Tempesta di Mare to Present SOUNDTRACK OF INDEPENDENCE for America's 250th Anniversary

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Tempesta di Mare, the award-winning Philadelphia baroque orchestra, will present Soundtrack of Independence from May 7, 2026 to May 21, 2026 at venues throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. This production will feature 10 performances over 14 days, including collaborations with partner organizations Music of the Regiment, the Publick Pleasure, and the New York Baroque Dance Company, a free school-band Pay-In on the Cherry Street Pier, and the first fully-orchestral performance in 250 years of America Independent: America's first Oratorio, with a libretto by Declaration-signer Francis Hopkinson.  

Featured soloists include singers Meg Bragle, Laura Heimes, Maren Montalbano, and Brian Ming Chu, and Justin Bland on trumpet and keyed bugle. 

The roughly 25,000 inhabitants of Philadelphia in 1775 practiced musical traditions that spanned the Atlantic World: from the British Isles, to continental Europe, West Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. 

While fifes and drums were no doubt important features in America's earliest independence celebrations, Soundtrack of Independence will contribute to a deeper understanding of how the United States's first generation celebrated, entertained, worshiped, and reflected through music. 

These varied traditions shape the music-scene in Philadelphia today—from jazz and pop to classical. Yet, their roots are poorly explored and rarely connect to performers and audiences today. 

Each Soundtrack of Independence event connects these historical traditions of music making with themes of American independence and identity. From English Theater and Concert Culture, to America's first Oratorio, Perspectives on Black Musical Life during the Founding Era, and the Birth of America's Wind Band Tradition. 

AMERICA INDEPENDENT, or THE TEMPLE OF MINERVA

On Tuesday, December 11, 1781, Francis Hopkinson premiered America Independent, or The Temple of Minerva, the first American oratorio. The work featured music from Handel and Arne, along with lyrics and story provided by Hopkinson. George and Martha Washington, General Greene and his wife, the Minister of France and many other dignitaries were in attendance. Now, Tempesta di Mare has pulled together the parts of the original score for its first fully orchestral performance in 250 years.

Handel's Water Music in F (HWV 348), featuring a pair of solo horns, rounds out the program.

May 14, 2026 at 7:00pm | Arch Street Meeting House

PERFORMERS & CREATIVES

Tempesta di Mare | Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra
Gwyn Roberts & Richard Stone, directors | Emlyn Ngai, concertmaster

Gwyn Roberts, curation
Richard Stone, score reproduction

Meg Bragle, mezzo-soprano
Gabriela Estephanie Solìs, mezzo-soprano
Maren Montalbano, mezzo-soprano
Brian Ming Chu, baritone

More information & tickets: https://tempestadimare.org/tdm_event/america-independent/

FRANK'S BUGLE

Frank's Bugle pays homage to the music and dances composed and performed by Francis Johnson. Hailed as the “best musicians the city can furnish,” (The Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 12, 1822), Johnson was a monumental figure in American musical life from the 1820s through the 1840s.

A free Black man, the Philadelphia native witnessed the near eradication of legal slavery and mass emigration to Philadelphia from St. Domingue (modern Haiti) as a consequence of the Haitian Revolution.

The program will feature cotillion dances by Johnson himself and the keyed bugle, a fully diatonic and partially chromatic soprano brass instrument that was first patented in 1810, of which Johnson was particularly fond of and famous for playing on.

May 17, 2026 at 4:00 pm | Christ Church Neighborhood House
May 17, 2026 at 7:00 pm | Christ Church Neighborhood House

PERFORMERS & CREATIVES

Music of the Regiment
Dominic Giardino, curation and clarinet, with performers of Tempesta di Mare

Justin Bland, keyed bugle

New York Baroque Dance Company

More information & tickets: https://tempestadimare.org/tdm_event/franks-bugle/

THE MOST FAVOURITE MUSIC

European-trained musicians, American political elites, theater performers, and denizens of the French colonies all performed shoulder to shoulder in an 18th-century Philadelphia that saw a lively and burgeoning music scene after the relaxation of cultural restrictions enforced during the Revolutionary War.

