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Student Activities
Teaching artists offered curriculum-based arts classes to students in grades five through twelve—bringing students to the Center from school districts across southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Last summer, we offered an extremely successful on-site teen arts camp for nearly 120 gifted students.
All summer, these students did much more than just tour the building. They truly made the Kimmel Center their own—filling every nook and cranny with their practice sessions. Students in the Youth Jazz Ensemble had the unique opportunity to play Verizon Hall—a stage that accommodates the most famous music ensembles in the world.
Our Merck Arts Education Center incorporates both high-tech and hands-on materials. Multimedia equipment includes a computerized keyboard lab that enables students to compose and to play their own music. An interactive room allows students to dress up in theatrical costumes, to become conductors and to explore scale models of our performance spaces. Video kiosks provide listening and reading activities about the resident companies.
"It was great playing with people I never met before. Even though we were from various places and at different levels of playing, everyone learned something. I wish the time were longer. It was so much fun!"
Our relationships with artists offered additional learning opportunities. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater preceded their Kimmel Center Presents performances with a residency at Philadelphia’s Meredith School, working with sixth grade students and giving a special student performance. Other students worked with jazz artists Danilo Pérez and James Moody—singular experiences that shared the Kimmel Center’s artistic wealth with artists and audiences of the next generation.
To help build these audiences, the Kimmel Center offered subsidized, low-price tickets to one quarter of our performances. A variety of social service, community and faith-based organizations distributed these tickets—giving people from diverse economic and social backgrounds access to the best performers from around the globe.
Kimmel Center Youth Jazz Ensemble
By audition, talented middle-school jazz students from around the region can become part of the Kimmel Center Youth Jazz Ensemble. The Ensemble has proved so successful that we’re expanding to two bands and including grades eight through ten in the coming year.
The Ensemble has introduced performances by Patti LuPone, the Miracles and Little Richard. What made this unforgettable experience possible? Partly the Center’s national reputation and our relationship with the world’s finest entertainers.
But what truly transforms such a program from an admirable idea into a stunning reality is our donors. Your loyal sponsorship has given our students inspiration and memories to last a lifetime.
Photos: Kimmel Center Youth Jazz Ensemble (top left and bottom), D/2, Teen Summer Arts Camp (viola, bassoon and vocal).
