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Spoken Hand Percussion Orchestra

A high-energy celebration of polyphonic rhythms, Spoken Hand Percussion Orchestra unifies four percussion batteries into one distinct voice: North Indian tabla, Afro Cuban bata, Brazilian samba and West African djembe. They link the past and the present, the sacred and the secular with a symphonically textured fusion of traditional and contemporary drumming and choral compositions. Spoken Hand is a two-time winner of Philadelphia City Paper’s “Best World Music/Roots Performance” and is nationally recognized for its collaboration with tabla master Zakir Hussain and hip-hop dance guru Rennie Harris in the “Flammable Contents” project.

Spoken Hand Percussion Orchestra at the Painted Bride Arts Center from May 13-15, 2011

Source: Michael Ricci
April 10, 2011

15th Anniversary Celebration If you're a fan of the Bride or an avid arts supporter within the region, you're no stranger to Spoken Hand and its unmistakable, undeniable, unwavering heartbeat. Since its inception fifteen years ago, this uniquely robust orchestra of percussionists has traveled the road on a journey to explore the new compositional possibilities in world music by fusing four percussion batteries into one distinct voice: North Indian tabla, Afro Cuban bata, Brazilian samba and West African djembe. Known ...
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“Any of these three acts can pack the house…Put them all on the same bill at the arts center and it’ll be one of those get-out-the-crowbar-to-fit-everyone-in evenings.” --Philadelphia City Paper

“…WOW! The performance left everyone pleasantly overpowered by the collective mastering of such soul-stirring, complex compositions. It was as if I was standing simultaneously on different parts of the world, but everyone was moving to the singular rhythm of the earth.” --Lynn Johnson, Founding Director of Amerimasala Festival Spoken Hand’s “fabulous sonic textures…and sheer high energy shook the house.“ --Philadelphia Inquirer