Philadelphia Orchestra performs final week of concert series at the Mann Center

Internationally acclaimed flutist James Galway and his wife, Jeanne, perform

R&B star Vanessa Williams sings her greatest hits

Orchestra closes series triumphantly with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

(Philadelphia, July 12, 2005)

The final week of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s summer series at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Fairmount Park features concerts on July 26, 27, and 28, 2005. Internationally recognized flutist James Galway and his wife, Jeanne Galway, perform together (July 26), R&B star Vanessa Williams sings her greatest hits and songs from her new recording (July 27), and the series closes with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (July 28). 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.

On Tuesday, July 26, 2005, flutist James Galway appears with the Orchestra for the first time since 1988, joined by his wife, Jeanne Galway. The two will perform the Concerto for Two Flutes by Domenico Cimarosa, and Mr. Galway will play Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2, K. 314. JoAnn Falletta conducts the concert, ending with Dvorak’s “ New World” Symphony. James Galway is known to audiences around the world through his many concerts and recitals, numerous television appearances, and recordings, which have sold over 30 million copies. He and his wife travel and perform together regularly. Both are active members of the charitable organization Flutewise, an educational organization for young flute players.

On Wednesday, July 27, 2005, R&B star Vanessa Williams debuts with the Orchestra in a program of her greatest hits – including “Colors of the Wind,” “Love Is,” and “Save the Best for Last” – as well as musical theater selections by Harold Arlen and songs from her newest recording, Everlasting Love. A multi-faceted entertainer with a successful career in music, theater, film, and television, Ms. Williams has received nine Grammy Award nominations. She has performed on Broadway in Kiss of the Spider Woman and Into the Woods, and has appeared in such films as Eraser with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Soul Food (1997), Shaft (2000), and Johnson Family Vacation (2004).

The music of Beethoven closes the Orchestra’s 2005 series at the Mann Center on Thursday, July 28, 2005. This final concert opens with Beethoven’s First Symphony and closes with the triumphant Ninth Symphony , in which the Orchestra is joined by the Philadelphia Singers Chorale. The evening’s soprano soloist, Lisa Daltirus of Levittown, is well known to Philadelphia audiences through her regular appearances in the region, including her recent Aida with the Opera Company of Philadelphia. The Orchestra’s associate conductor, Rossen Milanov, conducts.

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.

The Mann Center for the Performing Arts

July 26 at 8:00 p.m. – Tuesday evening

The Philadelphia Orchestra
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
James Galway, flute
Jeanne Galway, flute – Philadelphia
    Orchestra Debut

Berlioz Le Corsaire Overture
Cimarosa Concerto for Two Flutes
Mozart Flute Concerto No. 2
Dvorak Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”)

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

The Mann Center for the Performing Arts

July 27 at 8:00 p.m. – Wednesday evening

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Vanessa Williams, vocalist – Philadelphia
     Orchestra Debut
Rob Mathes, conductor – Philadelphia
    Orchestra Debut

Program includes:
Montgomery “Dreaming’”
Keller & Tonio K. “Love Is”
Menken “Colors of the Wind,” from Pocahontas
Lind & Galdston “The Sweetest Days”
Wonder “Send One Your Love”
Fuller “Show and Tell”
Shire “With You I’m Born Again”
Arlen “Anyplace I Hang My Hat/Come Rain, Come Shine”
Frishberg “Peel Me a Grape”
Arlen “I Never Has Seen Snow,” from House of Flowers
Sondheim “There Won’t Be Trumpets,” from Anyone Can Whistle
Serachini “Constantly”
Mathes “This Winter”
G. & L. Johnson “I’ll Be Good to You”
Lind & Galdston “Save the Best for Last”

Vanessa Williams’s appearance is made possible through the Dr. Richard M. Klein Guest Artist Fund.

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

The Mann Center for the Performing Arts

July 28 at 8:00 p.m. – Thursday evening

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Lisa Daltirus, soprano – Philadelphia
     Orchestra Debut
Elizabeth Bishop, mezzo-soprano – Philadelphia
     Orchestra Debut
Joseph Kaiser, tenor – Philadelphia
     Orchestra Debut
Stephen Powell, baritone
The Philadelphia Singers Chorale

Beethoven Symphony No. 1
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”)

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.