Kimmel Center Presents Announces 2006-07 Season
September 15, 2006-May 25, 2007
March 1, 2006
- Season Opens with Nancy Wilson on September 15 and Gary Graffman Celebration on September 24
- Great Orchestras On Tour Series Includes NHK Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig
- Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ To Be Heard in more than Fifty Presentations Plus Sing-Along Messiah and Recital Series Highlighted by Paul Jacobs
- Master Musicians Series Includes Leon Fleisher, Evgeny Kissin, Maxim Vengerov, Joshua Bell and Sarah Chang
- Mellon Jazz Fridays Series Includes Trudy Pitts, Sonny Rollins, Dianne Reeves
- Mellon Jazz Up Close Curated by Danilo Pérez Traces the Roots of Jazz
- Sovereign Bank World Pop Mix Series to Include a live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, Emmylou Harris, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Barbara Cook and Audra McDonald
- Planet World Series Returns with Five Events, Including Anoushka Shankar and Ute Lemper
- Kronos Quartet to make Debut on Fresh Ink Series
- Movers and Shakers Expands to Include Rennie Harris Puremovement and Philadanco Returns
"Whether it’s the world’s great orchestras and solo classical artists, or legendary jazz musicians and world music performers, we are committed to finding and presenting the finest artists for Philadelphia and the regional community," offered Mervon Mehta. "This season patrons will once again see numerous great artists who regularly tour the world’s stages making the Kimmel Center and Philadelphia a prime stop along the way."
"When the Kimmel Center was built in 2001, the mandate was to give back to the community a rich and diverse program of offerings," said Janice Price. Whether it’s dance, education, classical music, jazz, world and pop music and more, you’ll see it this year on the Kimmel Center’s many stages.
"I know I speak for the Kimmel Center Board of Directors and the community as a whole when I say it’s an honor for our organization to bring this center’s lively activity and cultural offerings to the public," said Kimmel Center Chairman William P. Hankowsky. "Nowhere else can we find such a rich and complex cultural line-up of great artists who are drawing new and increasingly diverse audiences to the performing arts. As we move toward our special anniversary season with renewed vigor and energy, our goal is to invite and host even more groups and individuals in our community to Philadelphia’s home for the performing arts."
The Kimmel Center Presents 2006/07 Season includes major orchestras on world tours, individual classical instrumentalists performing solo recitals, chamber music; numerous jazz greats as well as up and coming jazz performers performing in a variety of styles; performers from 23 different countries; pop artists from numerous genres; pre- and post-performance artist chats; the Fresh Ink Series; the new Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ in more than 50 presentations; dance; Free in the Plaza performances; educational concerts and events; and the revival of the popular Planet World series. In all there are more than 66 performances on 11 series, with 38 artists and ensembles making their debut performances in Kimmel Center performance venues. In addition, all Verizon Hall performances are preceded by a Free in the Plaza performance on the Commonwealth Plaza stage.
Great Orchestras on Tour Series
Each year many of the world’s great orchestras and leading conductors set out on tours to visit the great stages of the world, and Kimmel Center Presents continues its tradition of bringing some of the best the world has to offer in the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall.
The Great Orchestras on Tour series begins on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 with the oldest of Japan’s proud orchestra tradition, the NHK Symphony Orchestra led by their new music director Vladimir Ashkenazy. Joining maestro Ashkenazy for this rare visit will be pianist Hélène Grimaud in a performance of Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1. The program will also include Elgar’s Variations on an Original Theme: Enigma and Debussy’s lush La Mer.
Hailed as one of the most vibrant and eagerly sought-after conductors on the podium today, Mariss Jansons leads the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday, November 1, 2006 in a program that includes Wagner’s’ Overture to Tannhäuser, Richard Strauss’ Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Considered to be one of the leading conductors to emerge from the former Soviet Union, Latvian conductor Jansons won the celebrated Herbert von Karajan Foundation Competition in Berlin and is also Chief Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam.
