Kimmel Center’s historic tribute: Marian Anderson Hall unveiled

Civic and arts leaders on Saturday officially dedicated the newly christened Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center. Formerly known as Verizon Hall, the home of the Philadelphia Orchestra is now named in honor of Anderson, the late singer, Civil Rights icon and Philadelphia legend.

The home of the Philadelphia Orchestra was formerly known as Verizon Hall, but when the naming contract expired earlier this year, arts leaders and husband and wife Richard Worley and Leslie Anne Miller donated $25 million to the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Kimmel Center to buy the hall’s naming rights.

After the ceremony,  Miller said that having Marian Anderson’s name emblazoned on the building is a step forward for equity in the arts in Philadelphia.

“By permanently affixing her name to this hall and sending the signal that this is a hall for everyone, the Kimmel Center is finally where we have been trying to get it to be for 21 years since its opening,” she said. “This is the people’s center.”

Born in  1897, Anderson, an internally renowned contralto, broke barriers throughout her life and career. In 1939, she gave a historic concert at the Lincoln Memorial after being told she couldn’t sing at Washington, D.C.’s Constitution Hall because of her race. More than 75,000 people attended and millions more listened to the performance on the radio.

In 1955, Anderson became the first Black singer to perform a lead role at the Metropolitan Opera. Throughout her life, she received numerous honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She died in 1993 at the age of 96.

Anderson’s family was in attendance at the christening celebration, along with leaders of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Kimmel Center musicians and politicians.

Pennsylvania state legislators and Philadelphia City Council members announced that Saturday is Marian Anderson Day, both in Philadelphia and throughout the commonwealth.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker spoke, touting the historical importance of the day.

“What is so significant, I must say as a Black woman who has lived at the intersection of race and gender, my entire life, is that it is one thing to get a round of applause for your work, but it is another to have your legacy cemented in history and acknowledged for celebration across the world,” Parker said.

Matías Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra, said it was a “profoundly moving” day.

“The fact that the great civic leaders of Philadelphia and the commonwealth are here to embrace this civic gesture in this way, speaks volumes,” he said. “Marian Anderson was a great artist, a Civil Rights icon and Philadelphian. This is the first concert hall, major concert hall to bear her name, Marian Anderson Hall, home of the Philadelphia Orchestra. It means so much about the Civil Rights Movement, which couldn’t have happened without music. It means so much about the importance of art and music in our community.”

Ginette DePreist, representing Marian Anderson’s family and relatives, received a Liberty Bell medal from Mayor Parker and other city officials. DePreist said she was “humbled” to represent the legendary singer she knew as “Aunt Marian,” and said Anderson’s legacy lives on through her art.

“The schools, the museum, performing arts, the recordings that are still pretty much alive in the world of every day, and the more you’ll see things like that, the more she’ll stay alive … and that’s the goal,” DePreist said.

Tarnopolsky said that having Marian Anderson’s legacy honored in such a public and permanent way is one piece of an ongoing effort to ensure Black artists are represented and celebrated.

“Our music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, musicians of the orchestra, me and the team, we’ve all been working on expanding the repertoire for classical music and the representation of Black artists on the stage. So you’ll see performances of the music of Florence Price, William Grant Still, Margaret Bonds and many others,” Tarnopolsky said. “We ask ourselves the question, if others decades before us had made different decisions, what would our programs look like today?”

Tarnopolsky said he also hopes more people are inspired to learn about Marian Anderson’s life and work.

“If we can change the world, one person at a time through the example of Marian Anderson, then I think we’ve succeeded,” he said.

Worley said he hopes the name change will also inspire continued support for the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Kimmel Center going forward.

On Saturday evening, Queen Latifah will host the first concert in the newly-named hall featuring performances by The Philadelphia Orchestra with soprano Angel Blue, actress and singer Audra McDonald, soprano Latonia Moore and jazz pianist Marcus Roberts. Tickets are sold out.

Included in the music program are two songs — ”My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” and Florence Price’s “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord” — which Anderson sung at the historic 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

Marian Anderson will also be honored with a statue, which will be unveiled next year outside the Academy of Music.