Philadelphia Orchestra Announces Free Pop-Up Concert Tonight, October 2, 2013

Philadelphia Orchestra “Pops Up” Philly Style in Verizon Hall

FREE Unscheduled Concert TONIGHT!

#PhilOrchFreePopUp 

(Philadelphia, October 2, 2013)—Originally scheduled to perform at Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night concert tonight, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will “pop up” in an unscheduled appearance at the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall instead of traveling to New York City.  Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night concert was cancelled due to a strike by its stagehands.

Instruments in hand, rehearsed, and eager to perform, the musicians of the Orchestra will bring the music back home to perform for their loyal Philadelphia audience in a joyful celebration of spontaneous music making. In true Philly style the evening will offer more than a conventional concert. A pre-concert “Conduct the PO” event in Commonwealth Plaza will give concert-goers a chance to try their hand at conducting select musicians of the Orchestra. One lucky participant will be chosen to conduct the ensemble onstage during the concert. Audience members will pick one of the pieces to be performed, and following the concert Yannick will sign copies of his and the Orchestra’s new Deutsche Grammophon CD of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, in Commonwealth Plaza.

The FREE concert begins at 6:30 PM – pre-concert lobby activities begin at 5:30; doors to Verizon Hall open at 6:00. All seating is general admission. Musicians will be dressed in casual attire and the audience is invited to do the same. The family-friendly program will last approximately 75 minutes with no intermission and will include music of Mozart and Tchaikovsky.

The Philadelphia Orchestra is grateful for continued collaboration with its partner Carnegie Hall, where it has performed since the early 1900s, and deeply regrets not having the opportunity to perform on Opening Night.  The Orchestra looks forward with great anticipation to greeting its New York audiences at its three other scheduled performances this season. 

For information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org.