The New York Philharmonic returns to Philadelphia for its fourth annual performance in Verizon Hall on Friday, January 12, 2007, this time led by celebrated conductor Zubin Mehta, the orchestra’s longest serving Music Director. Maestro Mehta leads the orchestra in repertoire for which he has been most widely acclaimed, works of the late Romantic era. Two large-scale works are featured on the program: Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 and Elgar’s enormously difficult Cello Concerto performed by 23-year old rising star cellist Alisa Weilerstein. Ms. Weilerstein is featured regularly as a soloist across the country, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote, "Cellists twice or thrice Weilerstein's age would be hard-pressed to match the concentrated beauty and power of this young dynamo's playing."
On Sunday March 4, 2007, conductor Riccardo Chailly, much heralded for his Mahler interpretations, leads one of Europe’s oldest and finest orchestras, the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, in a program of late Romantic era works, including Schumann’s Symphony No. 1, “Spring”, and Mahler’s heroic Symphony No. 5. The Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig moved into its first concert hall in 1781 after various configurations dating back to the 1740’s. It has since been led not only by the world’s great conductors, but also by the world’s great composers, including Mendelssohn, who was the orchestra’s Kapellmeister from 1835 to1847.
Master Musician Series
Piano Series
Not only is Philadelphia home to a world class performing arts center, it is also home to one of the world’s most important music schools, The Curtis Institute of Music. At its helm for 20 years, President and Director Gary Graffman retires this year and hands the reins to Philadelphia Orchestra principal violist Roberto Diaz. To celebrate Graffman’s tenure and accomplishments, friends, colleagues, and former and current students of the Curtis Institute gather on Sunday, September 24, 2006 to pay homage to this great musician, administrator and educator for a Gary Graffman Celebration. Special guest performers include Maestro Christoph Eschenbach, Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, Roberto Diaz, Claude Frank, Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Leon Fleisher, among others.
Pianist Leon Fleisher gives a rare solo recital in Verizon Hall on Wednesday, January 31, 2007. Listeners and critics alike have heralded Fleisher’s remarkable come back following a mysterious and crippling hand ailment as nothing short of a miracle. His first recording in more than 40 years, Two Hands, featuring the works of Bach, Scarlatti, Chopin, Debussy and Schubert, received widespread critical acclaim for both his technical prowess and masterful touch. Fleisher’s program includes: Bach, Capriccio in B-flat, "On the departure of a beloved brother", BWV992; Stravinsky, Serenade in A; Bach, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring; Bach, Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903; and Schubert, Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. posth, D. 960
Pianists with Evgeny Kissin’s virtuosity, power and strength are few and far between. Even more rare is the combination of brilliant interpretation and technical skill which he brings to the keyboard. Kissin performs in Verizon Hall on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 in a program that includes Schubert’s Sonata in E-Flat Major, Beethoven’s 32 Variations, Brahms 6 Pieces, op. 118, and Chopin’s Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise Brillante.
String Series
Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov has taken the world by storm since he won the Junior Wieniawski Competition in Poland at the age of 10. He has since appeared on the world’s great stages both in recital and with orchestras, and his debut recital in Verizon Hall on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 will include works by Brahms and Tchaikovsky.
A Philadelphia favorite, violinist Joshua Bell returns to Verizon Hall on Wednesday, February 7, 2007. Bell made his orchestra debut at the age of 14 with the Philadelphia Orchestra led by Riccardo Muti. Bell received widespread recognition when he performed the music of John Corigliano on the much-heralded motion picture The Red Violin. His stirring performances, both in the concert hall and on recording, as well as on television, have been seen and heard by millions.
No stranger to Philadelphia, Korean-born violinist Sarah Chang’s Verizon Hall recital on Friday, March 23, 2007 will include works by Faure, Janácek and Grieg. Now only 21, she has performed with many great orchestras led by Riccardo Muti and Zubin Mehta, as well as with virtually every major orchestra in the United States. Her first recording, “Debut” made when she was only 9 years old, quickly rose to the Billboard Charts, and her many recordings since for EMI have been widely acclaimed.
