On an absolutely exquisite late summer’s evening on Saturday, September 11, you may have heard the heartbeat of Mali, West Africa resounding throughout Glen Providence Park, courtesy of the eight member drum, percussion, and vocals troupe Malidelphia.

Should one be curious as to the origin of the Afro-Pop genre, this ensemble of drummers, percussionists and singers introduced the concert audience to the traditional sound – and feel! – of that West African style. Drums always lead the way, followed by the chanted colloquial vocals. Occasionally, woven through this thrumming beat was a warbling thread of notes from a treble-boosted electric guitar.

The band front man and lead vocalist Ira Bond coached the audience on some call and response participation, but more than a few concertgoers required no coaching to jump up and dance.

You can see Malidelphia perform on YouTube (also linked below) thanks to volunteer Carol Carmon!

Many thanks to all who made this concert possible: Delaware County Parks & Recreation; a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; Concert Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board and West End Flats; Concert Sponsor Sterling Pig Brewery; our volunteer Concert Committee; Marcia Tate for her artful decoration of the stage; the almost 200 people who attended; and of course Malidelphia!

Our 2021 Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Program Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. 

Click on any photo for a closer look! Photos by George Tate.

Video by Carol Carmon. Panorama by Stephanie Gaboriault.

The acoustic guitar and the outdoors were made for each other. As if to prove that point, on Saturday, August 7, brothers Adam and John Kossler – along with perfect conditions at the concert stage in Glen Providence Park –conspired to deliver a delightful evening of sweet strings on a beautiful summer evening.

Brothers Adam and John Kossler have established themselves individually as classical guitar soloists, chamber musicians and dynamic partners when performing together as the Kossler Duo, as they did this evening on the park’s 1930’s-era historic stage.

Adam and John dipped into their well of symphonic stylings transcribed for the guitar and showed how precision often begets beauty.

In his introduction to their arrangement of Danse Macabre, no one in the audience saw coming Adam’s suggestion that they may have heard a version of this same number in a bugs Bunny cartoon!

In 2019 the Kossler Duo released their first album titled Danse Macabre, a collection of their own new transcriptions for guitar duo. The recording debuted at #2 on Billboard’s “Traditional Classical” chart, and #7 on Billboard’s “Classical Albums” chart.

You can see the Kossler Duo perform on YouTube (also linked below) thanks to volunteer Carol Carmon!

Many thanks to all who made this concert possible: Delaware County Parks & Recreation; a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; Concert Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board and West End Flats; Concert Sponsor Shere-E-Punjab Indian Restaurant; our volunteer Concert Committee; Marcia Tate for her artful decoration of the stage; the almost 130 people who attended; and of course Adam and John Kossler!

Our 2021 Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Program Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. 

Click on any photo for a closer look! Photos by George Tate.

Video by Carol Carmon. Panorama by Stephanie Gaboriault.

Local drummer and percussionist Paul Downie brought his six-piece band of “Rhythm & Soul” rockers to light up the Glen Providence concert stage and help the Friends of Glen Providence Park celebrate their 10-year anniversary at our concert on Saturday, July 10.

Preceding the music, the Friends Board of Directors took center stage to present FoGPP President Stephanie Gaboriault with a commemorative book featuring photos that highlighted the many programs and events sponsored by the organization in its first decade of service to the Park and the community. Marc Manfre, Director Delaware County Parks & Recreation spoke to the Friend’s mission and its effectiveness in delivering area-wide environmental and cultural benefits and inspiration to other county park volunteer groups. Media Mayor Bob McMahon presented a proclamation to Ms. Gaboriault in recognition of her influence in founding the Friends of Glen Providence Park and her tireless efforts in support of the organization.

Performing beneath the beautiful hand crafted HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY banner strung above the stage front, Paul Downey & Friends (now called Big Fire) covered songs by the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, and Bob Marley. The band also applied a touch of island spice to jazz favorites by Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, in addition to performing some original compositions.

During the show, the Friends handed out 10th Anniversary cupcake treats to the attendees, the audience soaked up the rich atmosphere of the concert in the Glen… and the band played on.

For more about the Friends 10th Anniversary and photos from our celebration, click here. You can see Paul Downie & Friends perform Chariot on YouTube (also linked below) thanks to volunteer Carol Carmon!

