Philadelphia Orchestra celebrates 148th Anniversary of Academy of Music with Concert and Ball

Music Director Christoph Eschenbach conducts Orchestra in his first Academy of Music Anniversary Concert, joined by rising violin star Julia Fischer and acclaimed mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade

Philadelphia's premier white-tie benefit also celebrates the
100th anniversary of the Bellevue, sponsor of the Anniversary Ball

(Philadelphia, December 20, 2004)

The Philadelphia Orchestra celebrates the 148th anniversary of the Academy of Music with the annual Academy of Music Anniversary Concert and Ball on Saturday, January 29, 2005. Music Director Christoph Eschenbach makes his first appearance as conductor of the Academy of Music Anniversary Concert, joined by rising, young violin star Julia Fischer and highly acclaimed mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. The Anniversary Ball also marks the 100th anniversary of the Bellevue, where the gala champagne dinner and ball takes place following the concert, with dancing to eight different orchestras located throughout the hotel. The Bellevue is the lead underwriter of the 2005 Anniversary Concert and Ball, which is chaired by Mimi Dimeling and George M. Ross. For gala information, call the Philadelphia Orchestra Academy of Music Restoration Fund Office at 215.893.1940. For concert-only tickets, which are available on the Family Circle and Amphitheatre levels, call 215.893.1999 or www.philorch.org.

The 148th Academy of Music Anniversary Concert features an all-French program with guest violinist Julia Fischer and mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade. The program is comprised of two works featuring Ms. Fischer, Saint-Saëns's Havanaise and Ravel's Tzigane; Frederica von Stade performing arias from Offenbach's The Grand Duchess of Gérolstein and La Périchole; and two additional works by Ravel, his much loved Alborada del gracioso and the Second Suite from Daphnis and Chloé.

The region's premier gala benefit, the annual Academy of Music Anniversary Concert and Ball has been held each January for nearly half a century, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars each year toward the restoration and preservation of the Academy of Music. The Philadelphia Orchestra Association owns the Academy, which served as the home of The Philadelphia Orchestra for more than a century, from the ensemble's founding in 1900 to the opening of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in December 2001.

This year two National Historic Landmarks, the "Grande Dame of Broad Street" (the Bellevue) and the "Grand Old Lady of Locust Street" (the Academy of Music), join together to cap a year of events celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Bellevue. Lead underwriter of the 2005 Anniversary Ball, the Bellevue building opened in 1904 as the Bellevue Stratford and currently houses Philadelphia's luxury Park Hyatt Hotel. When the building opened it was considered by many to be the most spectacular hotel in the world. Its opulent French Renaissance style included sweeping architectural flourishes such as massive Palladian windows, cameo-shaped rooms with domed ceilings, and a two-tiered grand ballroom topped with lighting by Thomas Alva Edison.

A rising star, Julia Fischer made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in October 2003. She has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the symphonies of Houston, San Francisco, and Detroit, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Zurich's Tonhalle Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Paris. Born in 1983 in Munich, Ms. Fischer studies with Ana Chumachenco and performs on the Stradivarius 1716 "Booth," on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. Ms. Fischer won the International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition in 1995, where she received both the first prize and the special prize for best Bach solo performance. Her first DVD, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, was released in 2002 on the Opus Arte/BBC label.

Since her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1970, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade has sung nearly all of her great roles with that company. She has appeared with every other leading American opera company, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the San Francisco Opera, and the Los Angeles Music Center Opera. In Europe she appears regularly at La Scala, Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and the Paris Opera. Ms. von Stade's orchestral appearances include the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the London Symphony. She made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1973. Ms. von Stade has made over seventy recordings that have garnered six Grammy nominations, two Grand Prix du Disque awards, and the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, among other awards.

Following a dynamic inaugural season as music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach continues his creative artistic partnership with the venerable ensemble. Held in highest esteem by the world's foremost orchestras and opera houses for his commanding presence, versatility, and consummate musicianship, Mr. Eschenbach has been acclaimed for his creative insight and dynamic energy, as a conductor, collaborator, and ardent champion of young musicians.

Highlights of his second season with the Orchestra include a season-long focus on Dvorak and other Czech composers; a four-week festival entitled Late Great Works; and the continuation of the Orchestra's five-season long, first-ever Mahler cycle. Mr. Eschenbach and the Orchestra conclude the season with a tour of Asia.

Mr. Eschenbach continues as music director of the Orchestre de Paris. This season he also leads the Lyric Opera of Chicago's season opening production of Mozart's Don Giovanni; the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the Staatskapelle Berlin; the Hamburg NDR Symphony; the Staatskapelle Dresden; and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia.

Mr. Eschenbach has made numerous recordings on various labels as conductor, pianist, or both. His discography includes works of Adams, Berg, Berlioz, Brahms, Glass, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Messiaen, Picker, Pintscher, Rouse, Schnittke, Schoenberg, Schumann, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and Webern.

Before turning to conducting, Mr. Eschenbach had earned a distinguished reputation as a pianist. He began winning major competitions at age 11, and made his United States debut in 1969 with the Cleveland Orchestra; his conducting debut was in Hamburg in 1972. In 1981 he became principal guest conductor of Zurich's Tonhalle Orchestra, and was chief conductor from 1982-86. Additional posts include music director of the Houston Symphony (1988-99); chief conductor of the Hamburg NDR Symphony (1998-2004); and music director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1994-2003).

