Ensemble Arts Philly Explained

Ensemble Arts Philly (also called Ensemble Arts) is a presenting brand name from the Kimmel Cultural Campus and The Philadelphia Orchestra, representing a wide variety of genres, including Broadway, comedy, theater, jazz, dance, and family presentations across three venues: the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Academy of Music, and the Miller Theater.

Premier performing arts groups reside at the Ensemble Arts Philly venues. These Resident Companies include: Opera Philadelphia, Philadelphia Ballet, Curtis Institute of Music, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, PHILADANCO!, and The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.  

This new brand was announced by the Kimmel Cultural Campus and The Philadelphia Orchestra on January 10, 2024.^[1]

Presenting programming all year long, Ensemble Arts hosts several annual events: Philadelphia Fall Arts Fest is a day of festival-style performances from across the region.^[2] The organization participates annually in the Wawa Welcome America festival, Three Kings Day celebration with the Mexican Cultural Center, and A Soulful Christmas, a holiday spectacular inspired by African diaspora.^[3]

Performance and other facilities

Ensemble Arts operates across three venues along the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia, including the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Academy of Music, and the Miller Theater.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts has various performance and meeting spaces within it. A distinctive vaulted glass ceiling encloses the entire structure providing a large common lobby for all the facilities. The center is a popular attraction, keeping its doors open to the public seven days a week. It hosts thousands of visitors annually and offers free tours of the facility regularly.  

• Marian Anderson Hall (formerly Verizon Hall), with 2,500 seats, is the main performance auditorium and home to The Philadelphia Orchestra. It contains a pipe organ by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, which is the largest mechanical action pipe organ in an American concert hall. The organ is Dobson's Opus 76 and is named for Fred J. Cooper.  It has two consoles with four manuals, 97 ranks and 124 stops.^[4] Verizon Hall was dedicated as the Marian Anderson Hall on June 8, 2024, to honor the contralto, civil rights icon, and Philadelphian.^[5]
• Perelman Theater, with 650 seats, has a 75-foot (23 m)-diameter turntable stage that permits the space to be used as a recital hall or a proscenium theater with a stage, fly-loft and orchestra pit.^[6]
• Dorrance H. Hamilton Roof Garden located above the Perelman Theater.
• SEI Innovation Studio, a 2,688-square-foot (249.7 m²) black box theater located on the lower level of the Kimmel Center.^[7]
• Smaller performance spaces and meeting rooms.

Notes and References

1. Web site: A NEW BRAND NAME REPRESENTING A WIDE VARIETY OF GENRES ACROSS THE KIMMEL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC, AND THE MILLER THEATER .
2. Web site: 'Fall' into the arts at Center City festival . 2024-09-24 . NBC10 Philadelphia . en-US.
3. Web site: Fireworks, NE-YO, Kesha & More: July 4th in Philly . 2024-09-24 . Visit Philadelphia . en-US.
4. Web site: Marian Anderson Hall .
5. Web site: Biography . 2024-09-24 . National Marian Anderson Museum . en.
6. Web site: perelman theater philadelphia . 2024-09-24 . Bing . en.
7. Web site: SEI Innovation Studio Rentals | Ensemble Arts | Philadelphia.