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The Philadelphia Orchestra today announced that Sting will appear as its special guest for the Academy of Music 153rd Anniversary Concert on Saturday, January 30, 2010. Sting, world-renowned singer/composer, will perform some of his best-known works with the Orchestra, continuing the Academy's long history of presenting popular music.
In addition, esteemed conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, who made his North American debut with the Orchestra at the Academy of Music 40 years ago, will celebrate by leading a program of classical favorites. This occasion marks Mr. Frühbeck's third appearance leading the Academy of Music Anniversary Concert. Additional guest artist and program information for the concert will be announced at a later date. The Anniversary Concert is created and produced by Wayne Baruch and Charles F. Gayton, who also produced the Academy 150th, 151st, and 152nd anniversary concerts.
Concert-only tickets, priced at $200 and located in the Amphitheatre level, go on sale on September 15, 2009. Tickets can be purchased by calling 215.893.1999 or by visiting www.philorch.org/academyofmusic.
The Academy Ball, which immediately follows the Anniversary Concert, takes place at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue. The gala is being chaired by Mrs. Fred L. Hudson III and Mr. Joseph A. Frick. Invitations will be mailed in early October. For additional information on this event, please call the Academy of Music Restoration Fund Office at 215.893. 1978.
The region's premier gala benefit, the annual Academy of Music Anniversary Concert and Ball has been held each January for 53 years. The first Anniversary Concert and Ball took place on January 26, 1957, and celebrated the Centennial Jubilee of the Academy of Music. Chaired by Mr. G. Stockton Strawbridge, with Mrs. Francis Boyer as program book chairman, the event showcased a star-studded line-up in which Eugene Ormandy shared his podium with Danny Kaye. Guest performers included classical artists Marian Anderson, Hilde Gueden, Arthur Rubinstein, and Isaac Stern, and popular singer Dinah Shore. It has always been one of the region's most successful fundraisers, raising significant funds for the Academy of Music Restoration Fund and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Owned by The Philadelphia Orchestra Association, this National Historic Landmark served as the home of The Philadelphia Orchestra for more than a century, from the ensemble's founding in 1900 to the opening of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in December 2001.
About the Artists
A composer, singer, actor, author, and activist, Sting has remained at the forefront of the public consciousness for four decades and has written some of the most enduring songs of our time. A milkman's son from Newcastle, England, Sting was a teacher, soccer coach, and ditchdigger before turning to music. Inspired equally by jazz and the Beatles, he formed the Police with drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers in 1977. The band quickly became a success both in the UK and U.S. scoring several No. 1 hits including "Roxanne," "Every Breath You Take," "King of Pain," and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." The Police earned five Grammy Awards and two Brits. In 2003 the group was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2007, The Police reformed and embarked on a world tour that played to over 3.7 million people on five continents.
Sting launched his solo career in 1985 with the release of Dream of the Blue Turtles and has since evolved into one of the world's most distinctive and highly respected performers, collecting an additional 11 Grammys, two Brits, a Golden Globe, an Emmy, three Oscar nominations, Billboard Magazine's Century Award, and MusiCares 2004 Person of the Year. He has released nine additional solo records, including Nothing Like The Sun (1987), Ten Summoner's Tales (1993), Brand New Day (1999,) All This Time (2001), and Songs From the Labyrinth, which featured the music of Elizabethan songwriter John Dowland. His forthcoming album, If on a Winter's Night... to be released this Fall on Deutsche Grammophon, presents an arc of songs that conjure the season of spirits, featuring a collection of carols and lullabies spanning the centuries, resulting in a haunting, spiritual and reflective musical journey.
He has appeared in 15 films, Executive Produced the critically acclaimed, "A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints," and in 1989 starred in a Broadway play Threepenny Opera. Also an accomplished author, Sting published a memoir entitled "Broken Music" in 2003, which spent 13 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list. Most recently, he released "Lyrics" - a comprehensive collection of lyrics and personal commentary, also featuring photographs from throughout his career.
