Philadelphia Orchestra Award presented to Neubauer Family Foundation at Opening Night 2005

(Philadelphia, September 20, 2005)

The Philadelphia Orchestra Award is presented to Joseph and Jeanette Neubauer and the Neubauer Family Foundation at The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Opening Night concert on September 21. The award recognizes the Foundation’s $10 million challenge grant, which helped push the Orchestra’s $125 million endowment campaign, A Sound, A City, A Civilization, over the $100 million mark as of August 31, 2005.

The Philadelphia Orchestra Award is given by the Board of Directors of The Philadelphia Orchestra Association to one or more persons in the Orchestra family of Board members, volunteers, musicians, staff, and friends, or to an organization that has made exemplary contributions to The Philadelphia Orchestra Association. The Award may be given in recognition of musicianship, artistic leadership, philanthropy, fundraising, innovation, management, education, governance, or dedicated service. Traditionally presented at the Opening Night concert, this is the ninth presentation of the Philadelphia Orchestra Award since its inception in 1994.

Past recipients of the Philadelphia Orchestra Award are Mrs. Eugene Ormandy, former Concertmaster Norman Carol, former Board President David P. Eastburn, former Volunteer Presidents Mrs. Robert P. Frankel and Mrs. John S. Newbold, Principal Viola Joseph de Pasquale, Principal Clarinet Anthony Gigliotti, Ambassador and Mrs. Walter H. Annenberg, CIGNA Corporation, Mary Read O’Malley, longtime employee of The Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the Volunteer Committees for The Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Neubauer Family Foundation ’s $10 million challenge grant called upon the Orchestra to strengthen fundraising from its Board of Directors and establish a broader fundraising base in the community by raising an additional $20 million for its endowment, $10 million from its Board and $10 million from other donors. The grant will be used to establish funds to support Music Director Christoph Eschenbach’s special artistic initiatives, including the commissioning of new works; to increase efforts to bring the Orchestra to a broader audience outside the concert hall into the wider world through electronic media and technology; and to endow the principal trombone chair, currently held by Nitzan Haroz.

Joseph Neubauer joined the Orchestra’s Board of Directors in 1984 and served for many years as chairman of the Finance Committee and then chairman of the Board from 1991 to 1995. During his tenure, the concept of a new concert hall took a major leap towards reality as a result of his leadership role in raising $103 million for the project, including major commitments from Sidney Kimmel and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. On his watch, the Orchestra Board also developed a comprehensive plan to renovate and modernize the Academy of Music as a multi-purpose theater to serve the 21st-century needs of opera and ballet companies, as well as touring Broadway productions.

Also during Mr. Neubauer’s chairmanship, Wolfgang Sawallisch became The Philadelphia Orchestra’s sixth music director; and the Neubauers, who developed a close personal relationship with Maestro Sawallisch, served as co-chairmen of his farewell gala in 2003. In his honor, they have recently made a separate gift to the Orchestra that will underwrite the return appearances of Maestro Sawallisch for three years.

2005-2006 Season Opening Night
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

September 21 at 8:30 p.m. – Wednesday evening

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
André Watts, piano

Beethoven Symphony No. 1
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”)
Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3

Opening Night sponsored by Bank of America

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 became the Orchestra’s seventh music director in September 2003. His acclaimed first season in Philadelphia saw the launch of the Orchestra’s first-ever multi-year cycle of Mahler’s complete symphonies and ended with a tour of the music capitals of Europe. The 2004-05 season celebrated the works of the great masters, and included a four-week festival entitled Late Great Works featuring late works by Mozart, Strauss, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, and Berio. In October 2004, Mr. Eschenbach and the Orchestra opened Carnegie Hall’s season with an all-Strauss program, featuring Renée Fleming and Yo-Yo Ma and broadcast on PBS’ Great Performances. The season closed with a three-week tour of Asia.

In May 2005, Mr. Eschenbach and the Orchestra announced a three-year recording partnership with Ondine Records, the Orchestra’s first recording contract in 10 years. Taken from live concerts, the first recording under the agreement is scheduled to be released in fall 2005. Other recent highlights include the launch of the public phase of a five-year, $125 million endowment campaign, entitled A Sound, A City, A Civilization, in 2003. The Orchestra’s 2002-03 season celebrated Wolfgang Sawallisch’s 10 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. In 2000, the Orchestra celebrated its 100th Anniversary, and in the following year, moved to its new home in the Kimmel Center.

The Philadelphia Orchestra annually touches the lives of more than one million music lovers worldwide through its performances (more than 300 concerts and other presentations), 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. 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 annual Academy Anniversary Concert and Ball.