Three Significant Milestones Converge: America 250 | Orchestra 125 | Kimmel 25
Philadelphia, the birthplace of American democracy, will be a focal point of national attention in 2026 as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States. Simultaneously, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts will celebrate the semi quincentennial with two major anniversaries of its own in the 2025–26 season.
The GRAMMY®-winning Philadelphia Orchestra, led by visionary Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and world renowned for its artistic excellence and innovation, will celebrate its 125th anniversary. The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, home of the Orchestra and a beacon of cultural life along Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts, will mark its 25th season.
Together, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts forms the largest performing arts organization in Pennsylvania and the third largest performing arts complex in the country. Three iconic venues—the Academy of Music, the Kimmel Center, and the Miller Theater—generate nearly half a billion dollars in economic impact annually for the Commonwealth.
The 2025–26 Season
Throughout the 2025–26 season, Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra will present a 125th anniversary season that celebrates the Orchestra’s essential place in American musical life, as well as its historic and contemporary role as a musical innovator.
SAVE THE DATE for a free community performance on the Orchestra’s 125th birthday, November 16, 2025!
Under the banner of Coming to America, to celebrate the Orchestra’s 125th anniversary and America 250, the Orchestra will perform works that received their world or United States premieres by the ensemble. In addition to honoring these formative works of the repertoire, the Orchestra will celebrate the future of American classical music by featuring contemporary composers at the height of their creativity. They will also celebrate the rich tapestry of American orchestral music with works by historically underrepresented composers including William Grant Still, Julius Eastman, Louis Ballard, and Amy Beach, as well as the music of fellow Americans John Adams, John Williams, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and George Gershwin.
Be sure to join us for an exciting Broadway season, as well. Featuring 13 shows with a combined 27 Tony® Awards, 19 Drama Desk™ Awards, 6 Olivier Awards, and 2 GRAMMY Awards, with a mix of blockbuster adaptations, uplifting storytelling, and crowd-pleasing favorites, the season offers something for longtime theatergoers and new audiences alike.
The season lineup includes:
— Beetlejuice (July 29–August 3, 2025, Academy of Music)
— SIX (September 30–October 5, 2025, Academy of Music)
— Kimberly Akimbo (October 21–November 2, 2025, Academy of Music)
— Back to the Future: The Musical (November 18–30, 2025, Academy of Music)
— Cirque Dreams Holidaze (December 23–28, 2025, Miller Theater)
— Suffs (January 6–18, 2026, Academy of Music)
— Clue (January 20–25, 2026, The Shubert Organization’s Forrest Theatre)
— Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (February 11–22, 2026, Academy of Music)
— The Sound of Music (March 31–April 5, 2026, Academy of Music)
— Shucked (April 21–May 3, 2026, The Shubert Organization’s Forrest Theatre)
— Chicago (May 12–17, 2026, The Shubert Organization’s Forrest Theatre)
— The Outsiders (May 26–June 7, 2026, Academy of Music)
— The Notebook (July 21–August 2, 2026, Academy of Music)
Direct from Broadway comes the acclaimed Tony Award-winning musical Suffs, about the brilliant, passionate, and funny American women who fought tirelessly for the right to vote. Photo by Joan Marcus
AVAILABLE for America 250 celebrations
Acclaimed musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra are available to community partners seeking a musical element for America 250 celebrations. Chamber ensembles are available for hire throughout the semiquincentennial season, and the full Philadelphia Orchestra is available to perform at events from June 22 to July 7, 2026. To secure The Philadelphia Orchestra, inquire here.
Groups seeking accessible locations for America 250 receptions, meetings, or special events have access to the many breathtaking spaces across our buildings. Learn more about renting event spaces here.
ON TOUR: Across the Commonwealth to the United Kingdom
As one of the most traveled orchestras in the world, The Philadelphia Orchestra will bring its signature “Philadelphia Sound” to communities across the Commonwealth, Asia, and Europe throughout the 2025–27 seasons, with a special return to the United Kingdom in 2027.
With a touring legacy that began in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1900—just four days after the Orchestra’s first concert—The Philadelphia Orchestra is planning special celebratory events in Philadelphia and beyond to commemorate its 125th birthday.
Asia will also feature prominently in the anniversary celebrations, with a 2025 residency in China with a small ensemble of musicians and a 2026 tour of South Korea and China with the full Orchestra. Notably, The Philadelphia Orchestra was the first American orchestra to perform in the People’s Republic of China in 1973, initiating five decades of cultural exchange through music.
The Orchestra’s connection with the United Kingdom is also significant. The ensemble’s first-ever transatlantic tour in 1949 saw them sail from New York aboard the liner Parthia on May 13 with Music Director Eugene Ormandy. They arrived in London a week later and performed for Queen Elizabeth on May 24 in a benefit performance for the aid of Victoria League funds in Royal Albert Hall.
Between 1958–2022, the Orchestra returned to the UK 13 times. During its European tour in 2022, the Orchestra arrived in London as news broke of Queen Elizabeth II’s declining health. Shortly before its scheduled BBC Proms performance, her passing was announced. The Orchestra paid tribute with a stirring performance of the British National Anthem and Elgar’s “Nimrod” From the “Enigma” Variations.
News clip from The Philadelphia Orchestra’s first-ever transatlantic tour in 1949 to Great Britain, led by Music Director Eugene Ormandy and attended by Queen Elizabeth in London. The 2022 European Festivals Tour marked another historic visit 73 years later led by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, which coincided with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Orchestra plans to return to Royal Albert Hall during a 2027 European Festivals Tour, marking its 14th visit and over 75 years of musical friendship.
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