The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ
Organ Recital Series
The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ, scheduled for completion in May 2006, is the largest concert hall organ in the country with nearly 7,000 pipes and will be widely integrated into the programming mix at the Kimmel Center. The organ will be heard on prelude and postlude events, orchestra concerts, educational and family concerts, and in recital. Interest in large pipe organs in concert halls around the country has experienced a resurgence in recent years, and the Kimmel Center’s Dobson-built organ will be featured in a recital series performed by some of the most important organists today.
The organ series begins on Saturday, October 14, 2006 with a recital by Cherry Rhodes, graduate of the Curtis Institute and the first American to win a major international organ competition, the Munich Competition in 1966. Featured in recitals around the world including the renowned Notre Dame Cathedral, Ms. Rhodes’ demanding recital program will include works by Bach, Lidón, Mozart, Mader, Liszt and Guillou.
The organ series continues on Saturday, February 10, 2007, with a recital by Paul Jacobs, chair of the Organ Department at the Juilliard School of Music. Jacobs’ prodigious technique, memory, and charismatic stage presence have propelled him to the fore in his field. Hailed as the heir to the legend of Virgil Fox, at the age of 28 Jacobs already has a vast repertoire that spans five centuries and has placed him in great demand at organ consoles around the world.
Versatile musician, pianist, conductor and organist Wayne Marshall brings the organ recital series to a close on Wednesday, March 14, 2007. Marshall has performed on the great organs of the world, including Notre Dame in Paris and Westminster Cathedral in London. Marshall is the resident organist at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall where he performs regularly and has developed an extensive repertoire, and his program here will include works by Dupre, Liszt, and a series of improvisations.
Organ Special Events
The completion of The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ has enabled Kimmel Center Presents to expand its offerings in coming seasons. New this year will be a Sing-Along Messiah performance on Sunday, December 10, 2006. Led by local organist and conductor Jeffrey Brillhart with organist Michael Stairs at the console, the Sing Along Messiah will include Philadelphia’s own Singing City Choir with soloists Ailyn Perez, soprano; Suzanne DuPlantis, mezzo soprano; Stephen Costello, tenor; and David Arnold, bass. This joyous celebration of the work of Handel’s beloved holiday season oratorio will feature select excerpts, including, “For Unto Us a Child is Born” and “Glory to God.” Ticket buyers wishing to participate in this performance are asked to bring their own music.
In addition, an Organ Family Concert on Saturday, May 5, 2007 will feature the Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ, organist Alan Morrison, chair of the Curtis Institute Organ Department, and Rodney Mack’s Philadelphia Big Brass. The “King of Instruments” will be featured in a program of music ranging from Renaissance works to exuberant jazz selections, and Verizon Hall will be ringed with brass instruments. Suitable for ages 5 and up.
Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel
Jeffrey Siegel’s much anticipated Keyboard Conversations® returns to the Kimmel Center’s lineup of ongoing Mondays at the Merck adult education offerings after a successful first season on the Kimmel Center Presents Series in the Perelman Theater. Siegel has appeared with many of the world’s great orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, but he has now chosen to develop his Keyboard Conversations®, a unique, concert-plus-commentary format in which he speaks to the audience about the music before performing each work in its entirety. Even the most seasoned music lovers are constantly enlightened and entertained by his erudition and delighted by his wit.
The first in his series of Keyboard Conversations$reg; takes place on Monday, November 6, 2006 and is “From Russia With Love,” focused on the music of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, composers of rapturous and lyrical gems.
Siegel returns State-side on Monday, February 5, 2007 with “An American Salute!” Works by iconic American composers Barber and Copland highlight the evening, and audiences will hear the Philadelphia premiere of Bernstein’s unpublished Meditation on a Wedding. Gershwin’s ever-popular Rhapsody in Blue in the composer's own rarely heard solo piano arrangement rounds out the program.
Keyboard Conversations$reg; concludes on Monday, April 23, 2007 with “The Romantic World of Robert Schumann,” a composer whose piano music was inspired by his love life. In this program Siegel will explore whether or not Schumann’s music reflects the mental instability that finally overwhelmed him as well as his love for Clara Schumann.
