2023 Fall Benefit Event

Join us for a special evening of dinner, drinks, an auction and live entertainment featuring V. Shayne Frederick and DJ Rashid Zakat to benefit FWM as we celebrate an incredible milestone in our history, the 35-year tenure of FWM’s Master Printer and Director of Education, Christina Roberts.

Cocktail Hour
For Full Benefit Ticket Holders
4:30 PM | Doors open
5:00 PM | Cocktails + hors d’oeuvres, followed by remarks

Dinner + Live Auction
For Full + Half Benefit Ticket Holders
6:00 PM | Dinner with live jazz by V. Shayne Frederick
7:00 PM | Live auction followed by guided + self-guided tours of FWM

DJ Dance Party
For Full, Half, + Dance Party Ticket Holders
8:00 PM | Dance party with DJ Rashid Zakat
10:00 PM | Goodnight!

About the Participants

V. Shayne Frederick is a vocalist, pianist, recording artist, composer and educator with performances spanning two decades. He has been featured at TEDx, NPR, a multitude of music fests, museums, and jazz clubs throughout the country, in addition to curating weekly musical series at South Jazz Kitchen and JG Skyhigh, Four Seasons Comcast within the last few years.

An ASCAP member, V. Shayne also scores for film and commercial. One animated short film he scored, “Testimony,” has garnered critical acclaim and screenings internationally, winning an award at the Black Star Film Festival. His musical production work has appeared in Visit Philadelphia commercials and other film media.

V. Shayne has been cited by the Broad Street Review as “one of the region’s busiest and best jazz singers,” appointed “one to watch” and a “shining light” by All About Jazz, and called “soulful” in Downbeat Magazine. According to WRTI, “Frederick […] could sing about breakfast cereal and make me believe in a higher power,” and according to WXPN, “his stunning baritone effortlessly soars; sometimes a seductive whisper, sometimes an exuberant belt.” Following his debut CD, Lovesome, and three subsequent EPs, Gleaming, Evergreen, and Blacklight, he released a new album, King, 2022. These self-produced projects, which include his own musical arrangements alongside collaborative arrangements with instrumentalists, were all recorded in Philadelphia recording studios and have received international radio play.

Rashid Zakat is a dj, filmmaker & music junkie based in Philadelphia. Believing music is one of the most potent forces in our culture, Rashid is obsessed with exploring and sharing an eclectic variety of music through films, events & dj sets.

Rashid’s passion for music began at the tender age of 10 when he began making pause tapes to share the music he loved with his friends. After moving to Philadelphia in 2005 he founded Soul Aquatics, an event that invited seasoned artists from different genres to come together to perform a mix of planned pieces and experimental jams with the band.

As a DJ, Rashid has taken his eclectic blend of soulful music throughout the US, Europe, Latin America & Asia, although there’s no place like home. Rashid has played for BlackStar Film Festival, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Common Field, Philadelphia Printworks, The Pigeon Poetry Slam & many more.

His most recent project “Negroes of the World” is a 3 channel video installation that combines images Rashid has shot across the globe with a live DJ set of “World Grooves” and it recently debuted at the Icebox Project space in Philadelphia.

Rashid is currently playing gigs around the world and continuing his mix series TRVLS: a collection of the best music heard around the globe.

About Christina Roberts

For three and a half decades, Roberts has dedicated her life and artistry to helping students become professionals in the arts and helping professional artists become students again. Roberts has presided over hundreds of unique projects, making her the backbone of FWM Founding Director Kippy Stroud’s passion project. We are honored to acknowledge her monumental contribution to FWM and the contemporary art world at large.

Read an interview with Christina Roberts as she reflects on her career in art and education.

Photo credit: Dominique Nichole