Music in the Pavilion

The series showcases an array of professional and international musicians, not only performing gems from standard concert repertoires but also premiering works found among the wealth of materials—print and manuscript—held in the Kislak Center's collections, which are concurrently exhibited in the adjacent Henry Charles Lea Library. Enriching the experience of each concert, attendees have the opportunity to hear brief lectures by eminent scholars and graduate students that will contextualize the music historically, socially, and culturally. All concerts are on Fridays, unless otherwise indicated, and are free of charge. The pre-concert talk is at 6:15 pm, followed by the concert (no intermission) at 7:00 pm.

Presented by the University of Pennsylvania's Music Department, the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and the Otto E. Albrecht Music Library, the music series "Music in the Pavilion" takes place in the beautiful sixth-floor Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion in Van Pelt Library.

Photo credit of the Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion (below): Garrett Rowland

SERIES DIRECTORS

Music Department: Mauro Calcagno, Assoc. Professor of Music and Mary Channen Caldwell, Asst. Professor of Music

Kislak Center and the Penn Libraries: Lynne Farrington, Director of Programs/Senior Curator, Special Collections, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts; Liza Vick, Head, Otto E. Albrecht Music Library and Eugene Ormandy Music and Media Center

Upcoming Events

Schedule TBA. Please check back later.

Past Events

Mar
17
2023

Trefoil: Music to Lighten the Heart

Mar 17, 2023 at 6:15pm - 9:00pm | Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Kislak Center, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, 3420 Walnut Street, 6th floor

In this concert, Trefoil, “a hearty trio of medieval minstrels” (Philadelphia Inquirer) active since the start of the current millennium, will present songs from the Pennsylvania Chansonniere by Machaut and his contemporaries. With its trademark combination of voices and medieval plucked strings, Trefoil will bring these meta-texts alive in “otherworldly harmonies” (New York Times) with “subtlety, blend and nuance” (NPR) for the modern listener.

Feb
03
2023

Arcana New Music Ensemble: After Shiraz

Music in the Pavilion

Feb 3, 2023 at 6:15pm - 9:00pm | Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Kislak Center, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, 3420 Walnut Street, 6th floor

Drawing inspiration from archival exhibition catalogs of the Shiraz Festival in the Penn Libraries collections, this concert features music by contemporary Iranian composers. Throughout its run from 1967 to 1977, the Shiraz Festival was host to an array of contemporary classical and avant garde composers from Europe and the United States. Among them were Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, Olivier Messiaen, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, David Tudor, and Morton Feldman.

Apr
10
2020