Ending a two-year dispute, the former Philly Pops and Philadelphia Orchestra Kimmel Center, Inc. settle lawsuit
The dispute dates to 2023, when the Pops, one of the Kimmel Center’s original resident companies, was evicted from the center. They then filed an antitrust lawsuit.
The former Philly Pops and the organization that runs the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center have agreed to settle litigation launched at the time the Pops ceased operations, the two groups announced Thursday.
The dispute dates to 2023, when the Pops, one of the Kimmel Center’s original resident companies, was evicted from the center. Encore Series, Inc., the Pops’ parent organization, filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc. in April 2023 claiming that POKC was seeking to “eliminate the Philly Pops as a competitor in and monopolize the market for live symphonic popular concert music.”
The 2023 suit also named POKC then-president and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky as a defendant, accusing him of “attempt[ing] to redirect grant monies previously earmarked for the Philly Pops to the Philadelphia Orchestra.”
POKC denied the allegations, and, citing back rent and other debts owed to it by the Pops, said the group was trying to “force its way back” into the Kimmel. In a response at the time, POKC alleged that the Pops was using a “false media narrative” to distract from problems of its own making.
On Thursday, neither side would comment, or respond to requests for comment, on details of the settlement, but in a joint statement the groups said that they had agreed to “end the litigation initiated by Encore. Encore wants to make clear that POKC did nothing wrong and is not responsible for Encore’s debts or obligations.”
Thursday’s joint statement said that ESI “regrets that the lawsuit and related statements made by its previous representatives, and repeated to the press, led to unwarranted accusations directed to POKC and its leadership.”
In the statement, the orchestra/Kimmel organization also distanced itself from obligations to ticket holders who purchased tickets to Philly Pops shows that were scheduled but ultimately not performed.
“Encore alone announced its intention to perform several concerts in early 2023 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. POKC and its leadership were not responsible for Encore’s announcements or ticket refunds for those concerts. Ticket revenue and obligations are solely owned by Encore for Philly Pops concerts. POKC does not bear any responsibility for providing refunds to patrons who bought tickets to Encore-promoted shows.”
ESI shut down, and the Philly Pops musicians organized their own ensemble, the No Name Pops, which then was gifted a new name from the family of renowned pianist and conductor Peter Nero, the group’s founding music director.
The reconstituted group performed its first concert July 3 under its new name: the Philly Pops.