Among Mr. Eschenbach's most recent awards are the Légion d'Honneur of France and the Officer's Cross with Star and Ribbon of the German Order of Merit. In 1993 he received the Leonard Bernstein Award, presented to him by the Pacific Music Festival, where he served as co-artistic director from 1992-98. Additional information about Mr. Eschenbach can be found at www.christoph-eschenbach.com.

The Bellevue is a spectacular 100 year-old national historic landmark building comprised of upscale shopping, restaurants, offices, a gourmet food court, luxury hotel, and private state-of-the-art fitness center, along with a salon, spa, and more. The Bellevue is managed and leased by PREIT-RUBIN, Inc., management affiliate of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust. For more information visit the Bellevue's website at www.bellevuephiladelphia.com.

Founded in 1900, The Philadelphia Orchestra has distinguished itself as one of the leading orchestras in the world through a century of acclaimed performances, historic international tours, best-selling recordings, and its unprecedented record of innovation in recording technologies and outreach. With only six music directors piloting The Philadelphia Orchestra through its first century, the ensemble has maintained an unparalleled cohesiveness and unity in artistic leadership.

This rich tradition is carried on by Christoph Eschenbach, who began his tenure as the Orchestra's seventh music director in September 2003. As Mr. Eschenbach and the Orchestra inaugurate a new era in the ensemble's esteemed history, the Orchestra has announced the launch of the public phase of a five-year, $125 million endowment campaign, entitled A Sound, A City, A Civilization. Commitments to the campaign include a lead gift of $50 million from the Annenberg Foundation, along with other major leadership gifts that have allowed the Orchestra to raise the original campaign goal from $75 million to $125 million.

In addition to Mr. Eschenbach's appointment as music director, the Orchestra has observed several important milestones in recent years. The Orchestra's 2002-2003 season celebrated Wolfgang Sawallisch's ten highly acclaimed years at the Orchestra's helm and paid tribute to his artistic achievements with the release of a Grammy-nominated three-disc set of Schumann recordings, the first recordings made in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The Orchestra moved to its new home at The Kimmel Center in December 2001, after celebrating its 100th Anniversary through a series of activities surrounding the year 2000, including the internationally televised gala Birthday Concert on November 16, 2000, a tour of Europe in 2000, and tours of Asia and the United States in 2001. A tour in the spring of 2003 took the Orchestra to nine cities in the United States, Mexico, and South America. Christoph Eschenbach and the Orchestra capped their first full season together with a tour of the music capitals of Europe in the spring of 2004.

The Philadelphia Orchestra annually touches the lives of more than 1 million music lovers worldwide through its performances (more than 300 concerts and other presentations each year), publications, recordings, and broadcasts. A major winter subscription season is presented in Philadelphia each year from September to May, in addition to education and community partnership programs. The Orchestra presents a series of concerts each year at New York's Carnegie Hall, performing encores of some of its acclaimed concerts from Philadelphia. Its summer schedule includes a month-long outdoor season in Philadelphia at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, free concerts in local neighborhoods, and a three-week residency each August at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in upstate New York.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts hosts the Orchestra's home subscription concerts. The Center includes two performance spaces, the 2500-seat Verizon Hall, designed and built especially for the Orchestra, and the 650-seat Perelman Theater for chamber music concerts. Designed by architect Rafael Viñoly along with acoustician Russell Johnson of Artec Consultants Inc., the Kimmel Center provides the Orchestra with a state-of-the-art facility for concerts, recordings, and education activities. The landmark building is named in honor of Philadelphia businessman and philanthropist Sidney Kimmel, who gave the largest individual gift toward its construction. Mr. Kimmel has served on the Board of Directors of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1995.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (KCPA) and the historic Academy of Music (where the Orchestra performed for 101 seasons) are operated together as a single cultural facility by Kimmel Center Inc. (KCI). A variety of Philadelphia's other performing arts groups serve as resident companies for the two buildings. KCI owns, manages, supports, and maintains the KCPA. Kimmel Center Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by The Philadelphia Orchestra Association since 1957, and where the Orchestra continues to present the highly anticipated annual Academy Anniversary Concert and Ball. For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra visit www.philorch.org.

ACADEMY OF MUSIC 148TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
January 29 at 7:30 p.m. - Saturday evening - Academy of Music

Music Director Christoph Eschenbach conducts his first Academy of Music Anniversary Concert - the region's premier annual gala benefit - joined by young violin star Julia Fischer and acclaimed mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade in a program of passionate French works.

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
Julia Fischer, violin
Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano

Ravel Alborada del gracioso
Saint-Saëns Havanaise, for violin and orchestra
Ravel Tzigane, for violin and orchestra
Offenbach Selected arias
Ravel Suite No. 2 from Daphnis and Chloé

Members of The Philadelphia Orchestra are graciously donating their services for this evening's Pension Fund Benefit Concert.
Lead Underwriter of the 2005 Anniversary Concert and Ball is the Bellevue.

For gala information, please call the Academy of Music Restoration Fund Office at 215.893.1940. Concert-only tickets are available in the Academy of Music's Amphitheatre and Family Circle: $27-$42, 215.893.1999 or www.philorch.org.