Evening to include Constellations, a pre-concert celebration benefitting
the Academy of Music and The Philadelphia Orchestra
April 19, 2022
(Philadelphia, March 9, 2022)—Legendary composer and conductor John Williams will join celebrated violinist and longtime collaborator Anne-Sophie Mutter and The Philadelphia Orchestra on the Verizon Hall stage at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, April 19, 2022, at 8:00 PM. Mutter will perform Williams’s Violin Concerto No. 2, a piece created especially for her. This special one-night-only event will also feature Williams leading the Orchestra and Mutter in some of his most cherished works, including “Flight to Neverland” from Hook, selections from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and “Throne Room and Finale” from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, as well as selections of some of Williams’s beloved film themes specially adapted for Mutter for their 2019 album Across the Stars.
A special fundraising event, Constellations, will take place around this concert. Constellations benefactors will enjoy a pre-concert reception at the Academy of Music, dinner at the Kimmel Center, and the concert. Benefactor packages, starting at $1,500, benefit the Academy of Music and The Philadelphia Orchestra.
“John Williams is one of the great creative artists of our time, with a long and enduring friendship with The Philadelphia Orchestra,” said Matías Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc. “We are thrilled to welcome him back for this once-in-a-lifetime concert to share both his film music and his new concerto for the incomparable Anne-Sophie Mutter. Our gratitude goes to the co-chairs of our Constellation celebration. Support from this spectacular event will help to ensure that the Academy of Music continues to be part of the social and cultural fabric of our region.”
In a career that spans more than five decades, John Williams has become one of America’s most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage. He has received a variety of prestigious awards, including the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Olympic Order, and numerous Academy, GRAMMY, Emmy, and Golden Globe awards. He has composed the music and served as music director for more than one hundred films, including all nine Star Wars films, the first three Harry Potter films, Superman, JFK, and Home Alone. His nearly 50-year artistic partnership with director Steven Spielberg has resulted in many of Hollywood’s most acclaimed and successful films, including Schindler’s List, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Indiana Jones films, Munich, Saving Private Ryan, and Lincoln.In addition, Williams has composed numerous works for the concert stage, among them two symphonies and concertos for flute, violin, clarinet, viola, oboe, and tuba. He served as music director of the Boston Pops Orchestra for 14 seasons (he’s currently their conductor laureate), and he maintains thriving artistic relationships with many of the world’s great orchestras.
Acclaimed violinist Anne-Sophie Mutteris the recipient of four GRAMMY awards, the German Grand Order of Merit, the French Medal of the Legion of Honor, the Bavarian Order of Merit, and the Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria, among other honors. In addition to performing and recording the established masterpieces, she is an avid champion of 20th- and 21st-century violin repertoire in both orchestral and chamber music settings, and she has given world premieres of 30 works. In 1997 she founded the Association of Friends of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, to which the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation was added in 2008.
Constellations benefits the Academy of Music and The Philadelphia Orchestra. The event is co-chaired by Kate Allison, Katharine Eyre, and Bruce Leto. Allison is a trustee of the Academy of Music. Leto is a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc., Board of Directors, and a trustee of the Academy of Music.
Constellations: Pre-Concert Reception
April 19 at 5:30 PM—Tuesday evening
An Evening with John Williams and Anne-Sophie Mutter
April 19 at 8:00 PM—Tuesday evening—Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
John Williams Conductor
Anne-Sophie Mutter Violin
Williams Sound the Bells!
Williams Violin Concerto No. 2
Williams “Flight to Neverland,” from Hook
Williams Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Williams “Donnybrook Fair,” from Far and Away
Williams Theme, from Cinderella Liberty
Williams “Hedwig's Theme,” from Harry Potter
Williams “Throne Room and Finale,” from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
For more information and tickets to the Constellations celebration, call 215.893.3140 or visit www.philorch.org/constellations.
For concert-only tickets, call 215.893.1999 or visit www.philorch.org.
The Philadelphia Orchestra would like to extend sincere gratitude to the Constellations Benefactors.
Diamond Benefactor
Elaine W. Camarda and A. Morris Williams, Jr.
Edith R. Dixon
Patricia and John Imbesi
Neal W. Krouse
John H. McFadden and Lisa D. Kabnick
Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation
PNC
Peter and Mari Shaw
Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP
Platinum Benefactor
N. Judith Broudy
Mr. and Mrs. James M. Buck III
Citizens Bank
Robert T. Foley
Carole Haas Gravagno
Matt and Anne Hamilton
Deborah and Kurt Hilzinger
Stockton Illoway and Mac Griswold
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Lincoln Financial Group
Bruce and Robyn Leto
Leigh and John Middleton
Ralph and Beth Muller
Northern Trust
Caroline B. Rogers
Adele K. Schaeffer
WSFS CARES Foundation
Alison T. Young and David Maser
Zisman Family Foundation
Anonymous
Gold Benefactor
Kate Allison and Jack Earle
Sherrin Baky-Nessler and William E. Nessler III
Ballard Spahr LLP
Peter A. Benoliel and Willo Carey
Robert and Julie Jensen Bryan
Sara A. Cerato
Mr. and Mrs. Norman U. Cohn
Sarah Miller Coulson
Nancy and Kenneth Davis
Tobey and Mark Dichter
Alexandra Edsall and Robert Victor
Anne C. Ewers
Katharine and Bill Eyre
Judy and John Glick
Eric and Lenora Hume
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
Joseph M. Manko, Sr.
Sandy and David Marshall
Mr. and Mrs. R. Anderson Pew
Jon and Karen Richter
Dianne and Jeffrey Rotwitt
Lee Shlifer
Anonymous
Principal Benefactor
Dr. Susan C. Aldridge
Rebecca Clement
Earl and Margaret Clime
Constance and Michael Cone
Colleen DeMorat and Ray Dombroski
Julia A. Haller, M.D., and John D. Gottsch, M.D.
Elizabeth and Edwin Mahoney
Elias Packman
Philadelphia Zoo
Kathleen Squires, M.D. and Matthew Carabasi, M.D.
Stacy Stone and Stephen McMillan
Jack and Ramona Vosbikian
Donation Only
Mr. And Mrs. John E. Royer Jr.
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