Digital Stage Concerts for 2022–23 Season On Sale Now
(Philadelphia, September 22, 2022)—The Philadelphia Orchestra announces the return of in-person family programming for the 2022–23 season, including the Sound All Around concertseries and Family Concerts.These programs exemplify the Orchestra’s dedication to introducing young listeners to classical music and to creating opportunities to engage with the community.
Family Concerts on the Kimmel Cultural Campus bring storytelling to life through music. This beloved tradition for families returns to the Verizon Hall stage with four unique selections: Prokofiev’s imaginative Peter and the Wolf (Oct. 15), the Children’s Holiday Spectacular (Dec. 10), Peer Gynt, featuring the Enchantment Theatre Company (Feb. 11), and a collaboration with students from the Kaufman Music Center for Who Is Florence Price? (Mar. 25). All family concerts are sensory-friendly, and are also available as a part of the Kimmel Cultural Campus Family Discovery Series, sponsored by Dietz & Watson. This marks the first time audiences can purchase tickets for Orchestra programs alongside Kimmel Cultural Campus events under one unified organization.
A complete listing of each Family Concert program is included below and more details are available at www.philorch.org/family-concerts. More information on the Family Discovery Series can been found here: www.kimmelculturalcampus.org/family
Sound All Around, a series of sensory-friendly concerts dedicated to educating young listeners from preschool to elementary age, returns to in-person programming after two years of exclusively digital access. The concerts are hosted by Philadelphia Orchestra Storyteller, Narrator, and Host Charlotte Blake Alston, and will introduce children to the flute (with Associate Principal Flute Patrick Williams on Oct. 22, 24), percussion (with Associate Principal Timpani Angela Zator Nelson on Nov. 19, 21), cello (with Associate Principal Cello Priscilla Lee on Feb. 4, 6), trumpet (with trumpeter Anthony Prisk on Apr. 22, 24), and ensemble (May 13, 15). Tickets are available at www.philorch.org/sound-all-around.
The Sound All Around concert series is endowed in perpetuity by the Garrison Family Fund for Children's Concerts, with additional support from the Acadia Fund.
Though in-person programming is at the forefront of the Orchestra’s season, Digital Stage concerts will continue, featuring seven pre-recorded performances and audience favorites from last season. Highlights include a performance from the Orchestra’s 2022 Bravo! Vail Music Festival residency, and the recent Musikfest Berlin concert from the 2022 European Festivals Tour. Each performance will begin with a premiere, streaming in real time for viewers. Following the premiere, the online concert video will be available for ticket holders to watch on demand for one week. A complete listing of each Digital Stage program is included below and more details are available at www.philorch.org/digitalstage.
Family Concerts
2022–23
Family Concert: Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf
October 15 at 11:30 AM—Saturday morning—Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Lina Gonzalez-Granados Conductor
William Ge Piano—Philadelphia Orchestra Debut
Beatrice Chen Viola—Philadelphia Orchestra Debut
Michael Boudewyns Narrator
Mozart Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
Mozart First movement from Piano Concerto No. 23
Paganini Sonata per la grand’ viola—First Philadelphia Orchestra Performance
Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf
Sergei Prokofiev’s timeless Peter and the Wolf has delighted young listeners for generations, while offering the perfect introduction to instruments of the orchestra. This imaginative piece tells the story of a boy’s adventures in nature with each character seamlessly portrayed by different instruments. You’ll hear young Peter in the sound of the strings, his grandfather in the bassoon, the wolf through the sound of horns, and more. Narrator Michael Boudewyns returns for this family performance guaranteed to charm listeners of all ages.
Family Concert: Children’s Holiday Spectacular
December 10 at 11:30 AM—Saturday morning—Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Join us for a joyful holiday celebration filled with sing-alongs, your favorite sounds of the season, and special guests. Listen closely for sleigh bells—you never know who might pay a special visit to Verizon Hall!
Family Concert: Peer Gynt
February 11 at 11:30 AM—Saturday morning—Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Tristan Rais-Sherman Conductor—Philadelphia Orchestra Debut
Enchantment Theatre Company
Tchaikovsky Polonaise, from Eugene Onegin, Op. 24
Mendelssohn Nocturne, from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61
Grieg Selections from Peer Gynt, incidental music, Op. 23
Journey from the Scandinavian countryside to the Arabian desert to the magical underground kingdom of the trolls with mischievous adventurer Peer Gynt. Fans of Looney Tunes and Tim Burton will recognize Grieg’s unforgettable melodies, including “Morning-Mood” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” With life-sized puppets, colorful costumes, and dance, our friends from Enchantment Theatre Company return to bring this epic story to life with their extra-special brand of theatrical magic.
Family Concert: Who Is Florence Price?
March 25 at 11:30 AM—Saturday morning—Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Lina Gonzalez-Granados Conductor
Students from the Special Music School at Kaufman Music Center
The Philadelphia Orchestra teams up with students from the Special Music School at Kaufman Music Center to introduce young listeners and families to Florence Price, the pioneering Black woman composer whose work was tragically overlooked during her lifetime. In a performance named for the students’s book, Who Is Florence Price?, conductor Lina Gonzalez-Granados and the Orchestra explore Price’s life, work, and enduring legacy.
Digital Stage Concerts
2022–23
Yannick Conducts Piano Virtuosos
October 12 at 8:00 PM–October 19 at 11:00 PM
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor (Gershwin/Bates)
Joshua Bell Conductor (Mendelssohn)
Aaron Diehl Piano (Gershwin)
Daniil Trifonov Piano (Bates)
Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue (original jazz band version)
Bates Piano Concerto
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 (“Italian”)
The supremely talented pianist Aaron Diehl joins the Orchestra for a mesmerizing performance of Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue. Enjoy all the familiar melodies in its original instrumentation for jazz band.
