Mikel Patrick Avery, Artist Residency Launch Concert

Join us for a performance by our new Artist in Residence, Mikel Patrick Avery

Tuesday, October 7
Library Learning Commons Exhibit Hall
Doors open at 5 p.m., concert starts at 5:30 p.m.

1700 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia PA 19130

Artist Mikel Patrick Avery considers his multiplicity as one practice: creative problem solving. His rigorous work of performance, improvisation, composition, and experimentation spans jazz, experimental, and electronic music. Avery has collaborated and performed with numerous ensembles including Natural Information Society, Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra, the Jeff Parker Quartet, Kurt Vile, Big Thief, and Theaster Gates’ ensemble, The Black Monks of Mississippi.

With his deep understanding of the historical and contemporary significance of various genres, he explores the uses of improvisation to navigate uncertainty, imagine alternative futures, and inspire social cohesion. Viewing neither “talent” nor “ability” as the driving principles that propel musical and artistic ideas, he is enlarging and democratizing creative space for a wider group of participants. In both his own practice and collaborating with other artists, exploration and inclusion is the focus of his life's work.

The concert is free and open to the public.