Sunday, May 31, 2026 | 4:00 pm
Philadelphia Ethical Society
1906 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia

As Philadelphia gets itself ready to be a focal point of the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence, we think it’s also a good time to reflect on Relâche’s impact on our city’s cultural landscape for nearly fifty of those years. We’re proud, of course, of the commissions, performances and recordings involving artists from around the globe; but there’s a reason we’ve remained a Philly-based organization since our founding just after the American Bicentennial. We’re all either native or adopted Philadelphians, and this city represents to us the very essence of what makes our entire nation great: A tightly-knit community of hard-working folks, always ready to stand up for what is right, and never afraid to show some love.

In Re | PUBLIC, we’ll join the national celebration by revisiting some of our favorite repertoire from American composers. These are wonderfully innovative works, but we think that you’ll find them especially compelling in the context of America’s Big Party: Tuneful, evocative, ebullient… and downright fun!

We commissioned Waiting in the Tall Grass from the wonderful Galen Brown, and included it on our 2014 recording Comix Trips. We love how its undulating sway leads to a pulsating journey through a landscape of rich colors. The music of Raymond Scott may be more familiar by ear than by name; Philadelphia arranger Darin Kelly brought several of his absolutely infectious tunes to life for that same 2014 recording, with their outright lunacy making them perfect for use in many classic animated cartoons. Eric Moe was inspired to compose Incisive, with intermittent wailing for us after attending our 2024 performance at Black Squirrel Club in Fishtown, and we were thrilled with the result.

It’s hard to imagine presenting any kind of retrospective of Relâche’s connection with American music without including something composed by one of our founding members, the late Guy Klucevsek. Guy’s music teems with his upbringing in central Pennsylvania, where his family’s Eastern European heritage, his community’s love of traditional polka and his innovations on the accordion all came together in a wonderful melting pot of melody, rhythm and rugged beauty. And what could be more American than that late-night trip to the diner for an All-American Slam? Robert Bowen’s work of that title will have you jonesing for a hot cup of joe and a full plate of soul-feeding comfort food.