By Steve NeumannChris argerakis, a music teacher now in his 11th year at Andrew Jackson Elementary School in South Philly, remembers how desperately his program needed money when he began teaching at the start of the 2007 financial crisis. To raise funds, he resorted to cold calling local businesses within a four-block radius of the
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By Estelle TracyAs a local food supporter, you know where your food is coming from. You pick berries at the orchard and get Brandywine tomatoes from the farmers market. Over time, you even develop a preference for a coffee origin.
Moreby Jillian BaxterOn April 24th, PennFuture and the Clean Air Council co-sponsored an environmental forum for City Council At-Large candidates at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. With over 30 candidates running for Philadelphia’s seven at-large seats, following the policy goals of each is a daunting task. The forum was meant to show
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by Claire Marie Porter (full story can be found here)Scott Keeley began playing didgeridoos to treat his sleep apnea. “Didgeridoo players don’t snore,” he was told by his doctor.
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by Claire Marie Porter (full story can be read here)Michele Judge, a percussionist and jewelry-maker, began making her own drums after playing a friend’s steel tongue drum in southern Mexico. To her, the sound and feel of the instrument was intoxicating.
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by Claire Marie Porter(full story can be found here)While Tom Rudnitsky doesn’t make instruments from scratch, he restores them—or as he might describe it, he saves their souls.
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by Claire Marie Porter(full story can be found here)Ryan Hyde makes guitars and basses from scratch at NextFab. Over the course of six months, blocks of raw wood become customized, high-quality instruments. He is a luthier, a word derived from the French word “luth,” meaning lyre, that has evolved to describe someone who builds stringed
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by Claire Marie Porter(full story can be found here)For some, making and customizing instruments is the practical solution to unsustainable artistic ventures. For Matt Garfield, modifying instruments is a marriage between art and technology.
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by Claire Marie Porter(full story can be found here)Ethan Feinstein, a drummer of 17 years, wanted a very specific size and sound from his drums—something he couldn’t find in stores. He collaborated with a friend on his first project, a single drum, using resources from NextFab’s North Philadelphia location. After that, a friend asked him
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By Claire Marie PorterTinkering away in community workspaces throughout the city, a renaissance of artists are making both music and the instruments that create it.
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