Fresh Ink Series
The Kimmel Center’s Fresh Ink Series in Perelman Theater is a series where the adventurous concertgoer can experience the new and unusual both in repertoire and performers. Fresh Ink this year includes three of the most vibrant and adventurous performers and ensembles on the world stage today.
Dazzling young violinist Jennifer Koh has thrilled audiences with her ability to fuse intensity and temperament with classical poise and elegance. Accompanied by pianist Reiko Uchida, Koh’s program on Saturday, October 21, 2006, includes the world premiere of a work written for her by Philadelphia favorite Jennifer Higdon, as well as John Adams “Road Movies”; Kurtag’s “Signs, Games, and Messages”; Poulenc’s Sonate for violin and piano “a la memoire de Federico Garcia Lorca”; and Robert Schumann’s Sonata in D minor for violin and piano.
The virtuosic ensemble eighth blackbird returns to the Perelman stage on Saturday, February 17, 2007 with a highly imaginative program titled “strange imaginary animals” in which thimbles strike strings, guitar picks strum a piano’s strings, and ducks, seagulls and even delivery trucks are evoked. Every work on this program has its own imaginary element. The composers heard from on this program are by Jennifer Higdon, Stephan Hartke, Thomas Adès, and there will be a new work by Pulitzer Prize-winner Joseph Schwantner. eighth blackbird derives its name from the Wallace Stevens poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” The eighth stanza reads:
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know
Making their long-awaited debut at the Kimmel Center, one of the world’s most versatile and important string quartets, Kronos Quartet, performs on Thursday, April 19, 2007. This highly unusual program, “Sun Rings” is based on sounds of deep space captured by NASA scientists as created in a music work by long time Kronos collaborator Terry Riley. In “Sun Rings” Riley explores the relationship of humans to the cosmos with music written especially for Kronos and choir, and includes projections designed by Willie Williams. A recent performance of “Sun Rings” was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “Music of supreme beauty and spiritual impact.” Choir tba. This concert is part of the on-going See Hear! Initiative made possible through a grant from Ted and Stevie Wolf. Additional concerts in this initiative will be announced at a later date.
Each of the concerts on the Fresh Ink Series will be recorded by WRTI-FM for broadcast and concludes with an Artist Chat from the stage, during which performers speak about their music making as well as take questions from the audience.
Mellon Jazz at the Kimmel Center
Philadelphia has a rich history and tradition of jazz on par with that of many other great cities across the country. Numerous great jazz artists were either born and grew up in Philadelphia, or at one time called the city home because of its great clubs and venues. The Kimmel Center’s Mellon Jazz series continues to celebrate and contribute to that tradition by presenting both jazz artists from Philadelphia as well as those who land on the world’s stages.
Mellon Jazz Fridays
The Kimmel Center Presents 2006/07 Season and the Mellon Jazz Fridays Series begins in Verizon Hall on Friday, September 15, 2006 as The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ is played by one of the few true pipe organ jazz performers in the world today, Philadelphia native Trudy Pitts. Trudy has performed with such jazz greats as Ben Webster, Gene Ammons, and Sonny Stitt, and has recorded four albums for Prestige, appearing with Willis Jackson, Pat Martino, and later Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Next, one of the biggest and brightest names in jazz, Nancy Wilson, comes out of semi-retirement to one of her favorites venues. Nancy Wilson blurs the line between jazz and pop worlds, preferring instead to be called a “song stylist” and hails from the great tradition of Nat Cole and Sarah Vaughan. Discovered by Nat Adderly, she has since made more than 60 albums, won Emmy’s for her roles on TV, and is the host of the NPR show Jazz Profiles.