From familiar Scottish Airs to dance-numbers and chamber music, this re-creation of a “City Concert” offers an immersive experience of living history, featuring music from Philadelphia's stages and ballrooms popular at the time. A public dance follows the final performance.

May 15, 2026 at 7:00 pm | Christ Church Christiana Hundred
May 16, 2026 at 6:00 pm | Christ Church Neighborhood House
May 16, 2026 at 9:00 pm | Christ Church Neighborhood House

PERFORMERS & CREATIVES

The Publick Pleasure
Eve Miller, curation and cello, with performers of Tempesta di Mare

Brian Ming Chu, bass

New York Baroque Dance Company
Julia Bengtsson, director and dancer

More information & tickets: https://tempestadimare.org/tdm_event/the-most-favourite-music/

OTHER FEATURED PERFORMANCES

ARTIST RECITAL SERIES: REVOLUTION TUNES

Declaration of Independence signer Francis Hopkinson was one of Philadelphia most accomplished musicians and amassed a treasure trove of "Lessons" for the harpsichord: several hundred short pieces fit for a virtuoso. In the book we find transcriptions of favorite tunes from the London Opera alongside works for the harpsichord by famous composers from all across Europe.

John Walthausen's recital provide a glimpse into the home music making of one of America's most artistically sophisticated founding fathers.

May 9, 2026 at 5:00 pm | Woodmere Art Museum
May 12, 2026 at 7:00 pm | Christ Church Neighborhood House

PERFORMERS

John Walthausen, historic keyboards

More information & tickets: https://tempestadimare.org/tdm_event/revolution-songs/

STRIKE UP THE BAND!

The War of Independence was an inflection point for musical life in America. Throughout various periods between 1775 and 1783, military musicians serving under the banners of the United States, Britain and their German auxiliaries, and France all marched through the streets of Philadelphia. Their repertoire was surprisingly eclectic, playing everything from ceremonial marches to transcriptions of the latest operas, from CPE Bach to W. A. Mozart!

FREE EVENT

May 10, 2026 at 3:00 pm | Race Street Pier

PERFORMERS & CREATIVES

Music of the Regiment
Dominic Giardino, curation and clarinet, with performers of Tempesta di Mare

More information: https://tempestadimare.org/tdm_event/strike-up-the-band/

WE MARCH TOGETHER

We March Together brings together bands from participating public and parochial schools in a joyful celebration of music that was written at the time of Independence.

FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

May 15, 2026 at 3:00 pm | Cherry Street Pier

PERFORMERS

Philadelphia School Bands and performers from the Soundtrack of Independence

More information: https://tempestadimare.org/tdm_event/we-march-together/

PARTNER ORGANIZATION EVENTS

The Franklin Quartet presents
A Federal Fanfare at the Franklins'

Travel back in time with the Franklin Quartet to Benjamin Franklin's own parlor. Step into an intimate house concert inspired by Philadelphia's vibrant 18th-century parlor music tradition—a setting that fostered the exchange of ideas and artistry as the young United States began defining its own cultural voice, distinct from yet deeply connected to Europe.

Thursday, May 7, 2026 at 7:00 PM | Christ Church Neighborhood House

More information & tickets: https://www.franklinquartet.com/calendar/a-federal-fanfare-at-the-franklins

Night Music presents
Alfred: A Masque

In 1757, Philadelphia hosted one of the earliest large-scale musical dramas in the American colonies: Alfred: A Masque, featuring music by Thomas Augustine Arne and the first appearance of the tune “Rule, Britannia!” Night Music reimagines this remarkable Philadelphia event in a vibrant concert performance. Rather than reconstructing the 1757 pastiche exactly, co-directors Heather Miller Lardin and Steven Zohn craft a new adaptation drawn from the original score and related repertoire by Handel and his contemporaries.

Thursday, May 21 at 7:30 PM | University Lutheran Church