(re)FOCUS Fest 2018 brings together four theatre makers to explore what it means to reclaim and to celebrate diversity through shared performance.

April 5-8

Through poetic dialogue, immersive soundscapes, and lyrical movement, Kaleid Theatre, Pratima Agrawal, Alma's Engine, and TS Hawkins meditate on gender, race, sexuality, class, and everything in between.

(re)FOCUS Fest is a chance to (re)focus on themes that are all around us, but difficult to see, explore, and discuss. It is a celebration of our ability to confront ourselves, learn from each other, and rejoice in the myriad of experiences that make us who we are.

Schedule

April 5 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 6 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 3:00pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 3:00pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

(re)FOCUS Fest 2018 brings together four theatre makers to explore what it means to reclaim and to celebrate diversity through shared performance.

April 5-8

Through poetic dialogue, immersive soundscapes, and lyrical movement, Kaleid Theatre, Pratima Agrawal, Alma's Engine, and TS Hawkins meditate on gender, race, sexuality, class, and everything in between.

(re)FOCUS Fest is a chance to (re)focus on themes that are all around us, but difficult to see, explore, and discuss. It is a celebration of our ability to confront ourselves, learn from each other, and rejoice in the myriad of experiences that make us who we are.

Schedule

April 5 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 6 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 3:00pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 3:00pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

(re)FOCUS Fest 2018 brings together four theatre makers to explore what it means to reclaim and to celebrate diversity through shared performance.

April 5-8

Through poetic dialogue, immersive soundscapes, and lyrical movement, Kaleid Theatre, Pratima Agrawal, Alma's Engine, and TS Hawkins meditate on gender, race, sexuality, class, and everything in between.

(re)FOCUS Fest is a chance to (re)focus on themes that are all around us, but difficult to see, explore, and discuss. It is a celebration of our ability to confront ourselves, learn from each other, and rejoice in the myriad of experiences that make us who we are.

Schedule

April 5 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 6 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 3:00pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 3:00pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

(re)FOCUS Fest 2018 brings together four theatre makers to explore what it means to reclaim and to celebrate diversity through shared performance.

April 5-8

Through poetic dialogue, immersive soundscapes, and lyrical movement, Kaleid Theatre, Pratima Agrawal, Alma's Engine, and TS Hawkins meditate on gender, race, sexuality, class, and everything in between.

(re)FOCUS Fest is a chance to (re)focus on themes that are all around us, but difficult to see, explore, and discuss. It is a celebration of our ability to confront ourselves, learn from each other, and rejoice in the myriad of experiences that make us who we are.

Schedule

April 5 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 6 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 3:00pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 3:00pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

(re)FOCUS Fest 2018 brings together four theatre makers to explore what it means to reclaim and to celebrate diversity through shared performance.

April 5-8

Through poetic dialogue, immersive soundscapes, and lyrical movement, Kaleid Theatre, Pratima Agrawal, Alma's Engine, and TS Hawkins meditate on gender, race, sexuality, class, and everything in between.

(re)FOCUS Fest is a chance to (re)focus on themes that are all around us, but difficult to see, explore, and discuss. It is a celebration of our ability to confront ourselves, learn from each other, and rejoice in the myriad of experiences that make us who we are.

Schedule

April 5 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 6 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 3:00pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 3:00pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

(re)FOCUS Fest 2018 brings together four theatre makers to explore what it means to reclaim and to celebrate diversity through shared performance.

April 5-8

Through poetic dialogue, immersive soundscapes, and lyrical movement, Kaleid Theatre, Pratima Agrawal, Alma's Engine, and TS Hawkins meditate on gender, race, sexuality, class, and everything in between.

(re)FOCUS Fest is a chance to (re)focus on themes that are all around us, but difficult to see, explore, and discuss. It is a celebration of our ability to confront ourselves, learn from each other, and rejoice in the myriad of experiences that make us who we are.

