River Ode: The Schuylkill Freed

River Ode: The Schuylkill Freed
Fairmount Water Works—Philadelphia, PA
May 30 + 31, 2026

With original music by Martha McDonald

Costume in collaboration with Kelly Cobb
Glass armonica by Charles Jarboe

River Ode: The Schuylkill Freed is a site-specific performance by Martha McDonald exploring the history of the Fairmount Water Works and the life of the Schuylkill River. Sited in the abandoned John B. Kelly Pool on the ground floor of the historic building, the performance will activate the space through movement, costume and original music reflecting on the engineering feats that harnessed the power of the river to bring clean water to the people; tales of the Schuylkill Rangers, 19th century Irish river pirates from nearby Grays Ferry; and the rebirth of the river after decades of pollution.

Anchoring the piece in the Semiquincentennial, McDonald will play a glass armonica—an instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin that uses water to make music. A series of spinning glass bowls that create ethereal tones when touched with wet fingers, the glass armonica evokes the water wheels that once hummed in this building and conjures a mournful resonance within its crumbling walls.

The piece is part of Currents, an exhibition curated by the Philadelphia Sculptors.

Register for performances on May 30 + 31, at 2:30pm

Photos by Ryan Collerd