Award-Winning Vocalist Johnny Mathis Kicks off Kimmel Center's Sixth Season September 16
August 24, 2007
Two time Grammy® Hall of Fame honoree Johnny Mathis returns to the Kimmel Center stage with his band and a 24 piece orchestra on Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 7:30pm in Verizon Hall to kick off the Kimmel Center Presents Sponsored by Citi 2007/2008 season. Now entering his fifty-first year as a recording artist, Johnny Mathis is an American cultural icon, whose softly crooned romantic ballads and classic standards have transcended generations. Countless Hollywood movies have used his voice as a classic backdrop to enhance a setting or theme, including "It's Not for Me to Say" in the 2002 hit Lizzie Mcguire, among others.
His 50th anniversary was marked with several honors including his third Grammy® nomination for Isn't it Romantic in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category, as well as being named the recipient of the Society of Singers Ella Award, an honor awarded to musicians for their contribution to their community and worldwide humanitarian causes. Some of his most popular all-time greatest hits such as his first #1 hit "Chances Are," "Wonderful, Wonderful," and "Misty," from his latest 2006 releases –Johnny Mathis – Gold: A 50th Anniversary Christmas Celebration and Johnny Mathis – Gold: A 50th Anniversary Celebration—will be a part of his Kimmel Center performance.
This concert is the first in the World and Pop Series scheduled for the 2007/2008 season. The next concert in the series will be Tania Libertad on Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 7:30pm.
Tickets for Johnny Mathis are $40, $61, $76, $85, and $100 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 performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply). For group sales call 215-790-5883.
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 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
In addition to his record-breaking singles and albums, Johnny Mathis has set many precedents for the music industry. He was first discovered in early September 1955 by George Avakian, then head of Jazz A&R at Columbia Records at Ann Dee’s 440 Club, who sent a famous telegram to the record company, saying "Have found phenomenal 19 year-old boy who could go all the way. Send blank contracts." A contender for the USA Olympic Team in 1956, Johnny Mathis had a famed career as a high jumper and a skilled athlete at San Fransico State before entering his musical career at Columbia Records. In 1956, he began recording his first album, Johnny Mathis: A New Sound in Popular Song, a collection of jazz oriented renditions of popular standards. The album enjoyed only moderate success because jazz vocal albums were not good sellers.
Then under the supervision of producer Mitch Miller, Johnny’s voice was used to sing soft, romantic ballads. At his second recording session in fall of 1956, he recorded two singles, to become among his most popular all-time greatest hits: "Wonderful, Wonderful" and "It’s Not For Me To Say." Subsequently, MGM studios signed Mathis to sing "It’s Not For Me To Say" in the film Lizzie, where he played a tavern piano bar singer. The success of his first two singles were soon followed by "Chances Are," his first number one hit. In 1959, he recorded "Misty," for which he was awarded his first Grammy® nomination.
Johnny Mathis has received numerous honors through the years. In 2003, Mathis earned the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He was inducted into the Grammy® Hall of Fame twice; once in 1998 for "Chances Are," and a second time in 2002 for "Misty;" He is also one of only five recording artists to have Top 40 Hits during each of the four decades since 1955. Mathis has received three Grammy nominations including "Misty" in 1960, "In Sentimental Mood/Mathis Sings Ellington" in 1992, and "Isn’t it Romantic" in 2006. Also noteworthy is Mathis’s Greatest Hits album in 1958, which became one of the most popular albums of all time and spent nearly ten continuous years on the Billboard Top Albums chart. The success earned Mathis a spot in The Guinness Book of World Records.
More recently, Mathis recorded "Over the Rainbow" with Ray Charles in 2004 and was honored to later perform the single at Charles’ memorial service. Mathis’ most recent work, The 50th Anniversary Special "Wonderful, Wonderful" originally aired on PBS in late 2006 and was among the most successful PBS fund drives ever aired.
Mathis’ Fifty-first Anniversary Concert Tour will conclude on January 15, 2008 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season is sponsored by Citi. Support for the Mellon Jazz Series comes from The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. The Great Orchestra Series is supported by ARCWheeler. Additional support is provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Jazz and World Pop programming.
The Kimmel Center also receives support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The William Penn Foundation, The Wachovia Foundation, Verizon Foundation, PNC Foundation, the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and the Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts. In-kind support is generously provided by Deloitte. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents, and additional media sponsors include WDAS, WRTI, WJJZ, Afro-Pop, WXPN and WXPN's Kids Corner 20th Anniversary.
Free In The Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from Wachovia Foundation.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS SPONSORED BY CITI
Sunday, September 16, 2007 | 7:30 PM
Verizon Hall
World Pop Series
Johnny Mathis
Scott Lavender, music director/keyboards
Gil Reigers, guitar
Richard Shaw, bass
Joe Lizama, drums
FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENT:
Sunday, September 16, 2007 | 6pm
Commonwealth Plaza
Larry McKenna Quintet
One of the leading jazz saxophonists in America and a former member of Johnny Mathis’ band, Larry McKenna and his quintet will perform a jazz set on the Commonwealth Plaza stage prior to the Mathis concert. McKenna is an instructor of jazz theory, harmony, and saxophone at the Community College of Philadelphia.
UPCOMING FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENT:
Saturday, September 22, 2007 | 11am | PNC Grow UP Great
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
Ramone Cordes
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with your little one when Ramon Cordes brings Hispanic traditions alive with his hand-crafted puppets. This performance is in partnership with Taller Puertorriqueno.
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