Introduction

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, Rehearsing Philadelphia is a large-scale public project that 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.

Rehearsing Philadelphia will consist of four performative modules - Solo, Duet, Ensemble and Orchestra. As part of these modules, newly commissioned works will be performed live and involve in-person audience encounters at a variety of public and private venues across the city, including Philadelphia City Hall, the School District of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Police Headquarters, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Cherry Street Pier and more. To accompany the live performances, artistic partner and digital strategist Vanessa Newman will design a parallel digital space where audiences can experience public art in the digital form. 

As part of the meta-score Ari Benjamin Meyers invited artists to participate and create new work, including Ei Arakawa, Marshall Allen (Sun Ra Arkestra), Tyshawn Sorey, Zoë Keating, CA Conrad, Xenia Rubinos, Ursula Rucker and Ann Carlson. 

The project will begin the week of March 25, 2022, and culminates with all four phases having final rehearsals on Saturday, April 9, 2022. For more information regarding performance details, participants and the virtual experience, visit rehearsingphiladelphia.com.

Follow on Instagram at @rehearsingphiladelphia.