GRAMMY-winning artists unite! The Orchestra is joined by the incomparable Daniil Trifonov for the world premiere of composer Mason Bates’s Piano Concerto, which was performed on January 14, 2022.
Felix Mendelssohn wrote this musical postcard after his year-long tour through Italy that began in 1830. The work was meant to share his impressions of the country’s art, culture, and nature and is arguably his most beloved symphony.
Chopin and Shostakovich
November 9 at 8:00 PM – November 16 at 11:00 PM
Kensho Watanabe Conductor
Charlotte Blake Alston Speaker
Sergio Tiempo Piano
Skoryk Melody
Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1
Shostakovich Symphony No. 5
Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk’s Melody, perhaps his most famous piece, is a poignant work played in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Renowned for his energy and versatility, Venezuelan pianist Sergio Tiempo performs Chopin’s exuberant Piano Concerto No. 1. Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, received an ovation at this spellbinding symphony’s premiere that lasted over half an hour.
Ravel, Mozart, and Brahms
December 14 at 8:00 PM– December 24 at 11:00 PM
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor (Ravel/Mozart)
Nathalie Stutzmann Conductor (Brahms)
Philippe Tondre Oboe
Ravel Le Tombeau de Couperin
Mozart Oboe Concerto
Brahms Symphony No. 4
Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin opens the performance with graceful reflection, dedicated to the composer’s friends lost in the First World War. Experience Principal Oboe Philippe Tondre’s Philadelphia Orchestra solo debut in Mozart’s operatic Oboe Concerto. Brahms’s final symphony brings his virtuosic power on full display with a work arguably considered his greatest masterpiece.
On Tour in Berlin
January 11 at 8:00 PM – January 18 at 11:00 PM
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor
Lisa Batiashvili Violin
Dvořák Carnival Overture
Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 1
Price Symphony No. 1
Experience Your Philadelphia Orchestra’s performance at Musikfest Berlin, recorded on September 1, 2022. Imagine being put right in the middle of a crowd at a lively carnival in Europe. Antonín Dvořák tried to capture the jubilation of the participants dancing, eating food, and singing. Violin virtuoso Lisa Batiashvili stars with the Orchestra in Szymanowski’s extraordinarily lyrical Violin Concerto No. 1. She calls it, simply, “the most delicious thing in the world.”
Please note: This concert is only available for purchase in the United States.
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
February 8 at 8:00 PM– February 15 at 11:00 PM
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor (Chausson)
Gil Shaham Leader and Violin (Vivaldi)
Lisa Batiashvili Violin (Chausson)
Chausson Poème
Vivaldi The Four Seasons
Chausson’s elegant Poème features a triumphant violin solo in this effortlessly melodic work. Audiences will delight in Vivaldi’s iconic and transcendent Four Seasons, in a performance that soars to new heights with world-renowned violinist Gil Shaham, who will both perform the solo and lead the ensemble.
Yannick Plays Mozart
March 8 at 8:00 PM – March 15 at 11:00 PM
Joshua Bell Leader and Violin (Price Adoration)
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor and Piano (Mozart/Price Symphony No. 4)
Price Adoration
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 12
Price Symphony No. 4
Written in 1951, just two years before her death, Florence Price’s beautiful Adoration showcases the sweet serenity of strings. Violinist Joshua Bell leads the Orchestra in this stunning performance. Written following his arrival in Vienna, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12 is “very brilliant, pleasing to the ear, and natural,” in the composer’s own words. Listen for its melodic opulence and thrilling cadenzas. This performance includes a special treat for audiences as Yannick leads the Orchestra from the piano. Price’s Fourth, and final, Symphony, never performed during her lifetime, received accolades when it received its belated premiere in 2018. The New York Times noted: “The brio of the best Americana is present throughout the work, particularly in its rousing climax.”
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6
April 12 at 8:00 PM– April 19 at 11:00 PM
Nathalie Stutzmann Conductor
Tchaikovsky Polonaise, from Eugene Onegin
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”)
No matter the genre, Tchaikovsky often infused his works with the spirit of dance, including this Polonaise from his most famous opera. Tchaikovsky himself conducted the premiere of his “Pathétique” Symphony just a week before his death. Sometimes described as his own personal requiem, it lives on as one of the composer’s most cherished creations.
This program was originally recorded at the 2022 Bravo! Vail Music Festival in Vail, Colorado.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin holds the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair
Nathalie Stutzmann holds the Ralph and Beth Johnston Muller Chair
Charlotte Blake Alston is the Imasogie Storyteller, Narrator, and Host
Philippe Tondre holds the Samuel S. Fels Chair
Patrick Williams holds the Rachelle and Ronald Kaiserman Chair
Lead support for the Digital Stage is provided by:
Claudia and Richard Balderston
Elaine W. Camarda and A. Morris Williams, Jr.
The CHG Charitable Trust
Edith R. Dixon
Innisfree Foundation
Gretchen and M. Roy Jackson
Dr. Richard M. Klein
Neal W. Krouse
John H. McFadden and Lisa D. Kabnick
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Leslie A. Miller and Richard B. Worley
Ralph and Beth Johnston Muller
Neubauer Family Foundation
William Penn Foundation
Pew Center for Arts and Heritage
Peter and Mari Shaw
Dr. and Mrs. Joseph B. Townsend
Waterman Trust
Constance and Sankey Williams
Wyncote Foundation