Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Kimmel Center Announces the 2010-11 Subscription Season

APRIL 12, 2010

Packages Now Provide Flexible Choices

and Payment Plan


Kimmel Center President and CEO Anne Ewers and Vice President of Theatrical Presentations and Programming Matthew Wolf announced today the 2010-11 season, which includes four distinct series of performances spanning a wide range of musical genres, key programming instrumental to the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts 2011 (PIFA), along with a new subscription option that provides flexible packaging and payment methods.

 

The upcoming season of Kimmel Center programming includes 50 performances and runs from October 17, 2010 through June 20, 2011.  The season kicks off with cello virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma, continues with the first-ever collaboration between the Philadelphia Orchestra and Pennsylvania Ballet of Pulcinella Alive, which launches PIFA 2011. As always, the season concludes with the annual Summer Solstice Celebration.  New this year: subscribers now have the option to “Create Your Own” subscription with savings of up to 15 percent off single ticket prices.  Subscriptions to the Kimmel Center’s four series (Great Orchestras, Jazz Up Close, Organ Recitals and Keyboard Conversations) remain available with additional choices from a mosaic of popular entertainment options.  The new flexible payment plan features a three installment option.

 

“We are delighted to announce the Kimmel Center’s 2010-11 offerings” said Kimmel Center President and CEO Anne Ewers. “At the core of our programming next season is our desire to bring world class entertainment that our community is clamoring to experience.  We hope that our audiences are enthralled by all that the arts have to offer and experience first-hand the diversity, innovation, creativity, and artistic collaboration integral to the inaugural year of our Kimmel Center inspired Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts 2011.”

 

Kimmel Center Vice President of Theatrical Presentations and Programming Matthew Wolf adds, “The Kimmel Center will continue to serve the artistic interests of the regional community, including our exciting Free at the Kimmel programs, educational offerings for children, youth and families, and attracting the finest artists to our stages.”

 

Additional programs and performances for the Kimmel Center and Broadway seasons will be announced in the coming months.

 

 

Kimmel Center Announces 2010-2011 Season

 

2010-11 Season Highlights Include:

 

Season Opens with Cello Virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma Returning to Perform in Verizon Hall

 

Great Orchestras Series includes Daniel Harding with Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra, Valery Gergiev with London Symphony Orchestra, and Daniele Gatti with Orchestre National de France

 

Organ Recitals Series Returns with Gunnar Idenstam, Joan Lippincott and Thierry Escaich performing on The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ

 

Jazz Up Close Series Celebrates Thelonious Monk with PanaMonk Revisited performance by Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci, and Teri Lyne Carrington; Geri Allen Quartet; and Randy Weston Quintet

 

Keyboard Conversations Continues with Jeffrey Siegel Performing “Chopin the Passionate Patriot,” “Three Great ‘Bs’ – Bach, Beethoven, and Barber,”

 and “Paris 1911—A Festive Musical Year!”

 

Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts 2011 (PIFA) Kicks Off with Pulcinella Alive, in a Rare Collaboration Between the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Pennsylvania Ballet;  the World Premiere of HOPE: An Oratorio by Composer Jonathan Leshnoff, Performed by The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia with Vocalists Angelique Kidjo and David Linx, Among Other Works

 

Dance Highlights Include Rennie Harris Puremovement’s World Premiere of Heaven, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Philadanco’s Xmas Philes, Tango Fire’s Tango Inferno, and Savion Glover’s SoLo in TiME

 

A Mosaic of Performances from The Roots, Watcha Clan, Maceo Parker, Garrison Keillor, Liza Minnelli, Jerry Blavat’s Rock-n-Roll Extravaganza, Marvin Hamlisch and Michael Feinstein’s Great American Songbook, Sō Percussion  and Buika; as well as Jazz Great Dave Brubeck and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

 

The Philadelphia Premiere of The Cunning Little Vixen, a Curtis Institute,

Opera Company of Philadelphia, and Kimmel Center Co-Production

 

CLASSICAL

 

Classical music star cellist Yo-Yo Ma kicks off the Kimmel Center’s 2010-11 season on Sunday, October 17, 2010. Ma’s multi-faceted career is testament to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences, and to his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Whether performing new or familiar works from the cello repertoire, coming together with colleagues for chamber music or exploring cultures and musical forms outside the Western classical tradition, Ma strives to find connections that stimulate the imagination. He returns to the Kimmel Center with a diverse program that includes works by J.S. Bach and Astor Piazzolla.

