Philadelphia Orchestra’s Access Series takes curious music lovers “behind the scenes” of the musical process

Four-concert series features standard orchestral repertoire in a redesigned concert format with reduced ticket prices, 7:00 p.m. start time, and shorter concert length

(Philadelphia, November 1, 2005)

Curious music lovers will have the chance to go “behind the scenes” of the musical process in The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Access Series. The four-concert series features standard orchestral repertoire in a redesigned concert format with reduced ticket prices, an earlier start time, and shorter concert length, all in a more informal atmosphere. The four 70-minute concerts will be hosted by The Philadelphia Orchestra’s music animateur, Thomas Cabaniss, and will take place on Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Each Access concert will be followed by an opportunity for the audience to get to know the musicians better through a post-concert recital or a Meet & Mingle with members of the Orchestra.

“Audiences engage with culture in different ways, and not everyone responds to the traditional concert format,” explains the Orchestra’s vice president for artistic planning, Kathleen van Bergen. “The music on the Access Series is the same as on our regular subscription concerts, but the format offers audiences an entirely different kind of concert experience – one that we hope will enable listeners to connect with music in a new way.”

Perhaps the most visible change from the Orchestra’s standard offerings will be the presence of Music Animateur Thomas Cabaniss, who will act as host and guide for each concert. As the Orchestra’s music animateur since 2004, it is Mr. Cabaniss’s job to help audiences make deeper and more personally relevant connections with the music and musicians. Some of the ways in which he will guide audiences through the concert experience include providing historical and musical background on a piece; introducing musical themes and examples; and interviewing musicians, conductors, and composers.

“The Access concerts are designed as an exploration of music and music-making,” says Mr. Cabaniss. “They take the audience behind the scenes into the process of creating and performing orchestral music. The concerts enable listeners to dig deeper into the pieces and to hear about them directly from the artists they see and hear onstage.”

The first Access concert on November 17, 2005, conducted by Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, will be an introduction to Beethoven, whose music is the theme of the 2005-06 season. In the first half of the concert, listeners will learn through excerpts and explanations about the influences that shaped Beethoven and ways in which he broke with musical tradition. They will also hear Mr. Eschenbach and musicians of the Orchestra talk about what Beethoven means to them. Finally, they will hear a complete performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2, an early work with the seeds of radical change. The concert is followed by a recital featuring Concertmaster David Kim and Christoph Eschenbach performing Beethoven’s Sonata No. 5, for violin and piano.

The Orchestra’s associate conductor, Rossen Milanov, conducts Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 in the second Access concert on January 5, 2006. This Symphony, in which Shostakovich quotes several other well-known classical works (including his own), was written under the strict censorship of Soviet Russia. Titled “The Dmitri Code,” the concert will examine the layers of hidden meaning in the piece and the challenges of creative expression under communist rule. A Meet & Mingle with musicians of the Orchestra follows the concert.

On February 23, 2006,the third Access concert features a world premiere by Chinese composer Bright Sheng. Christoph Eschenbach conducts the piece, which is a musical description of the animals in the Chinese zodiac and their corresponding personality traits. The audience will hear firsthand about the compositional process, as Mr. Sheng will be present to discuss what influenced and inspired him as he created this new work. A Meet & Mingle follows the concert.

In the final Access concert on May 4, 2006, the audience will hear a musician’s perspective on music-making as Principal Bassoon Daniel Matsukawa discusses and performs Weber’s Bassoon Concerto. Peter Oundjian, who is well-known to Philadelphia audiences as artistic director of the Orchestra’s Absolutely Mozart Festival, conducts the concert which also features Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. A Meet & Mingle with the conductor and soloist follows the performance.

The Access Series is part of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s “Raising the Invisible Curtain” (RTIC) initiative. In development for the past two seasons, RTIC is based on the principle that audience members have a richer listening experience when their attention is actively engaged in a performance. The Orchestra can cultivate this type of engagement by tapping people’s innate musical capacity and supporting their eagerness to find personal relevance in music. The subjects that typically comprise an education in music – performance, appreciation, history, theory – are one way of establishing these connections; but they are not a prerequisite for serious, meaningful engagement. The RTIC initiative seeks to add to these traditional methods of reaching audiences and shaping their listening experiences.

