A new series for America's 250th will interpret five important constitutional amendments through the lens of contemporary classical music, in both serious and light-hearted ways. Featuring new commissions and existing works from thirty diverse American composers — including many based in Philadelphia — A More Perfect Union examines our nation’s blueprint for democracy and provokes thoughts on freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition; the right to bear arms; the abolition of slavery; women’s suffrage; and the repeal of prohibition.
Orchestra 2001 is a collective of adventurous, virtuoso performers dedicated to the music of our time. The ensemble is a leader in connecting diverse audiences with the greatest music of the 20th and 21st centuries, engaging new listeners through exhilarating concerts, innovative artistic collaborations, and enriching community partnerships in Philadelphia and beyond.
Orchestra 2001 is a Programming Partner at
Cherry Street Pier
COMING late-April to mid-June 2026!
EMERGING MARKETS • • • • PLAYING THE MARKETS
Orchestra 2001's ongoing project has presented dozens of performances of contemporary classical music and jazz to thousands of Philadelphians where they shop and work, including parts of the city with little access to live music. Aimed at eliminating barriers to attendance, EMERGING MARKETS was honored with an Arts and Business Council Award from the Chamber of Commerce.
To develop sustainable new audiences, the project is now called
PLAYING THE MARKETS and will
present
pop-up events, followed by chamber and conducted ensemble visits. The 2024-25 series began with five pop-ups at Reading Terminal and Philadelphia (formerly Franklin) Mills Flea Market, and continues with almost a dozen events in June 2025, and more in August!
PLAYING THE MARKETS – JUNE-OCTOBER 2025:
Jazz Trio
Saturday, October 4, 9:30 am – 12:00 noon
Clark Park Farmers Market
4300-4398 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia 19104
Brass and Percussion Sextet
Sunday, September 28, 9:30 am – 11:30 am
Philadelphia Flea Market, Franklin Mills
90 Franklin Mills Boulevard, Philadelphia 19154
String Quartet
(including music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Rhiannon Giddens)
Saturday, September 27, 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Clark Park Farmers Market
4300-4398 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia 19104
Brass Quintet
Thursday, August 28, 3:15 pm – 5:15 pm
Fairmount Farmers Market, Eastern State Penitentiary
22nd Street & Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia 19130
Jazz Duo
Sunday, August 24, 8:30 am – 10:30 am
Philadelphia Flea Market, Franklin Mills
90 Franklin Mills Boulevard, Philadelphia 19154
String Quartet
(including music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Rhiannon Giddens and Caroline Shaw)
Thursday, June 19, 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Reading Terminal Market
1136 Arch Street, Philadelphia 19107
Jazz Trio
(including music by Philadelphia jazz legends)
Sunday, June 15 (Father's Day), 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Reading Terminal Market
1136 Arch Street, Philadelphia 19107
Matt Davis, Jazz Guitarist
Thursday, June 12, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Fairmount Farmers Market, Eastern State Penitentiary
22nd Street & Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia 19130
Woodwind Quintet
(including music by Philadelphia composer Vincent Persichetti)
Thursday, June 5, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Produce Junction, Wynnefield
2241 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Philadelphia 19131
Woodwind Quintet
(including music by Philadelphia composer Vincent Persichetti)
Thursday, June 5, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Fairmount Farmers Market, Eastern State Penitentiary
22nd Street & Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia 19130
Woodwind Quintet
(including music by Philadelphia composers Samuel Barber and Vincent Persichetti)
Monday, June 2, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Cherry Street Pier – Artists Marketplace
121 N. Christopher Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia 19106
Percussion Duo
(including music by Icelandic composer Áskell Másson)
Sunday, June 1, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Philadelphia Flea Market, Franklin Mills
90 Franklin Mills Boulevard, Philadelphia 19154
PLAYING THE MARKETS lead support is provided by the William Penn Foundation with additional funding from PECO Powering the Arts.
Orchestra 2001 Percussionists take our Market Challenge: Purchase "Instruments" with $50 Cash in 30 Minutes (Video by Sharon Torello)
LONG LIVE THE QUEEN: a her-story of drag
Cookie Diorio – librettist, drag queen
Andrea Clearfield – composer
Where Classical Music Meets Drag – and History Gets a Makeover! A 90-minute, genre-defying cantata created by drag artist/opera singer Cookie Diorio, and composer Andrea Clearfield. The piece dives into the history of drag, its role in queer culture, and its power to challenge systems and spark change. Long Live the Queen calls out the ways misinformation and policy are being used to silence artists and communities, while lifting up drag as a fierce, joyful act of resistance and self-expression.
“The art of drag and operatic performance share commonalities in language, form, and function: both require high levels of technical skill and artistic development; both rely upon storytelling through music; both have a grandiosity in visual design and aesthetic quality; and both employ the 'Superpowers of a Diva.' " — Cookie Diorio
Part of
ArtPhilly's What Now: 2026 Festival, join us for the world premiere at the
Wilma Theater, this June!