Best known for his early work with the John Coltrane Quartet, piano legend McCoy Tyner takes center stage in Verizon Hall on Friday, November 17, 2006 in a program titled “History of Impulse,” celebrating the sounds and history of one of jazz’s most important record labels, featuring jazz artists Nicholas Payton, Steve Turre, Donald Harrison, Jr., Eric Grant, and Charnet Moffat. At the age of 17, Tyner met Coltrane in Philadelphia and also was the first pianist in Benny Golson and Art Farmer’s Legendary Jazztet. Since then Tyner has kept his work fresh and innovative, performing with younger artists as well as jazz superstars like Sonny Rollins. Continuing the exploration of deep jazz history on this program, jazz harmonica player Toots Thielemans opens the program with musicians Airto Moreira, Kenny Werner and Oscar Castro-Neves. Thielemans literally created the jazz harmonica genre where there had been none in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1951 Thielemans performed in Philadelphia’s Earle Theater with Parker’s All Stars, including Miles Davis and Milt Jackson, and has since performed with the likes of Paul Simon, Billy Joel and Joni Mitchell.
Sonny Rollins, 2006 Grammy winner for his recent recording, Without a Song, The 9/11 Concert, has the Verizon Hall stage all to himself on Friday, December 1, 2006. Born in 1930, the 76-year old tenor sax man still has the power and musical creativity of others half his age. Over the years he has performed with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Horace Silver, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, and virtually every other name in jazz as well as in virtually every performance venue around the globe. His seemingly limitless improvisatory ideas, combined with fluid technique and beautifully rich tone, make him one of the most imitated sax players in the business. He has, however, created a personal style and idiom that has been unequalled.
Another of the world’s leading female vocalists takes the Verizon Hall stage on the Mellon Jazz Fridays series. Jazz singer Dianne Reeves headlines on Friday, February 2, 2007 and brings her unique style of powerful storytelling and her virtuosic improvisational gifts to Philadelphia. Awarded three Grammys in a row for each of three recordings, a first in any Grammy vocal category, she was also a winner this year for her work in the recent motion picture Good Night and Good Luck with George Clooney. One of the most unique and individual jazz pianists today, Jason Moran and Bandwagon open the performance with their own brand of jazz, infused with a mixture of traditional and modern jazz sounds.
Jazz travels south to the roots of the genre on Friday, March 16, 2007 when two of New Orleans’ best come north to Verizon Hall: The Preservation Hall Jazz Band plays jazz the way it was initially intended to be heard, Dixie-land style, and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, led by trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, brings their New Orleans-influenced big band sound to Philadelphia. The recent Gulf hurricane devastating to the life and culture of the region, but these two bands have always known that the vibrant music of the Gulf can prevail and music can enrich lives in ways no other art form can.
Jazz Special Events
Ramsey Lewis, often referred to as “the great performer,” brings his Trio and his unique blend of musical flavors to the Verizon Hall stage on Sunday, January 14, 2007. Lewis’ gospel-inspired and funk-influenced brand of jazz was heavily influenced by Duke Ellington and Art Tatum, and he freely admits “European classical and gospel music were almost of equal importance.” Patti Austin crosses all musical genres and was nominated for a Grammy Award for her spectacular recording in tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, For Ella, which she will revive for her Kimmel Center debut.
Verizon Hall swings with a very special night of Latin Jazz when two of the hottest Latin bands take the Verizon Hall stage on Friday, March 2, 2007. Eight -time Grammy award winner Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz gets the show started with his own blend of salsa and Latin jazz. Palmieri has been delighting audiences for more than 50 years as a bandleader. Poncho Sanchez brings his Afro-Cuban style of rhythmically driving good fun to the Kimmel to close out the night. Inspired by the conga playing of the great Cuban Mongo Santamaria and vibraphonist Cal Tjader, Sanchez has released more than two dozen recordings.
Jazz Up Close: The Roots of Jazz
Panamanian jazz pianist Danilo Pérez joined forces with the Kimmel Center Presents series in 2002 to begin programming Jazz Up Close, which has now become a much-anticipated series by both Philadelphia audiences and critics alike. Past series have focused on the music of Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane, as well as the “One Nation Under Jazz” focus of the current season. For the 2006-07 season, which expands to five presentations, the focus shifts to the hurricane-ravaged jazz belt of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Its music is born out of the heat and multi-cultural gumbo of the south, infused with êttoufée and po-boys and whiskey. Jazz Up Close: The Roots of Jazz combines the rhythms and languages from the four corners of the world which have been mixed with the unmistakable tragedy of recent times. Danilo Pérez has put together five extraordinary nights of music and musicians from the gulf coast that trace the roots of our complex music called jazz.