 

The Philadelphia premiere of The Cunning Little Vixen is brought to the stage by Curtis Opera Theatre on Wednesday, March 16, 2011, Friday, March 18, 2011, and Sunday, March 20, 2011 in association with Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Kimmel Center.  Composer Leoš Janáček based the whimsical opera on a series of newspaper comic strips, and created the delightful tale about the circle of life. Audiences follow a clever young fox—cunning little vixen—on her journey through forest and town, love and rebellion. Director Chas Rader-Shieber and designer David Zinn, who created the enormously successful Lyric Opera of Chicago production, re-imagine the work for Perelman Theater. Maestro Corrado Rovaris leads the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. Performed in Czech with English translations.

 

In a rare collaboration, The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Pennsylvania Ballet launch the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts 2011 (PIFA) on Thursday, April 7, 2011 with two masterpieces from the first decades of the twentieth century: 1920’s commedia dell’arte-inspired Pulcinella and 1919’s The Three-Cornered Hat. Both ballets were originally staged by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, with choreography by Léonide Massine and sets and costumes by Pablo Picasso. Boston Ballet resident choreographer Jorma Elo creates a new ballet to Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, to be performed live onstage with the Orchestra, led by conductor Rossen Milanov, and the Ballet. *PIFA event

 

For the first time in its 46-year history, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia brings an exciting new theatrical experience to its stage. In collaboration with award-winning stage director Robert Smythe, the Chamber Orchestra mounts a provocative new production of Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale (L’histoire du soldat) on Sunday, April 10, 2011.  A recipient of fellowships from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Smythe has delighted Philadelphia audiences with his puppetry work for decades.  *PIFA event

 

Sō Percussion returns to the Kimmel Center on Saturday, April 23, 2011 to perform Imaginary City, a sonic meditation on the architecture, light, and color of urban life. Since forming at the Yale School of Music in 1999, Sō Percussion members Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting and Eric Beach have been creating music at once raucous and touching, barbarous and refined. In Imaginary City, the ensemble’s sound explorations, the work of video artist Jenise Treuting, and the theater direction of Pulitzer-nominated director and playwright Rinde Eckert capture the unexpected of everyday sights and sounds of cities as diverse as Philadelphia and Paris. *PIFA event

 

Peter Nero and the Philly POPS® perform Springtime in Paris on Saturday, April 23, 2011.  The program includes works from the early twentieth century, from Debussy and Ravel to Cole Porter’s greatest French tunes, as well as popular music from France and popular music saluting France (then and now).  Maestro Peter Nero and a glamorous French vocalist transport audiences to the City of Lights.  *PIFA event

 

The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia will perform the world premiere of HOPE: An Oratorio on Sunday, April 24, 2011 with conductor Roberto Minczuk. Praised by the New York Times for his “glowing melodic lines over autumnal string harmonies,” Jonathan Leshnoff is quickly earning an international reputation as one of America’s most gifted young composers. HOPE explores the cycles of faith, from the throes of abandonment to the revival of hope on Sunday. Embracing universal spirituality, he includes multi-lingual texts from the Old Testament, African-American spirituals, and poems by Walt Whitman and 14th-century Persian poet Hafiz, setting them for diverse voices, including “Africa’s premiere diva” (Time Magazine) Angelique Kidjo and innovative Belgian jazz singer David Linx.  *PIFA event

 

GREAT ORCHESTRAS SERIES

 

Each season the Kimmel Center hosts internationally acclaimed orchestras and leading conductors in Verizon Hall.  This year the tradition continues with conductor Daniel Harding leading Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra, Valery Gergiev conducting London Symphony Orchestra, and Daniele Gatti leading Orchestre National de France.

 

Conductor Daniel Harding opens the Kimmel Center’s orchestral season as he leads the Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra on Tuesday, November 2, 2010.  The Staatskapelle is believed to be the only orchestra to have been in continuous existence for over four and a half centuries, and recently celebrated its 460th Jubilee in 2008. Voted one of the world’s top ten orchestras by Gramophone, the ensemble has retained its reputation as the “Strauss orchestra,” closely linked to composer Richard Strauss for over 70 years.  Harding is a regular visitor to the Staatskapelle, and received critical acclaim for his recent recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded for Deutsche Grammophon.

