Back to All Events

ICE at Franklin Institute Science Festival

  • Christ Church 20 North American Street Philadelphia, PA, 19106 United States (map)

Join Franklin Institute science educators, C.B. Fisk organ builders, and members of ICE as we explore the science of Christ Church's newly installed pipe organ!

Drop-in activities include opportunities to make and visualize musical sounds, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the mechanical-action pipe organ. The artists of the International Contemporary Ensemble, in residence for a year-long project In Plain Air, will engage participants in setting up for a performance of composer Alvin Lucier's Sizzles—together we'll find locations in the Christ Church sanctuary where percussion instruments, layered with dried beans or grains, will vibrate sympathetically with the organ.

This youth and family-focused program runs from 3:00 to 5:00pm. Participants are invited to return for a FREE public performance of Sizzles at 7:00pm.

Major support for In Plain Air is has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation. 

ICE’s 2017-18 performances and commissioning activities are made possible by the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Booth Ferris Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, A.N. and Pearl G. Barnett Family Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, Amphion Foundation, Pacific Harmony Foundation, Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, Casement Fund, BMI Foundation, as well as public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council for the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for ICE.