Schedule

April 5 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 6 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 3:00pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

April 7 at 7:30pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 3:00pmVoidedCartons of Ultrasounds

April 8 at 7:30pmTitles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch TrialsThe Publik Private

Vision Driven Consulting has teamed up with The Rotunda to bring resources and capacity-building workshops to self-producing artists/musicians, arts organization staff, and event curators in all disciplines.

Rotunda Workshops: 6-8pm at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St, Philadelphia); all workshops in the series are FREE and OPEN to the public. Refreshments provided. No sign-up necessary.

Grant Writing – Intermediate (March 12th at The Rotunda)• Review aspects of a strong grant proposal• Practice writing an actual grant • Receive feedback on your draft proposal 

Real Budgeting for Real Work (April 9th at The Rotunda)• Look at sample budgets and learn how to interpret the story behind the numbers • Create a budget tailored to your goals for 2016• Learn how to assemble a project budget for potential funders

Event Planning (May 14th at The Rotunda)• Learn new techniques for building an audience and your ideal project participant• Troubleshoot issues with audience development that you may have had in the past• Identify marketing techniques to keep people showing up to your future events

Marketing (June 11th at The Rotunda)• Learn about writing and sending Press Releases• Identify your target audience and how to reach them• Discuss the pros and cons of various social media and online marketing toolsFacilitator: LaNeshe White, Interactive Mechanics & Theatre in the X

Crowdfunding 101 (September 10th at The Rotunda)• Learn how to tell if crowdfunding is right for your project• Discover the pros and cons of crowdfunding platforms• Hear from a panel of artists who have run successful crowdfunding campaigns

Creating an Artists Statement (September 24th at The Rotunda)• Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential threats of a new project • Think through the components of your project and its goals • Hone in on the details of your program or project and begin a draft project plan

Setting & Measuring Goals (October 8th at The Rotunda)• Identify what you want to achieve in your projects• Incorporate critical feedback and self-reflection into your arts practice• Brainstorm and receive tools for measuring success

http://www.visiondrivenartists.org/

Do you need to reconnect with the deep sense of security and fulfillment? With possibility and abundance and openings?

Each of these 6 films makes an intimate investigation into connection, relationship (with oneself and others), love and place. Through DIY, intentional, and care-based filmmaking, witness uniquely honest and moving documentation and storytelling. From fantasy to experimental documentary, this series will make you feel nourished and maybe just a little softer somewhere inside. 

The screening will include a brief Q&A with local filmmakers. This free event is curated as part of the Rotunda's ongoing monthly cinema series. 

My Sister Swallowed the ZooMaya Yu Zhang (Philly 2015) 11 minMy Sister Swallowed the Zoo investigates an ordinary phone call between a mother and a daughter. The film explores hope and disappointment, adoption and replacement, freedom, and captivity.

No Promised LandBARETEETH & Aiden Un (Philly/Jamaica 2016) 20 minIn a Philadelphia outside of time, an intergenerational group collects their tactics for liberation in this somatic and experimental documentary.

Grounded While Walls FallZein Nakhoda (Philly 2017) 66 minA post-revolutionary archivist recalls practices of resilience and spiritual grounding among their ancestor organizers, cultural workers, and movement builders.

Squirrel Hill Falls [work-in-progress]Hilary Brashear (Philly 2018) 15 minSquirrel Hill Falls is a short docu-fiction film about an abandoned park with an identity crisis. It's one part neighborhood history, two parts magic and a dash of a pink haired local who likes to investigate. This film is still a work in progress and question cards will be handed out before the screening. Your feedback is optional but appreciated!

~ Q&A ~

Lucid Noon Sunset BlushAlli Logout (New Orleans 2015) 34 min17-year-old bb gay Micha has just moved into The Palace - a basement full of queer femme Dominatrix, lovers and misfits. They are beautiful, carefree and as young as the night. This film contains strong language and sexual content. 