”Harding's prowess is characterized by flamboyance, stamina and a communicative intensity that places no restrictions on his remarkably fluid gestures - a fusion of spontaneity and authority, of freedom and tension...” —Irish Times

 

World-renowned London Symphony Orchestra makes its Kimmel Center debut with principal conductor Valery Gergiev on Tuesday, February 22, 2011.  The ensemble performs Mahler’s Seventh Symphony, Song of the Night.  Widely acknowledged for his electrifying and dynamic personality, Gergiev will tour London, New York, Paris and Japan during the 2010-11 season with the London Symphony to perform a Mahler cycle.  His Mahler Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7, 8 are released on London Symphony Orchestra Live, the first releases of a complete Mahler cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra.

 

“With the London Symphony Orchestra playing with spectacular virtuosity and total commitment, Gergiev set the temperature at boiling point from the first explosive bar, and the effect was instantly scalding.” –The Telegraph (London)

 

Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer for its “sheen and brightness that bathes the music in a new light,” the Orchestre National de France returns for the Kimmel Center debuts of conductor Daniele Gatti and pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet on Friday, April 15, 2011.  Their program includes Debussy’s La mer, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major—works that revolutionized musical composition more than a century ago, and which continue to challenge and inspire audiences today. Gatti became music director of France’s best-known orchestra in September 2008, succeeding Kurt Masur, who performed at the Kimmel Center on his outgoing tour.  Gatti has led the orchestra through numerous concerts both in Paris and on tour, and he also recently conducted a production of Verdi’s Falstaff at the Theatre des Champs Élysées. *PIFA event

 

“Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s flexible virtuosity…yields ravishing, freshly minted interpretations.” —Gramophone Magazine

 

ORGAN RECITALS SERIES

 

When The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ debuted in Verizon Hall,five years ago, the world took notice. This year’s organ recitals series includes performances by Gunnar Idenstam, Joan Lippincott, and Thierry Escaich.

 

"…the 32-ton, $6.4 million instrument, heard last week in the opening concerts of a two-week inaugural festival that continues this weekend, is a versatile 6,938-pipe beast with a wide tonal palette and enough heft to compete with a symphony orchestra at full throttle."  —Wall  Street Journal about The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ


Organist Gunnar Idenstam makes his Kimmel Center debut on the king of instruments, The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ on Saturday, November 6, 2010 to perform his own transcription of Debussy’s symphonic poem La mer. “One of the great organ artists of our time,” (Dalademokraten), Idenstam is known for his virtuosic improvisational skills, first noted in 1984 when he won first prize in the prestigious “Grand Prix de Chartres.” As an arranger, he has transcribed orchestral works by Mahler, Debussy, and Ravel, as well as popular music like “Riverdance” and traditional Swedish folk music. He regularly performs with leading musicians such as British composer and saxophone virtuoso Andy Sheppard and Laponian yoik artist and songwriter Sofia Jannok.

 

Curtis Institute graduate Joan Lippincott makes her Kimmel Center debut on Saturday, February 26, 2011.  An organ virtuoso distinguished for her dazzling musicianship and technical skill, Lippincott has performed on the most prominent contemporary and historic organs throughout Europe.  She has been in demand for her performances of Bach recitals and master classes, having performed a series of eight highly acclaimed Bach organ concerts, “Bach in the Big Apple,” in New York, among other locales. Program includes Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland, Fantasia in F Minor by Mozart, as well as additional works by J.S. Bach, Jehan Alain and Franz Liszt. 

 

“Almost everything about Joan Lippincott’s organ recital proved first class...The organist displayed a strong architectonic flair in both programming and performance, a penchant for detail and more than ample technical facility to realize her interpretative goals.” —The Los Angeles Times

 

“Improviser of genius” (The Diapason), organist Thierry Escaich will perform Remember Paris with acclaimed director Emmanuelle Delpech-Ramey on Saturday, April 16, 2011.  Musically and theatrically re-creating Paris from 1910 to 1920, Remember Paris also includes video designer Gilles Boustani’s inventive projections of historic images and dreamlike re-imaginings of the city of lights. A man and a woman, played by two silent actors, poignantly transport audiences back to a Paris embodied by decadence and eroticism, by artistic daring and the devastations of war.  *PIFA event

 

 “Escaich’s performance was so thrilling that the audience leaped up to applaud at the end.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer

