The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, is home to a vibrant and well-documented musical heritage, stretching back to colonial times. Innovations in classical music, opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

, R&B

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 have earned the music of Philadelphia national and international renown. Philadelphia's musical institutions have long played an important role in the music of Pennsylvania

Music of Pennsylvania

The Philly sound in 1970s soul music, notable performers including Gamble & Huff, The O'Jays, Teddy Pendergrass, Harold Melvin and The Delfonics, is well-known, as are jazz legends like Nina Simone and John Coltrane. Philadelphia gave to the musical world diverse singers such as Mario Lanza,...

, as well as a nationwide impact, especially in the early development of hip hop music

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

. Philadelphia's diverse population has also given it a reputation for styles ranging from dancehall

Dancehall

Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...

 to Irish traditional music

Music of Ireland

Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...

, as well as a thriving classical and folk music scene.

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

's third conductor, Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...

, championed American classical music of the 20th century, and on tour, in recordings, and notably in Walt Disney's 1940 animated film Fantasia

Fantasia (film)

Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...

, brought the traditional and modern classical repertoire to a broad American listening public for the first time. The Curtis Institute of Music

Curtis Institute of Music

The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...

 on Rittenhouse Square

Rittenhouse Square

Rittenhouse Square is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas Holme during the late 17th century in central Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The park cuts off 19th Street at Walnut Street and also at a half block above Manning Street. Its boundaries are...

, founded in 1924 by Curtis Publishing Company

Curtis Publishing Company

The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became one of the largest and most influential publishers in the United States during the early 20th century. The company's publications included the Ladies' Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post, The American Home,...

 heiress Mary Louise Curtis Bok, has trained many of the world's best-known and respected American composers and performers, including Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

 and Samuel Barber

Samuel Barber

Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...

 during the 20th century and current stars Juan Diego Flórez

Juan Diego Flórez

Juan Diego Flórez is a Peruvian operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in bel canto operas. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest decoration, the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Sol del Perú....

, Alan Gilbert

Alan Gilbert

Alan David Gilbert AO, was a historian and academic administrator who was until June 2010 the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester....

, Hilary Hahn

Hilary Hahn

Hilary Hahn is an American violinist.Hahn was born in Lexington, Virginia. Beginning her studies when she was three years old at Baltimore's Peabody Institute, she was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age ten, and in 1991, made her major orchestral debut with the...

, Jennifer Higdon

Jennifer Higdon

Jennifer Higdon is an American composer of classical music. Higdon has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto and the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her Percussion Concerto.-Biography:Higdon was born in Brooklyn,...

, and Lang Lang

Lang Lang (pianist)

Lang Lang , born June 14, 1982, in Shenyang, Liaoning, China, is a Chinese concert pianist, currently residing in New York, who has performed with leading orchestras in Europe, the United States and his native China. He is increasingly well known around the world for his concert performances,...

.

The city has played an equally prominent role in developing popular music. In the early years of rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

, a number of South Philadelphia-born popular vocalists made Philadelphia and popular music virtually synonymous, including Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...

, Frankie Avalon

Frankie Avalon

Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...

, and Bobby Rydell

Bobby Rydell

Bobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a so-called "teen idol"...

. This led to the airing of the popular rock and roll dance show American Bandstand

American Bandstand

American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...

, from Philadelphia, hosted by twenty-something Dick Clark from the Channel 6 studios at 46th and Market Streets at the time, where teenagers would descend in droves after school to be televised dancing to the latest hits on the pop charts in front of a national audience.

Music venues and institutions

Philadelphia has a wide variety of performance venues for music. The city's most senior venue is the famed Academy of Music

Academy of Music (Philadelphia)

The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at Broad and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1857 and is the oldest opera house in the United States that is still used for its original purpose...

. Established in 1857, the Academy is the longest continuously operating opera house

Opera house

An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...

 in the United States that is still being used for its original purpose. At the very center of Philadelphia's musical life, the Academy is home to many internationally recognized performance ensembles, including the Philly Pops

Philly Pops

The Philly Pops is an orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Led by two time GRAMMY Award-winningpianist Peter Nero, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops is an entity that consistently brings an enthusiastic response from its audience...

, the Pennsylvania Ballet

Pennsylvania Ballet

Founded in 1963 by Balanchine student and protégée Barbara Weisberger, Pennsylvania Ballet is one of the leading ballet companies in the United States. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company’s annual local season features six programs of classic favorites and new works, including the...

 and the Opera Company of Philadelphia

Opera Company of Philadelphia

The Opera Company of Philadelphia is an American opera company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the city's only company producing grand opera. The organization produces four fully staged opera productions annually, encompassing works from the seventeenth through the 21st century...

. The Academy also presents touring artists and musical theatre of the highest caliber.

The most recent edition to the city's list of venues is the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is a large performing arts venue located on Broad Street, along the stretch known as the "Avenue of the Arts", in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by Kimmel Center, Inc., an organization which also manages the Academy of Music in...

, home of the internationally renowned Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

, which opened in 2001. The Philadelphia Singers, the only professional chorus in the city, often sings in concerts with the orchestra. The center is also home to the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia

Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia

A founding resident company of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia is a 33-member professional ensemble led by Dirk Brossé...

, Philadanco and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society

The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society is a non-profit chamber music and recital forum. It was created, in 1986, by Anthony Checchia and Philip Maneval, its Artistic Director and Executive Director respectively...

 (PCMS). The PCMS, established in 1986, puts on concerts by internationally-renowned performers as well as local ensembles like 1807 and Friends, who have been prominent local performers since 1981.

Also of major importance to the city is the Mann Center for the Performing Arts

Mann Center for the Performing Arts

The Mann Center for The Performing Arts is a 14,000 seat summer musical venue located in Philadelphia's West Fairmount Park. The venue operates as both an indoor performance hall and an outdoor music venue...

, one of the largest outdoor amphitheatre

Amphitheatre

An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...

s in the United States. Established in 1976 as the Robin Hood Dell West, the Mann Center is the summer performance space for the Philadelphia Orchestra. It is also host to major touring artists from all genres of music and is Philadelphia's main venue for popular entertainers. In addition to the Mann Center, the Tower Theater, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania just outside of Philadelphia serves as a destination for many top touring acts.

The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a theatre, dance and world music venue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It helped to popularize the works of composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass; the Center has also hosted shows by performers ranging from the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra to...

 is another notable venue in the city. Founded in 1971, the Center now includes the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

's Irvine Auditorium, Zellerbach Theatre and Harold Prince Theatre. The center offers a varied program of more than 170 performances each year, including concerts, theatre, and dance. Also located at the University of Pennsylvania is the International House Folklife Center which hosts traditional music from around the world.

Philadelphia has a thriving jazz and cabaret scene, largely due to the efforts of the John W. Coltrane Cultural Society

John W. Coltrane Cultural Society

The John W. Coltrane Cultural Society is a music organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, dedicated to promoting jazz music in Philadelphia.-References:* http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/coltrane_j.htm*...