“Congo Square” opens the series on Saturday, October 14, 2006. Native New Orleans alto sax player Donald Harrison, Jr. brings his own band, Congo Nation, to Philadelphia, combining his post-bop angular style with the rhythms brought from Africa that landed on the shores of the United States, and is tinged with subtle Cajun, Caribbean, French and Spanish overtones. Harrison played with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the 1980s and toured with Terrence Blanchard for several years. His own easy and fluid style of playing make this series opener a very special event.
Gritty story telling and testifying take over for the second concert in this series when Henry Butler and Corey Harris join forces for “The Blues” on Saturday, December 2, 2006. Butler’s music making is a rich amalgam of jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, blues and R&B influences, and collaborated with Corey Harris on their duo-album Vu du Menz in 2000. They toured together for several years and join up again for this performance. Harris’ own musical style stems from the rich tradition of African griots and he appeared in the recent Martin Scorcese PBS series The Blues.
Wayne Shorter’s favorite drummer Brian Blade brings his own Brian Blade Fellowship Band to Philadelphia for a program called “Spirituals” on Saturday, February 10, 2007. Blade’s musical style is a combination of spiritual journey and lyrical and introspective jazz. His intense musicianship has made him a favored musical partner by many artists, including Joshua Redman, Ellis Marsalis, Victor Goines, and Bob Dylan (Time Out of Mind) and Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball).
“Crescent City Gospel” is the fourth concert in the Jazz Up Close Series on Saturday, March 10, 2007. Georgia-born trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, with his buttery-smooth trombone playing combined with his virtuosic technique, brings together some of New Orleans’ finest musicians for a night of foot-stomping musical church. Gordon has collaborated closely with Wynton Marsalis and is a former member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and appeared in Ken Burns documentary series Jazz.
Recent Grammy winner for his work with the Wayne Shorter Quartet, Danilo Pérez closes out the series and takes a close musical look forward when he teams up with tenor sax player David Sanchez on Saturday, April 7, 2007 in a program titled “The Future.” Danilo Pérez breaks new musical ground with virtually every new recording he makes and David Sanchez’ new recording Coral exhibits this young lion’s far reaching musical thought in his explorations of Latin classical masterworks. These two thought-provoking veterans of Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations band team up with a band of musicians leading jazz toward the future.
Each of the five concerts in the Jazz Up Close series will be recorded live by WRTI-FM for broadcast and features an Artist Chat led by Danilo Pérez and Mervon Mehta, along with the musicians performing that evening, and explores the music heard in concert that evening as well as their musical styles and influences.
Sovereign Bank World Pop Mix
Emmylou Harris opens the Sovereign Bank World Pop Mix Series with her own effortless intermingling of genres, combining pop, folk, country and most recently alternative on Sunday, October 15, 2006 in Verizon Hall. For her, the common bridge is an exquisite vocal style and a gift for discovering the heart of a song. Emmylou has been called by Billboard Magazine a "truly venturesome, genre-transcending pathfinder."
Philadelphia audiences have embraced tango in recent years, and Estampas Porteñas, the hottest Tango company from Buenos Aires, brings Tango Fire to the Kimmel Center on Saturday, November 4, 2006. Tango Fire features a quintet of brilliant young musicians, ten torrid dancers and two fine singers, and offers a journey through the history of Tango--the world’s most alluring and exciting dance.
Sweet Honey in the Rock, the internationally renowned a cappella ensemble now entering their fourth decade, comes to the Kimmel Center on Sunday, November 5, 2006. Rooted in a deeply held commitment to create music out of the rich textures of African American legacy and traditions, Sweet Honey In The Rock possesses a stunning vocal prowess that captures the complex sounds of Blues, spirituals, traditional gospel hymns, rap, reggae, African chants, Hip Hop, ancient lullabies, and jazz improvisation.
