Community Joins Orchestra in Paying Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Philadelphia Orchestra and its community partners pay tribute to a great man and his message at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute Concert on Thursday, January 16. This year’s program, titled “In His Voice,” features personal reflections on the life and work of Dr. King read by outstanding African-American high-school students nominated by schools in the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. A Community Concert Choir of nearly 200 voices, drawn from congregations and community choruses throughout the region, will join the Orchestra under the direction of Bobby McFerrin. Participants include choir members from Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Deliverance Evangelistic Church in West Philadelphia, Main Line Interdenominational Choir, Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church in Havertown, and Yuong Sang Presbyterian Church in Northeast Philadelphia. This exciting evening of community alliances is hosted by noted storyteller Charlotte Blake Alston, and features pianist Jon Kimura Parker. For tickets call 215.893.1999 or visit www.philorch.org. The Philadelphia Orchestra’s tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is sponsored by CIGNA.

New Hirschfeld Drawing of Philadelphia Orchestra Music Directors Now Available
Celebrated caricaturist Al Hirschfeld has created a new drawing depicting the “Great Music Directors of The Philadelphia Orchestra.” The matted etching, which features Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and incoming Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, is now available in a limited edition of 200, signed by Hirschfeld, sold exclusively at Intermission, the retail store with locations in the Kimmel Center and at 8405 Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill. Al Hirschfeld, who turns 100 in 2003, had a close personal relationship with Leopold Stokowski, the Orchestra’s music director from 1912 to 1938, and he also knew Eugene Ormandy; he rendered both of them in previous drawings. This is the first time, however, that Hirschfeld has created an image that looks at an institution’s history through a group of its artistic leaders. The drawing was jointly commissioned by Intermission and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Fifty matted etchings, numbered 51-100, are being offered to Philadelphia Orchestra subscribers and donors. A limited number will be available framed after January 1. Half of all proceeds from the sale of the etchings will will benefit The Philadelphia Orchestra. Orders will be taken in person at both Intermission locations and by telephone at 215-54-MUSIC.

Philadelphia Orchestra Celebrates One Year in Its New Home
One year after its December 2001 opening, the dream that was once the Kimmel Center has become a spectacularly successful reality. “When we first articulated the dream of a new concert hall for The Philadelphia Orchestra back in the mid-1980s,” says Joseph Kluger, president of The Philadelphia Orchestra Association, “we said that it would generate increased ticket sales and revenue for the Orchestra; would improve the sonic experience and physical amenities for both the musicians and audiences; and would put Philadelphia—not just The Philadelphia Orchestra—on the international map as a performing arts mecca.” A year after the official opening of the Kimmel Center, the building has clearly surpassed all those expectations. Besides giving the Orchestra a world-class symphonic hall, the Kimmel Center has rapidly become a Philadelphia meeting place. In the past year, more than one million people have come to the Kimmel Center. “It’s doing what all successful buildings do,” says Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation. “It’s spreading the wealth and generating more development and business, including the opening of at least six new restaurants within the past year.” Long-time Philadelphia restaurateur Neil Stein concurs with Levitz that the world-class Kimmel Center adjacent to the venerable Academy of Music has created a performing arts critical mass that will be a powerful catalyst for the city’s economic engine.

Orchestra, Lang Lang Return to Academy for Annual Concert and Ball
Music Director Wolfgang Sawallisch leads The Philadelphia Orchestra and internationally acclaimed young pianist Lang Lang in the Academy of Music 146th Anniversary Concert on Saturday, January 25, 2003. The region’s premiere gala benefit, the annual Academy Concert and Ball has been held each January for nearly half a century. Lang Lang, this year’s featured soloist, has a special connection with the Orchestra and the building that was its home for over a century: Lang Lang was the last guest soloist to perform with the Orchestra at the Academy, before the Orchestra moved to its new home in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center. This year’s Academy Concert and Ball will be the first held since the Academy’s reopening in October 2002, and the completion of the decade-long, $40-million “Project for the 21st Century,” one of the most significant restoration and renovation projects recently completed in the United States. Over the past five years, $2.5 million in proceeds from the annual Academy Ball has been allocated toward the $40 million renovation of the building. In the coming years, proceeds from the Academy Ball will be used to renovate backstage areas and enhance the stage lighting for Broadway productions. For gala information, please call the Philadelphia Orchestra Academy of Music Restoration Fund Office at 215.893.1940. Concert-only tickets are available in the Amphitheatre and Family Circle for $27 to $42.