, which honors local jazz legend John Coltrane

John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...

 and helps to promote jazz in the city. There are a number of nightclubs in the city that host live music, most notably Warmdaddy's which has been a hot spot for jazz and blues entertainers for more than four decades. The city is also home to the Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts

Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts

The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, INC. is an American trade union. It was founded in 1966 by members of Musicians' Protective Union Local #274, American Federation of Musicians . Local #274 was chartered in 1935 as a separate Black local because Black musicians were denied...

, which has been called the "first-ever club designed and constructed specifically as a jazz institution". Another notable venue is World Cafe Live (WCL), which opened October 2004. A three-tiered music hall, restaurant, and bar, WCL has been host to such artists as George Clinton

George Clinton (musician)

George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...

 and the Parliament-Funkadelic

Parliament-Funkadelic

Parliament-Funkadelic is a funk, soul and rock music collective headed by George Clinton. Their style has been dubbed P-Funk. Collectively the group has existed under various names since the 1960s and has been known for top-notch musicianship, politically charged lyrics, outlandish concept albums...

, Rhett Miller

Rhett Miller

Stewart Ransom Miller II , better-known as Rhett Miller is the lead singer of the alternative country band Old 97's and a successful solo musician. He graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas, a private boys' school in Dallas in 1989 and briefly attended Sarah Lawrence College on a creative...

, Natalie Cole

Natalie Cole

Natalie Maria Cole , is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be ", "Inseparable" and "Our Love"...

, KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall

Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist from St Andrews, Scotland. She broke into the public eye with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later... with Jools Holland...

, Allen Toussaint

Allen Toussaint

Allen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...

, Pink Martini

Pink Martini

Pink Martini is a 13-member "little orchestra" from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1994 by pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale. They draw inspiration from music from all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop.-History:...

, Buckethead

Buckethead

Brian Carroll , better known by his stage name Buckethead, is a guitarist and multi instrumentalist who has worked within several genres of music. He has released 34 studio albums, four special releases and one EP. He has performed on over 50 more albums by other artists...

, and Liz Phair

Liz Phair

Phair's entry into the music industry began when she met guitarist Chris Brokaw, a member of the band Come. Brokaw and Phair moved to San Francisco together, and Phair tried to become an artist there...

.

Philadelphia's diverse ethnic groups have established several organizations that promote their musical styles, including the Asian Arts Initiative

Asian Arts Initiative

The Asian Arts Initiative is a non-profit organization in Philadelphia which “engages artists and everyday people” in order to address and explore the unique concerns and experiences of Asian-Americans...

 and the Latin American Musicians Association

Latin American Musicians Association

The Latin American Musicians Association is an organization composed of Latin musicians, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Association's founder is Jesse Bermudez, a major figure in the Philadelphia music scene...

 (AMLA). The AMLA was established by Jesse Bermudez in 1982 in North Philadelphia, to promote Latino music and musicians. The Association runs a Latin School of Arts, which features teachers like Elio Villafranca and Pablo Batista. The Italian American Broadcasting Network is based out of Philadelphia and promotes radio stations that broadcast Italian music in southeastern Pennsylvania; the Philadelphia stations that play Italian music include WPHT

WPHT

WPHT is a CBS Radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, broadcasting on 1210 kHz. A 50,000-watt clear-channel station, it broadcasts in an omnidirectional pattern that allows it to cover most of the eastern half of North America at night. It uses the nickname "Talk Radio 1210 WPHT." The...

, WEDO and WSSJ

WSSJ

WSSJ is a radio station broadcasting a Gospel music format. Licensed to Rincon, Georgia, USA, the station serves the Savannah and Hilton Head areas. The station is currently owned by Tama Radio Licenses of Savannah, Ga, Inc. and features programing from Straight Way Radio Network. -History:The...

. The Painted Bride Art Center is a local organization which promotes alternative and avant garde music.

Other local institutions include the Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus

Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus

The Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus is a choral organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1981, it is one of the oldest gay men's choruses in the United States, and is a cultural fixture in Philadelphia. The Chorus is affiliated with the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses...

, founded in 1981, and the Mendelssohn Club

Mendelssohn Club

The Mendelssohn Club is a music institution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1874 by William Wallace Gilchrist, a major figure in the 19th century music of Philadelphia. The chorus is under the direction of Alan Harler, professor of choral conducting at Temple University...

, a choral group that dates back to the 19th century. The Mendelssohn Club was founded by William Gilchrist

William Gilchrist

William Wallace Gilchrist was an American composer and a major figure in nineteenth century music of Philadelphia....

, one of the major figures of 19th century music in the city. Also of note is the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra

Philadelphia Youth Orchestra

The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra is a youth orchestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1939 in Germantown, Philadelphia. The Orchestra works with a "companion ensemble", the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra , which was established in 1996, and Bravo Brass, a brass ensemble, which...

, one of the most highly regarded children's groups in the United States, having performed worldwide since forming in 1939.

A local musical novelty is the Wanamaker Grand Organ, located in the Center City Lord and Taylor department store at 1300 Market. Its organ was built in 1904, designed by organ architect George Ashdown Audsley

George Ashdown Audsley

George Ashdown Audsley was an accomplished architect, artist, illustrator, writer, decorator and pipe organ designer who excelled in many artistic fields but is perhaps best known today for having designed the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia.Born September 6, 1838 in Elgin, Scotland, apprenticed...

. The organ was so large it required thirteen freight cars to bring it from St. Louis. Once in Philadelphia, the organ was made even larger, with additional pipes added—3,000 were added by 1917, and between 1924 and 1930, 10,000 more were added. The modern organ has 28,500, ranging from a 32 feet (9.8 m) long and 3 inches (76.2 mm) thick pipe made of Oregon sugar pine and a tiny, quarter-inch long pipe. Performances on the Wanamaker organ are given twice a day, Monday through Saturday, and more frequently during the Christmas season.

Music festivals and annual events

Major music festivals in Philadelphia include the West Oak Lane Jazz Festival (held annually in June), the Bach Festival of Philadelphia (since 1976), and the long-standing and historical Philadelphia Folk Festival

Philadelphia Folk Festival

The Philadelphia Folk Festival is an annual folk music festival near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania in the vicinity of Philadelphia. Begun in 1962, the four-day festival is sponsored by the non-profit Philadelphia Folksong Society. The event hosts contemporary and traditional artists in genres...

. There are also a number of different summer concert series and ethnic festivals held at Penn's Landing

Penn's Landing

Penn's Landing is the waterfront area of the Center City along the Delaware River section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is so named because the founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, docked near here in 1682, along the now paved over Dock Creek, after landing first in New...

, including the Smooth Jazz Summer Nights Series in August. The Philadelphia Céilí Group

Philadelphia Céilí Group

The Philadelphia Céilí Group is a music organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for an annual Philadelphia Céilí Festival. The Group claims that its festival is the only in the area that is "truly a traditional festival" and it is "one of the oldest continuous traditional Irish music...

 is a prominent local organization that promotes Irish music, and runs a festival, which the Group claims is among the oldest continuous Irish traditional festivals in the United States. Not too far from the city is the annual Concerts Under the Stars summer fesival in Upper Merrion township.

