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Root Song – World Premiere II Performance (SOLD OUT-JOIN WAITLIST)
This show is sold out. To join the waitlist, email or call 215-569-8080
Premiering at Bartram’s Garden, Root Song blends live vocal chamber music by Roomful of Teeth—an eight-voice “singing forest”—with Indigenous storytelling by Tchin, transforming the unseen realities of the woodland into a musical conversation. Inspired by ground-breaking research on the connection and communication of trees and rooted in Indigenous Knowledge, Root Song explores the mysteries of our interconnected natural world. Presented by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and directed by Jazimina Creamer-MacNeil, the work is composed by Christopher Theofanidis with a libretto by Melissa Studdard.
This is the second of two identical performances at Bartram’s Garden, the first taking place on May 29.
NATURE TALK – Potawatomi botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer will lead a nature talk at Bartram’s Garden before the performance, from 2:00-2:40 PM.
TICKETS – Root Song concert tickets are $35. A limited number of $2 tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis to Southwest Philadelphia neighbors as well as all ACCESS cardholders. ACCESS tickets will be available for sale starting on May 1.
ACCESSIBILITY & VENUE – The performance and pre-concert nature talk will both take place in the covered, open-air Eastwick Pavilion at Bartram’s Garden. The Pavilion is roughly a 5-minute walk from the Garden’s visitor parking loop on paved and gravel pathways, some with slight inclines. For guests requiring mobility assistance, golf cart rides to and from the Pavilion available upon request
The Pavilion has gendered, multi-stall restrooms that are accessed via a short flight of steps.
Please park as directed. Shuttle service will be provided in the event of off-site parking. For questions, please contact the PCMS box office at (215) 569-8080.
PANEL DISCUSSION – A panel discussion featuring Robin Wall Kimmerer and Suzanne Simard on Saturday, May 30 (7:30 PM) at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater explores the ancient wisdom of the trees and our role within this web of relationships.
Presented with lead sponsorship from The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation and Andrea Baldeck, with additional support from ArtPhilly (project partner); Gordon & Patricia Fowler; Pauline Candaux and Sol Katz; Kenneth Rainin Foundation, as recommended by Moy Eng; Katherine Niven; Louise & David Strawbridge; and Joan & David Kligerman. Philadelphia Chamber Music Society is a recipient of Chamber Music America’s Classical Commissioning: A Responsive Shift grant, funded by Chamber Music America, with generous support from the Sewell Family Foundation.