Dennis De Young brings Dennis De Young: The Music of Styx with Rock Symphony, his heady mixture of rock and soaring power ballads to Philadelphia, backed by a symphony orchestra, on Sunday, November 19, 2006. Former keyboardist/vocalist of Styx, De Young re-imagines their hits, including “Rockin the Paradise”, “Come Sail Away,” “Lady” and “Mr. Roboto”.
A perennial Philadelphia favorite, the Vienna Choir Boys’ annual celebration of the holidays takes place this year on Saturday, December 2, 2006. Their “joyful noise” will fill Verizon Hall for a wonderful afternoon of holiday cheer. In 1498, more than half a millennium ago, Emperor Maximilian I of Austria moved his court, and his court musicians from Innsbruck to Vienna, and gave specific instructions that there were to be six boys among his musicians. Historians have thus settled on 1498 as the official foundation date of the Vienna Hofmusikkapelle and along with it the formation of the Vienna Choir Boys.
A Prairie Home Companion, hosted by one of public radio’s most recognized and engaging personalities, Garrison Keillor, comes to Philadelphia for a live radio broadcast on Saturday, January 27, 2007. Featuring, “The Adventures of Rusty and Lefty,” “Guy Noir, Private Eye,” special surprise guests, and “The News from Lake Wobegon,” A Prairie Home Companion celebrates its 30th year of production and its debut visit to Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center is certain to be one of the hottest nights of the winter season. (Please note: This performance has a special start time of 5:45pm with a live national broadcast at 6pm on public radio including locally on WHYY-FM)
Soweto Gospel Choir, formed to celebrate the unique, inspirational and powerful tradition of African gospel music, the riveting 26-member choir has won support from Nelson Mandela as well as Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, the choir’s patron, and makes their Kimmel Center debut on Sunday, February 25, 2007. Their emotionally rich vocal performances, athletic dance numbers and spectacularly colored traditional garb engage all the senses.
Chava Alberstein and David Broza share the Verizon Hall stage in a night of international music on Thursday, March 1, 2007. Israel’s most widely acclaimed folk singer, Chava Alberstein’s music ranges from tender love songs to defiant songs about peace and oppression, including prayerful lyrics celebrating the beauty of the human form and more melancholy songs about loss, poverty, and solitude. David Broza, often called the Bruce Springsteen of Israel, has a musical style which transcends national and artistic boundaries. Broza—guitarist, singer and composer sings in English, Hebrew and Spanish, and with his flamenco and salsa-tinged folk-rock melodies he has a unique talent for breathing musical life into sensual snippets of poetry.
The Chieftains, also a Philadelphia favorite, return to the Kimmel Center to celebrate all things Irish on Sunday, March 11, 2007. Six-time Grammy winners, The Chieftains, are now recognized for bringing traditional Irish music to the world's attention. They have uncovered the wealth of traditional Irish music that has accumulated over the centuries, making the music their own with a style that is as exhilarating as it is definitive.
Barbara Cook and Audra McDonald bring their vast musical theater talent and star power to the Kimmel Center on Sunday, March, 18, 2007. Barbara Cook's silvery soprano, purity of tone and warm presence have delighted audiences around the world for more than 50 years. Considered "Broadway's favorite ingénue" during the heyday of the Broadway musical, Miss Cook then launched a second career as a concert and cabaret artist soaring from one professional peak to another. Singer and actress Audra McDonald earned an unprecedented three Tony Awards before the age of 30 (Carousel, Master Class, and Ragtime) and a fourth in 2004 (A Raisin in the Sun). She is frequently compared to legendary performers such as Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand and her vocal style blends a luscious, classically-trained soprano with an incomparable gift for dramatic truth-telling.
Multi-talented Canadian siblings Leahy bring their high energy step-dancing, fiddling and ensemble vocals to the Kimmel Center on Sunday, March 25, 2007. Ranging from Irish Reels to Hungarian Czardas, their music goes in many directions, but always starts with dance.
Philadelphia favorite living legend, DJ Jerry Blavat “The Geator with the Heater,” gives two of his famous Soul Sound Spectacular performances with special guests tba on Sunday, January 28, 2007 and Sunday, April 15, 2007. Ticket buyers are invited to come early and stay late for the Geator’s Dance Parties on the Commonwealth Plaza stage.
