| Our Mission | Our Vision | Our Values | History | Resident Companies |
Our Mission
To share the transformative power of the performing arts and arts education with the widest possible audience.
Our Vision
To inspire and connect humanity with exceptional performances and experiences serving Philadelphia and the world.
Our Values
- AUTHENTIC: We communicate openly and honestly and act with acceptance, integrity, and respect.
- COLLABORATIVE: We are conveners, bringing people, institutions, and ideas together.
- EXCEPTIONAL: We are committed to quality and innovation. We engage our audiences and communities with exceptional experiences.
- INCLUSIVE: We seek and value diverse perspectives, modeling equity and access in all we do. We pursue diversity on and off our stages.
Our values are based upon our fundamental principles of IDEAS, Accountability, and Fiscal Responsibility.
History
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts building began to take shape in 1996 when two projects came together: The Philadelphia Orchestra's ongoing plan to build a new home for itself, and a plan of then-Mayor Edward G. Rendell to provide a much-needed venue for some of Philadelphia's most prominent performing arts companies and for touring presentations. With the generous consent of The Philadelphia Orchestra, which had acquired a property at Broad and Spruce Streets, the two plans were merged under the supervision and management of a new organization, the Regional Performing Arts Center (RPAC).
In 2024, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Cultural Campus introduced the Ensemble Arts Philly brand name to improve clarity to the audience experience, across our physical spaces and online. This new brand represents a wide variety of genres including Broadway, comedy, theater, jazz, dance, and family presentations across our three venues: the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Academy of Music, and the Miller Theater. Also, Ensemble Arts Philly represents the multi-genre audience engagement and educational activity that happens outside of our venues.
More than our three iconic buildings, Ensemble Arts Philly brings our great city together and brings talented artists together with experiences as diverse as our region, performing arts with Philadelphia and the world.
- The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which is home to Verizon Hall (2,500-seat concert hall), Perelman Theater (650-seat recital theater), and SEI Innovation Studio – a 2,688 sq. foot black box theater,
- A renovated and upgraded Academy of Music (2,900 seats)
- And the Miller Theater (formerly the Merriam Theater) (1,841 seats).
Our rich history spans over a century and a half, representing a generations-long commitment to presenting the transformative power of the arts to Philadelphians.
Resident Companies
With the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall as the home to The Philadelphia Orchestra, Ensemble Arts Philly's facilities host six Resident Companies: Perelman Theater is home to PHILADANCO!, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Curtis Institute of Music; and the Academy of Music is home to Opera Philadelphia and Philadelphia Ballet.