The Annenberg Center to Present Three Online Events as Part of Penn's Virtual Homecoming Weekend

The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will present three online events November 12-15, during Penn's Homecoming at Home Weekend. Jazz singer Veronica Swift will be streamed live Thursday, November 12 at 7 PM; the film Aviva will be available for streaming beginning on Friday, November 13 at 7 PM; and mezzo-soprano Meg Bragle and lutenist Richard Stone will be livestreamed Sunday, November 15 at 7 PM. Visit AnnenbergCenter.org for more information.

A recent finalist at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition, vocalist Veronica Swift makes her Annenberg Center debut backed by Philadelphia-based pianist Tim Brey. This rising jazz star is already known for vocals that are "soulfully infused with an infectious passion for jazz past and future." (All About Jazz) With expansive musical influences, a commanding stage presence and a renowned jazz lineage, Swift is carving out her own identity in the world of jazz and beyond. This event will include a live, interactive Q&A with the performers.

Directed by Boaz Yakin, Aviva is a uniquely sexy, impressionistic take on a movie romance, set in a New York world of gender fluidity and frequently unclothed bodies. Featuring choreography by former Batsheva Dance Company member and co-star Bobbi Jene Smith (who is also a master lecturer at the University of the Arts), director Boaz Yakin's (Fresh, Remember the Titans, A Price Above Rubies) dreamy film tells a story that is timeless and universal yet up-to-the-moment. The character of Aviva, played by Zina Zinchenko (and at times by Or Schraiber), is a young Parisian who develops an online romance with Eden, played by Tyler Phillips (and at times Smith), a New Yorker. After a long courtship, they meet in person and fall in love, settling into an intimate relationship that leads to marriage, but one laced with conflicts. Incorporating exuberant dance sequences and featuring a pair of principals expressing both masculine and feminine sides, Aviva captures a restless and changing today where who we are as women and men and how we navigate the world are up for grabs. This film is recommended for viewers over 18 due to sexual content.

Solitude has long been considered essential for creativity and art, but what happens when that solitude is imposed rather than chosen? Mezzo-soprano and Penn Department of Music Artist-in-Residence Meg Bragle, and lutenist Richard Stone, co-director of Philadelphia's Tempesta di Mare, come together for an intimate meditation on solitude featuring music by Purcell, Dowland, Encina, Le Camus, Krieger, Campion, Boyer, Holborne, and Charpentier. This event will include a live, interactive Q&A with the performers.

Photographs for all events can be accessed in the Annenberg Center's Press Room.

About the Annenberg Center's 2020-21 Digital Season

The Annenberg Center's fall 2020 digital season comprises five livestreamed performances by top dance companies, three outstanding jazz artists making their Annenberg Center debuts, and one collaborative early music performance, in addition to screenings of four recently released independent films. The live performances will be broadcast using state-of-the-art digital technology from the Prince or Zellerbach Theatre, integrating live chat, and concluding with interactive discussions with the creators and performers. Livestreamed performances will be available online for 48 hours after the start time for those who purchased access.

About the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts serves as a major cultural destination and crossroads connecting the University of Pennsylvania and the Greater Philadelphia region through innovative human expression in theatre, music, dance and film, serving an annual audience of over 80,000. The Annenberg Center also serves as a key resource for the arts at Penn, connecting master artists with Penn students in support of and as an enhancement to the arts curriculum. Student performing arts groups are also key users of the Annenberg Center's multiple performance and rehearsal spaces, while also staffing many operational roles throughout the academic year. In reflection of Penn's core values as a world-respected academic institution, the Annenberg Center emphasizes artistic and intellectual excellence, diversity and rigor in its presentations; prioritizes broad inclusiveness in the artists, audiences and groups it serves; manages outstanding performance, conference and meeting facilities; and stresses comprehensive event planning, production support and customer service. The Annenberg Center is a major provider of performing arts access for school children and actively engages a broad range of primary, secondary and post-secondary student audiences and inclusive constituencies from the campus, community and surrounding region. Visit AnnenbergCenter.org.

Livestream

Veronica Swift

Thursday, November 12, 7 PM

A recent finalist at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition, vocalist Veronica Swift makes her Annenberg Center debut backed by Philadelphia-based pianist Tim Brey. This rising jazz star is already known for vocals that are "soulfully infused with an infectious passion for jazz past and future." (All About Jazz) With expansive musical influences, a commanding stage presence and a renowned jazz lineage, Swift is carving out her own identity in the world of jazz and beyond. This is an original, live event performed at the Annenberg Center and streamed online. It will include an interactive Q&A with the performers.

Visit AnnenbergCenter.org for information.

Film

Aviva

Friday, November 13, 7 PM

Aviva is a uniquely sexy, impressionistic take on a movie romance, set in a New York world of gender fluidity and frequently unclothed bodies. Featuring choreography by former Batsheva Dance Company member and co-star Bobbi Jene Smith, director Boaz Yakin's (Fresh, Remember the Titans, A Price Above Rubies) dreamy film tells a story that is timeless and universal yet up-to-the-moment. The character of Aviva, played by Zina Zinchenko (and at times by Or Schraiber), is a young Parisian who develops an online romance with Eden, played by Tyler Phillips (and at times Smith), a New Yorker. After a long courtship, they meet in person and fall in love, settling into an intimate relationship that leads to marriage, but one laced with conflicts. Incorporating exuberant dance sequences and featuring a pair of principals expressing both masculine and feminine sides, Aviva captures a restless and changing today, where who we are as women and men and how we navigate the world are up for grabs. This film is recommended for viewers over 18 due to sexual content.

Directed by Boaz Yakin, 2020, USA/France, 116 min, dance drama, English.

Visit AnnenbergCenter.org for information.

Livestream

Meg Bragle, Mezzo-soprano, and Richard Stone, Lute

Sunday, November 15, 7 PM

Solitude has long been considered essential for creativity and art, but what happens when that solitude is imposed rather than chosen? Mezzo-soprano and Penn Department of Music Artist-in-Residence Meg Bragle, and lutenist Richard Stone, co-director of Philadelphia's Tempesta di Mare come together for an intimate meditation on solitude, with music by Purcell, Dowland, Encina, Boyer and more. This is an original, live event performed at the Annenberg Center and streamed online. It will include an interactive Q&A with the performers.

Program:

"In darkness let me dwell" - John Dowland

"Hermitaño quiero ser" - Juan del Encina

"Forêts solitaires" - Sébastian Le Camus

"Solus cum sola" - John Dowland

"An die Einsamkeit" - Johann Philipp Krieger

"So tired are all my thoughts" - Thomas Campion

"Sombre forêts, noires vallées" - Jean Boyer

"My Selfe" - Anthony Holborne

"O sweet woods, the delight of solitariness" - John Dowland

"O solitude" - Henry Purcell

"Sans frayeur dans ce bois" - Marc-Antoine Charpentier

Visit AnnenbergCenter.org for information.

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