Avi Wisnia is hanging out at the Philadelphia Museum of Art tonight. But instead of lingering in the galleries, he’s working.
Wisnia and his ensemble are live-taping as part of the museum’s “Art After 5 Series” Feb. 24.
After debuting with his EP “Avi Wisnia Presents:” in 2007, Wisnia garnered awards and acclaim for his eclectic mix of classic Brazilian bossa nova, folk, jazz and pop. He has performed at well-known venues such as The Kennedy Center and World Cafe Live, won an OutMusic Award in 2009 for Outstanding Jazz Song of the Year for his cover of TLC’s “No Scrubs,” and released his debut full-length studio album, “Something New,” in 2010.
Wisnia currently divides his time between New York City and Philadelphia, when he isn’t taking the international ensemble of musicians who make up his backing band — Toru Takiguch from Japan on guitar, Gil Smuskowitz from Israel on bass and Chris Heinz from Kansas on drums — to perform across the country.
It may sound like Wisnia scoured the globe to find the right people to share a van and a stage with, but he said that wasn’t the case.
“I have been able to gather some incredible talent around me just by word of mouth, by great referrals within the large network of professional musicians,” he said. “Everybody tends to know everybody, so it can be a bit incestuous — in a good way.”
While no one would argue that New York City has a much larger and more thriving music and arts community than Philadelphia, Wisnia said the local music scene and his fellow singer-songwriters here have the advantage of being very tight-knit and supportive.
“There are some really great events going on in Philly that help foster the scene, including the open-mic events at Fergie’s Pub, Time and World Cafe Live,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of fun traveling and doing shows with Chana Rothman, and the very charismatic local troubadour Ryan Tennis has been putting on awesome house concerts with his Clubhouse Series. I’m a big fan of Amos Lee, and Dr. Dog who just put out a new album. And everybody should be listening to Lizanne Knott, who lent her beautiful vocals to a few tracks on my album.”
In addition to his music, Wisnia is also known for lending his talents to charitable and educational efforts.
“I am involved with, and have received a lot of support from, the LGBT Academy of Recording Arts, responsible for the OutMusic Awards and RightOutTV, which promotes LGBT music videos and online content,” he said. “Along with the Stonewall Society Network and an incredible array of podcasts, radio stations and publications around the world, they are doing the incredible service of giving out musicians a voice and a platform. OutMusic and RightOutTV have also helped support the LGBT Showcase I organize in Austin, Texas.”
Wisnia also created The No Brainer Benefit Concert with his family.
“That benefits the National Brain Tumor Society,” he said. “That happened because a few years ago my brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He’s fighting the good fight: He is a brain-tumor survivor. Because of his resilience and his love for music, we figured a good way to give back to the community would to be to create this music event where people whose lives have been affected by brain tumors can come and perform and speak and recite poetry. Friends and family can come together to embrace life, have a good time and think about positive things rather than the daily struggles that can be really hard and very draining.”
Wisnia must have a few extra hours in his day that we don’t know about, because he also works with students, from high school to pre-school, educating them about music through discussions, workshops and interactive performances.
“I was a music teacher for several years while I was just starting to perform and write my own music in earnest,” he said about his educational efforts. “When you communicate with kids through music, especially the youngest ones I worked with, you get to witness this amazing enthusiasm and complete lack of inhibition, and I try to remind myself of that each time I perform. I find the workshops I do with different groups of young adults to be so worthwhile because, at the same time that music teaches structure and discipline, it also provides an incredible outlet for creativity and collaboration among your peers. It’s that sense of working together and creating community through music that I love so much.”
Even with all of his work for music-related charities and education on his plate, Wisnia still has plans to record a new album and tour extensively this year.
“I’m going to be hitting the road pretty hard. I’m going to be touring all over the country, going to a lot of cities and states that I’ve never been to, that I’m really excited to do,” he said. “And all the while, I’ll be finishing up writing some new songs and, by the end of the year, I’m planning to get back into the studio to put out my second full-length album. I was in Brazil for a month last year performing and connecting with a lot of people. I have a great love for Brazil, and a lot of the songs I write are in the bossa nova and samba style. So my goal is to get back to Brazil by the end of the year and do some recording there, which would be a dream of mine. I would love to record half of the album in the States and half of it in Brazil. People can expect a little more Brazilian flavor, but I’m trying to stretch myself as a songwriter. I’ve never been one to want to stick within any sort of genre. I really love blending styles so I’m trying to push myself and jump those borders even more and just really, really trying to make creative stuff to keep the audience on their toes and do something unexpected and try to present something new.”
Avi Wisnia performs at The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Art After 5 Series, 5-9 p.m. Feb. 24 in the Great Stair Hall, Benjamin Franklin Parkway and 26th Street. For more information or tickets, visit www.aviwisnia.com or www.philamuseumorg/artafter5.