Perhaps the most famous annual musical event in Philadelphia is the Mummers Parade

Mummers Parade

The Mummers Parade is held each New Year's Day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Local clubs compete in one of four categories . They prepare elaborate costumes and moveable scenery, which take months to complete...

, a New Year's Day

New Year's Day

New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...

 celebration that features outrageous costumes, old-time

Old-time music

Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...

 string bands and other entertainment. The tradition dates to the mid-17th century, when Finnish and Swedish settlers in Philadelphia celebrated holidays by shooting muskets. Their parade grew more diverse over the years, and the Mummers tradition became official in 1901, and has occurred every year but two since. The Mummers' string band is a large group of several dozen musicians who play banjos, violins, bass viols, glockenspiels, bells, accordions, saxophones and drums in an "old-fashioned, tinny sound approximating the popular music of 1900 and earlier".

Music history

The earliest music in the Philadelphia region was that of the indigenous peoples of the area

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

, though little is known about their music. The city was founded in 1682 by William Penn

William Penn

William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...

 of England on land granted to him by Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

 as a place of refuge for victims of religious persecution

Religious persecution

Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof....

. As a result, much of the city's early music history is tied to sacred music from a variety of different religious traditions. The city's German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 immigrants were particularly influential in establishing a vibrant musical culture among Protestant

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

 churches and in the field of music publishing during the first half of the 18th century.

While non-religious music was actively performed in homes and in private social clubs during the early colonial period, public performances of non-religious music did not occur until the 1750s. At that time Philadelphia rose to prominence as the major cultural capital in the Thirteen Colonies

Thirteen Colonies

The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...

 of North America, and then in the fledgling United States. The city established a reputation for classical music of all kinds and had the best opera and theater scene in the United States during the latter half of the 18th century.

In the 19th century and early 20th century, Philadelphia's population, like those of other major American metropolitan areas, grew steadily more diverse, with immigrants from Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (in that order) landing on the banks of the Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay is a major estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the Northeast seaboard of the United States whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware...

 and constituting the largest groups. Philadelphia became a regional center for Italian music

Music of Italy

The music of Italy ranges across a broad spectrum of opera and instrumental classical music and a body of popular music drawn from both native and imported sources. Music has traditionally been one of the cultural markers of Italian national and ethnic identity and holds an important position in...

 and also produced a number of well-regarded Irish

Music of Ireland

Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...

 musicians and groups. The city's sizable Jamaican population brought their own styles of music, such as dancehall

Dancehall

Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...

, which became a major part of the Philadelphia nightclub scene in the early first decade of the 21st century.

Religious music

Philadelphia became an important center for music in North America during the colonial era and late 18th century. During the early colonial period, music-making took place mainly in the church and the home. Although the original settlers of Philadelphia were English Quakers

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 who had little interest in music, William Penn’s hospitality to other religious groups ensured the eventual growth of musical activities. German immigrants who began arriving in the city around 1700 brought musical instruments with them, built organ

Pipe organ

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...

s, and composed hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

s.
Some of the earliest printing of sheet music

Sheet music

Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...

 came from these German immigrants and more than 20 editions of German-language hymnal

Hymnal

Hymnal or hymnary or hymnbook is a collection of hymns, i.e. religious songs, usually in the form of a book. The earliest hand-written hymnals are known since Middle Ages in the context of European Christianity...

s were printed in the city before 1750. By the mid-18th century the city was the leading center for music printing in the New World

New World

The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

. One of the earliest English-language hymnals from the United States that still survives is an extant copy of Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...

' Hymns and Spiritual Songs, printed in 1741 by Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

. Of the colonial hymnbooks in English, the largest and most significant was Urania, or A Choice Collection of Psalm-Tunes, Anthems, and Hymns, compiled by James Lyon

James Lyon (composer)

- Life :James Lyon was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 1, 1735. It is known that his father was Zopher Lyon, but that he was orphaned at an early age. In 1750, Isaac Lyon and John Crane became James' guardians, until the age of twenty-one. Lyon then attended college at Nassau Hall, and...

 (Philadelphia, 1761).

Colonial Pennsylvania

Province of Pennsylvania

The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as Pennsylvania Colony, was founded in British America by William Penn on March 4, 1681 as dictated in a royal charter granted by King Charles II...

 was home to a number of religious minority sects, several of which have played an important role in the musical development of the area. A number of German Pietists settled in the Philadelphia area in 1694, led by Johannes Kelpius

Johannes Kelpius

Johannes Kelpius , a German Pietist, mystic, musician, and writer, interested in the occult, botany, and astronomy, came to believe with his followers in the "Society of the Woman in the Wilderness" that the end of the world would occur in 1694...

. These Pietists lived along the banks of the Wissahickon Creek

Wissahickon Creek

Wissahickon Creek is a stream in southeastern Pennsylvania. Rising in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, it runs about 23 miles passing through and dividing Northwest Philadelphia before emptying into the Schuylkill River at Philadelphia...

, and became known as the Hermits (or Mystics) of the Wissahickon. Kelpius was a hymn writer and musician. Kelpius has been said to be the composer of certain hymn tune

Hymn tune

A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm , and no refrain or chorus....

s, although music historian Gilbert Chase

Gilbert Chase

Gilbert Chase was an American music historian, critic and author, and a "seminal figure in the field of musicology and ethnomusicology....

 doubts that he wrote the music, much of which, Chase claims, "is taken from readily identifiable German sources". These hymns were translated into English by Christopher Witt, a painter and musician said to have built the first private (i.e. non-church) organ

Organ (music)

The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

 in the colonies of North America.

The city of Philadelphia has also been a major center for Roman Catholic church music. The first Catholic hymnbook published in the United States came from Philadelphia in 1787, entitled Litanies and Vesper Hymns and Anthems as They Are Sung in the Catholic Church; this collection included music scored for treble

Boy soprano

A boy soprano is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range. Although a treble, or choirboy, may also be considered to be a boy soprano, the more colloquial term boy soprano is generally only used for boys who sing, perform, or record as soloists, and who may not necessarily...

 and bass, with later editions adding a third vocal section, and used highly-ornamented

Ornament (music)

In music, ornaments or embellishments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody , but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" that line. Many ornaments are performed as "fast notes" around a central note...

 plainchant themes in the Mass

Mass

Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...

 and hymns. The publisher Matthew Carey

Matthew Carey

Matthew Carey is an American film and television actor who has appeared in films such as The Banger Sisters , November , Old School and a 1997 remake of the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. He also had a recurring role in the first season of the television series 24 in 2001.- External links :...

 was particularly influential, publishing a catechism in 1794 that included hymns in later editions.

Non-religious music

Performances of early non-religious music were originally regulated to the home or private social clubs in the city. The earliest known private concert was given in 1734, the first known public concert in 1757. Subscription concerts featuring a chamber orchestra were initiated in that year, including music by contemporary English, Italian, German and Bohemian composers, largely through the efforts of Governor John Penn

John Penn (governor)

John Penn was the last governor of colonial Pennsylvania, serving in that office from 1763 to 1771 and from 1773 to 1776...

 and Francis Hopkinson

Francis Hopkinson

Francis Hopkinson , an American author, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from New Jersey. He later served as a federal judge in Pennsylvania...

