YoungArts Philadelphia: Artist Gathering — thank you to all the musicians, partners, YoungArts alumni, and community members who joined us at FringeArts for an evening of deep listening, featuring live performances and immersive, spatialized sound using the cutting-edge 4DSOUND System. Thank you to YoungArts, Producer Hub, and the Mellon Foundation for your support. Photos by @austinkruczek

Join us at FringeArts on April 10th for YoungArts Philadelphia: Artist Gathering to celebrate and listen alongside YoungArts alumni Jaleel Shaw! We believe communal listening builds longstanding connections. All are welcome to join. Praised by PostGenre as “one of the best saxophonists of his generation,” artist and composer Jaleel Shaw has forged a singular voice marked by lyricism, daring, and precision. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he earned a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, graduating with dual degrees in Music Education and Performance, and later received a Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music. After releasing his acclaimed debut Perspective, Shaw joined the Roy Haynes Quartet in 2006, beginning a formative apprenticeship and lifelong friendship. Shaw has headlined major stages worldwide, including the Newport Jazz Festival and Beijing Jazz Festival, and appeared at the Village Vanguard, Birdland, and Duc Des Lombards. Balancing deep tradition with fearless experimentation, he has collaborated with leading artists across generations, shaping a sound both rooted and exploratory. A compelling recording artist, Shaw appears on numerous celebrated albums and, in 2008, founded Changu Records. His releases include Optimism, The Soundtrack of Things to Come, and Echoes, the latter earning a four-star review from DownBeat and induction into the Library of Congress collection of Pandemic Art. In 2025, he unveiled Painter of the Invisible, exploring joy, grief, beauty, social justice, and ancestral wisdom, and receiving widespread international critical acclaim and honors. Throughout his career, he has earned major awards, topped critics and readers polls, and received commissions from prominent cultural institutions, affirming his place as one of contemporary jazz’s most eloquent improvisers and imaginative composers today worldwide with enduring influence and boundless creative vision for the future. Photo by Yusuke Yamanouchi

Join us at FringeArts on April 10th for YoungArts Philadelphia: Artist Gathering to celebrate and listen alongside YoungArts alumni Yesseh Furaha-Ali! We believe communal listening builds longstanding connections. All are welcome to join. Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Yesseh Ali is a freelance saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Playing since the age of nine, Furaha-Ali has been under the tutelage of esteemed mentors at notable institutions such as the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, The Kimmel Center, Settlement Music and Berklee College of Music. Recently, Ali just wrapped up the “Greetings From Your Hometown” ‘25 North American Tour with the Jonas Brothers. Ali continues to perform regularly in the Philadelphia area, as he continues aspirations to travel the world sharing his gift of music. Photo by Adonis Morgan

Join us at FringeArts on April 10th for YoungArts Philadelphia: Artist Gathering to celebrate and listen alongside Benjamin Louis Brody! We believe communal listening builds longstanding connections. All are welcome to join. Benjamin Louis Brody is a Los Angeles-based composer, orchestrator, and educator recognized for his innovative sonic approach and collaborations across film, television, and live concert settings. His work blends electronic and orchestral elements, creating immersive soundscapes that resonate with musicians, filmmakers, and choreographers worldwide. Brody has collaborated with a wide range of artists from drummer Ian Chang of Son Lux to Hip Hop artist Pharoahe Monch. His music has been placed on various media outlets, including ABC, NBC, Hulu, and The New York Times. Behind the scenes he is widely sought out as an orchestrator for concert works, TV, and film. Notably, he served as the lead orchestrator for Hrishikesh Hirway’s (Song Exploder) score for director Drew Hancock’s feature film, Companion (New Line Cinema 2025). He currently serves as Department Chair of Music Production at the Juilliard Extension Program. Photo by Brandon Pavan

Join us at FringeArts on April 10th for YoungArts Philadelphia: Artist Gathering to celebrate and listen alongside alumni Immanuel Wilkins! We believe communal listening builds longstanding connections. All are welcome to join. Grammy nominated alto saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins burst onto the musical scene in 2020 with the release of his critically acclaimed Blue Note recording debut, Omega. Omega was named the best new jazz release by The New York Times and the best debut jazz album by NPR. Two years later, Wilkins released his sophomore album on Blue Note, The 7th Hand. Like his debut release, The 7th Hand topped numerous year-end lists including NPR, The New York Times and The Financial Times. In 2023, Wilkins was awarded three DownBeat Critics Poll Awards: Best Alto Saxophonist, Best Rising Star Composer, and Best Rising Star Group. In 2024, his quartet won the prize for best international live act of the year by the German Deutscher Jazz Preis and in 2025 his recording Blues Blood was nominated for a Grammy for Best alternative jazz album. Being a bandleader with a working group has allowed Wilkins to grow both as a composer and as an arranger and has led to him receiving numerous commissions and grants including: The Kimmel Center Artist in Residence Commission Program (in collaboration with photographer Rog Walker and videographer David Dempewolf, 2020), and the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Grant (in collaboration with saxophonist Odean Pope and poet Herman Beavers, 2023). Wilkins constantly seeks out opportunities for creative connections with artists both within and outside the world of Jazz. The realm of visual arts is of particular interest to Wilkins. He has worked with the filmmakers Cauleen Smith and Ja’Tovia Gary, the sculptor Kennedy Yanko, the painter Leslie Hewitt, and the interdisciplinary artist Theaster Gates. These collaborations have played a decisive role in his ever-expanding aesthetic vision. In March, April and May of 2026, Wilkins will be releasing a 3 volume document of his quartet live at the Village Vanguard. Photo by Rog Walker

Join us at FringeArts on April 10th for YoungArts Philadelphia: Artist Gathering to celebrate and listen alongside alumni James Allister Sprang! We believe communal listening builds longstanding connections. All are welcome to join. James Allister Sprang is a multidisciplinary artist that creates audiovisual poems for the spirit. Using advanced spatial audio he is a pioneer in creating sonic holograms to facilitate uniquely moving forms of immersive storytelling. Sprang’s works blend sound, woven paper artworks and poetry to tell immersive stories that celebrate abstractions of deep listening, resilience, and diasporic lineages. James holds an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania and a BFA from The Cooper Union, both in interdisciplinary studio practice. Photo by Neal Santos