Category: Philadelphia

Morgen ist Spendentag

Radio klassik Stephansdom‘s November Spendentag will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, November 18, and this time around the theme is “Land of Sounds — Youth Edition,” celebrating the role that young people are playing in keeping the legacy of European and American art music hale and healthy. Several guests will be live in the Vienna studio, including representatives from the Vienna Boys’ and Girls’ Choirs and the Vienna State Opera School, along with special musical presentations. So tomorrow (or today — why wait?) open up those wallets and toss a few Euros Radio klassik Stephansdom’s way. More information about tomorrow’s Spendentag can be found here, and you can donate online here.

Of course donation drives have been a feature of public radio here in the United States for years (even the defunct and privately-held Philadelphia WFLN station, with which I grew up, was for many years listener-supported; the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on its 1997 closure here). With recent federal cuts to public broadcasting, though, every week has become pledge week, so along with Vienna’s fine classical music outlet I suggest you contribute as well to Philadelphia’s WRTI, maybe the closest thing Philadelphia has to radio klassik Stephansdom. WRTI has been looking to youth as well these days; I’m hoping to listen soon to a stream of Saturday’s broadcast of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, performed by students at Philly’s Academy of Vocal Arts. WRTI’s John T.K. Scherch has more on the production, and interviews with the cast, here. You can donate here, and I’ll add a link to the Così  stream when and if it’s available.

Both stations’ web sites provide live streams of their broadcasts, but if you’re looking for something with a little more clarity and bandwidth, I recommend signing up for TuneIn and running it through your music streamer. Sounds great.

Philadelphia Friday: Film and … art?

Films Shaped by a City © 2025 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Marian Bailey, 1412 Sansom Street. Photo by Steve Weinik.

Philadelphia’s Mural Arts project keeps Philly’s streets dynamic, and on October 3 the project tipped its hat to the role the city has played in the movies with the unveiling of Marian Bailey’s “Films Shaped by a City” in the Sansom Street rear of the Film Society Center at 1412 Chestnut Street. “The mural includes many films and film related organizations that have impacted filmmaking, film presentation and film-related training in Philadelphia,” reads the description at the Mural Arts web site.

Rocky and the usual suspects receive due recognition, although “[the] exclusion of certain movies from the mural is likely to start some arguments,” Stephen Silver wrote in an article for the Inquirer. I personally was happy to see the inclusion of my favorite Philadelphia film, Elaine May’s 1976 Mikey and Nicky, which captures the desolation and frustration you could find on Philadelphia streets at the time. So hats off to the folks who put the mural together.

Finally, I am grimly amused at the announcement that the Philadelphia Museum of Art has paid a small fortune, I believe, to the Brooklyn-based marketing firm Gretel for a rebranding effort that included a new logo — “Our main objective was to ‘come down the steps’ by putting the museum in dialogue with its community, which is and always has been the city itself,” Gretel’s Ryan Moore said in a masterly demonstration of the bleedin’ obvious– but maybe the most apparent change was a new name. As Gretel’s web site has it:

Along the way, the museum’s name shifted to what much of the city had already called it: Philadelphia Art Museum. It’s simple, casual and approachable. In short: PhAM.

In true City of Brotherly Love fashion, however, Philadelphia magazine’s Victor Fiorillo yesterday suggested another possibility: “The Philadelphia Museum of Art is now the Philadelphia Art Museum or, well, PhART.” I’ll bet he wasn’t paid for it, either. Me, I hope PhART is the one that sticks.

Go Birds

The Super Bowl winners the Philadelphia Eagles will open its 2025 season tonight hosting the Dallas Cowboys at the Linc, so it seems only appropriate that I repost the below note, which was first published here on the eve of the 2025 Super Bowl. As far as the Phillies go — well, I hope they don’t blow it this time.

When I was in Philadelphia late last year, preparing a move back to my hometown in the not-too-distant future, I was settling up my bill at the club, and just as I said my goodbye to Shannon, the bartender, she nodded at me and said, “Go Birds” — with a somewhat cynical, flat affect, a tone that’s not uncommon to Philadelphians. I hadn’t heard the phrase before (I hadn’t been in the city for quite some time), and sensing my confusion, she said, “It’s something we say to each other here, George. Go Birds. You’ll get used to it.”

Now that the Eagles have a good shot at the Super Bowl again — after having won in 2018 and lost in 2023 — I’m putting on my Eagles cap. As a native-born Philadelphian, I have an obligation to do so, though I’m more of a baseball than a football fan myself. (The post-season performance of the Phillies last year was a nightmare from which I’m still trying to awake.) More than any enthusiasm for the game, I’m loyal to a city that takes its sports teams very seriously, even if on occasion its sports teams and their corporate owners treat their fans reprehensibly.

The phrase has transcended its original purpose as an expression of fandom and become — well, become a sign of affection, especially for the city itself. In 2023, shortly after the Eagles lost the Super Bowl, Philadelphian Hannah Workman wrote:

Even though the Phillies just lost the World Series and the Eagles just lost the Super Bowl, I still have hope for the remaining Philadelphia teams. Losing those championships after being underdogs and making it to the finals was something that really captured the “essence” of Philadelphia. … Philadelphians and anyone who roots for Philly sports teams have a special connection, and seeing it come to life while away from family at college has been so special. I may miss home, but when I hear the phrase, “Go Birds,” I don’t feel quite as alone.

Even non-Philadelphians appreciate the feeling. “I don’t have any specific issue with Philadelphia as a city, but the general animosity I feel towards Philly sports fans and their … passionate reputation tends to color the city as a whole for me,” Ned Donovan wrote a few days ago on Medium. He continues:

It’s fascinating, then, how language and colloquialisms can evolve beyond their original meaning. “Go Birds” isn’t just a rally cry for a football team — it’s a Philadelphia love language. It’s a way of saying “I see you, I acknowledge you, we’re in this together.” In a city known for its hardened exterior, these two words serve as a handshake of solidarity, a gentle reminder that beneath the tough facade beats a heart of gold.

“I still don’t like Philadelphia. Probably never will,” Donovan concludes. Of course, former Eagles center Jason Kelce’s “No one likes us and we don’t care” is the only reasonable response to such a sentiment:

So yeah, I’ll be watching the Eagles take on the Washington Commanders next Sunday. Go Birds? Goddamn right, Go Birds.