Philadelphia Orchestra performs second week of concerts at the Mann Center

Young pianist Andrew von Oeyen debuts with Rachmaninoff's demanding Piano Concerto No. 3

Star tenor Salvatore Licitra sings favorite opera arias

The Lord of the Rings Symphony returns

(Philadelphia, July 5, 2005 )

The Philadelphia Orchestra continues its summer season at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Fairmount Park with concerts on July 12, 13, and 15, 2005 . This second week of Orchestra concerts at the Mann Center features Philadelphia Orchestra debuts by pianist Andrew von Oeyen (July 12) and tenor Salvatore Licitra (July 13), and a performance of Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore's The Lord of the Rings Symphony (July 15). All concerts begin at 8:00 p.m. Tickets for pavilion and lawn seating are available by calling Ticket Philadelphia at 215.893.1999 or by visiting www.philorch.org.

The rising young pianist Andrew von Oeyen opens the second week of concerts on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 with Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. Affectionately known as “The Rach 3,” the concerto is considered one of the most difficult piano works in the standard repertoire. (Some great pianists have refused to touch it, but Rachmaninoff himself recorded it with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1939.) Although only 24 years old, Mr. von Oeyen debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen at age 17 and performs recital and orchestral appearances around the world. Asher Fisch conducts the program, which also includes Strauss's Suite from Der Rosenkavalier and Ravel's
La Valse .

On Wednesday, July 13, 2005 , tenor Salvatore Licitra performs a program of favorite opera arias by Verdi and Puccini, also conducted by Asher Fisch . Licitra, who was hailed as the next Pavarotti when he replaced the ailing tenor at the Metropolitan Opera in 2002, has performed with opera houses all over the world. His recordings include Tosca and Il trovatore with La Scala, conducted by Riccardo Muti, and The Debut , a best selling CD of Verdi and Puccini arias.

After a successful performance of The Lord of the Rings Symphony at the Mann Center last year, The Philadelphia Orchestra again performs this work by Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore on Friday, July 15, 2005 . Markus Huber conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Philadelphia Singers Chorale, and the Keystone State Boychoir in music as grand and moving as the popular epic trilogy. The performance features projected illustrations and storyboards from the motion picture trilogy and the centenary editions of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit . Fifteen-year-old Kaitlyn Lusk lends her vocals to the sweeping score. A native of State College (PA), she made her major-orchestral debut in 2003 at the age of 14 with the Baltimore Symphony.

Tickets and transportation
Tickets for the 2005 Summer Concert Series with The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center are available for purchase in-person, by telephone, and via the internet. Undercover pavilion seats range from $20 to $68 and lawn tickets are $10 per ticket. They can be purchased by telephone by calling Ticket Philadelphia (215.893.1999), in-person at the Kimmel Center Box Office (Broad and Spruce streets in Philadelphia) or the Mann Center Ticket Office (52nd Street and Parkside Avenue in Fairmount Park), or through the Orchestra's website at www.philorch.org.

Public Transportation is available to the Mann Center for all concerts. Bus service is available through the Mann Center's Center City Bus Loop. For more information on routes and rates, call the Mann Center at 215.546.7900, ext. 132, or visit online at www.manncenter.org. The fare is $3.00 each way. SEPTA's regular daily bus routes 38, 40, and 43 deliver passengers within walking distance of the Mann Center. (The route 38 bus stops at the intersection of Belmont Avenue and Concourse Drive.) For more information on SEPTA's routes and rates, call 215.580.7800 or visit their website at www.septa.com.

The Philadelphia Orchestra at Fairmount Park and The Mann Center for the Performing Arts
Summer 2005 marks the 75th anniversary of The Philadelphia Orchestra's first performance in Fairmount Park and the Orchestra's 30th year of performances at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts. In 1930, The Philadelphia Orchestra began performing concerts at the Robin Hood Dell in a band shell on the east side of the Schuylkill, and symphonic concerts continued there into the 1970s. The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, as it is now known, opened on the west side of the Schuylkill as the Robin Hood Dell West in 1976 and became the home of The Philadelphia Orchestra's summer series. In 1978, it was renamed in honor of longtime Philadelphia resident Fredric R. Mann (1903-1987), a businessman whose advocacy of summer concerts in Fairmount Park extended back for more than half a century. The modern pavilion seats 4,700 under cover, with lawn seating for 2,500. The park's more than 5,000 acres extend along both banks of the Schuylkill River northeast from downtown Philadelphia.

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. Concluding an acclaimed first season together that saw the launch of the Orchestra's first-ever multi-year cycle of Mahler's complete symphonies, Maestro Eschenbach and the Orchestra toured the music capitals of Europe in the spring of 2004. In May and June 2005, they completed a three-week tour of Asia.

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. 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.

July 12 at 8:00 p.m. – Tuesday evening

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Asher Fisch, conductor – Philadelphia Orchestra Debut
Andrew von Oeyen, piano – Philadelphia Orchestra Debut

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3
Strauss Suite from Der Rosenkavalier
Ravel La Valse

Tickets: $20-$68 (general admission lawn tickets: $10), 215.893.1999 or www.philorch.org

The Mann Center for the Performing Arts

July 13 at 8:00 p.m. – Wednesday evening
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Asher Fisch, conductor
Salvatore Licitra, tenor – Philadelphia Orchestra Debut

Verdi Overture to I vespri siciliani
“O, tu che in seno agli angeli,” from La forza del destino
Prelude to Aida
“Celeste Aida,” from Aida
Triumphal Scene, from Aida
“Ma se m'è forza perderti,” from Un ballo in maschera
Puccini Preludio sinfonico
             First Philadelphia Orchestra performance
“Nessun dorma,” from Turandot
Intermezzo from Act III of Manon Lescaut
“Tra voi, belle, brune e bionde,” from Manon Lescaut
             First Philadelphia Orchestra performance
“Recondita armonia,” from Tosca
Interlude from Act III of Tosca
“È lucevan le stelle,” from Tosca

Tickets: $20-$68 (general admission lawn tickets: $10), 215.893.1999 or www.philorch.org

The Lord of the Rings Symphony
The Mann Center for the Performing Arts

July 15 at 8:00 p.m. – Friday evening

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Markus Huber, conductor – Philadelphia Orchestra Debut
Kaitlyn Lusk, vocalist – Philadelphia Orchestra Debut
The Philadelphia Singers Chorale
Keystone State Boychoir

Shore The Lord of the Rings Symphony

Tickets: $20-$68 (general admission lawn tickets: $10), 215.893.1999 or www.philorch.org

UBS, a global financial services leader, is the proud sponsor of The Philadelphia Orchestra's 2004-05 season.

Lexus is the exclusive automotive sponsor of The Philadelphia Orchestra.