Major Donors to the Campaign to Build The Kimmel Center Honored as The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Launches First Full Season
Sidney Kimmel Announces New $5 Million Gift
September 29, 2002
Sidney Kimmel
Adding to the Season Premiere celebration was an announcement by philanthropist Sidney Kimmel that he is making an additional $5 million dollar gift to the performing arts center that bears his name, bringing his total contribution to $35 million.
"I am honored to stand with all of you who shared the vision and provided the financial backbone for this magnificent performing arts center," Kimmel said, speaking to over 300 major benefactors. "We built our Center to set a new standard of architectural excellence in the performing arts. Now, we must go forward to ensure that this Center’s physical preeminence is matched only by the world-class caliber of the artists who perform here. In making this new commitment, I hope to encourage those present and others to continue to share your leadership, your time and your treasure in support of the mission of the Center."
Kimmel’s announcement was followed by the unveiling of the Society of Founders Wall, a 25-foot-high honed black granite wall in the performing arts center’s Commonwealth Plaza, engraved with the names of the individuals, corporations, foundations and government entities whose generous and significant contributions made it possible for The Kimmel Center to be built. Standing beneath The Kimmel Center’s soaring 150-foot vaulted glass ceiling, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Chairman Willard G. Rouse III recognized and thanked donors and members of the public gathered for the occasion.
"Sidney Kimmel, Governor Mark Schweiker and the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, former Mayor Ed Rendell and the citizens of Philadelphia and all the founders and donors, we thank you all," said Rouse. "You believed in the dream, and you turned the dream into reality. It is because of you that we stand here today in this awe-inspiring place, a place they said would never be built. Your legacy is an architectural marvel, a state-of-the-art performing arts center and a public gathering place that will make Philadelphia and its children proud for generations to come."
The $265 million Kimmel Center opened on December 16, 2001 to rave reviews from across the region and around the world. Still less than a year old, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts has already welcomed over a million visitors, earning praise for its diversity and public commitment.
"We have delivered on our promise to bring diverse programming of the highest quality to this community," said The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts President and CEO Janice Price. "We have launched an education program through our Merck Arts Education Center that offers tens of thousands of children the opportunity to experience the magic and the meaning of the performing arts, perhaps for the first time. We have created a beautiful home for our Resident Companies and invited the public to come in and get comfortable here. And we’re just getting started."
The Season Premiere celebration began Saturday with a free family performance in Commonwealth Plaza by Island Heights, New Jersey entertainer Yosi, followed by a concert in Verizon Hall by beloved children’s entertainer Raffi, who performed songs from his critically acclaimed album Let’s Play. Free performances on Sunday featured jazz with Philadelphia’s Mark Kramer Trio and Japanese taiko drummers Hoh Daiko.
Sunday afternoon, Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli made her Philadelphia recital debut in Verizon Hall, accompanied by baroque chamber orchestra Le Musiche Nove Chamber Ensemble. The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia held its first opening concert in its new home in Perelman Theater, with Principal Conductor Ignat Solzhenitsyn leading Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos. Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and jazz legend Oscar Peterson brought the evening to a thrilling close, performing in Verizon Hall with his quartet, featuring Oscar Peterson on the piano, Ulf Wakenius on guitar, Neils-Henning Ørsted Pederson on bass and Martin Drew on drums.
The weekend’s performances are just the beginning of a season filled with an outstanding variety of world music and dance, pop music, holiday concerts, family shows, classical and jazz performances and special events on the stages of The Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music.
The 2002-2003 season of Kimmel Center Presents continues in October with performances by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (October 4), Ballet Folklórico de México (October 13), the Steinway 150th Anniversary Concerts (October 17), Anne-Sophie Mutter (October 20), The Academy of Ancient Music (October 20), Dave Brubeck Quartet (October 25), The Flying Karamazov Brothers (October 25-27) and Apollo Theater Amateur Night (October 27). For a complete listing of events, visit www.kimmelcenter.org
Tickets for all Kimmel Center Presents performances are on sale now and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org or at The Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on evenings with performances.
A limited number of $10 tickets will be available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance. These $10 tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at The Kimmel Center box office beginning at 5:30pm for evening performances and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one per person.
Verizon Foundation generously underwrites all performances in Verizon Hall. Fleet Bank is the sponsor of Kimmel Center Presents signature concerts. Season sponsors also include American Express, BMW, Bucks County Coffee, Canada Dry, Coca-Cola, Fleet Bank and US Airways.
The Kimmel Center is open to the public every day from 10am to 6pm and later on evenings with performances.
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center, manages The Academy of Music, and serves as home to nine Resident Companies. These companies include Kimmel Center Presents, a program that offers a rich diversity of choices to complement presentations by the other companies. Activities of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts also include arts-in-education programming provided by the Merck Arts Education Center and free entertainment throughout the year featuring a wide range of local and regional artists.
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