, a signer of the Declaration of Independence

Declaration of independence

A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...

 and amateur composer and performer.

After the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

, a substantial number of professional musicians from Europe arrived in Philadelphia. Rayner Taylor, Alexander Reinagle

Alexander Reinagle

Alexander Robert Reinagle was an English-born American composer, organist, and theater musician...

 and Benjamin Carr

Benjamin Carr

Benjamin Carr was an American composer, singer, teacher, and music publisher. Born in London, he studied organ with Charles Wesley and composition with Samuel Arnold. In 1793 he traveled to Philadelphia with a stage company, and a year later went with the same company to New York, where he...

 were the leading figures in the city's musical life around the turn of the 18th century. These men had emigrated from England and were active as performers, composers, conductors, teachers and concert managers. Susannah Haswell Rowson

Susanna Rowson

Susanna Rowson, née Haswell was a British-American novelist, poet, playwright, religious writer, stage actress and educator....

 was an important female composer active in the city. She wrote the libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

s for two of Reinagle's compositions, and was a successful poet, guitarist, singer, playwright and actress. Benjamin Franklin was also a musician, a guitar teacher and inventor of musical instruments like the glass armonica. In 1784 Andrew Adgate

Andrew Adgate

Andrew Adgate was a musician, music director, and author from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

 organized the Institution for the Encouragement of Church Music, renamed the Uranian Academy (1787–1800). The school was the center of the city's choral music scene during the latter part of the 18th century.

The earliest known performance of a musical drama in Philadelphia was Colley Cibber

Colley Cibber

Colley Cibber was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling style...

’s Flora, or Hob in the Well, a ballad opera

Ballad opera

The term ballad opera is used to refer to a genre of English stage entertainment originating in the 18th century and continuing to develop in the following century and later. There are many types of ballad opera...

 performed by a touring opera company from England in 1754. In 1757 Francis Hopkinson mounted an elaborate production of Thomas Arne’s masque Alfred. Both the Society Hall Theatre, built by David Douglass

David Douglass

David H. Douglass is an American physicist at the University of Rochester. Prof. Douglass received his B.S. in Physics from the University of Maine and his Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After positions at MIT Lincoln Laboratories and MIT, he was appointed...

 in 1759, and the Southwark Theatre, which opened in 1766 with Arne’s Thomas and Sally

Thomas and Sally

Thomas and Sally is a dramatic pastoral opera in two acts by the composer Thomas Arne with an English libretto by Isaac Bickerstaff...

, staged productions of plays and operas given by the American Company. Although the Quakers and other religious groups expressed their moral opposition to theatrical performances, comic operas by leading British composers were frequently performed, often soon after their premières in London.

During the revolutionary period expensive theatrical entertainments were prohibited, except during the time of the British occupation, and the ban remained in effect until 1789. After the ban was lifted, Philadelphia became one of the nation's main theatrical centers. The New American Company, founded in 1792 by Reinagle and Thomas Wignell

Thomas Wignell

Thomas Wignell was an English-born actor and theatre manager in colonial United States.-Early life:He was born in England and came to North America in 1774 with his cousin Lewis Hallam, then left for Jamaica until 1785.-Career:...

, recruited a large number of singers and composers from England. Although the principal repertory was from London, several composers who lived in Philadelphia wrote original operas; among the most successful were Carr's The Archers (1796), Reinagle's The Volunteers (1795), and Taylor's The Aethiop (1814). Of prime importance to the success of opera was the construction in 1793 of the New Theatre (later known as the Chestnut or Chesnut Street Theatre), by Reinagle and Wignell. Taylor and Carr also worked at the New Theatre which was the most splendid theatre in the United States in its day. The building seated nearly 2000 people, and its design was based on the Theatre Royal, Bath

Theatre Royal, Bath

The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, is over 200 years old. It is one of the more important theatres in the United Kingdom outside London, with capacity for an audience of around 900....

 in England.

Early to mid 19th century

Philadelphia's Holy Trinity Church published the first German-American Catholic catechism in 1810, while the music director of St. Augustine's Catholic Church, Benjamin Carr, also published hymnbooks in the early 19th century. Carr's 1805 work introduced "O Sanctissima

O Sanctissima

O Sanctissima is a Roman Catholic hymn in Latin to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is claimed that the tune of the hymn is Sicilian.The tune is sometimes called Sicilian Mariners Hymn or Mariners Hymn.The words of the first verse of the hymn in Latin are:...

" and "Adeste Fideles

Adeste Fideles

"Adeste Fideles" is a hymn tune attributed to English hymnist John Francis Wade . The text itself has unclear beginnings, and may have been written in the 13th century by John of Reading, though it has been concluded that Wade was probably the author.The original four verses of the hymn were...

" to American Catholics. The American Sodality

Sodality

In Christian theology, a sodality is a form of the "Universal Church" expressed in specialized, task-oriented form as opposed to the Christian church in its local, diocesan form . In English, the term sodality is most commonly used by groups in the Catholic Church, where they are also referred to...

 movement began in Philadelphia in 1841, founded by Felix Barbelin; Barbelin personally prepared the first American Sodality Manual, which was followed by others throughout the later 19th century. The Catholic Church of Philadelphia established important institutions of musical education in the early 19th century, with the foundation a singing school and boys choir. The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur

Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur

The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is the name of a Roman Catholic order of religious sisters, dedicated to providing education to the poor.The order was founded in Amiens in 1803, but the opposition of the local bishop to missions outside his diocese led to the moving of headquarters to then...

 and the Sisters of the Holy Child published several collections of hymns, some of which were later included in St. Basil's Hymnal.

Philadelphia's African American music

African American music

African-American music is an umbrella term given to a range of musics and musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans, who have long constituted a large and significant ethnic minority of the population of the United States...

al heritage dates back to colonial times, and gained some national and international renown beginning with Frank Johnson, who settled in Philadelphia around 1809. Johnson composed march

March (music)

A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...

es and quadrille

Quadrille

Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. It is also a style of music...

s that became very popular; he even performed for Queen Victoria in 1837. By the end of the century, African Americans in Philadelphia had their own musical institutions, including a symphony orchestra and choral societies.

With the inauguration of the Musical Fund Society in 1820, musical activity in Philadelphia greatly increased. By the mid-19th century the city was a national center for musical development, with local religious music changing considerably, and new styles becoming regionally popular, especially English opera. An important concert was held in Philadelphia in the mid-19th century, one of the first major concerts in the country led by a chorus, in this case from the College of Philadelphia. Philadelphia saw the première in 1845 of the first American grand opera, Leonora by composer and music journalist of the National Gazette and the Public Ledger, William Henry Fry

William Henry Fry

For the woodcarver and gilder, see William H. Fry.William Henry Fry was a pioneering American composer, music critic, and journalist. Fry was the first person born in the United States to write for a large symphony orchestra, and the first to compose a publicly performed opera...

. The opera was written in the Italian style and admired so much that it was performed 16 times that season.

Philadelphia's Academy of Music

Academy of Music (Philadelphia)

The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at Broad and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1857 and is the oldest opera house in the United States that is still used for its original purpose...