Many thanks to all who made this concert possible: Delaware County Parks & Recreation; a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; Concert Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board and West End Flats; Concert Sponsor Seven Stones Gallery; our volunteer Concert Committee; Marcia Tate for her artful decoration of the stage; the more than 300 people who attended; and of course the Paul Downie & Friends, now called Big Fire!

Our 2021 Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Program Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. 

Click on any photo for a closer look! Photos by George Tate.

Video by Carol Carmon. Panorama by Stephanie Gaboriault.

Glen Providence Park’s stature as a neighborhood treasure was never more apparent than in the year 2020. The park provided serenity, solace, and space to an entire community precisely when access to quiet open space was at a premium in our urban setting.

The normally active historic stage went quiet for the entire 2020 performance schedule cycle, the first interruption in the Friend’s eight consecutive years of providing the free summer concerts that have consistently grown in popularity and attendance.

Following 2021 guidelines for renewed social activity, the Friends of Glen Providence Park began our ninth concert season – and our tenth year as an organization – on Saturday, June 26 with a return to the concert stage featuring the soulful Danie Ocean and her band.

Danie on either keyboard or guitar, accompanied by her four-piece band, serenaded the audience spread across the concert stage lawn with original jazz-pop fusion originals like Mirrors and In Paris and a just fabulous cover of Uptown Funk.

Danie Ocean’s melodic stylings were the perfect “welcome back” we had all been hoping for throughout the previous year.

You can see Danie perform her anthem, Not Sorry on YouTube (also linked below) thanks to volunteer Carol Carmon!

Many thanks to all who made this concert possible: Delaware County Parks & Recreation; a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; Concert Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board and West End Flats; Concert Sponsor Sterling Pig Brewery; our volunteer Concert Committee; Marcia Tate for her artful decoration of the stage; the more than 250 people who attended; and of course the Danie Ocean Band!

Our 2021 Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Program Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. 

Click on any photo for a closer look! Photos by George Tate.

Video by Carol Carmon. Panorama by Stephanie Gaboriault.

Announcing… Friends of Glen Providence Park’s 2021 Arts in the Park! We have another great mix for our ninth year of performances, with Soul & Jazz Pop Fusion; Rhythm & Soul; Charming & Virtuosic Classical Guitar; and African Folkloric Performance Art! We are delighted to hold these concerts after they were postponed last summer due to Covid.

We will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Friends of Glen Providence Park at our July concert!

Enjoy an afternoon performance at the historical concert stage, then walk two blocks into town for dinner and shopping on State Street. Check out our full poster below…

Mark your calendars!

Soul & Jazz Pop Fusion with Danie Ocean
Saturday, June 26

Our 10th Anniversary Celebration!
Rhythm & Soul with Paul Downie & Friends
Saturday, July 10

Charming & Virtuosic Classical Guitar with the Kossler Duo
Saturday, August 7

African Folkloric Performance Art with Malidelphia 
Saturday, September 11

At the Glen Providence Park stage
Main entrance, 550 W. State St., Media, PA
Saturdays: 5:00-6:30pm
with Sunday rain dates

Thank you:

This summer’s Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Program Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. 

Thank you to our Summer Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board and West End Flats; Performance Sponsors Sterling Pig Brewery, Seven Stones Gallery, and Shere-e-Punjab; and to Delaware County Parks & Recreation, without whose support these concerts would not be possible. 

COVID Logistics:

Delaware County Covid-19 protocols will be followed. As of June 23, their Summer Festival website indicates: “Masks are not required for fully vaccinated individuals. Unvaccinated individuals should continue to wear masks indoors and while entering, exiting, and walking around the amphitheater.” [updated June 23]

General Logistics:

• Free and family-friendly!
• Performances are at the Glen Providence Park Stage, downhill from the main entrance on State Street in Media.
• Rain dates are the Sunday after each scheduled performance. If the rain date is used, the decision will be posted by 2:00pm Saturday on our website and Facebook. Updated to 2:00 as of our July concert.
• Seating is on the lawn – bring your blanket or chair!
• There is a parking lot at the State Street entrance and along State Street and West Street.
• We encourage you to walk or take public transportation: the main entrance is just 2 blocks from the end of the Media trolley line, or less than a .6 mile walk from the Media train station.

More details on each performance coming soon!

• See our Calendar for individual event listings.
• Read about the decades of concerts in the park, from 1937 to the 1970’s.
• Read recaps and see photos from our past concerts.
• Read about our September 2011 project to restore the concert stage.

