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07/25/2003 South Philly's Free Orchestra Concert (Ed Goppelt)

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Orchestra Trailer
2003/07/25 Every year the Philadelphia Orchestra puts on one free concert per year in a neighborhood. This year it was South Philly's turn.

For a while it looked like South Philly was going to miss out on the fun: in June Orchestra officials announced that they were cancelling the concert due to a lack of funding.

But local leaders rose to the challenge. Those who helped pay for the concert's $85,000 cost included:

• Jacobs Music President Al Rinaldi ($25,000)
• Anthony Clifton, owner of the South Philly Review and Philadelphia Weekly among other papers.
• State Senator Vince Fumo representing South Philly in Harrisburg.
• Councilman Frank DiCicco, South Philly's representative in City Council.

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Councilman DiCicco: "The Orchestra is not just for suburbanites and people of means."
2003/07/25 Councilman Frank DiCicco asked those in the crowd who had been to the orchestra before to raise their hands. "Only 5% of people have been to the orchestra. We're going to do this more often through the 1st Councilmanic and Senatorial districts" promised DiCicco.

Time will tell if Councilman DiCicco and State Senator Fumo can pull of their promise to bring more culture like orchestra concerts to the people. But you only have to look at this list of free concerts in New York City to see how far Philadelphia has yet to go.

Sam Katz was present tonight and DiCicco addressed some of his comments to the republican candidate for Mayor: "I know I'll be in trouble with the Democrat City Committee tomorrow...Sam, if you're our next Mayor, we want more of this kind of stuff!"

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Equipment Trucks Parked on Capitolo Field
2003/07/25 This was a classy event. In preparation for today's performance, a complete concert stage with lighting and sound system were set up sometime yesterday.

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Couple enjoys the free concert
2003/07/25

I estimate about 1,500 people attended the event.

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This couple's share of the concert's cost: $114
2003/07/25 While there is no question this was a lovely event and a shot in the arm for South Philly, it was an expensive one: $85,000 or $57 for every man, woman and child at the event.

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Orchestra Program/Fan
2003/07/25 Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Conductor Rossen Milanov conducted tonight's concert.

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Crowd Gives Tenor Stuart Neill a Standing Ovation
2003/07/25 The crowd loved Tenor Stuart Neill who commanded the stage with arias from various Italian operas (e.g., Rigoletto's "La donna e mobile"). Neill concluded the evening by singing "America the Beautiful" which the crowd rewarded with a standing ovation.

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2003/07/25