www.ensembleartsphilly.org\/gala<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cThe extraordinary people and artistic legacy that define Philadelphia\u2019s cultural identity are at the heart of this celebration,\u201d said Ryan Fleur, president and CEO of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts. \u201cIt is also a moment to reaffirm our purpose as a nonprofit organization. Philanthropic support makes it possible to present world-class performances, invest in the next generation of artists and audiences, and steward the iconic venues that anchor our city\u2019s arts community. We are proud to honor Elaine Woo Camarda, whose leadership has strengthened the arts across our region, and to celebrate Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, whose \u2018Sound of Philadelphia\u2019 has shaped American music and inspired artists around the world since their first meeting in our Miller Theater.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gamble and Huff established Philadelphia International Records on Broad Street across from the present-day Kimmel Center. As producers, songwriters and founders, they created a signature sound that defined a generation.<\/p>\n
Their work includes collaborations with iconic artists such as The O\u2019Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, Billy Paul, Patti LaBelle, and Lou Rawls, and led to more than 40 gold and platinum records between 1971 and the early 1980s.<\/p>\n
The evening begins with a cocktail reception at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, followed by a presentation paying tribute to Camarda and Gamble and Huff, including performances by Qin Qian and Sons of Mystro, musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and Bucks County native Justin Guarini.<\/p>\n
Guests will then promenade along the Avenue of the Arts, passing the Miller Theater, to celebrate at the Academy of Music.<\/p>\n
Additional artists performing include The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, The Hood Lockers, Great on Skates, PHILADANCO!, the Philadelphia Heritage Chorale directed by Dr. J. Donald Dumpson \u2014 creator and director of \u201cA Soulful Christmas\u201d \u2014 and the Arch Street Presbyterian Church Choir, DJ Omar Saleem, Black Buttafly and the Urban Guerilla Orchestra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A chance meeting while waiting for an elevator at the Miller Theater in Philadelphia changed music forever. Kenny…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1213,858,69,71,70,289,10918],"class_list":{"0":"post-152996","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-music-and-concerts","9":"tag-ontap","10":"tag-philadelphia","11":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","12":"tag-philadelphia-news","13":"tag-things-to-do","14":"tag-top-stories-tth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}