‘Spiritual Uprising,’ ‘Our City, Our Orchestra,’ and ‘Chance the Snapper’ this weekend

This weekend features an assortment of online music to check out. People’s Light hosts Zonya Love with Spiritual Uprising, the Philadelphia Orchestra continues its Our City, Our Orchestra series, and Arts Access TV captures Philly music all weekend. Then, be sure to discover the roots of liberty with the National Liberty Museum’s new exhibition, catch Chance the Snapper, and celebrate Earth Day all month long with the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Strength & Fragility: The Story of the NLM

The National Liberty Museum’s newest exhibition is open to the public for a virtual viewing online. The show looks at the stories of heroes who have made great sacrifices to safeguard liberty through thought-provoking glass art. (Irvin J. Borowsky, who founded the museum in 2000, made it his mission to educate people about the concept of liberty.)

Spiritual Uprising

People’s Light welcomes actor-musician Zonya Love for a collection of reimagined Negro spirituals to the virtual stage this month. Available for streaming through May 2, Spiritual Uprising is a concert event that was filmed on People’s Light stage. Zonya Love also appeared in the People's Light 2017 production of Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole.

Our City, Our Orchestra

Philadelphia Orchestra’s Our City, Our Orchestra concludes its first season with a set of new online concerts. The series records at iconic locations and Black-owned businesses in the area. Upcoming episodes include collaborations with the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, UrbanPromise, Share Food Program, William Way LGBT Community Center, and more. The performances are available for free, with a new episode this week available for streaming now.

Earth Day with the Academy of Natural Sciences

Earth Day is still a couple of weeks away, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t time to think about our planet! Starting this weekend, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University will begin their month-long celebration of Earth Day with a handful of virtual programs. The series opens on Thursday, April 8, at 7pm with a screening of A River Reborn, a documentary that (according to the event description) “demonstrates the opportunities that can arise as we work to reverse past failures of stewardship—a lesson to recall while we, as a global society, fight to mitigate the effects and acceleration of climate change.” The 30-minute film will be followed by a live discussion with the film’s director and environmental experts. Check out the full list of programs and events online.

Music with Arts Access TV

This weekend, the Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy’s Arts Access TV will broadcast a pair of musical offerings. On Friday, April 9, at 6pm, a performance by Tacony Creek Suite will feature their entire composition. Then, on Saturday, April 10, at 1pm, the Inter-generational Jazz Jam brings various jazz performers including Jazz Philadelphia musical director Mike Boone, who will be accompanied by Elliott Bild, Mollie Ducoste, Ella Gahnt, Matthew Green, Jim Holton, Leon Jordan, Jr., Rob Landham, Greg Kettinger, and Maria Marmarou.

Chance the Snapper

No, that’s not a typo. Temple University serves up the musical theater performance Chance the Snapper, Friday, April 9, through April 23. The free, on-demand streamed event is based on a true story about an alligator that brought a city to its knees. The musical follows “corrupt politicians,” “anxious herpetologists,” and “city flag obsessed Chicagoans” as they work together to find the meaning of allyship, friendship, community, and home.

Image Description: Zonya Love, a Black woman, is placed against a yellow-orange gradient backdrop. She's singing facing right, leaning slightly. That same image of her is duplicated, facing left, and is transparent. She's wearing an red dress, a microphone in one hand; her other palm is open facing up. Flowers are in her hair above her right ear.