In 2021, Matías Tarnopolsky was appointed president and CEO of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc., one of the largest partnerships formed by two performing arts organizations in the country. He previously served as president and CEO of The Philadelphia Orchestra where he worked to infuse artistic excellence, advocacy, inclusivity, diversity, and equity into all aspects of the organization, including the addition of the first Black woman to the ensemble.
Named 2020 Orchestra of the Year by Gramophone magazine, in 2022, the Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin won their first-ever GRAMMY award for the recording of the First and Third Symphonies of Florence Price, the first Black woman composer to have a symphonic work premiered by a major American orchestra.
Tarnopolsky previously served in executive leadership roles at Cal Performances, the New York Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, before being offered a position with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Meanwhile, The Orchestra and Kimmel Center have initiated a corporate alliance that would consolidate their governance under a single parent company. The new structure promises the orchestra greater control over the Kimmel — its landlord — than is currently the case.
Philadelphia Orchestra president and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky will become leader of the new parent company upon finalization of the deal, and Kimmel president and CEO Anne Ewers will retire. The affiliation was approved recently by the respective boards of the two organizations in separate, simultaneous meetings at the Broad Street arts center.
The move aims for a coordinated effort in a number of areas, such as cutting operating expenses, given the abrupt disappearance of ticket revenue caused by the pandemic shutdown. Those areas are important at any time, but especially critical now as the orchestra and Kimmel prepare to lure patrons back to live events this fall.
“All of these things we just do in parallel lines we need to start doing together,” said Tarnopolsky to the Philadelphia Inquirer, citing the goal of increased artistic collaborations between the orchestra and Kimmel, as well as coordinated branding and marketing, fund-raising, and renovation and scheduling of the Kimmel’s spaces, which include the Academy of Music and Verizon Hall.
The Philadelphia Business Journal recognized Tarnopolsky and the Orchestra with the 2021 Faces of Philanthropy award. Tarnopolsky was also selected as one of the 100 most powerful people in Philadelphia for City & State Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia Power 100 list in December 2021. Under his leadership, The Philadelphia Orchestra was named Gramophone magazine’s 2020 Orchestra of the Year.
The Philadelphia Orchestra came back recently from its successful first tour in Europe after the pandemic, included a stop in London, where it was able to pay a heartfelt tribute to the queen that had passed away the very same day the orchestra’s concert was scheduled.