 

Sō Percussion returns to the Kimmel Center on Saturday, April 23, 2011 to perform Imaginary City, a sonic meditation on the architecture, light, and color of urban life. Since forming at the Yale School of Music in 1999, Sō Percussion members Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting and Eric Beach have been creating music at once raucous and touching, barbarous and refined. In Imaginary City, the ensemble’s sound explorations, the work of video artist Jenise Treuting, and the theater direction of Pulitzer-nominated director and playwright Rinde Eckert capture the unexpected of everyday sights and sounds of cities as diverse as Philadelphia and Paris. *PIFA event

 

KEYBOARD CONVERSATIONS® WITH JEFFREY SIEGEL

 

Now in his sixth season of presenting Keyboard Conversations® at the Kimmel Center, Jeffrey Siegel has illuminated the hearts of many novice and experienced classical music aficionados, who appreciate his concert-plus-commentary adult education series. His programs expose audiences to a variety of composers and their compositions, examining the thematic strands behind the inspiration of some of the greatest classical works today.

 

“He has a way of talking about music that really illuminates it, and he does this without talking down or dumbing down, and this makes listening to the music he plays more accessible—and fun—for everyone.” —Thomas L. Friedman

 

Keyboard Conversations® begins on Monday, October 18, 2010 with Chopin the Passionate Patriot, celebrating the 200th birthday of one of the most popular composers of all time. The season-opening program honors Chopin’s Polish heritage and strong patriotic pride with music that held great meaning to him, including the famous heroic Polonaise in A-flat, several poignant mazurkas, and graceful waltzes.

 

The second concert in the series takes place on Monday, February 7, 2011 with Jeffrey Siegel exploring the music and legacies of three unrivaled composers, Three Great “Bs” – Bach, Beethoven, and Barber!  The evening’s program includes Bach’s romantic Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue; Beethoven’s volcanic, noble Appassionata; and works of Samuel Barber, the great American composer born a century ago in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

 

Keyboard Conversations concludes on Monday, April 25, 2011 with Jeffrey Siegel’s commentary and performance of Paris 1911 – A Festive Musical Year!  The program features works written and performed in Paris a century ago, including some of the most influential music of early 20th Century Paris: Ravel’s Valses Nobles and Sentimentale, Preludes of Debussy and Fauré, and Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka.  *PIFA event

 

 “[Siegel has an] unusual gift for commentary as wells as extraordinary pianism.” (Los Angeles Times)

 

JAZZ UP CLOSE SERIES

 

Jazz Up Close Celebrates Thelonious Monk

 

Under the artistic guidance of Panamanian jazz pianist Danilo Pérez since 2002, the Kimmel Center’s Jazz Up Close series has presented an intimate look at those legendary performers whose legacies are permanently etched in jazz history. This year’s Jazz Up Close Series celebrates influential jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, whose distinct sound is continually reverberated in jazz halls today nearly 30 years after his death.  In each of the four concerts, world-class musicians channel the spirit of Thelonious Monk’s signature improvisational piano skills onstage.

 

The first Jazz Up Close concert revisits the music of Danilo Pérez’s critically acclaimed album PanaMonk with musicians John Patitucci on bass and Teri Lyne Carrington on drums on Saturday, November 13, 2010. The trio will perform Monk classics such as Round Midnight and Monk’s Mood, reinterpreted with Pérez’s Panamanian sound and Afro-Cuban rhythms.

 

A favorite among the jazz festival circuit, African-American pianist, composer and arranger Geri Allen returns to perform with her Quartet to pay tribute to one of her greatest and earliest influences on Saturday, December 4, 2010.  Allen is grounded in tradition yet always poised on the cutting edge. A sought after collaborator among all ages of musicians, from the mainstream and avant garde jazz greats to artists as diverse as Marianne Faithful and Joan Rivers. 

 

“Allen has taken the freedom of jazz and combined it with the cultural freedom movements that have paralleled the evolution of jazz itself.” –Tavis Smiley

 

One of the world’s foremost pianists and composers, Randy Weston and his Quintet perform on Saturday, March 5, 2011.  Weston has shared his musical genius with fans for 60 years, combining African elements with jazz technique.  Poet Langston Hughes has stated “When Randy plays, a combination of strength and gentleness, virility and velvet emerges from the keys in an ebb and flow of sound seemingly as natural as the waves of the sea.”

