March 25 - April 10, 2022
Philadelphia, PA
About
Created by Ari Benjamin Meyers and jointly produced and presented by the Curtis Institute of Music and Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, this large-scale public project explores how we can come together as a city through musical rehearsal. The traditional musical preparation process focuses on rehearsing as a way to attain perfection, which is then repeated in performance. This is not how we live modern life in a rapidly changing world of social upheaval. The future will be rehearsed, not perfected. Rehearsing Philadelphia re-examines the rehearsal processes which allow people to act together and be empowered to create new realities.
The Modules
Rehearsing Philadelphia encompasses four overarching modules: Solo, Duet, Ensemble, Orchestra. Each structure, composed by Ari Benjamin Meyers, involves a live in-person audience encounter, as well as experiences in the virtual space designed by digital creator Vanessa Newman. The modules also feature local and international artists and institutional partners, including new commissions especially created for Rehearsing Philadelphia.
Solo
How are we alone, even among others? Who has the power to make decisions for us? Four commissioned artists create solos to be performed in places of power in Philadelphia. Each of these solos are performed by an employee of the locations.
Solo includes commissions by Ei Arakawa, CAConrad, Germaine Ingram, Fred Schmidt-Arenales and Yolanda Wisher.
Duet
How can we begin to engage with another person as we start to come together again? Trained performers engage passersby with the simple question “Would you like to sing with me?” If yes, a short rehearsal and then an impromptu performance take place. Facilitated by the Philadelphia Heritage Chorale, Singing City, and the Curtis Opera Theatre, singers are stationed at monuments and locations of collective memory throughout Philadelphia.
The module Duet is a city-wide version of "Duet" (2014) by Ari Benjamin Meyers. Presented courtesy of the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin.
Facilitated by the Philadelphia Heritage Chorale, Singing City, and the Curtis Opera Theatre, singers are stationed at monuments and locations of collective memory throughout Philadelphia: In Clark Park for the Baltimore Avenue Corridor, in Independence Historical Park for the Old City Corridor and Love Park for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Corridor.
Ensemble
Ensemble looks at society’s smaller groups, whether quarantine pods or family units. Who do we choose to let into our smaller groups? Who is included in the modern music ensemble? Students from Drexel University and the Curtis Institute collaborate through a year-long seminar, to form small mixed ensembles for a durational performance which examines small group dynamics.
Ensemble includes newly created and adapted works by Zoë Keating and Tyshawn Sorey, rehearsed and exhibited with the participation of the artists.
Orchestra
The culminating module is Orchestra, a group of people coming together to create art. Could this unusually composed group be a metaphor for society at large? Responding to an open call in the community, participating musicians become part of the first Public Orchestra. Orchestra is inclusive of many varied musical practices in Philadelphia, not just the traditional Western musical practices normally associated with the term. Part of the open rehearsal process for this group is a forum for discussion and exchange amongst the participating artists.
Read The Public Orchestra manifesto.
Orchestra is rehearsed by Musical Director Anthony Tidd, and includes commissions by Ari Benjamin Meyers, Ursula Rucker, Xenia Rubinos, Sun Ra Arkestra, and Ann Carlson.
The Artists
200+ artists, from Philadelphia and around the world, seek together to redefine the position of music and performance in terms of socially engaged public art and use this reframing as a way to think anew about existing institutions, hierarchies, and monuments. Just as we may ask today who gets to write the stories and who gets to tell them, we ask who gets to compose, who gets to play, and who gets to conduct? These questions are engaged with through the creation of new works that unfold as a grand rehearsal throughout Philadelphia.
Locations
Addressing the question “What can be the space today for coming together?” the four modules of the project intersect conceptually within the city-space of Philadelphia: Solo and Duet spanning across the entire city, each with a different focus on private and public spaces; Ensemble existing as both a seminar and durational exhibition in three discrete locations; and Orchestra culminating in one large, open gathering place. This use of space is designed to symbolically activate the city and then gather it together. Take a peek into the locations on the map below.
- Solo
School District of Philadelphia
440 N. Broad Street
- Solo
Philadelphia Police Department Headquarters
400 N. Broad Street
- Solo
Penn Medicine
1 Convention Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104
- Solo
City Hall
Broad and Market
- Solo
Community Legal Services
1424 Chestnut Street
- Duet
LOVE PARK: Meet here for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments DUET performance.
