Cynthia Erivo, ‘Star Wars,’ and Eagles night meet the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann this summer
And the return of the Philly Pops, with Mann debuts for several classical artists including Naomi Woo, Jonathan Biss, and Lina Gonzalez-Granados.
Actress and singer Cynthia Erivo, the rapper Nas, a return of Star Wars, and a night celebrating the Eagles championship season are all part of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s lineup at the Mann Center this summer.
Two all-classical concerts are also scheduled, each with significant artist debuts. But most of the programming with orchestra features nonclassical fare as the Mann tries to maintain an orchestral presence while countering a decline in a classical audience for the venue.
“We’re going to keep trying to find the right balance and keep trying to figure out a way to keep classical music alive at the Mann. It’s important,” said Mann president and CEO Catherine M. Cahill. “But we also have to keep finding new audiences because we’re not finding enough new audiences for purely classical music.”
The Mann and Philadelphia Orchestra once programmed as many as 18 classical concerts each summer in Fairmount Park.
Already, this summer’s audience is registering its votes. Weeks out from the orchestra’s first concerts, the June 21 program featuring Erivo — especially popular for her role in Wicked — has sold more than 5,000 tickets. As has the “Nas — Illmatic: Live” show on July 25. Classical concerts draw an average of 2,500 listeners, a Mann spokesperson said.
“This has been done in other cities to great acclaim,” Cahill said of the show by the rapper, who has never before appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Steven Reineke conducts both the Nas and Erivo shows.
Several classical artists will be at the Mann for the first time. Popular Philadelphia pianist Jonathan Biss performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with conductor Lina Gonzalez-Granados (Mann debuts for both). Also on the program for that June 17 concert are Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Coriolan Overture.
The orchestra’s other classical concert, July 23, celebrates the ensemble’s 125th anniversary with works associated with them, including the Stokowski orchestration of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2. On the podium is assistant conductor Naomi Woo, also making her Mann debut.
Damon Gupton leads the orchestra in a live-to-screen presentation of John Williams’s score to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope June 20. Films like those from the Star Wars and Harry Potter franchises have been popular, while putting orchestral sound front and center.
“We’re always looking for epic scores, which is still great music. It’s just maybe not a traditional symphony or concerto as we know it,” said Cahill.
Philadelphians will have a chance to relive the Eagles championship season with an epic soundtrack on July 24. Merrill Reese hosts the show featuring footage from NFL Films. Anthony Parnther conducts.
Two other Philadelphia orchestral ensembles appear at the Mann this summer: the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia led by conductor Sarah Hicks with Australian multi-genre band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, July 28; and the No Name Pops (soon to be renamed the Philly Pops) with Jacob Collier, the English singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, on Aug. 7. Suzie Collier — his mother — conducts.
“It’s not just the Philadelphia Orchestra who’s back,” said Cahill, “but we have the Philly Pops when they have reemerged and we have the Chamber Orchestra. So the Mann is continuing to make sure that as Philadelphia’s premier outdoor summer music festival we’re giving the stage to everybody.”
The Mann Center for the Performing Arts is at 5201 Parkside Ave. Ticket prices vary according to show, ranging from $25 to $200. Information: manncenter.org.