 

“Jazz has never known a master builder quite like Weston.” –Chicago Sun Times

 

Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts 2011 will close the Jazz Up Close Series’ season-long tribute to Monk on Saturday, April 9, 2011.  Artist to be announced late spring 2010.

 

JAZZ

 

With the last vanguards of jazz’s golden age showcased alongside rising stars of the genre, the Kimmel Center’s stages reveal the evolving legacy of the first great American art form.

 

American jazz master Dave Brubeck returns to the Kimmel Center on Tuesday, October 26, 2010.  For over six decades, pianist-composer Brubeck has built a jazz empire of hits with his artistic improvisational skills, experimenting in odd time signatures, improvised counterpoint, polyrhythm and polytonality; his international hit “Take Five,” one of the best selling jazz singles of all time, along with his signature hit “The Duke” continue to influence a younger generation of jazz musicians.  

 

“Jazz, like the country of its birth, is forever a dazzling work in progress.  The genius of that progress for more than six decades….is embodied in Dave Brubeck’s music.” –Kennedy Center Honors 2009

 

Led by trumpeter-composer Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra closes PIFA with a French-influenced program on Sunday, May 1, 2011.  Whether performing historic compositions or commissioned works, the “finest big band in the world today” (Daily Telegraph, United Kingdom), including 15 jazz soloists and ensemble players under Marsalis’ esteemed direction, is continually reinventing jazz swing for a younger generation of audiences. *PIFA event

 

“The personnel of the JLCO has been remarkably stable, evident in the group’s easy going interaction and virtuosic soloing.  Fast ensemble passages many filled with tricky, multi-note sections—were delivered with a crisp, driving sense of swing” –Los Angeles Times

 

DANCE

 

A vibrant display of movement, color, and rhythm onstage, Mazowsze celebrates the cultural legacy of Poland on Sunday, November 14, 2010. The ensemble of more than 85 dancers, musicians, and singers evoke the musical traditions of more than 39 regions in Poland with breathtaking choreography, musical arrangements and an assortment of handmade costumes.

 

“There’s nothing more magnificent than Mazowsze.” –New York Times

 

Fresh off the heels of celebrating their 40th anniversary, Philadanco returns to perform Xmas Philes, a program of seasonal favorites on Friday, December 10, 2010 through Sunday, December 12, 2010.  “Infectious fun” (Philadelphia Inquirer) for friends and family, Xmas Philes includes an expanded program of spirited and sentimental favorites such as “Silent Night,” “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer,” and “Zat You, Santa Claus?”  Philadanco’s spring dance recital showcases a highly spirited program of works on Friday May 7, 2011 through Sunday May 8, 2011, including the award winning choreography of Ray Mercer’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. In this dare-devilish piece based on the controversial 1960s film of the same name, Philadanco displays their international reputation for technical skill and graceful movements on stage.

 

“The company style...is visceral...fierce and sensuous by turns...elegant and ingratiating.” —New York Magazine

 

Argentinean tango quintet Tango Fire performs Tango Inferno on Sunday, January 30, 2011. With young musicians, ten passionate dancers, and one of Argentina’s finest singers on stage, Inferno traces tango as an art form from its origins in Buenos Aires’ red light district to the popular public dance form known throughout Argentina as the Milonga, through its evolution into a contemporary ballroom dance.

 

“This is tango with a big smile and boisterous high jinks performed by 10 exquisitely skilled dancers with spirit and charisma to match.” —The Boston Globe

 

From the creator of the smash hit Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk, Savion Glover brings SoLo in TiME on Sunday, February 13, 2011. SoLo in TiME continues the HooFeRzCLuB tradition of exploring dance’s percussiveness—using tap as sound, and sound as dance.  With Bare Soundz, Glover’s newest dance band, live flamenco vibes, and his own acclaimed Hooferz style, the inimitable choreographer explores the relationship between the intricate footwork of tap dance and the raw passion of flamenco.

 

“The artistry of Mr. Glover, no matter the musical accompaniment, begins below the knees…the soul of Mr. Glover’s performance is found in his nimble feet and legs, which he uses to pound out rhythms with blinding speed.” –The New York Times

 

International ambassadors of American modern dance, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs at the Academy of Music from Saturday, February 26, 2011 through Sunday, February 27, 2011. Acclaimed for their beauty, passion and power onstage, the dance troupe celebrates the legacy of legendary outgoing Philly native artistic director Judith Jamison, recently honored at “The BET Honors” as a leading African-American luminary and TIME 100: The World’s Most Influential People.  The program includes repertory favorites and revered classics, such as Revelations, Ailey’s soul-stirring work about the African-American experience, told through dance set to slave spirituals, gospel, and blues.

 

“No matter how many times the dances of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform ‘Revelations,’ it evokes tears with its blend of grace and spiritual rapture.” –Washington Post

 

Philly native and hip-hop ambassador Rennie Harris and his world renowned dance troupe Rennie Harris Puremovement perform the world premiere of Heaven on Friday, April 15, 2011 through Sunday, April 17, 2011.  The ambitious dance project includes collaborations with French choreographers Gemini and Michel “Meech” Onomo to create a new work inspired by Stravinsky’s masterpiece Rite of Spring. The work rethinks how shared cultural vocabularies in dance and music cross generations and cultural divides. Complete with 15 dancers, Japanese motifs, and multimedia anime that includes an innovatively designed lighting installation and live music, Heaven reflects on the emergence and popularization of hip-hop dance. *PIFA event

 

“Mr. Harris deconstructed hip-hop, addressing both the beauty and the stereotypes of the form. While deftly capable of entertaining the masses, Mr. Harris is also sly. In his skillful hands you see the roots of hip-hop and not just its commercial veneer.” —New York Times

 

MOSAIC

 

From rising stars to legendary performers from Philadelphia and around the world, a number of artists will perform during the 2010-11 season as part of the Kimmel Center’s Mosaic offerings.

 

The stage starts heating up when Spanish singer Buika makes her Kimmel Center debut in the Perelman Theater on Tuesday, October 26, 2010.  Born and raised on the island of Mallorca, Buika grew up poor in the tourist city of Palma de Mallorca, the daughter of political exiles from Equatorial Guinea.  She began her career—literally—singing the blues at a Palma Hotel, and at one point had a stint as a Tina Turner impersonator in Las Vegas.  Now, with a style all her own, Buika’s repertoire includes traditional Spanish coplas, jazz, gypsy rumba, and Afro-Cuban music.  Her latest CD, El Último Trago (The Last Sip), is a collaboration with the famous Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés in a tribute to the equally famous Mexican ranchera singer Chavela Vargas.  Filmmaker—and Buika fan—Pedro Almodóvar wrote the liner notes.

 

“Buika is part of a new generation of flamenco performers who are hooking young audiences by mixing in other influences.” –National Public Radio

 

On Saturday, November 6, 2010 the curtain will go up on the incomparable Liza Minnelli.  The stage and screen star—who recently won her fourth Tony® Award for the 2008 Broadway event Liza’s at the Palace, will present an evening of American standards, accompanied by Billy Stritch.

“Liza Minnelli is pure entertainer and there is none purer.” –New York Times

Audiences will get all the latest news from Lake Wobegon, plus some pretty good jokes, when the mellifluous tones of Garrison Keillor resonate through Verizon Hall on Monday, November 15, 2010.  The best-selling author (his latest book, Life Among the Lutherans, was published in 2009) and host of A Prairie Home Companion is heard by more than three million listeners on the radio every week.  Keillor has been a sell-out favorite in past Kimmel Center appearances.

Christmas wouldn’t be the same without the Vienna Boys Choir.  The angelic choristers, ages 10 to 14, have been traveling the world performing traditional holiday fare and songs from around the world for over 500 years.  The choir returns to Verizon Hall on Friday, December 3, 2010 for what has become a beloved holiday Kimmel Center event.

“There’s no more gratifying sound than that of children singing. And there’s no more polished ensemble of children’s voices than the Vienna Boys Choir.” –Fort Worth Star Telegram

More great classics will be on the way when iconic composer and pianist Marvin Hamlisch and multi-platinum-selling singer Michael Feinstein team up for a Great American Songbook concert in Verizon Hall on Sunday, December 26, 2010.  Hamlisch, who has won three Oscars, four Grammy® Awards, four Emmys, a Tony®, and the Pulitzer Prize, most recently wrote the score for The Informant!;  The 2009 Steven Soderbergh film starring Matt Damon showcased Hamlisch’s first movie score in 13 years.  Feinstein, one of the foremost living interpreters of American popular music, is currently working on his second PBS series, Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook.

