Kimmel Center Presents Announces 2003-2004 Season
March 3, 2003
Mark Morris Dance Group (top) are featured in the Movers & Shakers series. Jennifer Koh is featured in the boundary-breaking music series Fresh Ink.
2003 also to mark return of Broadway to the Academy of Music
Kimmel Center, Inc. leaders today unveiled the details of the 2003-2004 season of Kimmel Center Presents, a broad palette of performing arts offerings that will import talented artists from around the world, showcase regional performers and build on the organization’s first two seasons of diverse programming at both the Kimmel Center and Academy of Music.
The new season will feature more than 70 performances grouped into 12 distinct subscription series, several of which are made possible by gifts from two major sponsors, Wachovia and Mellon Financial Corporation. Subscriptions go on sale immediately.
New offerings for the performing arts center’s third season will include Mellon Jazz Up Close: Dreaming of Dizzy, a new jazz series curated by pianist Danilo Perez and dedicated to the works of Dizzy Gillespie; Fresh Ink, a classical music series focusing on 21st century music and providing the audience a chance to meet up-and-coming artists including violinist Jennifer Koh and string quartet Ethel; Family Beat offering entertainment for the whole family; Planet Music featuring artists from India, Ireland, Israel and Palestine; and World Mix, an eclectic array of world, folk and pop music from which audiences can design their own subscription series.
Other highlights include Wachovia Classics: Great Orchestras on Tour, showcasing the best orchestras from around the world including the Berlin Philharmonic and the 2003 Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Symphony and Wachovia Classics: Master Musicians, featuring three separate series of concerts: Strings (including Itzhak Perlman and Hilary Hahn), Piano (with Peter Serkin, Alfred Brendel and Murray Perahia) and Voice (featuring Denyce Graves, Renée Fleming and Ben Heppner). Mellon Jazz: Fridays and Mellon Jazz: Wednesdays will expand the jazz programming in Verizon Hall with jazz artists including Keith Jarrett, Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Movers and Shakers will bring dance to the Perelman Theater and the Academy of Music with return engagements by the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, plus fall and spring appearances by PHILADANCO, the Kimmel Center’s resident dance company which consistently plays to sold out houses.
2003 will also mark the return of Broadway to the historic Academy of Music. Kimmel Center, Inc. officials today also unveiled details of the inaugural season of Kimmel Center Presents Broadway at the Academy. (Please see separate press release.)
"We have a wonderful season in store for Philadelphia," said Kimmel Center, Inc. President and CEO Janice Price. "It’s hard to believe we are entering our third season of Kimmel Center Presents programming but it’s exciting to see how quickly and widely our offerings are growing. We are committed to making the Kimmel Center and Academy of Music not only venues for the best of the performing arts, but venues that strive to make the best performing arts available to all people."
The Kimmel Center Presents 2003-2004 season is the first full season created by Kimmel Center, Inc. Vice President of Programming and Education Mervon Mehta, who is charged with shaping the new performing arts center’s artistic identity.
"We have a season that crosses the entire spectrum of performing arts while complementing the presentations of the resident companies," said Mehta. "We’re bringing in the best and most acclaimed artists in the world while also taking risks with new music and new talent. We’re expanding the world music and jazz offerings that have succeeded in diversifying our audience over the past two seasons. We’ve got Danilo Perez, one of the most innovative and respected musicians working today helping shape the future of our Perelman Theater jazz series. And we’re working with many artists who will perform at the Kimmel Center and Academy of Music next season to expand our educational offerings."
"Special thanks goes out to all of the sponsors and supporters of the Kimmel Center and Kimmel Center Presents programming," said Kimmel Center, Inc. Chairman Daniel J. Whelan. "Without our sponsors and their extremely generous support, we would not be able to offer the exciting and incredibly diverse roster we are announcing here today."
"Philadelphia's extraordinarily strong jazz tradition and Mellon's long-time celebration of jazz excellence have always been a great match," said Paul S. Beideman, chairman of Mellon Mid-Atlantic and senior executive in the Philadelphia area. "We are extremely excited that a stellar season of performances at the Kimmel Center will be a key component of our Mellon Jazz program for 2003."
"The Kimmel Center is probably the best facility of its kind anywhere, and we wanted to do our part to make sure that world-class artists and orchestras continue to come here," said Bob Reid, State CEO, Pennsylvania/Delaware for First Union National Bank, which will change its name to Wachovia this summer. "Concert series like Wachovia Classics: Great Orchestras on Tour and Wachovia Classics: Master Musicians just weren’t possible before the Kimmel Center was constructed. We’ve supported the Kimmel Center since its inception because we believed that ‘If you build it, they will come.’"
The 2003-2004 season of Kimmel Center Presents is also supported by generous gifts from BMW, returning for its second season as Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents, and Bucks County Coffee, the official coffee of Kimmel Center Presents.
The new season was announced this morning at the Academy of Music and featured performances by Danilo Perez, Jennifer Koh, Diana Kaarina from Broadway’s Les Misérables and Hanna-Liina Vosa from Grease.
Subscribing is the easiest way to guarantee seats for sold-out shows at The Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music during the 2003-2004 season. Subscribers save up to 15% off single ticket prices and up to 20% if more than one series is purchased. Additional benefits of subscribing include advance notice of special events and discounts at Center City retailers and restaurants. Subscriptions can be purchased by phone by calling 215-893-1955; online at www.kimmelcenter.org; in person at Ticket Philadelphia at 1420 Locust Street, Suite 320; or by mail addressed to Kimmel Center Presents, c/o Ticket Philadelphia, 1420 Locust Street, Suite 320, 19102.
Single tickets will go on sale at a later date.
A limited number of $10 tickets will be available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance. $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.
A limited number of non-subscription concerts will be added to the 2003-2004 offerings and will be announced at a later date. Kimmel Center Presents will also be offering a summer series again this year. The 2003 summer concert schedule will be announced next month.
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. 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 at the Academy series of performances.
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. For more information, visit online at www.kimmelcenter.org.
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