, the "Grand Old Lady of Broad Street," was founded in 1855. When it opened it was by far the finest opera house

Opera house

An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...

 in the United States. Built by the Philadelphia firm of Napoleon Le Brun and modeled after La Scala

La Scala

La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...

, the house has three balconies, an impressive interior and nearly 3000 seats. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 18, 1855, with President Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...

 in attendance and the venue opened with a grand ball on January 26, 1857. The first opera performed there was the western hemisphere

Western Hemisphere

The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...

 premiere of Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...

's Il Trovatore

Il trovatore

Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...

, on February 25 of the same year. The Academy of Music is the oldest existing opera house in the United States and was declared a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

 in 1963; it remains the principal opera house for the city and is the home of the Pennsylvania Ballet

Pennsylvania Ballet

Founded in 1963 by Balanchine student and protégée Barbara Weisberger, Pennsylvania Ballet is one of the leading ballet companies in the United States. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company’s annual local season features six programs of classic favorites and new works, including the...

. It was the principal concert hall in Philadelphia until the opening of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is a large performing arts venue located on Broad Street, along the stretch known as the "Avenue of the Arts", in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by Kimmel Center, Inc., an organization which also manages the Academy of Music in...

 in 2001. Many first American performances were given there, including Charles Gounod

Charles Gounod

Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...

's Faust

Faust (opera)

Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...

 (in German, 1863), Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...

's Der fliegende Holländer (in Italian, 1876) and Arrigo Boito

Arrigo Boito

Arrigo Boito , aka Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito, pseudonym Tobia Gorrio, was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist and composer, best known today for his libretti, especially those for Giuseppe Verdi's operas Otello and Falstaff, and his own opera Mefistofele...

’s Mefistofele

Mefistofele

Mefistofele is an opera in a prologue, four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito.-Composition history:...

 (1880).

Late 19th century

In the second half of the 19th century, two additional opera houses were opened: the Chestnut Street Opera House (1885) and the Grand Opera House (1888). With three houses available, the city was able to attract touring companies that featured the finest European stars. A number of American premières were directed by Gustav Hinrichs

Gustav Hinrichs

Gustav Ludwig Wilhelm HinrichsNot to be confused with Gustav Dethlef Hinrichs, a noted scientist of the 19th century, or Gustav Hinrichs, of Berlin, a German historian and classicist who collaborated with the Brothers Grimm in addition to many of his own writings...

 at the Grand: Cavalleria rusticana

Cavalleria rusticana

Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...

 (1891), L'amico Fritz

L'amico Fritz

L'amico Fritz is an opera in three acts by Pietro Mascagni, premiered in 1891 from a libretto by P. Suardon , based on the French novel L'ami Fritz by Émile Erckmann and Pierre-Alexandre Chatrian.While the opera enjoyed some success in its day and is probably Mascagni's most famous work after...

 (1892), Les pêcheurs de perles

Les pêcheurs de perles

Les pêcheurs de perles is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was first performed on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in its initial run...

 (1893), Manon Lescaut

Manon Lescaut

Manon Lescaut is a short novel by French author Abbé Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité . It was controversial in its time and was banned in France upon publication...

 (1894) and Hinrich’s own opera, Onti-Ora (1890).

The city's first resident orchestra of importance, the Germania Orchestra was founded in 1856. Under the direction of Carl Lenschow, the ensemble gave annual series of concerts up through 1895. The conductor and impresario Theodore Thomas also presented one or two concert series each season between 1864 and 1891. During the centennial celebration of American independence in 1876 the Thomas Orchestra gave concerts throughout the summer but, as the programs were too weighty and the hall too far from the center of the city to attract a large audience, Thomas suffered a great financial loss.

The city’s large German population supported several singing societies. The Männerchor (1835–1962), the Junger Männerchor (from 1850) and Arion

Arion

Arion was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb: "As a literary composition for chorus dithyramb was the creation of Arion of Corinth," The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant of Corinth...

 (1854–1969) have been disbanded, but Harmonie

Harmonie

Harmonie is a German word that, in the context of the history of music, designates a band of wind instruments employed by an aristocratic patron, particularly during the Classical era of the 18th century...

 (1855) and eight other German choral groups remain active. Other important early choruses were the Abt Male Chorus, led successively by Michael Cross

Michael Cross

Group Captain Michael Cross OBE RAFR is the former Chief of Staff of the Air Cadet Organisation. He retired from the post in 2006.-Trek to the South Pole:...

 and Hugh Archibald Clarke

Hugh Archibald Clarke

Hugh Archibald Clarke is a Canadian composer, organist, and teacher. He was born in Toronto, Canada on August 15, 1839, and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 16, 1927, at the age of 88 .-Early Life:...

, and the Eurydice Chorus (1886–1918). Two choruses still flourishing are the Orpheus Club of Philadelphia

Orpheus Club of Philadelphia

The Orpheus Club is a men's chorus in Philadelphia. The Orpheus club was founded on December 7, 1872. The original Orpheus club was led by conductor Michael Cross Hurley. The current conductor of the group is John Shankweiler....

, founded in 1872 it is America's oldest men's chorus of its kind, and the Mendelssohn Club

Mendelssohn Club

The Mendelssohn Club is a music institution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1874 by William Wallace Gilchrist, a major figure in the 19th century music of Philadelphia. The chorus is under the direction of Alan Harler, professor of choral conducting at Temple University...

, founded in 1874 by Philadelphia composer and musician William Wallace Gilchrist.

The Philadelphia Roman Catholic musical tradition produced the celebrated and controversial composer Albert Rosewig

Albert Rosewig

Albert Henry Rosewig was an American composer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, born in Hanover. He was an influential and modernist composer of hymns....

, who was active in Philadelphia from 1880 through 1919. Rosewig "used romanticized harmony for Gregorian chants, and even harmonized the priest's altar chants" in an attempt to incorporate then-current styles of classical music. His innovations were eventually forbidden by Pius X. Afterwards, the Philadelphia-area conductor and composer led the United States in the development of a more traditional style in the 20th century.

In the 19th century Philadelphia was an important center for the composition, publication and performance of popular music, and by the second half of the century more than 100 composers were writing songs and dances for the theatre and salon. Minstrel show

Minstrel show

The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....

s were enthusiastically received, and in 1855 the first black minstrel theatre was opened. The local minstrel performer James Bland composed songs that attained phenomenal success, especially "Carry me back to old Virginny" (1878) and "Oh, dem golden slippers" (1879). The latter became the ‘theme song’ of the Mummers, who established clubs and formally inaugurated the annual tradition in 1901 of dressing in extravagant costumes and parading on New Year's Day while performing on banjos, guitars, saxophones and glockenspiels.

Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia became home to the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1900, for much of its history considered preeminent among American orchestras and one of the "Big Five

Big Five (orchestras)

In the context of classical music in the United States, the Big Five refers to five symphony orchestras that were considered to be the most prominent and accomplished ensembles when the term gained widespread use by music critics in the late 1950s...