Thank you to Ten Eleven Design for the beautiful poster design!

We postponed our 2020 Arts in the Park until 2021 due to COVID, so we’re reminiscing about past summers, and looking hopefully towards next summer. We had an incredible lineup of performers this year, who have agreed to perform in 2021:

Classical Guitar with the Kossler Duo
Reggae & Jazz with Paul Downie & Friends
“Soul Pop” with Danie Ocean
African Drumming & Dance with Malidelphia

Our performers and sponsors have been wonderful to work with, and we will be posting more about them on Facebook over the next month.

You can look back at past years’ concerts, theatre, storytelling, and ballet(!) in a 5-minute compilation video, in our Facebook “Arts in the Park” album, and on our website – we’ll be filling in more past performances.

Thank you to our Arts in the Park Sponsors Media Recreation Board and West End Flats; Performance Sponsors Seven Stones Gallery, Sterling Pig Brewery, Shere-e-Punjab, and Diego’s Cantina; to Delaware County Parks & Recreation; and to Project Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. 

Looking forward to Summer 2021’s Arts in the Park…

For the third performance in our free and family-friendly 2019 Arts in the Park, Friends of Glen Providence Park is delighted to present Funky Soul Music with The Bickel Brothers Band! While the band’s roots remain in Funk, Blues, Soul, Jazz, and Groove, it does not conform to any specific genre, remaining consistently fresh and exciting.

Arts in the Park

Saturday, August 17
5:00-6:30 pm – new time this year!
Glen Providence Park Stage, 550 West State Street, Media
Rain date: Sunday, August 18*

Bring a blanket or chair, and relax on the lawn by the historical stage for a late afternoon concert. After the performance, stroll into Media for dinner and shopping, just two blocks away on State Street!

More on the Bickel Brothers: “A truly versatile group of musicians. In short, the Bickel Brothers Band boasts a unique blend of musical influences which all come together into a sonic jambalaya every time they hit the stage.” Check out this video of their performance at Ardmore Music Hall last fall!

Thank you:

• Concert Sponsor Sterling Pig Brewery, the exciting restaurant located on the border of Glen Providence Park, just one block from the main entrance!
• Concert Series Sponsor Media Recreation Board does so much for Media – including summer camp for kids, movies in Barrall Field, the Annual July 4th Celebration, and the Great Media Garage Sale Days.
• Concert Series Sponsor West End Flats is the bold, upscale new apartment building, one block from the park’s main entrance.
• Concert Series Sponsor Media Open Streets had an exciting inaugural event in 2018, and will hold its second annual event on Saturday, September 28.
• Delaware County Parks & Recreation has cared for Glen Providence Park since its creation on Halloween, 1935!
• This summer’s Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Project Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.

*RAIN DATE: If the weather is questionable, we will post on Facebook and on our website by 1:00 Saturday whether we will use our Sunday rain date.

For more logistics, and for information on our June, July, and September performances, please see our 2019 Arts in the Park announcement!

On June 1st – an exquisite spring evening – the audience with their blankets, chairs and the occasional basket of picnic treats settled across the hillside as the historic 1937 stage played host to the Academy of International Ballet. This talented troupe of young dance students performed a series of vignettes in a broad range of dance styles from hip-hop bounce and modern interpretive movement to the willow-like elegance of classical ballet.

The early evening light glinted and sparkled from sequins and silk as the performers glided, pranced, rolled, spun, and quite literally flew, against the backdrop of weathered stone and spring foliage. The most dramatic leaps and twirls generated spontaneous bursts of applause from the appreciative audience and a few of the very young among them, in rapt inspiration, did their best to emulate the fluid choreography on offer.

Additionally, an artist-member of the Media Arts Council used this visually dynamic opportunity to create a plein-air interpretation of this first in the four-event 2019 Arts in the Park series.

The captivatingly enthusiastic and dedicated performers and their instructors at the Academy of International Ballet have kicked (and twirled and leapt) the Friend’s eighth year of outdoor entertainment events into high gear.

Editor’s note: Check out the delightful photos by George Tate below, and you can also see an enchanting 1-minute video from the performance posted on Facebook by audience member Carol Tendall Carmon!

Many thanks to all who made this concert possible: Delaware County Parks & Recreation; a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; Concert Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board, West End Flats, and Media Open Streets; Concert Sponsor Seven Stones Gallery; our volunteer Concert Committee; Marcia Tate for her artful decoration of the stage; the hundreds of people who attended; and of course the Academy of International Ballet!

