Philedelphia Orchestra Launches Season with Week of Concerts

The Philadelphia Orchestra kicks off the 2010-11 season in style with a week of activities, beginning Tuesday, September 21. A free Neighborhood Concert, Opening Night Concert and Gala, spectacular subscription concerts, and a free College Night will welcome back audiences and connect the Orchestra with the Philadelphia community.

City Hall FREE Neighborhood Concert
Tuesday, September 21, 7:00 PM
Dilworth Plaza at City Hall (Corner of 15th Street and JFK Boulevard)
Rossen Milanov, Conductor
The Philadelphia Orchestra returns to City Hall's Dilworth Plaza for its final FREE Neighborhood Concert of the season. The program, led by Associate Conductor Rossen Milanov, features classical favorites including Glinka's Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila; Tchaikovsky's Marche slave and excerpts from Swan Lake; Sibelius's Finlandia; excerpts from Bizet's Carmen; and Bernstein's Overture to Candide. Wachovia, a Wells Fargo Company, is proud to present The Philadelphia Orchestra's FREE Neighborhood Concert at Dilworth Plaza at Philadelphia's City Hall.
All Neighborhood Concerts are free and open to the public.

Wachovia, a Wells Fargo Company proudly presents The Philadelphia Orchestra's Free Neighborhood Concert Series. These concerts are funded in part by grants from the Annenberg Foundation, the City of Philadelphia, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and the Zisman Family Foundation.

Philadelphia Orchestra Opening Night Concert and Gala
Thursday, September 23, 7:00 PM
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Charles Dutoit, Conductor
Joshua Bell, Violin
Chief Conductor Charles Dutoit and The Philadelphia Orchestra, who are celebrating 30 magnificent years of musical collaboration together in 2010, launch the city's cultural season with the Opening Night Concert and Gala. Maestro Dutoit leads the Fabulous Philadelphians in an exciting program that includes Berlioz's dashing Le Corsaire Overture, Lalo's Symphonie espagnole with superstar violinist Joshua Bell, and Respighi's symphonic masterwork, The Pines of Rome.

Dutoit and Bell Season Opening
Friday, September 24 at 2:00 PM and Saturday, September 25 at 8:00 PM
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Charles Dutoit, Conductor
Joshua Bell, Violin
Maestro Charles Dutoit opens the first subscription concerts of his third season as The Philadelphia Orchestra's chief conductor with Berlioz's virtuosic Le Corsaire Overture, an uncomplicated but subtle miniature filled with startling modulations and orchestral dazzle. Dutoit and the Orchestra are then joined by violinist Joshua Bell, an artist who "doesn't stand in anyone's shadow" (The New York Times), in performances of the concerto that Mendelssohn composed during one of the last idyllic periods of his life-a piece poised perfectly between Classical flair and full-blooded Romanticism. Mahler's mighty Symphony No. 1 completes the program.

Philadelphia Orchestra FREE College Night
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Tuesday, September 28, 8:00 PM
Charles Dutoit, Conductor
Joshua Bell, Violin
A free Philadelphia Orchestra concert just for college students kicks off The Philadelphia Orchestra's college ticket program eZseatU. In addition to the special Philadelphia Orchestra performance, the night's festivities include a grand welcome from members of the Temple University Marching Band and area university mascots; a CD signing at intermission by guest artist and world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell; and a post-concert party with free food and drinks, a chance to meet the musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and live music by the band Nicky Egan and the Majority.

The night is free for all college students ages 17-30 with student ID; tickets can be reserved at www.philorch.org/college.

Press cameras are welcome at the beginning of the concert at 8:00 PM or at the after-party, at approximately 10:00 PM.

The eZseatU program is made possible with support from the Neubauer Family Foundation, PNC Arts Alive, and an anonymous donor.

The Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is among the world's leading orchestras. Renowned for its artistic excellence since its founding in 1900, the Orchestra has inspired audiences through thousands of live performances, recordings, and broadcasts in Philadelphia and around the world.
With only seven music directors throughout more than a century of unswerving orchestral distinction, the artistic heritage of The Philadelphia Orchestra is attributed to extraordinary musicianship under the leadership and innovation of Fritz Scheel (1900-07), Carl Pohlig (1907-12), Leopold Stokowski (1912-41), Eugene Ormandy (1936-80), Riccardo Muti (1980-92), Wolfgang Sawallisch (1993-2003), and Christoph Eschenbach (2003-08). After 30 years of a celebrated association with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Charles Dutoit continues the tradition as chief conductor.

Since Mr. Dutoit's debut with the Orchestra in July 1980 he has led hundreds of concerts in Philadelphia, at Carnegie Hall, and on tour, as artistic director of the Orchestra's summer concerts at the Mann Center, artistic director and principal conductor of the Orchestra's summer residency at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and now as chief conductor. With the 2012-13 season, the Orchestra honors Mr. Dutoit by bestowing upon him the title conductor laureate.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin assumed the title of music director designate in June 2010, immediately joining the Orchestra's leadership team. He takes up the baton as The Philadelphia Orchestra's next music director in 2012 but will return for concerts in October 2010 and January 2011.
The Philadelphia Orchestra annually touches the lives of more than one million music lovers worldwide, through concerts, presentations, and recordings. Each year the Orchestra presents a subscription season at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, education and community partnership programs, and annual appearances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center; it also regularly tours throughout the world. Its summer schedule includes performances at the Mann Center, free Neighborhood Concerts throughout Greater Philadelphia, and residencies at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org.

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