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2026
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2018
Arcana is pleased to present a program of rarely performed solo works by Morton Feldman. The concert includes pieces for electric guitar, trumpet, voice, percussion, cello, piano, and pipe organ.
Arcana is excited to present the music of Pauline Oliveros. One of the leading composers and performers of the 20th and 21st century, Oliveros' career spanned four decades and influenced generations of musicians.
An important landmark in the recovery of Julius Eastman's music, this concert features one of Eastman's earliest works—Thruway (for soprano, flute, clarinet, trombone, violin, cello, and large choir)—in its New York City debut performed by the Arcana New Music Ensemble. They will also be performing Eastman's piece Buddha. Opening the evening will be a special performance by Gerry Eastman, brother of Julius.
2017
Arcana is pleased to present the next installment of the BEGIN ANYWHERE series, a performer-driven, salon-style concert series.
For the final concert, Eastman's powerful work for 10 cellos The Holy Presence of Joan D'Arc and its introspective companion vocal piece Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc will be performed. Far ahead of their time, these pieces incorporate a much more atonal language into Eastman's minimalist aesthetic. The concert will open with an encore performance of Eastman's "Thruway" and a solo work by NYC based musicians Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste.
An important landmark in the recovery of Eastman's music, this concert features the modern premieres of two of Eastman's earliest works- Macle (for 4 voices) and Thruway (for soprano, flute, clarinet, trombone, violin, cello, large choir, and jazz trio - in their first performances since the 1970s. Opening the concert will be his enigmatic late period open instrumentation composition Buddha here performed as a choral work. Also joining the line up is Moor Mother performing a new spoken word piece dedicated to Julius Eastman.
The first concert features two of the works most widely performed during Eastman's life time - Stay on It and Femenine - both early examples of his minimalist-based works to show pop music influence. Opening the evening will be a special performance by Gerry Eastman, brother of Julius.
Arcana is pleased to present the next installment of the BEGIN ANYWHERE series, a performer-driven, salon-style concert series.
Arcana New Music Ensemble joins forces with Variant 6, a vocal sextet specializing in contemporary music, for a program of Steven Reich, Morton Feldman, Salvatore Sciarrino, and more.
Arcana joins forces with the Prometheus Chamber Ensemble to perform two politically charged works of modern music. Dutch composer Louis Andriessen's 1975 composition Workers Union is notated as a single part that can be played by any kind of instruments, melodic or percussive.
The Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006) created some of the most severe, brutalist classical music of the 20th century. Favoring stark textures and unusual combinations of instruments-- she never formally studied orchestration-- her music unfolds in ruthlessly throbbing rhythms, angular melodic shards, and resonant caverns of silence.
Arcana is pleased to present the first event of the newly rebooted BEGIN ANYWHERE series, a performer-driven, salon-style concert series curated and performed by the musicians of the Arcana New Music Ensemble.
2016
Arcana, in association with Pig Iron Theatre Company, is pleased to present Morton Feldman's Samuel Beckett, Words and Music. The concert will be performed by the Arcana New Music Ensemble with actors Jaime Maseda and Michael T. Williams in the magnificent sanctuary of the Fleisher Art Memorial.
Arcana is pleased to present "The Music of Moondog", a survey of the idiosyncratic rounds and songs by composer Louis Thomas Hardin Jr (1916 - 1999). The eccentric street musician known as Moondog dressed in Viking garb and regularly performed on the sidewalks of New York's Sixth Avenue. This concert is the debut performance of the Arcana New Music Ensemble.
2015
This is a series about starting a new music ensemble. In Philadelphia. In 2015. But it is also a series for anyone that's ever tried to make something with other people. It's about starting a non-profit, or an ensemble, or a business, or choosing not too. It's about being unstoppable in the face of soul-crushing paperwork, or just finding your own path.
This is a series about starting a new music ensemble. In Philadelphia. In 2015. But it is also a series for anyone that's ever tried to make something with other people. It's about starting a non-profit, or an ensemble, or a business, or choosing not too. It's about being unstoppable in the face of soul-crushing paperwork, or just finding your own path.
This is a series about starting a new music ensemble. In Philadelphia. In 2015. But it is also a series for anyone that's ever tried to make something with other people. It's about starting a non-profit, or an ensemble, or a business, or choosing not too. It's about being unstoppable in the face of soul-crushing paperwork, or just finding your own path. It's about asking the question "How are we going to do this?", answering "I don't know", and giving it a shot anyway. It's also a chance to hear some great music and words of wisdom.
This is a series about starting a new music ensemble. In Philadelphia. In 2015. But it is also a series for anyone that's ever tried to make something with other people. It's about starting a non-profit, or an ensemble, or a business, or choosing not too. It's about being unstoppable in the face of soul-crushing paperwork, or just finding your own path.