This week, BSR film critic Stephen Silver reviews the opening-night screenings at the 2023 fest, including Stand Up & Shout: Songs from a Philly High School. This documentary from executive producer John Legend (who was on hand for the Philadelphia Film Center premiere) follows a group of Mt. Airy 10th-graders who team with professional artists to create and produce a music album. I'm looking forward to streaming it myself in November. It reminds me of Camille Bacon-Smith's recent story: "It's their city, too: Philly's young people deserve to take up space."
Other stories this week bring us to Woodmere Art Museum, BalletX, and Lyric Fest, plus a look ahead to the official debut of the No Name Pops, a group including many musicians formerly of the troubled Philly POPS, who founded their own orchestra nonprofit in May and are already taking to Verizon Hall.
Watch this space in the weeks ahead--we have some exciting year-end announcements, including our first-ever webinars, and BSR writers and subscribers will get the details before anyone else.
Alaina Johns
BSR editor-in-chief
