New Paragraph
“A MORE PERFECT UNION: Musical Reflections on Five Amendments to the U.S. Constitution” will present concerts in months prior to America's 250th, interpreting constitutional amendments through the lens of contemporary music. New commissions and existing works by 30 diverse American composers – including 8 Pulitzer- and Grammy-winners, and 11 premieres by Philadelphians – will examine our nation’s blueprint for democracy, provoking both profoundly serious and light-hearted 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.
The U.S. Constitution was authored by forward-thinking “Founding Fathers,” who were in hindsight, far from perfect men. It therefore comes as no surprise that some extremely important and blatantly obvious rights were omitted in their first edition! A MORE PERFECT UNION will explore legislation that was necessary to improve the foundational structure of our government, penned here in Philadelphia, with a series of free and pay-as-you-wish events at historic sites and indoor/outdoor venues.
First Amendment: Freedoms of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition
Second Amendment: Right to Bear Arms
Thirteenth Amendment: Abolition of Slavery
Nineteenth Amendment: Women’s Right to Vote
Twenty-First Amendment: Repeal of Prohibition
Major support for A MORE PERFECT UNION has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage,
with additional support from The Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial
Tuesday, May 26, 2026, repeated lunch-hour concerts; 12:30 pm & 1:15 pm
WOMEN'S RIGHT TO VOTE
Dilworth Plaza – City Hall , 1 S. 15th Street, Philadelphia 19102
Amy Beach – Theme (from Op.80)
Florence Price – Sketches in Sepia
Candace Lark, harp
Abbey Lincoln – Straight Ahead
Ruth Naomi Floyd, flute; Isabella Amada, bass; Maria Marmarou, drums
Valerie Gay – Unfinished Chorus: What They Started [premiere]
Valerie Gay, vocals, an all-woman ensemble from Orchestra 2001, and members of Girls High School Chorus
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
Mark Loria, conductor/organist
Christ Church, 20 N. American Street, Philadelphia 19106
Ned Rorem – A Quaker Reader
Mark Loria, organ
Mary Lou Williams, arr. Loria – Black Christ of the Andes (St. Martin de Porres)
Mark Loria, organ
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate – Oshta, on a Choctaw church hymn
Rachel Segal, violin
Kurt Weill – Kiddush
Cantor Jacob Agar / Epiphany Singers
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol – Vecd
Tan Dun – Prayer and Blessing
Hannah Ludwig, mezzo-soprano
Reena Esmail – Testament from the Vishwas
RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS
Fort Mifflin on the Delaware River, 6400 Hog Island Road, Philadelphia 1915
Anonymous – Yankee Doodle
Anonymous – My Dog and Gun
William Billings – Chester
Anonymous – Three Camps
Anonymous – Philadelphia March
Anonymous – The Congress
Philly Fife and Drum Company
Anonymous – Civil War bugle calls with canon fire
George Rabbai, bugle
Jennifer Higdon – rapid•fire
David DiGiacobbe, flute
Raven Chacon – Report for 8 Firearms (video, filmed at Philly Gun Range)
Thomas Whitman – Fanfare for the 2nd Amendment / Say It Loud! for Brass, Percussion, Fifes and Drums [premiere]
ABOLITION OF SLAVERY
African American Museum in Philadelphia, 701 Arch Street, Philadelphia 19106
Rhiannon Giddens – At the Purchaser's Option
Jessie Montgomery – Passage
Valerie Coleman – Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes
Carlos Simon – Requiem for the Enslaved; with text by Marco Pavé
Terell Stafford, trumpet; Valerie Gay, spoken word/rap
A MORE PERFECT UNION at Cherry Street Pier
Cherry Street Pier, 121 N. Christopher Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia 19106
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY
Jay Krush – Some Assembly Required for musical flash mob [premiere]
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
Chuck Butler – Stop The Presses: A Cautionary Tale [premiere]
for string quartet (the press), heavy metal trio (government), soprano sax (left-wing pundit), and french horn (right-wing pundit)
Jay Krush, conductor
Selections from RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS
Anonymous – Yankee Doodle
Anonymous – My Dog and Gun
William Billings – Chester
Anonymous – Philadelphia March
Philly Fife and Drum Company
Raven Chacon – Report for 8 Firearms (video, filmed at Philly Gun Range)
Thomas Whitman – Fanfare for the 2nd Amendment / Say It Loud! for Brass, Percussion, Fifes and Drums
Thursday, June 11, 2026, 7:30 pm
FREEDOMS OF PETITION, SPEECH, and ASSEMBLY
Settlement School of Music, Queen Village, 416 Queen Street, Philadelphia 19147
Charles Ives – Nov. 2, An Election
Fredric Rzewski – The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!)
Hugh Sung and Madalina Danila, pianists
Hannah Ludwig, mezzo-soprano
Monday, June 15, 2026, 7:30 pm
Yards Brewery, 500 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia 19123
Admission includes light appetizers; cash bar
REPEAL OF PROHIBITION (a musical bar-crawl)
Thomas Whitman – A Hummingbird Flies to Mars* [premiere]
*In 1930, Texas Senator Morris Sheppard famously said, “There is as much chance of repealing the 18th Amendment as there is for a hummingbird to fly to the planet Mars with the Washington Monument tied to its tail.”
Kile Smith – In the Ratskeller (German drinking songs) [premiere]
Nina Siniakova – Tsiache vada u yarok (Water Runs into a Gully) (Belorusian drinking song) [premiere]
Shinjoo Cho – Life is a Sh*tshow (Korean drinking song) [premiere]
Susan Watts – Klezmer/Jewish drinking song [premiere]
Robert Maggio – I Saw A Skull (Sicilian drinking song) [premiere]
Darin Kelly –
The Thirsty Irishman
[premiere]
