Just in: Philadelphia Orchestra takes control of its hall
NewsIn a major development for the future structure of music in America, the chief executive of the Philadelphia Orchestra Matías Tarnopolsky has been named head of the Kimmel Center where the orchestra performs.
The two organizations are merging to form a new parent company, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc., under Tarnopolsky’s leadership.
This will allow the orchestra to take control of the hall’s general programming and to avoid the persistent dissents that bedevil the relationship betwee, for instance, the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center.
This is a big step forward.
Paris has done it already. London should do the same.
While, as Norman indicated, the arrangement has its business benefits, if what he’s been doing with the P.O. is any indication, this means the further woke-ificaton of the arts scene in Philly.
My suburban CD collection is looking more and more attractive.
Hard to see what this particular move would have to do with that.
The Kimmel Center has been siphoning off the Orchestra’s ticket income for years to pay Kimmel Center’s bloated administrative salaries. Many of the Kimmel’s duplicative administrative positions can now be eliminated, and the money previously used to pay their inflated salaries can be redirected to upgrade the the Kimmel Center. First task: overhaul Verizon Hall’s rackety acoustics .
I thought they did a solid job with the last overhaul of the acoustics. While I certainly wouldn’t say it’s a good hall in that sense, it’s decidedly better than it was when it first opened. I’m skeptical that they can make miracles happen in that department.
I also am doubtful that given the current financial situation, especially coming off COVID, that putting millions of dollars into another acoustics overhaul will be a priority for them.
I love Verizon Hall and it’s wonderful 360-degree acoustics. There were problems at the outset but those have been almost completely eliminated in recent years and it’s rare you hear anybody in Philly suggest otherwise.
I love Verizon Hall and its wonderful 360-degree acoustics. There were problems at the outset, but they were all but completely eliminated many years ago. And it’s rare that you would hear anybody in Philly suggest otherwise.
This, obviously, puts an enormous financial burden on the orchestra though I assume they can program lots of rock/pop concerts which could earn them some money.
There’s nothing particularly new or innovative about this setup. The same thing was done by the Detroit Symphony and Orchestra Hall on Woodward Avenue years ago.
Yes, it’s becoming a lot more common today.
When the Kimmel Center was built, it was proposed that the orchestra own and maintain the facility, using it as an additional income stream (folks particularly pointed out how profitable owning the parking lot would be.) Orchestra management passed.
(A lot of folks also pushed just for building a new hall — a simple shoe box hall for acoustical reasons — not a multi-theater performing arts venue, arguing that they’d never be able to sell enough tickets to payoff the debt. History has proved them right on all fronts.)
And then during the bankruptcy, they complained that the rent to the Kimmel Center was a contributing factor to their financial problems.
The Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas is owned by the City. During budget ups and downs the City fell behind in its duty to maintain the Hall. New Head of Symphony struck a deal with the City signing a 99 year lease. This gives Symphony effective control of the stuff the city defaulted on as well as programming etc.
I am not sure it would be a good idea in London. The Barbican hosts both the LSO and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, while the Festival Hall hosts both the Philharmonia and the LPO. Which orchestra should own the venue?