Army of LoveAlexa Karolinski & Ingo Niermann (Berlin 2016) 40 minRomantic love is saturated with commoditization. The socialistic premise behind “free love” crumbles when desiring competition gets in the way, and in the age of hook-up apps, the possibility of free sex represents the liberalization, not the liberation, of love. Alexa Karolinski and Ingo Niermann engage these issues with Army of Love (2016), a video campaign introducing a propositional regiment of soldiers diverse in age and appearance and tasked with solving the persistent social malaise of dire loneliness. The docu-fictional video is in part a utopian proposal framed by conversations questioning the basic premises of love and justice. This film contains nudity. 

Who Will F*ck Daddy?Lasse Långström (Sweden 2017) 60 minA dive deep into the collective subconscious where the man's stinking corpse decomposes into nourishing soil from which we are born again, and rise to the surface with a new feminine way of thinking / feeling and unexpected perversions. This film contains explicit imagery and sexual content - not recommended for children. 

Guest curator Eva Wǒ is an artist from New Mexico based in Philadelphia casting spells of homoerotic cultural nourishment, liberation, and self-love. Her work includes portrait-based photography, videography, curation and performance. She collaborates with and supports queer/trans/nonbinary artists, performers, event organizers, activists, organizers, and sex workers in the arts. She is a recipient of the 2017 Leeway Transformation Award.

Admission is FREE

Event Horizon Series presents

April 13th - Juan Garces, B.E.E.P. and Mikronesia

Juan Garces is an experimental and improvisational musician and electronics and synthesizer enthusiast. He uses vintage and contemporary synthesizers, sequencers, live looping, and a laptop computer to take his listeners on a unique, imaginative journey. He has been playing experimental music since the late 1970s.  Juan is a founder and constant in the improvisational music projects The Melting Transistor with Floyd Bledsoe and Karl Fury, The Equinox Project with David Berends and Karl Fury, and Black Thujone with Mike Hunter. He has played solo and group performances at various venues, including Electro Music in New York State and Asheville, NC; Rowan University; Event Horizon in Philadelphia; the Cosmic Crossings Concert Series in Washington Crossing, NJ; and on live radio broadcasts on Music With Space (WPRB, 103.3 FM, Princeton, NJ) and Digital Dreams (WLFR, 91.7FM, Galloway, NJ). Juan has also collaborated with Dr. Brad Garton, head of the Columbia University Computer Music Center, in New York City, on numerous projects, and continues to collaborate with other experimental musicians as often as he can. In his deep past, Juan performed live with Ted Klett and Tom McMillan (PaxElectronic Collective/Area 25), Tommy Buzz Matthews, Ian Kelly and Eli Ward (Sonic Alchemy), and Michael Mironov (Dancing Water Percussion Ensemble).

 The Boyer College Electroacoustic Ensemble Project—BEEP—is a group for electroacoustic music creation in a collaborative environment. Founded in 2013 by Dr. Adam Vidiksis at Temple University, BEEP embraces a variety of aesthetics, from EDM to the avant-garde. We function in varied modalities: from a laptop orchestra, to fusion of computers and traditional instruments, to an electronic music band. BEEP uses the laptop orchestra model, “an ensemble of computer-based meta-instruments,” as but one of many possible modes of music making using computers and other electronics.

Our main goal as an ensemble is to explore new musical paths and new technologies by uniting people of varying and complementary skill sets in the discovery of new possibilities of creating sound. BEEP also aims to promote expressive music making and musical vocabulary, increase technological literacy among its participants and audience, to encourage a culture of code literacy and computer competency hand-in-hand with critical and independent thinking, and to perform the ever-expanding repertory of electronic music.

