, Ralph Alessi, Eddie Harris, and Miroslav Vitous, among others. In 2002 “Adjust”, recorded for the Spanish label Fresh Sound New Talent, was nominated in the Best Debut Recording category.

    video recording by Richard Stankiewicz, audio recording by Randy Thaler & video editing by Mitch Altman.

    links: https://firemuseumpresents.com/events/gig-895/ 

    Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZlVWFWlcKE

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