Walk Down Broad

A view of the Arts when walking down Broad St/ Avenue of the Arts

                                                             Academy of Vocal Arts

                                      Temple University Cellist playing Bach in Rittenhouse

                                                      Classical Guitarists in Rittenhouse

                                                              Pennsylvania Ballet

                                                                      Wilma Theater

                                                        The University of The Arts

                                                        Philadelphia Theatre Company

                                                                 Avenue of the Arts

Avenue of the Arts

The Avenue of the Arts is located in Center City Philadelphia on Broad St between Washington Avenue and Glenwood Avenue. The Avenue of the Arts, Inc. is the non-profit organization that runs the Avenue and is responsible for the coordination and development of the arts district.

            AAI has had a crucial role in the development of key landmarks for Philadelphia’s art culture. They have been involved in the revitalization or construction of the Kimmel Center, Clef Club, Freedom Theatre, and Wilma Theatre. AAI is also responsible for the Avenue of the Arts annual Festival, the Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony, maintenance of the Walk of Fame, maintenance of the double A lights, and maintenance of the planters down Broad St. Today, its efforts are focused on revitalizing the northern part of Broad St. Their newest project has been the start of revitalization of City Hall and plans include an ice-skating rink and a park ("About AAI"). 

            Overall, the region has been quite impressive in bringing in revenue for the City. In 2006, about $424 million was generated on the Avenue. This was a gain of about $150 million that supported just over 6,000 jobs ("About AAI"). 

            I thought I could not mention classical music and the arts without mentioning the Avenue of the Arts. Their advocacy for the arts and this city has been phenomenal. Not only are they responsible for many of the arts venues’ construction, but also they are responsible for the overall revitalization of Center City. Without this dedicated committee board we would not have the fun district that is the Avenue of the Arts and Center City most definitely would not be as beautiful or as fun to visit. 

Works cited

About AAI (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.avenueofthearts.org/about_facts.asp

Curtis Institute of Music

         My next stop is the Curtis Institute of Music. My boyfriend, Tim, has been attending this school for the past three years studying double bass performance. It is recognized as being one of the most prestigious and talented music schools in the entire world. Curtis is made up of one orchestra worth of students, which means there are only eight bass players in the entire school, one to two being chosen every year. When Tim auditioned he was going for one of two spots and competed against 40 other students. Students come from around the world to audition at Curtis and our friends are from around the world and include Hawaii, Russia, Korea, China, France, to my hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

Example of Students:- Tim and Eunice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX9xzBElHb0

            Curtis Institute of Music opened on October 13, 1924 by founder Mary Louise Curtis Bok. Her parents, Louisa Knapp and Cyrus H. K. Curtis, were the owners of the Curtis Publishing Company that produced two of the most popular magazines of its time in America named “The Saturday Evening Post” and “The Ladies’ Home Journal.” Mary got her inspiration by working with underprivileged children in South Philadelphia at the Settlement Music School. Many of these children were talented enough for professional careers and Mary was determined to develop a school to give them the rigorous teaching that was necessary for success. Conductor Leopold Stokowski and pianist Josef Hofmann helped Mary recruit a faculty that consisted of the most prestigious and talented musicians of their time. Since 1928 the school has provided full scholarship tuition to every student. The students are accepted purely based on musical talent. Today, the school has an endowment around $130.5 million (“History”). (To put this number in perspective, Temple University has an endowment of $250 million for about 38,000 students, Curtis has its $130.5 million for 165 students)

            I did not realize that Curtis was originally founded with the hopes of allowing underprivileged students from Philadelphia the chance to thrive in a musical position. Today, Curtis attracts students from across the world to audition, not just from Philadelphia.

            Curtis Institute of Music is located on Rittenhouse Square on 1726 Locust Street in the mansion of George W. Childs Drexel. George was the son of Anthony Joseph Drexel, founder of Drexel, Morgan & Co, an original predecessor of JPMorgan Chase Bank. The mansion includes a concert hall, now named Field Concert Hall, which was constructed in 1928 on the mansion’s former garden and greenhouse.

            In August 2011, Curtis constructed an additional new building named Lenfest Hall, located a block over from the original building on 1616 Locust Street. This building introduced state of the art technology to Curtis and provided its students with double the space. Lenfest hall includes Gould Rehearsal Hall, 32 classrooms and practice rooms, seven floors of housing for half of the student population, a garden terrace, state of the art dining facility, state of the art recording and studio equipment, and a completely stacked orchestra library. Curtis Institute of Music also has a musical instrument collection that contains over two hundred string instruments and bows, and fifty wind and brass instruments. The building is named after H. F. “Gerry” Lenfest and Marguerite Lenfest who donated $30 million for its construction (“History”).

                               Once Curtis owned instrument- $145,000 Enrico Bajoni

Students

As seen from above, the students at the Curtis Institute of Music are provided with state of the art equipment, facilities, and world-renowned faculty. Curtis alumni have gone on to hold major orchestra jobs in every major American orchestra along with spots in leading international orchestras. More than 60 graduates of the opera program have sung with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Musicians have won the Pulitzer Prize, Grammies, and Oscar nominations along with thousands of world-renowned competitions.

