Single Tickets Go on Sale Monday, August 21 for Entire Kimmel Center Presents 2006/07 Season
August 7, 2006
Additional new shows to replace previously announced Planet World Performances, including, Ologunde and Lura
Single tickets to all Kimmel Center Presents 2006/07 Season performances go on sale to the general public on Monday, August 21 beginning at 10am. This new season of Kimmel Center Presents performances features a wide variety of artists to satisfy all musical tastes, including jazz, dance, world, pop, organ recitals, classical and new music, beginning in September 2006.
In addition, since the 2006/07 season was originally announced in the spring, several new shows have been added to the Sovereign Bank World Pop Series line-up, including:
- Four-time Grammy winning Lyle Lovett, whose vocal and songwriting skills blend the styles of folk, swing, blues, and gospel music as well as more traditional country styling, can be heard with his Large Band in Verizon Hall. (September 16, 2006)
- Fès Festival of World Sacred Music: Paths to Hope will feature artists from around the globe in an evening of song, dance and music to celebrate the human spirit in Perelman Theater. (October 10, 2006.)
- Indigo Girls make their Kimmel Center debut, bringing some of their signature hits, including "Become You" and "Closer to Fine," as well as songs from their new album Despite Our Differences. (October 10, 2006). (New album available in stores September 19.)
- Max Raabe & Palast Orchester return to the Kimmel with the music of Gershwin, Porter, Lehar, and more in original arrangements from 1920s Berlin. (November 4, 2006)
- Silent Films with Organ by organist Tom Trenney performing on The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ. Films include a selection of Laurel & Hardy favorites, Harold Lloyd and special guest Babe Ruth in the New York City comedy Speedy, and Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney, Sr. (December 29, 2006)
- Handel’s Israel in Egypt with The Philadelphia Singers as part of the See Hear! Series. (March 31, 2007)
- Legendary blues pioneer Buddy Guy and five-time Grammy Award Winner shares the evening with R&B guitarist and vocalist James Hunter. (April 5, 2007)
- Art Garfunkel makes his Verizon Hall debut. (April 7, 2007)
- Hosted by pianist Christopher O’Riley, NPR’s classical music showcase From the Top returns to the Kimmel Center for a live taping featuring the best of the area’s next generation of young classical performers. (April 10, 2007)
- The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ is again on display with an Organ Recital Marathon. (May 5, 2007)
- Ologunde, (replacing Rokia Traore) features breathtaking warrior dances that honor the deep, vibrant traditions of the Afro-Brazilian culture in Salvador, Bahia performing in Perelman Theater (February 8, 2007).
- Cape Verdean chanteuse Lura makes her Kimmel debut (April 11, 2007)
- Ute Lemper, originally scheduled for April 27, 2007, has been cancelled.
- Värttinä, originally scheduled for September 23, 2006 has been postponed.
In addition, the Kimmel Center Presents new online digital brochure allows patrons the opportunity to hear audio clips of all artists in the series before they buy, and is located at www.kimmelcenter.org/kcp
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2 ½ hours prior to curtain time. Limit one ticket per person.
Kimmel Center Presents also offers more than fifty free community performances during the 2006/07 5th Anniversary season. These include Free in the Plaza with local artists performing classical, jazz, pop, country, world, dance and family fun on the Commonwealth Plaza stage, as well as artist chats with Kimmel Center Presents performers, education events and organ postludes in Verizon Hall. Kicking off the first event in the Free in the Plaza series is Egyptian percussionist Karim Nagi's Turbo Tabla, a performance that combines the spontaneity of a live drummer with the stylistic intensity of a DJ, on Thursday, September 14 at 9:30pm in the Commonwealth Plaza, immediately following the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe performance of Emio Greco | PC's HELL. Turbo Tabla is sponsored by the Philadelphia Arab-American Development Corporation and the Arab American National Museum with generous support from The Wallace Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Please check online for additional information and a performance schedule.
The Kimmel Center Presents 2006/07 Season continues its rich tradition of diverse programming, with 10 different series encompassing classical, jazz, pop, dance and world music genres, including major orchestras on U.S. and world tours; individual classical instrumentalists and vocalists performing solo recitals and chamber music; numerous jazz masters and up-and-coming jazz artists performing straight-ahead jazz concerts; world music performers from 10 countries; pop artists; pre- and post-performance "Artist Chats;" the Fresh Ink and Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel series, presenting some of the most unusual and adventurous artists and programming in classical music today, and educational concerts and events. In addition, Series Subscriptions at even greater discounts are still available.