Mikronesia (Sonic landscapes + visuals by Willam Fields) - Mikonesia is the ambient music project of composer and sound artist Michael McDermott. He has created works for video, dance, stage, installation, smart phones, multi-speaker arrays, wind sculptures, wishing wells and deep sleep. His practice explores the relationship between present moment awareness, deep time and humanity's personal connection through listening. His work integrates a daily practice of meditation, Deep Listening and textured sound worlds through a process he calls “sonic photography”. This process involves site specific recordings of physical spaces re-imagined using photographic development and collage techniques. His aim is to reframe the everyday world as both a grand statement that stretches out in both directions of time and as an ephemeral instant of precious connection.

In 2016 he completed a certification program in Deep Listening studying with Deep Listening pioneer Pauline Oliveros. He was recently Artist in Residence at <fidget>, Composer in Residence for Temple University’s BEEP Ensemble and Composer in Residence at Village of the Arts and Humanities.  Over the past two years he has been traveling at artists residencies around the world in Brazil, Iceland, Germany, Thailand and India working on a sound design project of extinct animal sounds called Echozoo.

Admission is FREE 

International Roundearth Society Party “Smile Before you File”- BagpipesFAO presents three live bands:

TIMBILA [tim-BEE-lah] reinvents some of the most beautiful music traditions of Zimbabwe and Mozambique with an East Village edge. The hypnotic dream melodies of mbira soar with stinging guitar riffs, violin lines drawn from mbira, and celestial ancient vocal harmonies, in a deep meld of African spirituality, funky grooves, and expressive pop. No other band sounds like TIMBILA. https://www.facebook.com/timbilaband/, https://timbila.bandcamp.com/, https://www.reverbnation.com/timbila

SYLVIA PLATYPUS 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 progressive rock band Wallenstein), the magic  of  Phillip McMillan's violin, 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". https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sylvia-platypus-ep/482731289, https://www.reverbnation.com/sylviaplatypus, www.sylviaplatypus.com 

HAWK TUBLEY & THE OZYMANDIANS:  with Andres Villamil on bass, Mike “Luxor” Szekely on drums, and Dave Cope on keys.  Hawk Tubley’s most recent album, Pond Kings In April, is a genre-bending mix of indie rock, cowboy folk, and good, old-fashioned rock‘n’roll, featuring exceptional songwriting and musicianship.   Hawk Tubley & The Ozymandians join elements of folk, jazz, pop, and punk, resulting in an original sound with a psychedelic twist that is at once familiar, strange, and fun.  You can find them on Bandcamp, Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, etc. www.hawktubley.com, https://hawktubley.bandcamp.com, https://www.facebook.com/HawkTubley

TICKET LINK: https://bagpipesfao.ticketleap.com/international-roundearth-society-party/

Mauricio Kagel's "Ludwig van" 90 mins, black and white, German with English subitles

Bowerbird is excited to present Ludwig Van, Mauricio Kagel's quirky and surreal film about Beethoven returning to Bonn, Germany on the occasion of his bicentenary. According to Gramophone, "at first it's a laugh a minute... then Kagel's film turns dark". 

Ludwig van (full title: Ludwig van: A report; German: Ludwig van: ein Bericht) was filmed in 1969, it was first screened the following year. The work was commissioned by Westdeutscher Rundfunk for the bicentennial celebrations of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven in 1970. The film examines the reception of the composer and his works and how he has become a consumer product of the culture industry. The soundtrack, by Kagel, is an arrangement of fragments of Beethoven's works, modified as if heard by the deaf composer himself. Prominent contemporary artists including Dieter Roth, Stefan Wewerka, Robert Filliou, and Joseph Beuys were involved in the design and make cameos. 

A deconstructive analysis suggests the film investigates Beethoven as a cultural icon, revered yet exploited; the use and misuse of his works, including their appropriation to advance nationalist agendas; the difficulties and anxieties of influence performers face; Beethoven scholarship and attempts to "tame" the composer to accord with bourgeois ideals; and the difficulties of peering through the myths to catch a glimpse of the "real" Beethoven. Kagel uses the term Musealisierung or "musealisation" in speaking of the Beethoven cult, the term used by Theodor W. Adorno to indicate that "museums are the family sepulchres of works of art" 

This event is part of Sound Machines.

