Local Stars and World Talents

he Kimmel Center's performances continued to thrill and amuse, to entertain and electrify. Artists from all over the world flocked to what Harry Connick Jr. called "the coolest place I have ever played." They complimented the brilliant work of our resident companies, from Peter Nero and the Philly Pops to The Pennsylvania Ballet.

As always, our schedule featured performances by great international orchestras, such as the Philharmonia Orchestra of London; and master musicians, including Itzhak Perlman and Renée Fleming, offered virtuoso displays of instrumental and vocal artistry. Seventy percent of Kimmel Center Presents audiences came for performances other than classical music, and we offered top-tier entertainment for all of them.

The Kimmel Center jazz program grew in stature and variety, featuring an intimate Mellon Jazz Up Close series devoted to the legendary trumpet player, composer and innovator Dizzy Gillespie. Many of these jazz concerts were curated by the Kimmel Center, combining jazz legends with exciting new talents for remarkable, one-time-only events.

In dance, we showcased our own Philadanco with such welcome guests as the Mark Morris Dance Group and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Additional series offered world music, cutting-edge new classical work, pop performances and family entertainment. Enthusiastic audiences for the Vienna Choir Boys, Cesaria Évora and Peter, Paul & Mary found equal satisfaction in our halls.

"What a great hall [Verizon] is. It produces such a beautiful sound that I felt like it was a huge extension of my instrument."

Our programming staff sought out events and performances that would make our already diverse audience even more so. This season, the 15-hour Summer Solstice Celebration drew 4,500 people—many for the first time—to enjoy more than 40 solo artists and ensembles, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, at an affordable price.

The Kimmel Center continued to inspire more people of more varied backgrounds and tastes to enjoy the arts as an integral part of their lives.

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Citizens Bank Broadway at the Academy

Under the Kimmel Center's management, the classical grandeur of the Academy of Music resonated with the rousing melodies of Broadway. From the originality of Urinetown to the spectacle of Beauty and the Beast and Les Misérables, the Academy proved itself brilliantly adaptable to a different kind of entertainment—and another new audience.

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Photos: (L-R) JaJa Matsimela; Ryan Irish Dancers; Hilary Hahn, John Pizzarelli, La India; (bottom) Urinetown.