Artists and ensembles in the Kimmel Center Presents 2006-07 season include:
Great Orchestras On Tour Series
This series begins with the NHK Symphony Orchestra led by new music director Vladimir Ashkenazy and features Hélène Grimaud performing Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 (10/17); Mariss Jansons leads the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (11/1); the New York Philharmonic led by Zubin Mehta features Alisa Weilerstein on cello (1/12); and conductor Riccardo Chailly leading the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig (3/4).
Master Musicians Series
The master musician series will feature a piano series as well as a string series. The Gary Graffman Celebration begins the Piano Series, honoring recently retired President and Director of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Gary Graffman. Performers include Christoph Eschenbach, Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, Roberto Diaz, Claude Frank, Ignat Solzhenitsyn and Leon Fleisher, among others (9/24); Leon Fleisher, who recently made a remarkable comeback from a long-term hand ailment (1/31); and world-renowned pianist Evgeny Kissin (4/25).
Leading off the Master Musician String Series, Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov will perform works by Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev and Shostakovich with pianist Lilya Zilberstein, (10/18); a Philadelphia favorite, violinist Joshua Bell returns to the Kimmel Center (2/7); Sarah Chang, violin, will perform works by Fauré, Danielpour and Prokofiev with pianist Ashley Wass (3/23).
Organ Master Musicians Series
The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ, completed in May 2006 is among 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. This series begins with a recital by Cherry Rhodes, who was the first American organist to win a major international organ competition at the Munich Competition in 1966 (10/14); Paul Jacobs, chairman of the Organ Department at the Juilliard School of Music (2/10); and Wayne Marshall, acclaimed pianist, conductor and organist (3/14).
Special organ events include Sing-Along Messiah, led by conductor Jeffrey Brillhart with performances by organist Michael Stairs and the Singing City Choir, including soloists Ailyn Perez, soprano, Suzanne DuPlantis, mezzo soprano, Stephen Costello, tenor and David Arnold, bass (12/10); and the Organ Family Concert, which will feature Alan Morrison on organ and Rodney Mack's Philadelphia Big Brass (5/5).
Keyboard Conversations® With Jeffrey Siegel
Jeffrey Siegel’s Keyboard Conversations® return to the Kimmel for a second season at the Kimmel Center. Three great concerts include "From Russia With Love," featuring music of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff (11/6); "An American Salute!" with pieces by Barber, Copland, Gershwin and a premiere of Bernstein’s unpublished 'Meditation on a Wedding' (2/5); and explore the music and the life of Schumann in "The Romantic World of Robert Schumann" (4/23).
Fresh Ink Series
The Fresh Ink Series presents new and unusual music from both young and established performers. Highlights include Jennifer Koh, violin, who will perform the world premiere of a work co-commissioned by Kimmel Center Presents and written for her by Jennifer Higdon with accompanist Reiko Uchida on piano (10/21); eighth blackbird, a virtuosic ensemble with an imaginative program "strange imaginary animals" (2/17); and the Kronos Quartet, making their debut at the Kimmel Center performing "Sun Rings" by Terry Riley, complete with video images (4/19).
Mellon Jazz Fridays
The 2006/07 Kimmel Center Presents season opens with Nancy Wilson, jazz vocalist, and Trudy Pitts, who will open the show as the first jazz organist to perform on the new Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ (9/15). Nancy Wilson launched her new website in early August: www.missnancywilson.com.
Other jazz artists include pianist McCoy Tyner with his all-star band performing a program titled, "History of Impulse," featuring Nicholas Payton, Steve Turre, Donald Harrison, Eric Kamau Gravatt and Charnett Moffat. Opening this evening is Toots Thielemans on harmonica with Airto Moreira, Kenny Werner and Oscar Castro-Neves (11/17).; Tenor Sax superstar Sonny Rollins (12/1); Jazz singer Dianne Reeves and jazz pianist, Jason Moran and Bandwagon, (2/2); Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra led by trumpeter Irvin Mayfield (3/16).
Acclaimed pianist Ramsey Lewis performs with his trio, and singer Patti Austin makes her Kimmel debut with a performance to "Remember Ella" (1/14); Poncho Sanchez begins an evening of Latin jazz, followed by Eddie Palmieri and his band (3/2).