This summer’s Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Project Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. 

Click on any photo for a closer look, or scroll through to see what it was like!

For the second performance in our free and family-friendly 2019 Arts in the Park, Friends of Glen Providence Park is delighted to present Melodic Songstress Birdie Busch! Her atmospheric folk, which often aches with strains of country-blues, jumps out with a rockabilly swagger and blushes with whimsical telling-you-a-secret lilt that’s all her own.

Arts in the Park

Saturday, July 13
5:00-6:30 pm – new time this year!
Glen Providence Park Stage, 550 West State Street, Media
Rain date: Sunday, July 14*

Bring a blanket or chair, and relax on the lawn by the historical stage for a late afternoon concert. After the performance, stroll into Media for dinner and shopping, just two blocks away on State Street!

Excerpts from some of Birdie’s reviews:

• NPR: Philadelphia singer Birdie Busch is a local favorite. She’s even got something of a fan club in the WXPN studios. Her blend of traditional and contemporary folk, delivered in her powerful alto, exudes emotion and uncanny wit. – for World Cafe Live
• Nashville Scene: Emily “Birdie” Busch marries the folkie aesthetic with something altogether more rhythmic, felt and astringent. She displays the born songwriter’s structural knack and flair for the unobtrusive hook. —Edd Hurt
• iTunes: Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter Birdie Busch has one of those voices that draws you in on the first phrase and breathes you out at the end of the record.

Thank you:

• Concert Sponsor Seven Stones Gallery offers an extensive selection of both traditional and contemporary jewelry, pottery, art and Native American crafts including a large array of Zuni hand carved fetishes. And it’s located just over 2 blocks from the entrance to the park!.
• Concert Series Sponsor Media Recreation Board does so much for Media – including summer camp for kids, movies in Barrall Field, the Annual July 4th Celebration, and the Great Media Garage Sale Days.
• Concert Series Sponsor West End Flats is the bold, upscale new apartment building, one block from the park’s main entrance.
• Concert Series Sponsor Media Open Streets had an exciting inaugural event in 2018, and will hold its second annual event on Saturday, September 28.
• Delaware County Parks & Recreation has cared for Glen Providence Park since its creation on Halloween, 1935!
• This summer’s Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Project Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.

*RAIN DATE: If the weather is questionable, we will post on Facebook and on our website by 1:00 Saturday whether we will use our Sunday rain date.

For more logistics, and for information on our June, August, and September performances, please see our 2019 Arts in the Park announcement!

To kick off our free and family-friendly 2019 Arts in the Park, Friends of Glen Providence Park is delighted to present… ballet! The Academy of International Ballet teaches and performs elegant classical ballet in the finest traditions of the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. With studios in Media and Horsham, they bring beauty to ballet. In Glen Providence, they will present excerpts and variations from classical ballets and contemporary works!

Arts in the Park

Saturday, June 1
5:00-6:30 pm – new time this year!
Glen Providence Park Stage, State Street, Media
Rain date: Sunday, June 2*

Bring a blanket or chair, and relax on the lawn by the historical stage for an afternoon performance. After the ballet, head into Media for dinner and shopping, just two blocks away on State Street. As with all of our events, this performance is free and family-friendly.

Thank you:

• Concert Sponsor Shere-e-Punjab Indian Restaurant earned its popularity with delicious dishes made from freshly prepared spices – and the family-owned restaurant is located just 2 blocks from the entrance to the park.
• Concert Series Sponsor Media Recreation Board does so much for Media – including summer camp for kids, movies in Barrall Field, the Annual July 4th Celebration, and the Great Media Garage Sale Days.
• Concert Series Sponsor West End Flats is the bold, upscale new apartment building, one block from the park’s main entrance.
• Concert Series Sponsor Media Open Streets had an exciting inaugural event in 2018, and will hold its second annual event on Saturday, September 28.
• Delaware County Parks & Recreation has cared for Glen Providence Park since its creation on Halloween, 1935!
• This summer’s Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Project Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.

*RAIN DATE: If the weather is questionable, we will post on Facebook and on our website by 1:00 Saturday whether we will use our Sunday rain date.

For logistics, and for information on our July, August, and September performances, please see our 2019 Arts in the Park announcement!