William Penn News

A founding resident company of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia (COP) is excited to announce its season finale concert featuring Brosse's Pictures at an Exhibition. Inspired by seven iconic works from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Music Director and award winning composer Dirk Brosse brings the dynamic beauty of visual art to musical life like never before.

Breaking the Waves had its World Premiere at the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, September 29, 2016. This chamber opera by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek is based on the 1996 Academy Award-nominated film by Lars von Trier.  It is now available as a free audio stream.  Check it out below!

Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin and President and CEO Allison Vulgamore today released The Philadelphia Orchestra's 2017-18 season. Nezet-Seguin begins his sixth season in Philadelphia with a commitment to lead the world-renowned ensemble through at least 2025-26, continuing a relationship between music director and musicians that has garnered praise around the globe.

Metropolitan Ballet Company (MBC) will host Settlement Music School and Pennsylvania Ballet 2 in MBC's annual, Variations/Collaborations: An Evening of Music and Dance, at 7:00 pm on Saturday, April 1, 2017, at Kurtz Center of the William Penn Charter School, 3000 West School House Lane, Philadelphia.

Inis Nua Theatre Company jumps into 2017 with the raucous, fast-paced and heartful Leper + Chip, an American premiere by Lee Coffey at the Louis Bluver Theater at The Drake (203 South Hicks Street).

The second season of Asolo Rep's IllumiNation Series continues on February 11 with a panel discussion, 'Creating Change, Counting Voices,' focusing on the theatre's current production of THE GREAT SOCIETY.

The second season of Asolo Rep's IllumiNation Series continues on February 11 with a panel discussion, 'Creating Change, Counting Voices,' focusing on the theatre's current production of THE GREAT SOCIETY.

MBC launches into 2017 with the creation of three new works and welcomes young artists from Settlement Music School and Pennsylvania Ballet 2.

Beth Morrison Projects and HERE's fifth annual PROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now festival begins this week, running January 5-15!

Louis Scaglione, President and Music Director of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra (PYO), has announced that the PYO organization is the recipient of its first grant from the William Penn Foundation. The two-year grant of $82,500 will support expansion of Tune Up Philly (TUP), now in its seventh season.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and Donna Frisby Greenwood, President & CEO of the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, visited K-3 classrooms with the Right Books libraries at the George W. Nebinger School, a K-8 school in Bella Vista last week for Giving Tuesday. Mayor Kenney read Exploring Matter by Marilyn J. Salomon to a first grade classroom as part of his visit. The visit was the latest step in the campaign to raise a total of $3.5 million dollars in an historic literacy effort to have every public school student reading on grade level by 4th grade. 'If our students are not reading on grade level in the fourth grade, this deficit follows them throughout their academic careers,' said Mayor Jim Kenney. 'Having the right books in our classrooms means that teachers and students have the tools to develop early literacy and a love of reading. This important campaign is a way we can all do our small part to support our local schools.' The Right Books effort has drawn support of an unusually large and broad coalition, including the School District, the William Penn and the Lenfest Foundations, READ! by 4th, and local corporations including a $250,000 donation from Vanguard Capital for Kids Program. 'We are thrilled to have Vanguard Capital for Kids Program as our newest partner in this early literacy initiative,' said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, president and CEO of The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia. 'Their contribution will support Right Books libraries in 50 classrooms.' The Fund hosted a week-long online appeal to help raise awareness for the Right Books on Giving Tuesday, a day dedicated to online giving which kicks off the end of year charitable season; the online campaign is fueled by social media messages. Funding for Right Books installs special grade level libraries in every K-3 elementary school classroom. These teaching libraries are designed to enable every Philadelphia public school students to read on or above grade level by 4th grade. On #GivingTuesday, the Fund raised nearly $253,000 toward the final $3.5 million in matching dollars required to meet the overall campaign goal. Mayor Kenney, School District Superintendent William Hite and other city leaders also supported the campaign, urging the public to allocate their First Tuesday giving for Philadelphia's public school students and help them obtain 'the Right Books.' 'The right books in the right hands at the right time can change a child's whole world and we are very close to our goal of generating the resources to make sure all of our children have the reading skills they need to succeed,' according to Philadelphia School Superintendent William Hite. The $3.5 million campaign, first launched in November 2015 and was the feature fundraising activity of Mayor Kenney's inaugural block party. Donors at the inaugural block party on January 4, 2016 raised $556,329 for the Right Books campaign. To date, the Right Books Campaign has raised $2.1 million of the $3.5 million in required matching dollars from the Lenfest ($4.5 million) and William Penn ($6 million) Foundations for a total of $14 million needed to train all K-3 teachers, provide a literacy coach in all 149 elementary schools, and to establish classroom leveled libraries in all elementary schools that will help more than 48,000 children to read at or above grade level. Each classroom library, with about 500 books, costs approximately $5,000 to fund. About The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia is an independent 501 (c) 3 not for profit organization that serves as a fiscal intermediary between the private sector and the Philadelphia public education system. We are the only philanthropic organization that works directly with school leadership to align the investments of partners - private foundations, corporations and businesses, community organizations and individual donors - with the strategies that will impact the success of students attending our neighborhood public schools.?