" American ensembles. The Orchestra was initially led by Fritz Scheel

Fritz Scheel

Johann Friedrich Ludwig “Fritz” Scheel was a German conductor born in Fackenburg, Schleswig-Holstein. Scheel was the founder and first music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1900. He conducted rehearsals in German, and played mostly German music...

; in 1907, Karl Pohlig took up its baton. But it was the conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

 Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...

 who made the Orchestra one of the most prominent in the country. Stokowski jointly held the conductor's post with Eugene Ormandy

Eugene Ormandy

Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...

 beginning in 1936, with Ormandy taking over completely in 1938.

Under the direction of Stokowski and Ormandy, the Philadelphia Orchestra produced several well-known recordings in the 20th century, including the 1940 score for the Disney

Walt Disney Pictures

Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...

 film Fantasia

Fantasia (film)

Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...

, and the Orchestra under the flamboyant "Stokie" with his gift for self-promotion pursued an ambitious schedule of national and international tours, becoming the template for the modern classical orchestra in the 20th century. After Stokowski's departure, Ormandy led the Orchestra into the 1970s, preserving its lustrous sound and relying on the popular classical repertoire that had made the "Philly sound" famous, when it became the first American orchestra to visit China and perform in the Great Hall of the People

Great Hall of the People

The Great Hall of the People is located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square, Beijing, People's Republic of China, and is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party of China. It functions as the People's Republic of China's...

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

; the Chinese tour was well received and has since been repeated three times.

The 20th century saw the Orchestra become the first of its kind to make electric recordings, to perform on its own commercially sponsored radio broadcast, to perform on the soundtrack of a feature film (The Big Broadcast

The Big Broadcast

The Big Broadcast is a musical comedy film produced by Paramount Pictures, directed by Frank Tuttle, and starring Bing Crosby, Stuart Erwin, and Leila Hyams, with George Burns and Gracie Allen in supporting roles...

), to appear on a national television broadcast, to record the complete Beethoven symphonies on compact disc, to give a live cybercast of a concert on the Internet, and to tour Vietnam.

Opera

The Philadelphia Opera House

Metropolitan Opera House (Philadelphia)

The Metropolitan Opera House is a historic opera house located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 858 North Broad Street. Built over the course of just a few months in 1908, it was the ninth opera house built by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I. It was initially the home of Hammerstein's Philadelphia...

 was built over the course of just a few months in 1908 by impresario

Impresario

An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...

 Oscar Hammerstein I

Oscar Hammerstein I

Oscar Hammerstein I was a businessman, theater impresario and composer in New York City. His passion for opera led him to open several opera houses, and he rekindled opera's popularity in America...

. The house was initially the home of Hammerstein's opera company, the Philadelphia Opera Company

Philadelphia Opera Company

The Philadelphia Opera Company was the name of two different American opera companies active during the twentieth century in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first company was founded by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I in 1908. That company disbanded only two years later as a result of financial...

, but was sold to the Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in 1910, when it was renamed the Metropolitan Opera House. The Metropolitan Opera's association with the city of Philadelphia began during its first season, presenting its entire repertoire in the city during January and August, 1884. The company's first Philadelphia performance was of Faust (with Christina Nilsson) on January 14, 1884 at the Chestnut Street Opera House. The Met continued to perform annually in Philadelphia for nearly eighty years, taking the entire company to the city on selected Tuesday nights throughout the opera season. With the exception of ten years spent performing in Hammerstein's opera house, the Met mostly performed at the Academy of Music. In 1961 the Met's regular visits ceased after having given close to 900 performances in Philadelphia.

Since the end of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 many local opera companies have operated in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Grand Opera Company and the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company

Philadelphia Civic Opera Company

The Philadelphia Civic Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that was actively performing between 1924 and 1930. Founded by Philadelphia socialite Mrs. Henry M. Tracy, the company was established partially through funds provided by the city of...

 were two companies active up until the Wall Street Crash of 1929

Wall Street Crash of 1929

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...

 forced them to close there doors. The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company

Philadelphia Grand Opera Company

The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and most well known of the four was founded in November 1954 with the merger of the Philadelphia Civic...

 was the name of four different American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 companies active at the Academy of Music during the 20th century. The last and most well known of the four was founded in November 1954 with the merger of the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company

Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company

The Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was actively performing at the Academy of Music between 1950 and 1955. Fausta Cleva served as the company's first General Director and conductor...

 and the Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company

Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company

The Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was actively performing at the Academy of Music between 1925 and 1954...

. That company in turn merged with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company

Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company

The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani. Other notable Artistic Directors include Julius...

 in 1975 to form the city's only current producer of grand opera, the Opera Company of Philadelphia

Opera Company of Philadelphia

The Opera Company of Philadelphia is an American opera company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the city's only company producing grand opera. The organization produces four fully staged opera productions annually, encompassing works from the seventeenth through the 21st century...

. Of the three earlier companies, only one lasted beyond one season; a company founded in 1926 which later became associated with the Curtis Institute of Music in 1929. That company closed its doors in 1932 due to financial reasons during the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. The city's music schools also regularly produce operas, and the American Music Theater Festival, founded in 1984 under Marjorie Samoff, occasionally presents contemporary operas.

Curtis Institute of Music

Also in the realm of serious music was the founding in 1924 of the classical conservatory, the Curtis Institute of Music

Curtis Institute of Music

The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...

, by Mary Louise Curtis Bok, daughter of Curtis Publishing Company

Curtis Publishing Company

The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became one of the largest and most influential publishers in the United States during the early 20th century. The company's publications included the Ladies' Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post, The American Home,...

 founder Cyrus H.K. Curtis. Curtis has trained some of the world's best-known composers and musicians, including Samuel Barber

Samuel Barber

Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...

, Gian Carlo Menotti

Gian Carlo Menotti

Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...

, Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

, and pianists Abbey Simon

Abbey Simon

-Education:Simon began lessons with David Saperton at the age of five. At the age of eight, Simon was accepted by Józef Hofmann as a scholarship student at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he trained with fellow classmates Jorge Bolet and Sidney Foster. Simon also took lessons...

, Walter Hautzig

Walter Hautzig

-Biography:Hautzig studied under Mieczysław Munz. He has taught master classes to hundreds of students all around the world. He has done tours in Japan over 30 times and has performed for President Jimmy Carter...

, Richard Goode

Richard Goode

Richard Goode is an American classical pianist, especially known for his interpretations of Ludwig van Beethoven and chamber music.Goode was born in East Bronx, New York...

, Susan Starr

Susan Starr

-Biography:She began her studies with Eleanor Sokoloff at age four. She later entered the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Rudolf Serkin until her graduation in 1961...

 and Peter Serkin

Peter Serkin

-Biography:He was born in New York City and is the son of pianist Rudolf Serkin, and grandson of the influential violinist Adolf Busch, whose daughter Irene had married Rudolf Serkin...

 as well as current international performers including David Hayes

David Hayes (conductor)

David Hayes is an American conductor.Hayes was educated at the University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music and The Curtis Institute of Music where his teacher was Otto-Werner Mueller...

