The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s exhibitions and collections inspire a dynamic schedule of enthralling weekend concerts, lectures, and special one-day workshops from September 2005 to February 2006. In its galleries, wherein extraordinary works by world masters hang, and the intimate, 400-seat Van Pelt Auditorium, the Museum offers an incomparable atmosphere for classic and contemporary music through its affordable Concerts on Fairmount, The Philadelphia Orchestra Connection, and Music in the Galleries: The Curtis Institute of Music series. Many of this season’s concerts, special performances, and lectures will are offered in conjunction with the upcoming special exhibitions Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic, Jacob van Ruisdael: Dutch Master of Landscape, Edvard Munch’s Mermaid, and Beauford Delaney: From New York to Paris.

Concerts on Fairmount

The Museum’s popular Concerts on Fairmount series explores the connection between visual arts and music through three performances this season. Ticket prices are $20 per concert or $80 for the entire series. All concerts are held in the Van Pelt Auditorium.

• Word, Image, Music
  Friday, October 28, 2005, at 8 p.m.
  The written word has always had the ability to inspire vivid imagery, and music and the visual arts are two manifestations of this power. In association with the University of Pennsylvania’s 2005-2006 Penn Humanities Forum on Word and Image and the Museum’s special exhibition Edvard Munch’s Mermaid, soprano Jody Karin Applebaum and pianist Marc-André Hamelin will explore the relationship through the works of Liszt, Debussy, Duparc, Schumman, Janacek, Bruant, Ruch, Weill, Bolcom, and others.
• Capriccio Stravagante Trio
  Sunday, October 30, 2005, at 2:30 p.m.
  Capriccio Stravagante Trio is known for their memorable interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque music. Established in 1986, the ensemble of founder Skip Sempé, Julien Martin, and Josh Cheatham will, in conjunction with the special exhibition Jacob van Ruisdael: Dutch Master of Landscape, present a Baroque chamber program featuring pieces by such 17th century composers as Jan Pieterzoon Sweelinck, Jacob van Eyck, and Johan Schenk.
• James Baldwin - Down from the Mountaintop
  A one-man play featuring Calvin Levels
  Sunday, December 11, 2005, at 2:30 p.m.
  Presented in conjunction Beauford Delaney: From New York to Paris, this one-man play traces the fervent life of the American writer recognized for his novels on sexual and personal identity, along with his works of nonfiction, plays and essays on human rights. Baldwin recounts various topics about his life which include his early childhood growing up in Harlem as a prodigious reader; his first sexual experiences and love affairs; his relationships with his mentor and friend Delaney; leaving America and moving to Paris, friendships and rivalries with the likes of Marlon Brando, Lorraine Hansberry, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Langston Hughes; his association with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement; up until his death at his home in the South of France.

The Philadelphia Orchestra Connection

The Philadelphia Orchestra Connection is a unique collaboration that explores the intrinsic link between art and music through Philadelphia Orchestra concerts held at the Museum. The series continues this season with three performances made possible through the generosity of Mrs. Louis C. Madeira IV. All concerts are held in the Van Pelt Auditorium.

• Pieces for Cello
  Sunday, October 9, 2005, at 2:30 p.m.
  Assistant Principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra Yumi Kendall will perform an afternoon recital of cello and chamber music repertoire including the Ligeti Solo Sonata and the Chopin Piano and Cello sonata, in addition to other pillars of the chamber repertoire.
• Intercultural Journeys
  Sunday, February 19, 2006, at 2:30
  This concert will present an exciting afternoon of music, poetry, and dialogue, as we experience African American and Middle Eastern Cultures. Udi Bar-David, cellist with the Philadelphia orchestra and Intercultural Journeys Artistic director, will be joined by recording artists, representing various cultural backgrounds.
• Society Hill Quintet
  Sunday, March 19, 2006, at 2:30 p.m.
  The Society String Quintet is an exciting new ensemble comprising members of the Philadelphia Orchestra's famed string section. They perform a wide variety of mixed string ensemble works ranging from the Baroque to modern and have charmed listeners with their “audience-interface” approach to concert going. Based at the Society Hill Synagogue in Philadelphia, the group's ever-widening activities include concerts in and around Philadelphia and ongoing recording projects. This performance will mark the ensemble's debut at the Museum.

Music in the Galleries: The Curtis Institute of Music

The Museum is proud to introduce talented students of music to a wide audience through Music in the Galleries: The Curtis Institute of Music. Soloists, duos, and chamber ensembles present informal concerts – free with Museum admission – in designated galleries one Saturday each month. The program is presented at 1:30, 2:15, and 3 p.m. This season’s schedule includes:

October 15 - Rodin Museum - Cello and Flute

November 12 - Gallery 119 - String Trio

December 10 - Gallery 299 - String Quartet

January 21 - Gallery 279 - String Duo

February 11 - Great Stair Hall - Solo Piano

March 4 - Great Stair Hall - Voice and Piano

April 8 - Gallery 176 - Woodwind Quintet

May 13 - Rodin Museum - String Duo

In celebration of the life and works of Andrew Wyeth, members from the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Opera Company of Philadelphia will present programs in collaboration with the special exhibition Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic in Van Pelt Auditorium in April 2006. Further details will be available shortly. The Museum is also happy to continue its collaboration with The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society in a series presented in the Museum’s Van Pelt Auditorium. Details and ticket information are available through the Society by calling 215-569-8080.

Lectures

In conjunction with several upcoming special exhibitions, the Museum is offering a series of lectures in the Van Pelt Auditorium that are free after Museum admission. The schedule for the fall and winter is as follows:

• Edvard Munch’s Mermaid and Fin de Siècle Paris
  Friday, October 7, 2005, at 6 p.m.
  Speakers: John Zarobell, Assistant Curator of European Painting before 1900, Shelley Langdale, Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings, and Kathryn C. Nocero, Director, Lady from the Sea, Lantern Theater
• The Eda G. Diskant Memorial Lecture: Jacob van Ruisdael, Dutch Master of Landscape
  Sunday, November 6, 2005, at 2:30 p.m.
  Speaker: Seymour Slive, author and Director Emeritus of the Fogg Art Museum
• Philadelphia Print Club Collaborative Lecture: Gender Matters: Mary Cassatt and the Japanese Print
  Sunday, January 22, 2005, at 2:30 p.m.
  Speaker: Martin Rosenberg, Chair, Department of Art and Art History, Rutgers University, Camden

Symposium

Center for American Art Symposium: The American ‘Period Rooms’ at the Philadelphia Museum of Art: Past, Present & Future
Friday, September 16, 2005, at 6 p.m. and Saturday, September 17, 2005, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Cost is $20 students, $40 non-members

SPOTLIGHT ON … the Museum’s Collection

University of Pennsylvania graduate students and Philadelphia Museum of Art staff offer 45-minute gallery lectures, focusing on the Museum’s rich resources in each of their respective areas of study. This program provides visitors with an in-depth look at individual masterpieces and an opportunity for discussion. The schedule is as follows:

October 6, 7, 9 - Self Portrait by Edvard Munch

October 20, 21, 23 - The Meal by Edouard Vuillard

October 27, 28, 30 - Portrait of Pope Pius VII and Cardinal Caprara by Jacques-Louis David

November 3, 4, 6 - The Martyrdom of St. Symphorien, by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

November 10, 11, 13 - Portrait of Madame Cézanne by Paul Cézanne

November 17, 18, 20 - Horses at a Fountain by Eugène Delacroix

December 1, 2, 4 - Sculptural Model showing The Flagellation of Christ by Giorgio Pagani

February 2, 3, 5 - Mademoiselle Yvonne Landsberg by Henri Matisse

February 9, 10, 12 - Ekamukha Shiva Linga

February 16, 17, 19 - Bicycle Wheel by Marcel Duchamp

February 23, 24, 26 - Newborn I by Constantin Brancusi

March 2, 3, 5 - The God Vishnu lying on the Endless Serpent

March 9, 10, 12 - The Moorish Chief by Eduard Charlemont

March 16, 17, 19 - Head of Bodhisattva

March 23, 24, 26 - The Old Fashioned Dress by Thomas Eakins

March 30, 31/April 2 - Durga Killing the Buffalo-demon Mahisa

April 6, 7, 9 - Nocturne by James Abbott McNeill Whistler

April 20, 21, 23 - Battle Melee at Night, from a dispersed series of the Kedara Kalpa

April 27, 28, 30 - The Five Pilgrims Worship at Kedarnath, from a dispersed series of the Ramayana

May 4, 5, 7 - A Chinese Scholar’s Study

May 11, 12, 14 - Renaissance Revival Collector’s Box-on-Stand