Casting has been announced for the much-anticipated European Premiere of Peter and the Starcatcher, being staged by Northampton's Royal & Derngate this Christmas.

Inis Nua Theatre Company will team up with Drexel University's Mandell Professionals in Residence Project (MPiRP) to present a revival of Dublin by Lamplight by Michael West. Inis Nua's breakout hit from 2011 will be remounted with some familiar names, a grand two-level stage, and the talents of co-op students working side-by-side with the professional actors. Using commedia dell'arte make-up stylings and Storytellers theatre, the cast of six will portray 40 different characters in the fast-paced tale about the launch of the Irish National Theatre. Dublin by Lamplight runs November 9 to 20th at Drexel's Mandell Theater (3201 Chestnut Street).

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and The University of the Arts announce a new partnership that will both energize the arts scene in Philadelphia and, at the same time, expand arts education programming to young artists and art lovers. The two iconic institutions in Philadelphia will further shape the arts landscape by increasing arts educational offerings for students of all ages.

Inis Nua Theatre Company opens their 2016-2017 season at the Louis Bluver Theater at The Drake (302 South Hicks Street) with Radiant Vermin by Philip Ridley, with previews starting October 19 and opening set for October 21. From England, this Philadelphia premiere mixes "be careful what you wish for" with a strong dose of unnervingly wicked humor.

Kulu Mele African Dance & Drum Ensemble has commissioned renowned Afro-Brazilian choreographer Dandha de Hora to create an all-new dance based on Afro-Brazilian dance and music traditions. Her work, 'Our Roots,' will make its world-premiere as part of 'Brazil & Beyond,' Kulu Mele's 2016 annual home show. 

From September 19 to September 23, 2016, BalletX, Philadelphia's Premier Contemporary Ballet, and the National Dance Institute (NDI) will conduct a training workshop at General Philip Kearny School, located at 601 Fairmount Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19123. This residency is free of cost to select dance educators, with the option of attending as a Participant or Observer. The NDI training comes ahead of BalletX's 4th Annual Dance eXchange, an educational outreach program held in 3 Philadelphia schools, October 2016-January 2017.

The classic 1983 movie, Trading Places, starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykyroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis is getting a makeover, and Philadelphia has been chosen as the city for its 2016 premiere. The film brought issues of social conciousness to a wide audience and through the lens of comedy.

The classic 1983 movie, Trading Places, starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykyroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis is getting a makeover, and Philadelphia has been chosen as the city for its 2016 premiere. The film brought issues of social conciousness to a wide audience and through the lens of comedy.

Lantern Theater Company was recognized today with six nominations for the 2016 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre. The Lantern's award nominations span three productions from the company's 2015/16 season: