Penn Live Arts Blog / Tagged / Philadelphia Premieres

The Crossing @ Christmas: Thoughts from the conductor

Posted November 30, 2022

Philadelphia Premieres

I remember the first time I encountered Percy Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” with its chilling reference to the ephemerality of civilizations. 

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
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5 Questions with Nora Fischer

Posted October 31, 2022

Philadelphia Premieres

Silkroad Ensemble member Nora Fischer is renowned for her adventurous approach to live performance and her creative and genre-defying collaborations. On November 6, Fischer joins several other artists from Silkroad Ensemble for the Philadelphia premiere of Osvaldo Golijov's gripping song cycle, Falling Out of Time. Get to know more about this Amsterdam-based vocalist in just 5 questions. Read more...

Finding presence in absence with Terence Blanchard

Posted October 24, 2022

Philadelphia Premieres

Gordon Parks’ Untitled, from the series What Their Cry Means to Me (Nation of Islam), 1963, printed in 2017.
“Music and art have the power to change souls,” says five-time Grammy® Award-winning trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard. This heartfelt sentiment is echoed throughout everything he creates, from film scores to opera to jazz and everything in between. “A brass-wielding force of nature,” (Los Angeles Times), Blanchard is known for music that makes powerful statements on American culture, past and present, and his upcoming performance, Gordon Parks: An Empathetic Lens, furthers this dedication in spades. Read more...

A visionary celebration of sound and motion

Posted November 16, 2021

Philadelphia Premieres

Listen, watch and be wowed by celebrity tap star Michelle Dorrance’s sensational sounds and moves when her company explodes onto the Zellerbach Theatre stage December 10-11.

A MacArthur Fellow “Genius Grant” recipient, the first ever for a tap dancer, Dorrance is an unstoppable force of nature. She is a virtuoso tap dancer, visionary choreographer, passionate ambassador, fearless activist, relentless evangelist, supercharged innovator and devoted “edutainer” (educator/entertainer). She honors the rich, diverse history of tap while introducing new audiences to tap’s endless possibilities through her ground-breaking and imaginative approaches. Read more...

Our fall 2020 digital season takes the performance to you

Posted September 1, 2020

Philadelphia Premieres

Martha Graham Dance Company, Photo by Hibbard Nash Photography
We are excited to announce our fall 2020 digital season! Curated and created just for our patrons, our exclusive live performances will bring some of the best dance and music artists from our stage to your home. Also, new for this season, we are pleased that films will be returning to our line-up, broadening our programming and supporting independent film on campus and in West Philadelphia.

Each one-night-only music and dance performance will be broadcast live from our theatre and be followed by a Q&A with the artists. Viewers will have the opportunity to chat live with each other and the performers, forging connections at a time when we all feel so apart. Read on to discover what’s coming to our virtual stage! Read more...