Event – Detail

Immediately before their performance as part of the PCMS series, join Lyric Fest’s Founder and Artistic Director Suzanne DuPlantis and countertenor and composer Benjamin Wenzelberg for a panel discussion exploring their musical retrospective of the life of Benjamin Franklin.

Following the discussion at The Athenaeum of Philadelphia (219 S 6th Street), walk over to the American Philosophical Society’s Benjamin Franklin Hall (427 Chestnut Street) to enjoy the performance.

Registration is free or pay-what-you-wish, but required.  Virtual attendance is available via the PCMS livestream on a pay-what-you-wish basis

Tickets to the 7:30 PM performance are not included. To purchase discounted ($20) tickets, use promo code ATHENAEUM at checkout. Visit pcmsconcerts.org or call the PCMS Box Office at 215-569-8080.

Suzanne DuPlantis is Founder and Artistic Director of Lyric Fest. With a passionate commitment to song, and a belief in its power to reach all listeners, Suzanne enjoys sharing this vision with Lyric Fest audiences as a singer; in creative program curating; in writing program notes and scripts; through graphic design, and by creating song movies for Lyric Fest. Noted for her moving renditions of songs and her intimate way with an audience, “DuPlantis deeply imprints the music with her personality with great emotional underpinning” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). Suzanne has appeared with many of Philadelphia’s premiere music organizations including The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Bucks County Choral Society, Singing City, The Wister Quartet, and Orchestra 2001.

Benjamin Wenzelberg is a conductor, composer, countertenor, and pianist, based between Amsterdam and New York City. He graduated the Dutch National Master in Orchestral Conducting in 2024 with Distinction and Harvard College magna cum laude with Highest Honors, where he studied English and Music. Wenzelberg has performed as a vocal soloist with the New York Philharmonic, New York City Opera, Atlanta Opera, American Bach Soloists, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Columbus, Portland (ME), and Phoenix Symphonies, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Carnegie Hall. A two-time BMI Composer Award Winner, he has had compositions performed at the Vienna Musikverein and Carnegie Hall, and by the Rochester Philharmonic and Hyogo (Japan) Performing Arts Center Orchestra. Learn more at www.benjaminwenzelberg.com.