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Songs in the Key of Free brings audiences and inmates together with music
Alaina Johns
On June 16, Philadelphia-area musicians and singers will give a public voice to an evening of world-premiere songs composed and written by 25 men incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford, in a free event coming to the Painted Bride.
The concert, titled Rise Up: Songs and Stories from SCI-Graterford, is presented as part of Songs in the Key of Free. It's an ongoing composer/musician workshop for incarcerated men and women in partnership with the Curtis Institute and the Voices project of the Restorative Justice program at Mural Arts. Songs in the Key of Free was founded by community arts activists August Tarrier and Miles Butler, and resident composer Emily Cooley helms the Graterford project through Curtis’s Community Artist Program.
Nine songs will premiere at the Painted Bride, with the help of a live band and popular local performers such as Alexis Simmons, the Anna Crusis Choir, and TwizzMatic. Lyrics and music were written entirely by Graterford workshop participants. According to Mural Arts, these incarcerated artists (including horn players, conga players, and rappers) are accomplished musicians themselves.
All the Rise Up songs address the realities of mass incarceration, featuring stories of how family relationships are kept or lost in the criminal justice system, the school-to-prison pipeline, and Black Lives Matter. The evening also includes a chance to get to know the artists involved, with interviews and multimedia footage from inside Graterford to “reveal the creativity and humanity that thrive even from behind bars.”
Audience members who like what they hear can take some of the music home: Songs in the Key of Free will sell a three-song EP featuring songs from the concert recorded inside the walls as a preview of a full album to be released next year.
Songs in the Key of Free presents Rise Up: Songs and Stories from SCI-Graterford at 7:30pm on Friday, June 16, at the Painted Bride Art Center (230 Vine Street, Philadelphia). The show is free and open to the public, and you can reserve your seats in advance here.
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