Elizabeth Braden, conductor
Orchestra 2001
Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus, ANNA Crusis Feminist Choir,
Voices of Pride, and Transcendent Choir of Philadelphia
Friday June 19
Saturday June 20
Sunday June 21, 2026 (matinee)
The Wilma Theater
265 South Broad Street, Philadelphia 19107
Previous programming:
Join us for a final performance featuring the unique marriage of East African Kiganda folk and
contemporary classical music by Ugandan composer Justinian Tamusuza.
SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2025 at 2:00 pm
Penn Museum, Widener Lecture Hall
3260 South Street, Philadelphia 19104
$25 General Admission • $10 Students
INCLUDES FREE ENTRY TO PENN MUSEUM!
CHAMBER MUSIC BY JUSTINIAN TAMUSUZA:
Mbeera Ggwe Wantonda for two prepared harps
Abaana Bange for soprano sax, marimba, and electric guitar
Mu Kkubo Ery 'Omusaalaba for string quartet
Abaafa Luli for woodwind quintet
A CENTURY OF ARGENTINE COMPOSERS (TANGO FOR STRINGS)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2025, 7:00 pm
$25 General Admission
MAAS Building, 1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia 19122
Entrador – Mario De Marco
Todo corazón – Julio De Caro
En Pampa y la vía – Pablo Jaurena
La muerte del ángel – Astor Piazzolla
Milonga triste – Sebastián Piana
Astor de pibe – Diego Schissi
Yokan – Guillermo Rubino
El tero – Ernesto Montiel/Blas Martinéz Riera
Cielo – Guillermo Rubino
Meridional – Víctor Lavallén
Orchestra 2001 musicians will join Argentine violin tango master, Guillermo Rubino, and bandoneonist Shinjoo Cho to explore the development of the Argentine tango. This string ensemble will present tangos of the 1940’s, works by Astor Piazzolla, Argentine folkloric pieces, and new works by Mr. Rubino and Diego Schissi, Orchestra 2001’s ¡Conexiones! Argentina commissioned composer from 2021.
Music by Philadelphia Composers – Celebrating Cherry Street Pier
Vincent Persichetti – Pastorale for Wind Quintet (1951)
Samuel Barber – Summer Music for Wind Quintet (1956)
Andrea Clearfield –
Compass Kaleidoscope
for Wind Quintet
(2015)
Mark Loria, conductor; Martha Guth, soprano
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2023; 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Teatro Esperanza
4261 North 5th Street, Phila. 19140
Roberto Sierra – Bongo-O
Angélica Negrón – Quimbombó
Angélica Negrón – Tembleque
Ana María Hernández – Fantasía sobre el seis Mapeyé
Roberto Sierra –
Canciones de amor, poetry by Julia de Burgos (World Premiere)
Sonia Morales-Matos –
Fiesta #1
George Crumb: SCORES AT AN EXHIBITION
THURSDAY, May 18, 2023 | 2:45 PM
Teatro Esperanza: Student Event
4261 N. 5th Street, Phila. 19140
WEDNESDAY, May 24, 2023 | 7:30 PM
Main Gallery at Slought
4017 Walnut Street, Phila. 19104
GEORGE CRUMB: SCORES AT AN EXHIBITION explores Philadelphia’s well-known contemporary composer (1929-2022) and long-time Orchestra 2001 collaborator, in a visual arts setting. His stunning visual scores are works of art, and presenting them in a gallery context allows for a more complete appreciation of these masterpieces.
Miles Davis' BIRTH OF THE COOL
FIRST Performance: (SOLD OUT!)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2023 | 7:30pm
Clef Club of Jazz
736 South Broad Street, Philadelphia 19146
ENCORE Performance:
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2023 | 7:30pm
Mummers Museum
1100 S. 2nd Street, Philadelphia 19147
History-making jazz with humble beginnings in a basement on Manhattan’s West 55th Street... the 12 tunes from that collaboration of jazz and classical giants are a collector’s classic, and forged decades of new directions in concert halls, jazz clubs, and film scores.
¡CONEXIONES! CUBA
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022 | 7:30 PM
Teatro Esperanza

Mark Loria, conductor
Ernesto Abelardo Valdés – Almendra
Tania León – Toque
Ileana Pérez Velázquez – Zunzun
Leo Brouwer – La Niña Bonita
Paquito D'Rivera – Preludio y Merengue
Harlem Renaissance and Beyond
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2022 | 7:30 PM
American Hats Factory Showroom
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022 | 7:30 PM
African American Museum in Philadelphia

Na'Zir McFadden, conductor
William Grant Still — Summerland
Undine Smith Moore — Afro-American Suite
Duke Ellington — Single Petal of a Rose
(Elizabeth Steiner, harp)
George Walker — Lyric for Strings
Valerie Coleman — Portraits of Langston
Jessie Montgomery — Source Code
IN THE KEY OF L – Music Along SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line
Orchestra 2001 featured musical compositions by Philadelphia composers in pop-up concerts at train stops, parking lots, businesses, murals, and parks along the 45-minute SEPTA route that cuts across dozens of diverse communities.
Left to right: Orchestra 2001 at CHOP Karabots campus (West Phila.), the "Love Lot" (Kensington), and 30th Street Station (University City).
STREAM THIS MUSIC ANYTIME – FREE
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would not be possible without the support of Individual Donors!
Orchestra 2001 is grateful to its Foundation, Government, and Organizational Contributors and Partners: