Tickets for The New Kimmel Center On Sale October 8
September 25, 2001
Tickets for all performances at the new Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday, October 8th. The spectacular new center on the Avenue of the Arts has drawn a number of artists and performance groups to Philadelphia for the first time. Three-time Tony winner Audra McDonald, Metropolitan Opera diva Renee Fleming, and the comedy troupe The Reduced Shakespeare Company are among the performers who will be making their Philadelphia debuts.
The Kimmel Center opens December 16th followed by a two-week inaugural festival. During the festival, there will be free performances daily, as well as ticketed events. Highlights include jazz performances by the Branford Marsalis Quartet and Joshua Redman Quintet, a salute to Broadway with Michael Feinstein & Betty Buckley, and a holiday program featuring the angelic voices of the Vienna Choir Boys. In late December, the stage of Verizon Hall will be transformed into an ice skating rink when the St. Petersburg State Ballet on Ice presents the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty on Ice.
The Kimmel Center’s inaugural season features some of the greatest names in classical, jazz, and contemporary performance. The Israel Philharmonic, The Boston Symphony and The New York Philharmonic are among the visiting orchestras that will perform in Verizon Hall, the fabulous new home of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman will give his first Philadelphia recital since 1995. Eight-time Grammy winner Wynton Marsalis will conduct the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and jazz pianist Keith Jarrett will make his first Philadelphia appearance in 20 years. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will perform at the Academy of Music, while the dancers of PHILADANCO take the stage in their new home, the Perelman Theater. Jerry Blavat will host the "Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll" and The Chieftains will fill the hall with the sounds of Ireland. Philadelphia’s own Bill Cosby will entertain in a night of comedy.
Until now, tickets to some of these events have been available only to subscribers. Tickets to many of the performances are on sale for the first time.
Tickets are easy to buy. A joint ticketing venture known as Ticket Philadelphia will allow customers to purchase tickets to any event at the Regional Performing Arts Center -- which includes The Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music -- through a centralized office. To order, contact Ticket Philadelphia at 215-893-1999; order on the web at www.kimmelcenter.org; or visit our box office at the Academy of Music. Tickets for performances by The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, PHILADANCO, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society can also be purchased through Ticket Philadelphia.
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Opening December 16, 2001, The Kimmel Center joins the historic Academy of Music to form the Regional Performing Arts Center, one of the nation’s largest performing arts complexes. The glass-topped Kimmel Center is located at Broad and Spruce Streets, a block away from the Academy of Music, along Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Rafael Vinoly, the 450,000 square foot Kimmel Center features the 2,500-seat Verizon Hall, a state-of-the-art concert hall with acoustics designed by Russell Johnson for The Philadelphia Orchestra; and the 650-seat Perelman Theater.
The Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music will be home to eight of Philadelphia’s premier performing arts groups: The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, PHILADANCO, American Theater Arts for Youth, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Peter Nero and the Philly Pops.
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