- Duet
City Hall, the Building
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
William Penn, Memorialized
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Occupy
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Octavius Catto Memorial
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
William McKinley
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Wanamaker, 'Citizen
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Anna Jarvis
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Fallen Firemen
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
John Christian Bullitt
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Gloria Casarez
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Mother Jones
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
General George McClellan
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Major General John F. Reynolds
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Rizzo Statue Removed
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Love Gap
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
LOVE Park
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Monument to Six Million Jewish Martyrs
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Three Way Piece Number 1: Points
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Three Discs, One Lacking
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Kopernick
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Kościuszko
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
AMOR
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Thomas Fitzsimons
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Gallows at Northwest Square
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Logan Square, Namesake
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Swann Memorial Fountain
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Square Made Circle
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Great Sanitary Fair
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Pennypacker
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Shakespeare Memorial
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Caliban's Hands
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Francisco De Miranda
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
The Barnes
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
1967 Student Walkout
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
The Thinker
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Rodin Museum
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
1967 Student Walkout
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Camp JDT, Summer 2020
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
All Power to All People
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Washington Monument
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Oval Named After Eakins
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Eli Kirk Price II Fountain
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
John Ericsson Fountain
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Julian Abele
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Million Woman March
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
'Rocky' Steps
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
Heat Waves
Benjamin Franklin Parkway Public Monuments
- Duet
INDEPENDENCE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK: Meet here for the Old City Hidden Monuments DUET performance.
- Duet
Congo or Southeast Square
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Walnut Street Jail Turned Prison
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Ladies' Home Journal
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Ricketts’ Art Pantheon and Amphitheater
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Liberty Bell
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
The President's House
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Avenging the Ancestors Coalition
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Visitors Center
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
National Constitution Center
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
First Earth Day
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Christ Church Burial Ground
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Mikveh Israel
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
The National Museum of American Jewish History
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
The Bourse
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Signer's Garden
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
The Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Banker's Row
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Jayne Building
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Coocaconoon Dubbed Dock Creek
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Site of Exchange, Stock or Otherwise
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Polish American Social Services, PASS
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Old St Joseph's Church
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Charles Wilson Peale
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Moses Williams
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Resistance at Christiana
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
Frederick Douglass
Old City Hidden Monuments
- Duet
CLARK PARK: Meet here for the Baltimore Avenue Personal Memories DUET performances.
- Duet
40th Street Portal
Baltimore Avenue Personal Memories
- Duet
Great Baltimore Sinkhole Disaster
43rd and Baltimore Ave
- Duet
Clark Park
43rd and Chester Ave
- Duet
Clark Park and HMS School
Baltimore Avenue Personal Memories
- Duet
HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy
4400 Baltimore Ave
- Duet
#34 Trolley
4400 Baltimore Ave
- Duet
Baltimore Avenue Pet Shoppe
4532 Baltimore Ave
- Duet
A-Space
4722 Baltimore Ave
- Duet
Cindergarden Porch, and in front of Calvary Church
Baltimore Avenue Personal Memories
- Duet
Calvary Church
48th and Baltimore
- Duet
Streetcar Suburb
Baltimore Avenue Personal Memories
- Duet
Streetcar Desegregation
Baltimore Avenue Personal Memories
- Duet
Electrification of City’s Streetcars
Baltimore Avenue Personal Memories
- Duet
Cars, Not Streetcars
Baltimore Avenue Personal Memories
- Duet
“University City” In Black Bottom
Baltimore Avenue Personal Memories
- Ensemble
Pearlstein Gallery
3401 Filbert St
- Orchestra
Cherry Street Pier
121 N Christopher Columbus Blvd
- artist neighborhoods
Elkins Park
- artist neighborhoods
Middle City East
- artist neighborhoods
Middle City West
- artist neighborhoods
Belmont
- artist neighborhoods
Washington Square West
- artist neighborhoods
West Mount Airy
- artist neighborhoods
Brewerytown
- artist neighborhoods
Northern Liberties
- artist neighborhoods
Kensington
- artist neighborhoods
East Oak Lane
- artist neighborhoods
Fairmount District
- artist neighborhoods
Need Name
- artist neighborhoods
Richmond
- artist neighborhoods
Haddington
- artist neighborhoods
Ogontz
- artist neighborhoods
Kingsessing
- artist neighborhoods
East Germantown
- artist neighborhoods
Girard Estates
- artist neighborhoods
Point Breeze
- artist neighborhoods
Bella Vista
- artist neighborhoods
Central South Philadelphia
- artist neighborhoods
Cedarbrook
- artist neighborhoods
Eastwick