Rock and roll will never die as long as Jerry Blavat lives.  The Geator with the Heater has become another Kimmel Center institution.  He returns to Verizon Hall with two shows next season:  Jerry Blavat’s Soul Revue on Saturday, January 29, 2011 and Jerry Blavat’s Rock & Roll Extravaganza on Sunday, May 8, 2011.   Legendary soul, R&B, and golden oldies artists are always part of the lineup for an exciting trip down memory lane.

Move over Simon, Paula and Ellen.  Kailash Kher is the hot young judge on Indian Idol—AND he has talent.  The diminutive singer (he’s just over five feet tall) is big in Bollywood and about to get bigger, thanks to his first international release, Yatra (Nomadic Souls).  Kher’s music is a blend of mystical Sufi soul, traditional Indian folk, and modern pop and funk, performed with his band, Kailasa.  Kailash Kher & Kailasa perform on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at the Merriam Theater.

One of the premier comedians in the country, Brian Regan performs on Saturday, March 5, 2011 at the Merriam Theater, as part of his nationwide theater tour.  Known for his two critically acclaimed hour Comedy Central specials and DVD’s, “The Epitome of Hyperbole” (2008) and “Brian Regan Standing Up” (2007), Regan provides the perfect balance of sophisticated writing and physicality on stage that has continued to entertain audiences since his first appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman in 1995.

The Philly group better known as The Roots will bring their powerful music to the Kimmel Center on Sunday, April 17, 2011 in Verizon Hall.  The convention-breaking musicians, who started out busking on South Street before winning three Grammy Awards®, return to their hometown for a special performance with a French twist.  *PIFA event

 “Using a huge arsenal of percussion instruments, found objects (tin cans, bottles, metal piping) and other noisemakers, they bang out a quirky portrait of contemporary urban life.” —New York Times

 

With high-octane grooves and a distinct electronic sound, Watcha Clan throws a live dance party in Perelman Theater on Saturday, April 30, 2011. True musical nomads, the Marseille-based French-Algerian foursome juggles the rhythms and languages (French, Arabic, Hebrew, and English) of their Mediterranean roots and the sounds picked up during global wanderings.  Dub and reggae, electronica and hip-hop, every style is fair game and all become part of the Clan’s musical language. *PIFA event

“The overall effect was like ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ goes to a rave…and the take-home message was one of peace through finding common ground on the dance floor.” –San Francisco Weekly

Kimmel Center’s Mosaic offerings for the 2010-11 season will not end quietly.  On Saturday, May 14, 2011, Maceo Parker brings Funk Night to the Merriam Theater.  The saxophonist who started out with James Brown has more recently been collaborating with Prince and burning down houses from Paris to Tokyo.  “Hurricane Maceo blew through, delivering a multi-hour, non-stop barrage for an audience that danced itself into a frenzy before the second song was over,” raved the Austin American Statesman. 

 

“Hurricane Maceo blew through, delivering a multi-hour non-stop barrage for an audience that danced itself into a frenzy before the second song was over.” –Austin American Statesman

 

 

Subscription Information

 

Subscription series for the Kimmel Center 2010-11 season, ranging in price from $51-$291, go on sale Monday, April 12, 2009, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1955, or online at www.kimmelcenter.org. Flexible “Create Your Own” packages of four or more events are also available. Subscriber benefits include priority seating, savings over the cost of single tickets, ticket exchange privileges, advance purchase opportunities for Broadway tickets, and more. For group sales call 215-790-5883.

 

 

Kimmel Center Sponsors

The Kimmel Center’s 2010-11 Season is sponsored by Citi.

Free in the Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from the Wachovia Foundation.

The Kimmel Center is the recipient of partnership funding through the nationally recognized PNC "Grow Up Great" initiative, a ten-year, $100 million investment in preparing children for success in school and life. Funding gives support to the Kimmel Center's early childhood program "Bop and Swing," an arts program for children 1-5 years old, designed to promote an appreciation for American culture.

 

About The Kimmel Center

 

Kimmel Center, Inc., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center.  Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the Merriam Theater.  The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Music serve as home to eight Resident Company performing arts organizations, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, American Theater Arts for Youth, PHILADANCO, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Peter Nero and the Philly Pops®.  Kimmel Center, Inc.’s mission also includes arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity of programming through its Kimmel Center Presents and Broadway Series of performances.

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