Admission is FREE

THE PHILADELPHIA POETRY FESTIVAL + BOOK FAIR 2018! ORGANIZED AND HOSTED BY LEONARD GONTAREK & EILEEN D’ANGELOThe Free Poetry Festival1:00 p.m. to 4:00 pm.

 Do you run a poetry organization, magazine, poetry press, poetry series, or college writing program in the Philadelphia area?  If so, please register for the Philadelphia Poetry Festival 2018 by sending your request via email to  gontarek9@earthlink.net. Include your name, the organization you represent, and a brief summary of what your org does and where and when you do it.   Please use The Philadelphia Poetry Festival 2018 in the subject line of the email. 

Our Format: Each organization will present one poet to represent them, who will read for five minutes.  In the spirit of the event, we ask that organization leaders or editors not read, but choose a poet to spotlight.  

 There will be an area for the circulation of program brochures, flyers and information about dozens of Philadelphia poetry and writing outlets. Bring your favorite series’ information to share!  This is the area’s most comprehensive poetry event solely dedicated to celebrating Greater Philadelphia Poetry in all of its manifestations. It is a great way to promote what you do.Register now to introduce your poetry org to the greater Philadelphia poetry community OR just come and listen.

 Come and find out about all the other poetry orgs, series, coordinators, and more, in the Philly and surrounding areas.

 Participants have included:* Farley’s First Thursday Series * The Collective Mic, LLC* Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program* Mad Poets Society/ Young Poets Contest /Mad Poets Review* Calypso Press * Philadelphia Community College Certificate Program* Philadelphia Stories * Brandywine Valley Writers Group* Manayunk Roxborough Art Center / Schuylkill Valley Journal* The Green Line Reading & Interview Series * Philadelphia Wordshop* Word Up Wednesdays * Joie deVivre Book Competition* Moonstone Art Center * The Osage Poets * Brigid’s House Writers* Musehouse: Supporting the Literary Arts * Philadelphia Writers Conference* Painted Bride Quarterly * Cleaver Magazine * American Poetry Review* Thread Makes Blanket Press * Poetry Aloud And Alive * Mighty Writers+ PPF BOOK FAIR 2018The Philadelphia Poetry Festival will include a Poetry Book Fair. This is for presses and poets signing and selling their books of poems. All proceeds will go to and be handled by the authors or publishers. The space is free, but very limited. You must sign up in advance. Please arrive at 12:30.

 Please contact Leonard with interest: gontarek9@earthlink.net

G.Calvin Weston aka Old Man Jenkins/ Free Birds Improv Groove

G.Calvin Weston aka Old Man Jenkins brings the creative sounds of improv transcending emulating the music of some of his mentors like Bill Cobham, Narada Michael Walden, Jeff Beck, John McLaughlin, and many others

withJeff Washington on Guitar and Vocals

Chico Huff on Bass

Wally Smith on Keyboards and Synthesizers

G.Calvin Weston on Gigantic drum kit...

This is a concert FREE TO THE PUBLIC BUT YOU CAN LEAVE A DONATION AT THE DOORCDS WILL BE AVAILABLE..

Fire Museum presentsPaul Metzger & John Saint Pelvyn

Since way back in the 70s, Paul Metzger has been experimenting, playing his various art-instruments including his distinct heavily modified 23 string banjo. In 2003 he went public playing out sets of his own music, part old time strung out blues and raga’s and part deep listening compositions that wind their way through you inner ear. This is not however the limit…what he can do with his instruments live also includes clangorous, rapidly punctuated percussive workouts that blow audiences away. He pulls the listener inwards and then takes them out the backdoor to experience the other.

