First Annual Philadelphia Music Week Celebrates City’s Vibrant Music Community

PHILADELPHIA—October 7, 2019—Philadelphia Music Week, a new festival showcasing the diverse musical offerings in Philadelphia and their impact on the community, launches the first in a series of annual celebrations on Tuesday, October 15, with activities running through Monday, October 21 at venues around the city. Spearheaded by the Curtis Institute of Music, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (GPCA), and REC Philly, the festival includes public performances, talks, and educational opportunities presented by Philadelphia-area musical organizations and groups across a range of genres.

The week-long festival officially begins with an event at Dilworth Plaza on Tuesday, October 15 from 1–4:30 p.m. Following the announcement of a city council resolution honoring the Curtis Institute of Music’s 95th anniversary, Curtis students and REC Philly musical acts Alexia and Tati, Joshua Mitchell, and Al Zamora perform a free outdoor concert on the plaza.

Curtis also hosts several free events during the week on its campus between 16th and 18th Streets on Locust Street, and presents the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in concert at Immaculata University on October 19 and at Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall on October 20. View the full schedule of Curtis events at Curtis.edu/PHLMusicWeek.

An interactive program on October 15 from 2–4 p.m. in Gould Rehearsal Hall (1616 Locust Street) showcases the expressive power of music composition for patients of the Penn Memory Center. All attendees will participate in group singing, drum circles, active listening, and the creation of new musical works; and enjoy musical performances by Curtis students.

David Serkin Ludwig, chair of composition studies at Curtis, hosts an event on October 16 at 8 p.m. in Field Concert Hall (1726 Locust Street) about the history of music and its relationship to technology. Curtis violin and piano student Ray Ushikubo will perform a piece on the revolutionary Steinway and Sons Spirio player piano, using its live performance capture feature to accompany himself on the violin.

These events are also part of Independence Blue Cross’s B. PHL Innovation Fest, for which the Curtis Institute of Music serves as an official location partner and content architect.

Additional Field Concert Hall events include the regularly scheduled Student Recital Series on October 18 and 21 and a narrated concert on October 19 featuring the new book The Nightingale’s Sonata by biographer Thomas Wolf and Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano. The October 18 recital will be streamed live at Curtis.edu/YouTube.

Curtis is only one of many organizations hosting events and social media conversations during Philadelphia Music Week. Visit Phillyfunguide.com for the most up-to-date listings of musical events around the city. Ticket policies are specific to each event.

Philadelphia Music Week celebrates our city’s vibrant music community and communicates about the importance of music. Musicians and organizations of all sizes are encouraged to submit their specially curated or existing events taking place between October 15 and 21 to Phillyfunguide where they will be tagged as #PHLMusicWeek events and promoted to GPCA’s 100,000+ subscribers. Audiences can view a master list of Philadelphia-area musical happenings and are encouraged to share their participation by following @phlmusicweek on Instagram and by tagging #PHLMusicWeek on social media. Visit PHLMusicWeek.com for more information.

In the 2019–20 school year, the Curtis Institute of Music celebrates 95 years of educating and training exceptionally gifted young musicians to engage a local and global community through the highest level of artistry. With a small student body of about 175, Curtis provides each young musician with an unparalleled education alongside musical peers, distinguished by personalized attention from celebrated faculty and a “learn by doing” philosophy. To ensure that admissions are based solely on artistic promise, Curtis makes an investment in each admitted student so that no tuition is charged for their studies. Curtis students hone their craft through more than 200 orchestra, opera, and solo and chamber music offerings each year in Philadelphia and around the world.

Press and media inquiries may be directed to Patricia K. Johnson, senior director of communications and marketing at the Curtis Institute of Music. Musicians and organizations may submit events for inclusion at Phillyfunguide.com/Submission.

PHILADELPHIA MUSIC WEEK:
CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC EVENTS
October 15–21, 2019

City Hall Resolution and Free Outdoor Concert
Tuesday, October 15 from 1–4:30 p.m.
Dilworth Plaza, 1 S. 15th Street, Philadelphia

Free; no tickets required.

Creative Expression Through Music
Tuesday, October 15 at 2 p.m.
(official location partner of B. PHL Innovation Fest)
Gould Rehearsal Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, 1616 Locust Street, Philadelphia

Free; registration is required. Registration and more information at Curtis.edu/PHLMusicWeek.

Innovative Technology in Music
Wednesday, October 16 at 8 p.m.
(official location partner of B. PHL Innovation Fest)
Field Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia

David Serkin Ludwig, speaker
Ray Ushikubo, violin and piano

Free; registration is required. Registration and more information at Curtis.edu/PHLMusicWeek.

Free Student Recital Series
Friday, October 18 at 8 p.m.
Monday, October 21 at 6 p.m.
Field Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia

Free; no tickets required. Learn more and view performers and repertoire at Curtis.edu/Recitals.

The Nightingale’s Sonata: A Narrated Concert
Saturday, October 19 at 8 p.m.
Field Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia

Thomas Wolf, author
Ray Ushikubo, violin
Wei Luo, piano

Free; registration is required. Registration and more information at Curtis.edu/PHLMusicWeek.

Curtis Symphony Orchestra at Immaculata
Saturday, October 19 at 8 p.m.
Alumnae Hall, Immaculata University, 1145 King Road, Immaculata, Pa.

Robert Kahn, conducting fellow
Yuwon Kim, conducting fellow
The Percussion Collective
Curtis Percussion Group

The Curtis Symphony Orchestra offers an unforgettable blend of old and new masterworks. The program opens with one of four overtures Beethoven wrote for his only opera, Fidelio, and continues with Mozart’s sublime Gran Partita for winds. Then the dynamic Percussion Collective joins in the Philadelphia premiere of Drum Circles by celebrated composer Christopher Theofanidis.

Single tickets: $20, sold by the Curtis Patron Services Office at Curtis.edu/Orchestra or (215) 893-7902.

Orchestral concerts are supported by the Jack Wolgin Curtis Orchestral Concerts Endowment Fund.

Curtis Symphony Orchestra: Yannick at the Opera
Sunday, October 20 at 2 p.m.
Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
The Percussion Collective
Curtis Percussion Group
Members of the Curtis Opera Theatre
Robert Kahn, conducting fellow
Yuwon Kim, conducting fellow

Yannick Nézet-Ségun weaves an unforgettable experience at the opera, as the Curtis Opera Theatre joins forces with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra for selections from Le nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte, two of Mozart’s best-loved operas. The program includes one of four overtures Beethoven wrote for his only opera, Fidelio. To open the concert, the dynamic Percussion Collective also shares the stage for the Philadelphia premiere of Drum Circles, by celebrated composer Christopher Theofanidis.

3-concert subscription: $60–204, sold by the Curtis Patron Services Office at Curtis.edu/Orchestra or (215) 893-7902.

Single tickets: $25–85, sold by the Kimmel Center Box Office at KimmelCenter.org or (215) 893-1999.

Orchestral concerts are supported by the Jack Wolgin Curtis Orchestral Concerts Endowment Fund. The guest conductor for this Curtis Symphony Orchestra performance is made possible by the Gustave and Rita Hauser Chair.

These events are presented as part of Philadelphia Music Week, in collaboration with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and REC Philly. For additional events and more information, visit PHLMusicWeek.com.

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