By Kevin Gifford, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra

The Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra was recently the winner of a $25,000 grant from the Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia.  This generous support gives us the unique opportunity to fund our Spring 2012  iConduct! Festival.  iConduct! encourages anyone who has ever pictured themselves mounting a podium in front of an ensemble to come out and try their hand at conducting!  The orchestra will present an exciting program of well-known works while audience members will be invited onstage to have a mini-conducting lesson with Maestra Jeri Lynne Johnson.  This unique festival will be a four-concert series starting in May 2012 held at first-class venues throughout Philadelphia including the Kimmel Center and the Mann Center.  Best of all, the concert series is FREE and open to the public!

We are the only orchestra in the country dedicated to expanding ethnic diversity in classical music, and funding from Knight Foundation will be an excellent opportunity for us to create new classical music audiences throughout the Philadelphia area.  We are excited to start our busy 2011-2012 season on a high note as we prepare for exciting events to come! The BPCO’s next regular season concert will be on November 5 at 7:30PM at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral on 38th St and Chestnut St.