Penn Museum’s Garden Jams kicks off for its second year with West Philadelphia Orchestra

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The heat and humidity of a Philadelphia summer didn’t stop roughly 200 people from enjoying the first week of Penn Museum’s Garden Jams event, which runs every Wednesday in July.

The event was held in Stoner Courtyard, across South Street from Franklin Field. The courtyard was filled with people of all ages enjoying the food, drinks, garden games and music, which was courtesy of the West Philadelphia Orchestra this week.

Outdoor music in the summer isn’t new to Penn Museum, as it has hosted music groups since 2010, but this is only the second year of this particular iteration, which includes late-night museum access as part of the ticket.

One part of the initiative to host events like this is to “invite the community in to visit the museum in different ways,” said Tena Thomason, associate director of public engagement for the museum. She helps coordinate events like this to better interact and incorporate the Philadelphia community.

“It’s all cultural music,” Thomason said. “We try to get local Philadelphia bands to share their different cultures.”

Throughout July, the event will see a breadth of different music representing different Philadelphia cultures. Next week’s band will be Vertical Current, a jazz, soul and funk band; on July 23, Los Bomberos De La Calle will celebrate Afro-Caribbean music; and Malidelphia will perform July 30, mixing traditional West African music with Philadelphia’s music landscape.

The West Philadelphia Orchestra took over the courtyard this week with 10 members playing a variety of brass instruments, drumming or singing. The group has been together for “almost 19 years,” said Elliot Beck, the drummer for the last five years.

The group formed because there were some people who had a Balkan music jam in West Philadelphia, according to Beck. The group has branched out from just its Balkan roots to incorporate Ashkenazi Jewish and other European influences.

The group’s setlist for the evening ranged from traditional Balkan folk tunes, klezmer — or Ashkenazi cultural music — remixes, New Orleans brass band and even George Michael’s “Faith.”

Despite the group’s name, the West Philadelphia Orchestra’s makeup was more akin to a brass band, but the name pays homage to the culture it celebrates through its music.

“Even brass bands over there in that part of the world are called orchestras,” Beck said. Your band would be “the name of your village and then orchestra.”

For Beck, who has Ashkenazi Jewish roots, a great part of being in the West Philadelphia Orchestra is connecting with his heritage and family history.

The event attendees spread out through the courtyard to enjoy the band’s music, taking up space on the cobblestone and in the grassy sections behind hedges. Some brought blankets or folding chairs, while others, like Carm Almonor, a political science professor at Seton Hall University, found some refuge on the few benches that had shade.

“I think it’s always good to have arts that are tied to the population,” Almonor said. “Bringing live performance arts, it’s community based, as this appears to be is a nice way to tie that into the community.”

“One of our goals with a series like this is to reach out to new audiences and bring them in,” Thomason said. “Music is a way to get them in, and they see what we have to offer to come back.”

Editor’s Note: Nate Harrington’s WHYY News internship has been made possible thanks to the generous support from the Dow Jones News Fund O’Toole Family Foundation Internship.