Music Animateur Thomas Cabaniss appears onstage with the Orchestra as host of its Access Concert series, as well as numerous Family and School concerts. He works with Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, Orchestra musicians, and staff to develop ideas and programming that support the goals of the Orchestra’s “Raising the Invisible Curtain” initiative, including the development of the Orchestra’s Access Concert series, School Partnership Program, Camden Community Partnership, College Performance Program, and additional programs that enrich the concert experience for adult audiences. Mr. Cabaniss came to The Philadelphia Orchestra from the New York Philharmonic, where he served as director of education following several years as a lead teaching artist on the Philharmonic’s education staff. Before his work with the Philharmonic, he was director of education for the New York Chamber Symphony and the Tisch Center for the Arts at the 92nd Street Y. Mr. Cabaniss has served as a faculty member at the Juilliard School since 1998 and has also served as a guest lecturer at the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, the Yale School of Drama, and Brooklyn College. In 1998, Mr. Cabaniss received the ASCAP Foundation Award for his contributions to arts education in New York City. As a composer, Mr. Cabaniss has written music for theater, dance, film, and the concert stage, and has received various awards for his music.

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. His acclaimed first season 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. The season closed with a three-week tour of Asia.

In May 2005, Mr. Eschenbach and The Philadelphia 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 Orchestra’s 2002-03 season, which celebrated Wolfgang Sawallisch’s 10 highly acclaimed years at the Orchestra’s helm. During his tenure, the Orchestra moved into its new home at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in December 2001, and celebrated its 100th Anniversary.

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 each year), publications, recordings, and broadcasts. A winter subscription season is presented in Phila­delphia each year from September to May, including ex­panded education and community part­ner­ship programs. The Orchestra also appears annually at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Its schedule each summer includes an outdoor season in Phila­del­phia with concerts in local neighborhoods and at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, followed by a three-week residency each August at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in upstate New York.

Access Concert No. 1
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

November 17 at 7:00 p.m. – Thursday evening

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
Thomas Cabaniss, animateur and hos

Beethoven Symphony No.

Free post-concert event: The performance is f ollowed by a free Postlude Recital featuring Concertmaster David Kim and Christoph Eschenbach performing Beethoven’s Sonata No. 5, for violin and piano.

Tickets: $10-$45, 215.893.1999 or www.philorch.org

Access Concert No. 2
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

January 5 at 7:00 p.m. – Thursday evening

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Thomas Cabaniss, animateur and host

Shostakovich Symphony No. 15

Free Meet and Mingle: This performance is f ollowed by a free Meet and Mingle in the lobby with the musicians of the Orchestra.

Tickets: $10-$45, 215.893.1999 or www.philorch.org

Access Concert No. 3
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

February 23 at 7:00 p.m. – Thursday evening

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
Thomas Cabaniss, animateur and host
Bright Sheng, composer

Sheng New work TBA
World Premiere, Philadelphia Orchestra Association Commission

The commissioning and performance of this work are made possible in part by a grant from the Philadelphia Music Project, an artistic initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, administered by the University of the Arts.

Free Meet and Mingle: This performance is f ollowed by a free Meet and Mingle in the lobby with the musicians of the Orchestra.

Tickets: $10-$45, 215.893.1999 or www.philorch.org

Access Concert No. 4
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

May 4 at 7:00 p.m. – Thursday evening

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Daniel Matsukawa, bassoon
Thomas Cabaniss, animateur and host

Weber Bassoon Concerto
Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances

Free Meet and Mingle: This performance is f ollowed by a free Meet and Mingle in the lobby with the musicians of the Orchestra.

Tickets: $10-$45, 215.893.1999 or www.philorch.org

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Access Series is sponsored by Wachovia, proud sponsor of the “Raising the Invisible Curtain” initiative, and funded in part by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional funding comes from the Presser Foundation.