, Juan Diego Flórez, Alan Gilbert, Hilary Hahn, Lang Lang

Lang Lang (pianist)

Lang Lang , born June 14, 1982, in Shenyang, Liaoning, China, is a Chinese concert pianist, currently residing in New York, who has performed with leading orchestras in Europe, the United States and his native China. He is increasingly well known around the world for his concert performances,...

 and Vinson Cole

Vinson Cole

Vinson Cole is an American operatic tenor.A native of Kansas City, the tenor studied at the University of Missouri, Kansas City; the Philadelphia Musical Academy; and at the Curtis Institute of Music with Margaret Harshaw...

. Currently well-known composers who are Curtis graduates include Daron Hagen

Daron Hagen

Daron Aric Hagen , is an American composer, conductor, pianist, educator, librettist, and stage director of contemporary classical music and opera.- Early life and education :...

 and present day faculty member Jennifer Higdon

Jennifer Higdon

Jennifer Higdon is an American composer of classical music. Higdon has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto and the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her Percussion Concerto.-Biography:Higdon was born in Brooklyn,...

. Other famous faculty members at Curtis over the years include pianists Jozef Hofmann

Józef Hofmann

Josef Casimir Hofmann was a Polish-American virtuoso pianist, composer, music teacher, and inventor.-Biography:...

, Rudolf Serkin

Rudolf Serkin

Rudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....

, Gary Graffman

Gary Graffman

Gary Graffman is an American classical pianist, teacher of piano and music administrator.Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 7 in 1936 as a piano student of Isabelle Vengerova...

 and Mieczyslaw Horszowski

Mieczyslaw Horszowski

Mieczysław Horszowski was a Polish-American pianist who had the longest known career in the history of the performing arts.-Early life:...

, singers Margaret Harshaw

Margaret Harshaw

Margaret Harshaw was an American opera singer and voice teacher who sang for 22 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera from November 1942 to March 1964. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano in the early 1930s but then began performing roles from the soprano repertoire in 1951...

, Eufemia Giannini Gregory, Charles Kullman

Charles Kullman

Charles Kullman , originally Charles Kullmann, was an American tenor who enjoyed a wide-ranging career, both in Europe and America.- Life and career :...

 and Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis (tenor)

Richard Lewis CBE was a Welsh tenor.Born Thomas Thomas in Manchester to Welsh parents, Lewis began his career as a boy soprano and studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music from 1939 to 1941...

, violinist Efrem Zimbalist

Efrem Zimbalist

Efrem Zimbalist, Sr. was one of the world's most prominent concert violinists, as well as a composer, teacher, conductor and a long-time director of the Curtis Institute of Music.-Early life:...

 and composer Randall Thompson

Randall Thompson

Randall Thompson was an American composer, particularly noted for his choral works.-Career:He attended Harvard University, became assistant professor of music and choir director at Wellesley College, and received a doctorate in music from the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music...

. .

Chamber music

Philadelphia has also had an active chamber music

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

 scene. One of the most prominent professional groups in the early 20th century was the Curtis String Quartet (1932–81). The members were graduates of the Curtis Institute, and the quartet travelled widely and made many recordings. The Philadelphia String Quartet, made up of members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, was formed in 1959 and in 1967 became the quartet-in-residence at Washington State University

Washington State University

Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...

. Members of the Philadelphia Orchestra frequently give chamber music concerts. The Concerto Soloists, founded in 1965 by Marc Mostovoy, is the city’s principal professional chamber orchestra. The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society

The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society is a non-profit chamber music and recital forum. It was created, in 1986, by Anthony Checchia and Philip Maneval, its Artistic Director and Executive Director respectively...

, established in 1986, brings prominent chamber groups and soloists to the city.

Choral music

Several notable local choruses existed in the city during the 20th century. The Philadelphia Choral Society (1897–1946), conducted by Henry Gordon Thunder, was the city's major chorus for many years. Other former choruses include The Treble Clef Club (1884–1934), the Palestrina Choir (1915–48), and the Accademia dei Dilettanti di Musica (1928–60). Still flourishing are Singing City (1947), the Pennsylvania Pro Musica (1972), and the Philadelphia Choral Arts Society (1982). The Philadelphia Singers

The Philadelphia Singers

The Philadelphia Singers is a choir in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. The group was founded by Michael Korn in 1972 and is currently directed by David Hayes...

, founded in 1971, is the city’s principal professional choir under the direction of David Hayes

David Hayes (conductor)

David Hayes is an American conductor.Hayes was educated at the University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music and The Curtis Institute of Music where his teacher was Otto-Werner Mueller...

. The Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale

Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale

Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale is a boys' choir and mens chorale based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, currently under the direction of Jeffery R. Smith. They are known as "America's Ambassadors of Song" and are considered to be one of the best boys choirs in the world...

 is the city's premier boys choir since 1968.

Popular music

Philadelphia also produced innovative performers in fields as varied as pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

, punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

. As Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...

 and Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly

Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...

 were creating rock and roll during the middle 1950s, Philadelphia—then experiencing a city-wide cultural and political renaissance led by Mayors Joseph S. Clark

Joseph S. Clark

Joseph Sill Clark, Jr. was a U.S. lawyer and Democratic Party politician in the mid-20th century. He served as the mayor of Philadelphia from 1952 until 1956, and as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1957 until 1969...

 and Richardson Dilworth

Richardson Dilworth

Richardson K. Dilworth was an American Democratic Party politician, born in the Pittsburgh area, who served as the 91st Mayor of Philadelphia from 1956 to 1962.-Education and early career:...

 and chief city planner Edmund Bacon--began in 1956 to host the national television show that would prove to transform popular music in America and around the world by bringing rock and roll brightest stars to West Philadelphia to accompany Philadelphia school kids as they danced after school at 46th and Market Streets--"American Bandstand

American Bandstand

American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...

" with host Dick Clark. The city spawned some of early rock's best-known vocalists during the fifties and early sixties, including Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...

, Frankie Avalon

Frankie Avalon

Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...

, Jimmy Darren, Mario Lanza

Mario Lanza

right|thumb|[[MGM]] still, circa 1949Mario Lanza was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. The son of Italian emigrants, he began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16....

, Fabian Forte, and Bobby Rydell

Bobby Rydell

Bobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a so-called "teen idol"...

. This period was explored to some extent in a recent (and recently cancelled) network television drama set in South Philadelphia, American Dreams

American Dreams

American Dreams is an American television comedy-drama program broadcast on the NBC television network, produced by Once A Frog and Dick Clark Productions in association with Universal Network Television and NBC Studios...

.

Philadelphia's jazz heritage is noteworthy, especially as the birthplace of John Coltrane

John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...

, one of the most innovative performers of the 20th century. The Philly soul sound of the 1970s was also an especially important part of the national musical consciousness of its era. The city also has a distinguished history with local indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 and punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

. The 1980s saw a local New Wave scene, alongside hardcore punk

Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 bands like Sadistic Exploits

Sadistic Exploits

Sadistic Exploits was an American hardcore punk band which existed from 1980 through 1985. They released a 45 titled Apathy b/w Freedom in 1980. Inspired by UK anarchists Crass, the Philadelphia based band formed in late 1980 during the formative years of Philly's hardcore punk scene...

