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Get on the official e-mail list - email us at [email protected] ------Check out our blog: http://www.westphiladelphiaorchestra.blogspot.com/ ------------
The West Philadelphia Ochestra (WPO), is up to 15 of Philadelphia's best and most daring musicians, from all different backgrounds (jazz, classical, experimental, indie), playing music, much of it Romani, from Romania, Hungary, Serbia, and Macedonia. The group has focused recently on creating original music that draw upon all our creative resources, whether it be the voices of Jack Ohly and Petia Zamfirova, the screaming sax of Elliott Levin, or the rhythmic wit of percussionist Gregg Mervine. 'Overflowing joy' is the best description of the WPO party experience. WPO is an obstreperous village band in step with West Philly’s DIY culture (i.e. its Co-Ops, underground music networks, and proactive anarchist legacy), but whose playing can just as easily wring tears and sorrow from the soul as it can spark cathartic outpourings of joyful ecstasy. They have played rock shows with Gogol Bordello and Dr. Dog; they have played folk/world music concerts in association with Traditional Crossroads Music Series and the Philly Folk Song Society; they've even been the guest artist with Camerata Philadelphia, a chamber orchestra who performed 3 works by Tchaikovsky and 5 compositions of WPO members in the same concert. WPO is an ensemble for both children and adults, one that sounds fantastic in darkness and sunshine, and which represents inspiring standards of excellence - which, like an orchestra, can express the entire gamut of human experience.
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------------------------------------------WPO will play festive music at weddings and other celebrations, aleatoric music for bingo nights, virtuousic music for Carnegie Hall, somber music for wakes, angry music for protests, music that no one listens to for cocktail parties, dimished chords for horror films, affable music for children, tough music for motorcycle conventions, rhythm tracks for Mavado, and sexy music for burlesque. -----------------------..---------------WPO has played at the Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, the Rotunda, the Khyber, North Star Bar, World Cafe, Mehanata several houses, basements, for fundraisers and for backyard parties. The band plays 2nd Thursdays in Philly at Tritone Bar, at 15th and South.------------------------------------------------------
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---------------Email all inquiries to [email protected] believe that music is a well-spring of joy and human understanding that should play an integral role in a community, fulfilling its essential purpose of stirring and renewing communal roots and feeding the human spirit. In songs, poems, stories, and art, people are singing their own reality, not that fascistic, oppressive one. This new singing is not new, but it's timely and emerging now, again, in new forms. WPO encourages real participation in local collective culture and a renewed valorization of individual and local identity. Our shows resemble a Bakhtinian Carnival, in which we are all folks and all kings. Through localized civic and cultural engagement, we can obviate our reliance on the system(s) for what it will never give us. Individuals can care for themselves and their neighbors better than any institution can; our collective welfare is best held in our hands. We encourage all to check out the artists on your block, in your town. Engage them, make demands, and support our efforts to create culture, peace, and understanding. ------------------------------Our hero:../
View the complete West Philadelphia Orchestra tour schedule