Mellon Jazz Up-Close: Roots Of Jazz
In his fourth season as Artistic Advisor of the Kimmel Center Presents' Mellon Jazz Up Close Series, Danilo Pérez focuses on the ingredients that gave birth to jazz. The series highlights musicians from the Gulf Coast including a "Congo Square" evening with alto sax player Donald Harrison, Jr. and his band, Congo Nation (10/14); "The Blues" with pianist, organist, and singer Henry Butler, and guitarist Corey Harris (12/2); "Spirituals" featuring drummer Brian Blade and his own Brian Blade Fellowship Band (2/10); "Crescent City Gospel" with Wycliffe Gordon on trombone (3/10); and "The Future," which features Danilo Pérez on piano and tenor sax player David Sanchez and special guests to be announced (4/7).
Sovereign Bank World Pop Mix
Continuing its tradition of presenting music from cultures the world over, the Kimmel Center Presents Sovereign Bank World Pop Mix Series is highlighted by some of the most diverse artists and ensembles, beginning with the, Fès Festival of World Sacred Music: Paths to Hope featuring artists from around the globe in an evening of song, dance and music to celebrate the human spirit in Perelman Theater (October 10, 2006). Performers include: Gerard Edery , Moroccan-American vocalist (representing the Sephardic Jewish tradition); Jamey Haddad, World Music Percussionist (from the Lebanese-American Christian community); Zafer Tawil, Oudist (from the Palestinian-American Muslim community); Aruna Sairam, South Indian classical vocalist (representing the ancient Hindu sacred tradition); Susan Hellauer, Gregorian Chant vocalist (a founding member of the U.S. based ancient music ensemble Anonymous 4); Daqqa of Taroudant, Islamic Mystical Tradition vocalists and percussionists (representing Southern Morocco’s Sufi tradition).
Other events include vocalists Emmylou Harris and Teddy Thompson (10/15); Tango Fire, featuring Estampas Porteñas, the hottest Tango company from Buenos Aires (11/4); Sweet Honey in the Rock®, the renowned African-American a cappella ensemble (11/5); Dennis De Young: The Music of Styx with Rock Symphony performed by Dennis De Young, former keyboardist/vocalist of Styx (11/19); Vienna Choir Boys with their annual holiday season celebration (12/2); A Prairie Home Companion, a live national public radio broadcast, to be heard locally on WHYY, hosted by radio personality Garrison Keillor (1/27); Soweto Gospel Choir featuring African gospel music (2/25); Israeli vocalists Chava Alberstein and David Broza (3/1); The Chieftains, traditional Irish musicians return to the Kimmel Center (3/11); Barbara Cook and Audra McDonald, two of Broadway’s legendary voices (3/18); and multi-talented Canadian siblings Leahy in a performance that features step dancing, fiddling and vocals (3/25).
Living legend DJ Jerry Blavat gives two of his Soul Sound Spectacular performances with special guest artists (1/28 - A Salute to Rock and Roll Legends and 4/15 – A Doo Wop Reunion).
Planet World
Conceived as an intimate setting for some of the finest world music performers circling the globe today, PLANET WORLD returns to the Perelman Theater this year with a stellar line-up of some of the most engaging and unique performers.
Anoushka Shankar presents a night of Indian music drawn from her new CD ‘Rise’ (10/28); Ologunde performs their breathtaking and unique blend of music from the Afro-Brazilian culture (2/8); Lura performs the captivating music of her native Cape Verde (4/11); and Dulce Pontes, who has reinvented her native Portuguese fado, makes her debut at the Kimmel Center (5/5).
Movers And Shakers
Philadelphia’s own modern dance company, PHILADANCO, will present a fall and spring series with a company premiere by Robert Moses and contributions from Gene Hill Sagan and Rennie Harris (11/16-19 and 5/10-13).
Rennie Harris Puremovement is a three-performance retrospective celebrating the company’s 15th Anniversary of elevating hip-hop dance to high art with "Repertory" (2/2); "Rome & Jewels" (2/3); and "Facing Mekka" (2/4).
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.
Kimmel Center Presents' 2006/2007 season is supported by: Mellon Financial Corporation, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Sovereign Bank, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The William Penn Foundation. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Jazz and World Pop programming. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents. The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com are media sponsors for the Great Orchestras on Tour series.
Kimmel Center, Inc. is a non-profit organization that owns, manages, supports and maintains the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts as well as the Academy of Music which is owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association. The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Music, serve as the home to eight Resident Company performing arts organizations including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, American Theatre 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 in programming through its Kimmel Center Presents and Cadillac Broadway at the Academy series of performances.
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