“As an unaccompanied instrumentalist Paul Metzger’s banjo and guitar soundings straddle a bunch of specifically American idioms, from contemporary guitar soli through old-timey music and the extended modifications of devotional music of late 1960s exponents like Sandy Bull and The Electric Prunes circa Mass In F Minor. It also factors in raga modes and Eastern sonorities, highlighting the drone that connects American and Asian vernacular music. But Metzger’s obsessively modified instruments place him in the tradition of the American musician-composer-inventor à la Harry Partch and Harry Bertoia, though there’s something a little more hands on and gonzo to Metzger’s approach that puts him alongside DIY mavericks like Eugene Chadbourne and his electric rake, or Charlie Nothing’s dingulators – metal guitars made out of salvaged automobile parts.” –The Wire, David Keenan

website: http://paulmetzger.net/

John Saint PelvynGuitarist, thereminist, singer, and player of some species of dismantled electrified folk, John Saint Pelvyn is a musical enigma of the best kind. At the root of his playing is something akin to traditional stride, but rich with quivering whammy bar wobble and shimmering feedback. He often plays the tailfin strings of his archtop like one would play harmonics, or retunes seamlessly mid-stream to create a shifting temperament across the length of a piece. An affinity for the likes of John Fahey or Loren Mazzacane-Connors can be heard here, but the comparisons quickly fall away as one takes in this ambidextrous musical sensibility. He will sing otherworldly vocal duets with his theremin while simultaneously accompanying himself fingerpicking, or will throw modulated feedback tones across otherwise inviting harmonic landscapes based on blues & folk motifs, overshadowing them with clouds of squelch that loom like an approaching post-noise squall, but that ultimately swell and punctuate more like the tone clusters of Henry Cowell or the lyrical saxophone of Frank Lowe.

“When wandering the stage singing into the F-holes of his electric arch top bringing forth arpeggios of feedback, or waving the neck of his guitar in the vicinity of a howling theremin, indeed, he seems to be playing the very air itself.” – Electro Motive Records

Forthcoming solo release on Seeland/Electro Motive: https://midheaven.com/item/a-clerical-error-in-shasta-county-shouldnt-have-to-ruin-a-saturday-night-by-saintpelvyn-john

more links at: http://firemuseumpresents.com/shows/paul-metzger-john-saint-pelvyn

Admission is FREE. Donations will be humbly requested at the door. 

Ars Nova WorkshoppresentsPractitioner performs Steve Lacy's Hocus PocusBen Goldberg, clarinetMichael Coleman, piano

Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to present the Philadelphia premiere of Practitioner, performing the music of Steve Lacy’s 1986 album “Hocus Pocus.”

Clarinetist Ben Goldberg’s studies and friendship with the late, great Steve Lacy became a deep, rich well of inspiration that he has continued to draw on for decades. The two met in Paris in 1985, while Goldberg was on tour with The Klezmorim. Goldberg hectored the soprano great until Lacy conceded to give him a lesson, at the end of which Goldberg walked away with a gift: a new record called Hocus Pocus. The album consists of six etudes for solo soprano saxophone, each dedicated to a single artist and discipline that Lacy found inspirational - from Harry Houdini (magic) to James P. Johnson (classic jazz piano) to Sonny Stitt (bebop). Lacy wrote that these pieces were “deliberately made so as to be hard to play. [T]hey also contain many of the characteristic 'licks' which comprise the language that I use." Under the name Practitioner (borrowed from the umbrella title for Lacy’s collection of music studies, of which “Hocus Pocus” is one book), Goldberg and pianist Michael Coleman perform this notoriously challenging music in homage to and celebration of Lacy’s contributions.

The New York Times has noted that Ben Goldberg’s music “conveys a feeling of joyous research into the basics of polyphony and collective improvising, the constant usefulness of musicians intuitively coming together and pulling apart.”

