A central program of S(tree)twork is the Drum Corp, an emergent working group made up of woodworkers, drummers and artists.

On an annual basis the S(tree)twork Drum Corp recuperates trees that have fallen (due to age, disease or lightning storm) in Awbury Arboretum and sculpts them into percussive instruments to summon Philadelphia’s future forest.

This growing suite of instruments are played at Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s (PHS) bi-annual, city-wide Tree Tender tree plantings and at block parties, and other Philadelphia festivals throughout the year.

The S(tree)twork Lightning House hosts the annual instrument making workshops. If you are interested in making or playing drums, please contact us at [email protected]

In the first year of the S(tree)twork project, S(tree)twork collaborators were inspired by Sun Ra Arkestra drummer James Jacson’s Ancient Infinity Lightning Wood Drum made from a tree that was hit by lightning across from the Arkestra’s home on Morton Street in Germantown.

A series of Infinity* Slit Drums were made based on a form of percussion instrument used by many cultures throughout the world to communicate across time and space as well as for musical performances. As the name suggests, drum makers create the instrument’s resonant chamber by carving a long thin slit in the center of a hollowed tree trunk.

Infinity Slit Drums were played during the Summoning of the Future Forest with the Sun Ra Arkestra event.. The hollow vessels were called upon to welcome the coming forest–to awaken seeds, to propagate new life, and to inspire our collective imaginations.

On April 22, 2023 S(tree)twork will celebrate Earth Day with a "ground building" ceremony for a new structure in the Farm at Awbury Arboretum, and an afternoon animated by hands-on activities.

The S(tree)twork project is guided by the cycle of a tree's life. Following a seasonal rhythm. S(tree)twork transforms fallen trees into percussive instruments that are then played at street planting events in Philadelphia's neighborhoods. This program has been developed through a two-year participatory process led by the artists group Futurefarmers.

The architectural intervention at Awbury Arboretum will be built on the ruins of a former stone barn, and will serve as a community woodworking space for the making of S(tree)twork's musical instruments. The structure designed by Futurefarmer's lead architect Lode Vranken was informed by a community design process and will be built together with Japanese wood joinery wookworker, Nobuto Suga joining from San Francisco. Participants in the Challenge Program and other volunteers will also contribute to the building of the structure being stewarded by the Philadelphia architectural studio Oz Collaborative, and Hanson Fine Building.