Blog

Subscribe

Pages

May 17, 2013

Yumi Kendall Receives C. Hartman Kuhn Award; Kiyoko Takeuti Celebrates 25 Years in the Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra presented the C. Hartman Kuhn Award to Acting Associate Principal Cello Yumi Kendall at a special ceremony during its subscription concert on May 4, 2013. Philadelphia Orchestra Association Board Chairman Richard B. Worley presented the Award, which was established in 1941 and named for a charter member of the Board of Directors who served from 1901 to 1933.

May 16, 2013

We're Returning to Princeton on July 17: First Time in Nearly 50 Years!

It’s hard to believe but it’s been almost 50 years since the Orchestra last performed in Princeton, NJ, and we’re coming back! On July 17, 2013, William and Judith Scheide welcome The Philadelphia Orchestra for their Fifth Annual Scheide “Midsummer Celebration” concert at 8:00 PM in Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall.

May 15, 2013

Yannick Visits Settlement Music School

Settlement Music School was the site of Yannick's latest visit with music students and leaders in the community, as he learns more about Philadelphia's rich and varied musical life. Greeted warmly at the door by Settlement's executive director, Helen Eaton, and retired Philadelphia Orchestra Associate Principal Viola Sidney Curtiss, Yannick and Orchestra President and CEO Allison Vulgamore spent time in discussion with Ms. Eaton and Board member Ben Auger, who shared Settlement's history, mission, and current initiatives.

May 07, 2013

At the Academy, the Birth of Wire Transmission of Music

Last week marked the eightieth anniversary of an important milestone in the history of music technology. On April 27, 1933, The Philadelphia Orchestra, in collaboration with Bell Telephone Laboratories, presented a concert from the Academy of Music that was transmitted by telephone wire to a live audience in Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. Associate Conductor Alexander Smallens led the Orchestra in Philadelphia while conductor Leopold Stokowski was in Constitution Hall, “at the controls,” manipulating the sound electronically for the Washington audience.

April 25, 2013

Three Young Virtuosos Win 2013 Albert M. Greenfield Competition

Continuing a long tradition of nurturing young musicians, The Philadelphia Orchestra hosted the final auditions of its 2013 Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition on March 26 in Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center. The 13 finalists performed in front of an audience of family, friends, and supporters. They competed in three divisions: children's, junior, and senior (comprised of instrumentalists and vocalists). The winners received a monetary award and the opportunity to perform with the orchestra as soloist during the 2013-14 season.

April 25, 2013

The Philadelphia Orchestra and Opera Philadelphia Join Forces for Richard Strauss's Salome

Calling all opera lovers! The Orchestra is collaborating for the first time with Opera Philadelphia on a theatrically-inspired co-production of Richard Strauss’s compelling and provocative masterpiece, Salome. Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead both performances, on Thursday, May 8, and Saturday, May 10, 2014, in the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall. The performances of Salome are made possible in part by a generous gift from the Wyncote Foundation.

April 04, 2013

Beyond the Baton

A Q&A with Yannick Nézet-Séguin

From the April 2013 Playbill:

1) What was the first piece of music you conducted, and where?

April 04, 2013

Musician Behind the Scenes - April 2013

Holly Blake Contrabassoon

Each month in the Orchestra’s Playbill, we are featuring one musician in a question-and-answer segment. Below is that feature in its entirety.

Where were you born? Philadelphia, PA.

April 04, 2013

In the Spotlight - April 2013

When Yannick Nézet-Séguin made his first subscription concert appearances as music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra—leading performances of Verdi’s Requiem—the ovations were resounding. Raves poured in. When he led the work the following week for his Carnegie Hall debut, the New York Times described it as “a heaven-storming performance” that had “thoroughly … won over the audience.” The critics weren’t the only ones impressed. 

March 11, 2013

1929 Philadelphia Orchestra Radio Broadcast of The Rite of Spring

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s rich history with Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) has been well-documented. The Orchestra gave the American premiere of the concert version of the groundbreaking piece in 1922 and of the full staged ballet version in 1930, both under its legendary conductor Leopold Stokowski. Stokowski and the Orchestra also made one of the earliest recordings of the piece, in 1929.

Pages