Ben Goldberg was a pupil of the eminent clarinetist Rosario Mazzeo and studied with Joe Lovano in addition to Lacy. Since 1992, when his group New Klezmer Trio "kicked open the door for radical experiments with Ashkenazi roots music" (SF Chronicle), Goldberg has shaped a career through curiosity and experimentation across many genres and styles. Goldberg is part of Invisible Guy; The Out Louds; Orphic Machine; Unfold Ordinary Mind; Go Home; Ben Goldberg School; and the Ben Goldberg Trio with Greg Cohen and Kenny Wollesen. He is a member of the avant-chamber jazz ensemble Tin Hat, Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, and performs in a duo with pianist Myra Melford called DIALOGUE. Michael Coleman is a pianist, improviser and composer who has worked with Bay Area greats such as Scott Amendola, Marcus Shelby, and countless other improvising musicians and songwriters. Michael is the composer and bandleader of the groups Beep!, Arts & Sciences and CavityFang. In his songwriting project Michael Rocketship, Michael plays all of the instruments and utilizes his home studio as a compositional tool. Apart from performing and touring tirelessly with his own bands, Michael has toured the world with Chris Cohen, tUnE-yArDs, Sean Hayes, Miles Kurosky and Jug Free America.

Admission is FREE 

Please join us for a vegan potluck just like the super fun ones we have hosted here in the past! 

Children are welcome! 

We can accommodate dozens of folks and really want to encourage you to bring guests as well as meet new people. 

Please bring a small vegan dish of your choosing, a card or sheet of paper listing your ingredients, and a serving utensil. Vegan food uses no animal ingredients so please make sure your dish does not contain dairy milk/cream/yogurt/cheese (vegan versions of all of these can be found at stores or made at home!), whey, meat, eggs, honey, etc. If anyone brings non vegan food to the potluck, we will ask them to put it away. We want to serve food vegan only. 

Just a couple of notes: The Rotunda doesn't have a kitchen, so please bring your dishes ready to serve. We won't be able to heat up anything, freeze anything, etc. We also can't guarantee enough outlets for crock pots and the like. In addition, The Rotunda will provide disposable or compostable plates, forks, knives, spoons, cups, and napkins but you're more than welcome to bring your own reusables! 

Admission is FREE.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Philly MAC-Down 3 is coming for you with "RETURN OF THE MAC!" Philadelphia, vegan mac & cheese contest is back again with a great afternoon of food, fun and lots of mac & cheese!

Watch the local competitors vie to be GRAND CHAMPION and winner of the GOLDEN TROPHY! They'll work their plant-based magic to wow you with ooey gooey CHEESY delight VEGAN MAC & CHEESE entries await! Try one. Try them all. But remember, YOU get to pick one of the winners...PHILLY'S CHOICE!

LET'S GET READY TO MAC-DOWN!!!! 

MEET OUR EMCEE - Dustin Harder, aka The Vegan Roadie, returns to host our annual vegan mac & cheese contest! The latest season of his web series is now available on YouTube! Dustin will also be selling & signing copies of his book, Simply Vegan at the event! 

MEET OUR JUDGES - A panel of THREE!Indra Lahiri - Founder of Indraloka Animal Sanctuary, currently based in Mehoopany, PAMike Barone - Owner/Operator of Grindcore House, vegan coffeeshop in Philadelphia, PAJeesely Soto - Co-Organizer of Phoenixville Veg Fest and Board Member of Peace Advocacy Network

YOUR TICKET PURCHASE HELPS...

By purchasing a ticket, you'll also be doing some good. $5 of every ticket will benefit Indraloka Animal Sanctuary in Mehoopany, Pennsylvania!

TICKET PRICES - ON SALE NOW HERE!Online tickets are $15.00*Tickets the door are $20.00Kids under 5 years of age can MAC-Down for FREE!

*Eventbrite service fees will be applied to online ticket sales. Tickets are non-refundable, but may be transferred to another attendee for this event only!

WANT TO COMPETE? Apply by Friday, April 6, 2018 -https://vmarkstheshop.com/pages/competitor-entry-form