Philip Kates

Philip Kates joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in November 1980. He was formerly a guest concertmaster with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops and the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, with which he has made nearly annual solo appearances since 1981. 

Mr. Kates began his studies before the age of three with his father, violinist-composer Henry Kates, and later studied with Jascha Brodsky, Sally Thomas, and former Philadelphia Orchestra Concertmaster Norman Carol. Mr. Kates also studied viola with former Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Viola Joseph dePasquale and chamber music with Norbert Brainin, Isadore Cohen, Felix Galimir, Josef Gingold, Alexander Schneider, Vladimir Sokoloff, Susan Starr, Arnold Steinhardt, Isaac Stern, and Michael Tree. 

Mr. Kates is a violinist with Liebesfreud and is a frequent performer of chamber music. He is also a composer of several dozen works for voice, solo violin, and various chamber groupings. He leads an active life in community service, raising funds for numerous humanitarian charities and other organizations. Since 1990 he has performed as solo violinist at Philadelphia’s annual Holocaust Memorial Observance Ceremony, and since 1977 he has performed at Thanksgiving and Christmas in Philadelphia-area nursing homes, hospices, and soup kitchens. He also performed at the memorial service for Andrei Sakharov at the New York Public Library in 1990, at the request of the family. 

As an educator Mr. Kates has been guest lecturer for Temple University and Philadelphia Elderhostel, and he has presented programs to children in schools throughout the United States and during the Orchestra’s international tours.

Photo: Jean Brubaker