Sting's support for human rights organization like the Rainforest Foundation, Amnesty International, and Live Aid mirrors his art in its universal outreach. Along with wife Trudie Styler, Sting founded the Rainforest Foundation in 1989 to protect both the world's rainforests and the indigenous peoples who live there. Together, they have raised more than $25 million dollars with their 15 benefit concerts to raise funds and awareness of our planet's endangered resources. Since its inception, the Rainforest Foundation has expanded to a network of interconnected organizations working in 23 countries around the globe.
Sting's appearance with the Orchestra at Academy of Music 153rd Anniversary Concert will be conducted by David Hartley.
Born in Burgos, Spain, in 1933, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos studied violin, piano, music theory, and composition at the conservatories in Bilbao and Madrid, and conducting at Munich's Hochschule für Musik, where he graduated summa cum laude and was awarded the Richard Strauss Prize. He currently is chief conductor and artistic director of the Dresden Philharmonic.
Mr. Frühbeck has served as general music director of the Rundfunkorchester Berlin, principal guest conductor of the National Symphony and Tokyo's Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, and music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Vienna Symphony, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Turin, the Bilbao Orchestra, the National Symphony of Spain (where he was later appointed emeritus conductor), the Düsseldorf Symphony, and the Montreal Symphony. He made his North American debut in 1969 with The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music. Mr. Frühbeck is a regular guest conductor with many of the world's ensembles including London's Philharmonia Orchestra; the Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and Israel philharmonics; the Vienna Symphony; and the major Japanese orchestras. He has also made extensive tours with ensembles such as the London Symphony, the Vienna Symphony, the Spanish National Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Madrid, and the Swedish Radio Orchestra.
Since 1975 Mr. Frühbeck has been a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. His other distinctions include an honorary doctorate from the University of Navarra in Spain, the Gold Medal of the City of Vienna, the Bundesverdienstkreutz of the Republic of Austria and Germany, the Gold Medal from the Gustav Mahler International Society, and the Jacinto Guerrero Prize, which he received in 1997 from the Queen of Spain. Mr. Frühbeck recordings for labels such as EMI, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Spanish Columbia, and Orfeo include Mendelssohn's Elijah and St. Paul, Mozart's Requiem, Orff's Carmina burana, Bizet's Carmen, and the complete works of Falla.
Founded in 1900, The Philadelphia Orchestra has distinguished itself as one of the leading orchestras in the world through a century of acclaimed performances, historic international tours, best-selling recordings, and its unprecedented record of innovation in recording technologies and outreach. The Orchestra has maintained an unparalleled unity in artistic leadership with only seven music directors throughout its history: 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).
This rich tradition is carried on by chief conductor Charles Dutoit. Mr. Dutoit has a long-standing relationship with the Orchestra, having made his debut with the ensemble in 1980. Highlights of his first season included the Opening Night Concert, featuring pianist Martha Argerich; performances of Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet and Requiem, part of Mr. Dutoit's four-year focus on the works of that composer; the U.S. premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki's Concerto grosso No. 1 for three cellos, part of the Orchestra's celebration of Mr. Penderecki's 75th birthday; and Honegger's Symphony No. 3 ("Liturgical"). During his tenure, Mr. Dutoit will also focus on the music of the Ballets Russes, which began in the 2008-09 season with performances of Stravinsky's complete music to The Firebird.
The Philadelphia Orchestra annually touches the lives of more than one million music lovers worldwide through its performances, publications, recordings, and broadcasts. The Orchestra presents a subscription season in Philadelphia each year from September to May, in addition to education and community partnership programs, and appears annually at Carnegie Hall. Its summer schedule includes an outdoor series at Philadelphia's Mann Center for the Performing Arts, free Neighborhood Concerts, and residencies at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in upstate New York.
For more information about The Philadelphia Orchestra please visit www.philorch.org.
ACADEMY OF MUSIC 153RD ANNIVERSARY CONCERT January 30 at 7:30 p.m. - Saturday evening - Academy of Music
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Conductor
Sting Special Guest
David Hartley Conductor
This concert will be performed without an intermission.
Concert-only tickets, on sale beginning September 15, are available in the Academy of Music's Amphitheatre: $200 ($168.50 tax-deductible per seat) 215.893.1999 or www.philorch.org/academyofmusic.
For gala information, please call the Academy of Music Restoration Fund Office at 215.893.1978.
