The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is a large

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfo ...

venue at 300 South Broad Street and the corner of Spruce Street, along the stretch known as the Avenue of the Arts in

Center City Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It is owned and operated by Kimmel Cultural Center, which also manages the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, and, as of November 2016, the

Miller Theater The Miller Theater is a former movie theater and vaudeville house in Augusta, Georgia. The Miller was built by architect Roy A. Benjamin utilizing the Arte Moderne style of architecture and was owned by Frank Miller. Due to an economic downturn i ...

. The center is named after philanthropist Sidney Kimmel. The center is the home of the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscriptio ...

, one of America's "Big Five" symphony orchestras. It is also the home venue of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Philadanco, the

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society is a non-profit presenter of chamber music and recitals and one of the largest organizations of its kind in the United States. It was created, in 1986, by Anthony Checchia and Philip Maneval, its Founding A ...

, and the ''Kimmel Center Presents'' performance series, which features a variety of jazz, classical, and world pop performers.

History

In 1986, the Philadelphia Orchestra approved a plan to construct a new concert hall to replace the aging Academy of Music. It hoped to complete the new facility in time for its 1991 season. The desire to move the orchestra from its facilities in the Academy of Music emerged as early as 1908, however plans stalled due to the lack of consensus on the project's scope and funding. They were revived again in the 1920s only to be scuttled by the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Plans emerged again shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

when performing arts centers were constructed in other cities such as

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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and

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. Despite the 1986 commitment, the project languished until 1993 when Sidney Kimmel donated $12 million to the project and in 1995, Orchestra and community leaders met to help revitalize the concert hall and also discussed merging it with a venue to house other area organizations and visiting artists. The two projects were officially merged as the Regional Performing Arts Center in 1996 and construction began in 1998. In 2000, the center was named for Sidney Kimmel in recognition of his gift in 1993 and an additional $3 million donation in 1998. The concert hall was named Verizon Hall to recognize contributions totaling $14.5 million in cash, equipment and services from

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas ...

and the Verizon Foundation. Interior of Verizon Hall at Intermission of a Philadelphia Orchestra Concert 5-15-15

The architect of the center was Rafael Viñoly, and the acoustician was Artec Consultants. The Kimmel Center officially opened in an unfinished state on December 16, 2001. This followed a gala preview on December 14 featuring performances by

André Watts André Watts (born June 20, 1946) is an American classical pianist and professor at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University. In 2020, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society. Life and early performances Born in Nurember ...

, Denyce Graves, Frederica von Stade and

Sir Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after Rocket Man (song), his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially s ...

and the Philadelphia Orchestra premiere at Verizon Hall on December 15. Numerous cost overruns and construction delays led to the filing of a lawsuit in 2005 by officials of the Kimmel Center against Viñoly. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum in 2006.

Performance and other facilities

A distinctive vaulted glass ceiling encloses the entire structure providing a large common lobby for all the facilities. The center is a popular attraction, keeping its doors open to the public seven days a week. It hosts thousands of visitors annually and offers free tours of the facility regularly. * Verizon Hall, with 2,500 seats, is the main performance auditorium. It contains a pipe organ by

Dobson Pipe Organ Builders Dobson Pipe Organ Builders is a manufacturer of pipe organs based in Lake City, Iowa. The company was founded in 1974 by Iowa native Lynn A. Dobson, who served as President and Artistic Director until his retirement in February, 2020, when long-ti ...

, which is the largest mechanical action pipe organ in an American concert hall. The organ is Dobson's Opus 76 and is named for Fred J. Cooper. It has two consoles with four manuals, 97 ranks and 124 stops. * Perelman Theater, with 650 seats, has a -diameter turntable stage that permits the space to be used as a recital hall or a proscenium theater with a stage, fly-loft and orchestra pit. * Dorrance H. Hamilton Roof Garden located above the Perelman Theater. * SEI Innovation Studio, a black box theater located on the lower levels of the Kimmel Center. * Smaller performance spaces and meeting rooms.

Other noteworthy programs

The Kimmel Center offers a variety of other programs besides concerts, specifically in the field of education. The Kimmel Center is home to its own Youth Jazz Orchestra called The Kimmel Center Youth Jazz Ensemble (KCYJE). This Ensemble includes many youth jazz musicians in the Philadelphia/New Jersey Area. The Ensemble is recognized as a youth version of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Additionally, The Kimmel Center holds a Teen Summer Arts Camp annually where it offers ten-day programs in chamber music, choral/vocal music, and jazz.

Gallery

File:KimmelCenterInteriorHDR.jpg, The atrium File:KimmelCenterRoofGarden.jpg, The roof garden in 2007 File:Kimmel Center Verizon Hall.JPG, Verizon Hall File:TonyBennettKimmelCenter.JPG, Verizon Hall interior File:Kimmel Center roof from Garden.JPG, Roof from the roof garden

References

Notes

External links