Planet World
Conceived as an intimate setting for some of the finest world music performers circling the globe today, Planet Worldreturns to the Perelman Theater this year with a stellar line-up of some of the most engaging and unique performers.
Värttinä, now celebrating their 20th anniversary, is Finland's most successful contemporary folk music group and makes their Kimmel Center debut on Saturday, September 23, 2006. Värttinä is recognized for inventing a roots-based vocal/instrumental style that is unlike anything Finland has heard before their arrival on the scene. Effortlessly blending ancient Finnish runo poetry, distinctive Finno-Ugric vocal harmonies, traditional and contemporary acoustic instrumentation, complex and uncommon rhythms, original and highly imaginative compositions and arrangements plus a front line of four dynamic female singers, Värttinä has made eight groundbreaking albums and toured for more than a decade. Värttinä has also written the score for “Lord of the Rings—The Musical.”
Born of deep traditional classical Indian roots, Anoushka Shankar has broken new ground with her innovative recent recording, Rise, and comes to the Kimmel Center on Saturday, October 28, 2006. Rise, composed, produced and arranged by Anoushka Shankar, is a collaboration with a select group of virtuoso Eastern and Western musicians who wield a variety of both acoustic and electronic instruments, often in unexpected ways to create tantalizing new sounds.
Cabaret singer Ute Lemper comes to the Perelman Theater for a rare intimate performance accompanied by piano only on Friday, April 27, 2007. Considered the foremost living interpreter of Berlin cabaret songs and the music of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, her panache, versatility and sophisticated style brings to life the music, art, history and politics of an era long passed.
A much-loved household name in her native Portugal, Dulce Pontes brings to life her country’s traditional music–the passionate and melancholic sound of fado--with her Kimmel Center debut on Saturday, May 5, 2007. Dulce Pontes has collaborated with Italian composer Ennio Morricone and Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso. Her 1993 album “Lágrimas” brought fado to worldwide attention when its opening song, A Cançao do Mar (Song Of The Sea), which was prominently featured in the Hollywood motion picture Primal Fear, starring Richard Gere. The album went on to become one of Portugal’s best-selling recordings of all time.
Movers and Shakers
Philadelphia’s own modern dance company in residence at the Kimmel Center, PHILADANCO will present a fall and spring series of performances in Perelman Theater November 16-19, 2006 and May 10-13, 2007. Praised for their “high-power energy” by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PHILADANCO’s fall performances will include a company premiere by Robert Moses, and the spring performances will include contributions from Gene Hill Sagan and Rennie Harris. Artist Chats will be held following the first performance of each of the two Philadanco sets of performances in November and May.
Rennie Harris Puremovement celebrates their 15 year anniversary with a three performance retrospective; a repertory program on Friday, February 2, 2007 which includes “P-Funk” and “Endangered Species”; Rome & Jewels on Saturday, February 3, 2007; and Facing Mekka on Sunday, February 4, 2007. Founded in 1992 by North Philadelphia native Rennie Harris, Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM) was conceived with the vision of sharing an appreciation for diversity and is dedicated to preserving and disseminating hip-hop culture through workshops, classes, lecture-demonstrations, dance residencies, mentoring programs and public performances. RHPM's work encompasses rich and diverse African-American traditions of the past while simultaneously presenting the voice of a new generation.
This program is supported in part by a grant from Dance Advance, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, administered by The University of the Arts.
Subscription Information
Subscription packages for the Kimmel Center Presents 2006/07 season range in price from $54-$360, go on sale Wednesday, March 1, 2006, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1955, or online at www.kimmelcenter.org. Subscriber benefits include priority seating, savings over the cost of single tickets, flexible ticket exchange, advance purchase for Broadway at the Academy, and more. For group sales call 215-790-5883.
Single tickets will go on sale in August 2006.
Kimmel Center Sponsors
Kimmel Center Presents’ 2006/2007 season is supported by: Mellon Financial Corporation, Sovereign Bank, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and The William Penn Foundation. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. In-kind support is generously provided by Deloitte. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents.
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. 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.
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