Two Recent Students:

Ray Chen

Ray is a friend of Tim and I and has embarked on an amazing career as a solo violinist. He entered Curtis at the age of 15 to study with Aaron Rosand. Ray won the 2008-2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. As apart of his winnings, he now played on the 1721 “MacMillan” Stradivarius. Ray is sponsored by Sony Classical and released his premiere album “Virtuoso” in January 2011. His tour schedule has included Tokyo, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Zurich, and Dresden.

http://www.raychenviolin.com/about

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pl_kFViI-I

Hilary Hahn

http://hilaryhahn.com/about/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94EtgwmjJZ8

Works Cited

History. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://curtis.edu

Photo Credits

All by Pete Checchia

The Philadelphia Orchestra

My first stop of my tour of Philadelphia’s music and art culture starts with the largest and perhaps the most prestigious art that is the Philadelphia Orchestra. I have always known that the Philadelphia Orchestra has been one of the most prestigious orchestras in the United States, but I was unaware of the sheer number of achievements it holds. The Philadelphia orchestra has been privileged to give World and American Premieres that have included Barber’s Violin Concerto, Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand,” Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring ("The Philadelphia Orchestra”). They also are a forerunner in keeping up with the technological times to meet with the demands of an ever-developing country. In 1925, The Philadelphia Orchestra was the first symphony to make an electrical recording, in 1929 on NBC it was the first orchestra to perform its own commercially sponsored radio broadcast, in 1937 it was the first orchestra to perform on a soundtrack of a feature film (Paramount’s The Big Broadcast of 1937), in 1948 on CBS it was the first orchestra to appear on a national television broadcast, and in 1997 it was the first orchestra to give a live cybercast of a concert on the internet. Today, the orchestra is one of a kind in allowing its fan base to download music directly off of their own music store’s website ("Kimmel Center”).

The Philadelphia Orchestra also has an impeccable touring history that includes many orchestra firsts. In 1936 they were the first American orchestra to perform a transcontinental tour, in 1949 they were the first American orchestra to perform in Europe after WWII in England, in 1973 they were the first orchestra to perform in the People’s Republic of China, and in 1999 they were the first American orchestra to perform in Vietnam. This past year, the Philadelphia orchestra continued its tradition with its annual European tour that stopped in 11 cities and seven countries that included Grafenegg, Dublin, Lucerne, Edinburg, Dresden, Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Essen, London, and Paris ("Kimmel Center”).

                                      Map of the 1936 Transcontinental Tour

            

             The Kimmel Center has been the home of the orchestra’s regular season since 2001. Within the Kimmel Center there are two performance venues that include Verizon hall which seats 2,500 for full orchestra performances and the Perelman Theater which seats 650 for chamber concerts. The orchestra previously performed at the Academy of Music for 101 seasons. Every January the orchestra plays the Academy Anniversary Concert and Ball at the Academy of Music.

Dedicated to Community:

            The Philadelphia Orchestra can be commended for its efforts and dedication to provide education and enjoyment to local Philadelphians. The orchestra has been dedicated to teaching students since 1921 when Leopold Stokowski started concerts specifically for the enjoyment of children. Today, the orchestra offers a variety of concerts and opportunities for children of all ages to access the orchestra. These include “Sound all Around” for children ages 3-5, “Family concerts” for children ages 6-12, and “eZseatU” for full-time college students. The Billy Joel School Concert Program allows underserved populations better access to these concerts put on by the orchestra. To engage an older audience, the orchestra offers PreConcert Conversations that include a variety of luncheons and lectures with guest speakers before concerts. In the summer, along with its outdoor season at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, the orchestra provides free concerts in local neighborhoods (“The Philadelphia Orchestra”).

            Having gone to many of the concerts myself, I thought I would also mention the eZseatU. A normal floor ticket for the Philadelphia orchestra can range from 34-104 dollars. For a college student, or person of a lower SES, this can definitely deter someone away from wanting to see the orchestra because of the expense. However, with eZseatU I paid only 30 dollars for the entire season for a membership and each concert is less than 10 dollars. Two minutes before the concert starts all of the college students are let into the main floor and are allowed to fill all of the remaining seats. These seats are normally sold and their owners for the night just did not show! About four times during the orchestra season there are nights specifically for college students. These concerts are almost always sold out and its fantastic getting to see college students involved with the arts.

           

What it means to Temple:

The Philadelphia Orchestra also has a direct connection with Temple University. Many teachers from Temple play in the orchestra and include bassists John Hood, Robert Kesselman, Joe Conyers, cellists John Koen, Kathryn Picht-Read, violinists Marc Rovetti, Jonathan Beiler, Hirono Oka, Booker Rowe, Kim Fisher, Davyd Booth, Yumi Ninomiya Scott, Dimitri Levin, violist Che-hung Chen, percussionist Angela Zator Nelson, tubist Carol Jantsch, trombonists Nitzan Haroz, Matthew Vaughn, Blair Bollinger, trumpets David Bilger, Jeffrey Curnow, Robert Earley, horns Jennifer Montone, Jeffrey Lang, Jeffry Kirschen, Daniel Williams, Denise Tryon, Shelley Showers, bassoonists Daniel Matsukawa, Angela Anderson, clarinets Richard Woodhams, Peter Smith, flutes David Cramer, Loren Lind, Kazuo Tokito. As seen here, the students at Temple University are in great hands! Every instrumental group is represented from a teacher that plays in the Philadelphia Orchestra. Temple has an amazingly stacked music program!

Works Cited:

The philadelphia orchestra. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.philorch.org/history

Kimmel Center. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.kimmelcenter.org/resident/orchestra.php

Introduction

Music has consumed most of my twenty year existence since fourth grade. I grew up playing the double bass and it has brought me countless opportunities and experiences. Since being at Temple for the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of enjoying some of Philadelphia’s music culture. For this project, I wanted to go more in depth of the arts community that surrounds Temple and its neighborhood of Center City Philadelphia.