. The 90s indie rock scene found greater national popularity through the bands Dead Milkmen

Dead Milkmen

The Dead Milkmen is an American satirical punk rock band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Rodney Linderman , guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro , bassist Dave Schulthise and drummer Dean Sabatino .Beginning within the local underground...

 and Zen Guerilla, The Dead Milkmen

Dead Milkmen

The Dead Milkmen is an American satirical punk rock band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Rodney Linderman , guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro , bassist Dave Schulthise and drummer Dean Sabatino .Beginning within the local underground...

 would go on to lead the charge in a satire punk era on Mtv

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 during the late 80's, while the city also produced an electronic music scene, known for acts like Dieselboy

Dieselboy

Dieselboy is the stage name of Damian Higgins, an American drum and bass DJ, producer, remixer, founder of the Human Imprint music label, and co-founder of its sublabel SubHuman : Human Imprint which launched in September 2010...

 and Josh Wink

Josh Wink

Josh Wink is an electronic music DJ, label owner, producer, remixer, and artist. He is a native of Philadelphia, United States. A pioneering DJ in the American rave scene during the early 1990s, Wink was the most prominent exponent of the tribal forms of techno and house in the U.S...

.

Gospel

Philadelphia's gospel heritage stretches back to Charles Albert Tindley, a local reverend, who composed many important hymns. Tindley's "I Do, Don't You" inspired the composer Thomas A. Dorsey

Thomas A. Dorsey

Thomas Andrew Dorsey was known as "the father of black gospel music" and was at one time so closely associated with the field that songs written in the new style were sometimes known as "dorseys." Earlier in his life he was a leading blues pianist known as Georgia Tom.As formulated by Dorsey,...

, who credited Tindley with the innovation of gospel music. Tindley composed most of his works between 1901 and 1906, and was known for his booming preaching style.

Philadelphia has produced a number of popular gospel

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 acts, most famously the singer Clara Ward

Clara Ward

Clara Ward was an American gospel artist who achieved great success, both artistic and commercial, in the 1940s and 1950s as leader of The Famous Ward Singers....

. Ward rose to fame after a performance at the National Baptist Convention

National Baptist Convention

National Baptist Convention may refer to:One of several historically African-American Christian denominations:*National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., the oldest and largest denomination using this name, formed in the late 19th century...

in Philadelphia n 1943. Ward formed a group with several other local singers, and toured widely throughout the decade; the Clara Ward Singers were known for bringing a sense of style and glamour to the emerging gospel music industry.

The Dixie Hummingbirds are also one of Philadelphia's most famous International Quartet Groups, who are still performing today.
Since early in the 1920s this group has remained :"The Gentlemen of Song", with their signature White Tails Suits and their inimitable
harmony, keeps the Gospel Quartet alive and well in the 21st Century.

Irish music

Philadelphia became home to a large community of Irish immigrants in the 1840s, and then continually through the later 19th and 20th centuries. These immigrants brought with many styles of traditional Irish music

Music of Ireland

Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...

, such as jig

Jig

The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...

s and reels. Beginning in the late 1940s, Philadelphia's Irish music scene grew rapidly, spurred in part by the broadcasting of live music by Austin Kelly

Austin Kelly

Austin Kelly was the bandleader of the All-Ireland Irish Orchestra, a traditional Irish musical group based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band's recordings were broadcast on the WTEL radio station in Philadelphia, which helped inspire the modern Irish music scene in the city.-References:*...

 and the All-Ireland Irish Orchestra by the WTEL

WTEL

WTEL "Power House 1160" is a radio station broadcasting a Religious format. Licensed to Red Springs, North Carolina, USA. The station is currently owned by Wdas License Limited Partnership....

 radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

.

Modern Philadelphia has contributed a number of important performers of Irish music, most famously Mick Moloney

Mick Moloney

Michael "Mick" Moloney is a traditional Irish musician and scholar. Born in Limerick, County Limerick, he was an important figure on the Dublin folk-song revival in the 1960s. In 1973, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

, John Vesey

John Vesey

John Vesey or Veysey was an English bishop.-Life:He was born John Harman, probably about 1462, the son of a yeoman farmer, in a farmhouse now known as Moor Hall Farm, Sutton Coldfield...

, Kevin McGillian

Kevin McGillian

Kevin McGillian is an Irish traditional musician from Legfordrum in County Tyrone in Ireland. He moved to the United States, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a young man, and has been an active part of the regional music scene since the 1980s.Reference*...

 and Séamus Egan

Séamus Egan

Séamus Egan is an Irish musician.-Early days:Séamus Egan was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania to Irish émigrés Jack and Ann Egan. At the age of three his parents moved the family back home to County Mayo, Ireland....

, both of whom were part of a nationwide resurgence of interest in traditional Irish-American music. In Philadelphia, this revival of traditional music built on the work of earlier pioneers like Ed Reavy

Ed Reavy

Ed Reavy was an Irish-American songwriter, composer of numerous traditional Irish dance tunes. He was from Barnagrove, County Cavan. Reavy was a fiddler, and recorded in 1927 for the Victor record label, including two reels and two hornpipes...

, a composer who began working in the 1930s.

Philadelphia's most famous contribution to Irish traditional music is Mick Moloney. Moloney was from County Limerick

County Limerick

It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...

, and was a musician both in Limerick and in Dublin, playing the banjo

Banjo

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

 and singing; he was also a member of the popular folk group The Johnstons

The Johnstons

The Johnstons were an Irish close-harmony folk band, originally founded in Slane, County Meath, Ireland, consisting of Adrienne, Lucy and Michael Johnston. They began performing in the early 1960s in Slane....

. Having emigrated to Philadelphia in 1973, Moloney has lectured widely on Irish culture and music and founded the organization Green Fields of America

Green Fields of America

The Green Fields of America is an ensemble which performs and promotes Irish traditional music in the United States."The Green Fields of America" was formed in 1978 in Philadelphia and still led by musician and folklorist Mick Moloney. The band was created to present and tour some of Irish...

, which promotes Irish-American music. Egan is a multi-instrumentalist originally from Philadelphia, though he moved back to County Mayo

County Mayo

County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...

 as a young man, and has there become a prominent musician. He is co-founder of the Irish music band Solas, and he co-wrote Sarah McLachlan

Sarah McLachlan

Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...

's hit song "I Will Remember You", featured in the soundtrack for the film The Brothers McMullen, for which Egan also provided the score.

Roman Catholic church music

Albert Rosewig

Albert Rosewig

Albert Henry Rosewig was an American composer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, born in Hanover. He was an influential and modernist composer of hymns....

 had become a prominent local reverend and musical arranger in the late 19th century, known for a modern style that adapted elements of Western classical music. In 1903, however, Pope Pius X issued an edict (Motu Proprio), which was intended to reform and restore church music to a more traditional style. To that end, local composer, conductor and publisher Nicola Montani

Nicola Montani

Nicola A. Montani, KCSS, who was born in New York in 1880 and died in 1948, was a conductor, composer, arranger, and publisher of sacred music.Montani founded the St. Gregory Guild and the Society of St. Gregory. In 1920, he published the famous St...

 led the reform, which restricted musical style and instrumentation, and encouraged the use of polyphony

Polyphony

In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....

, Latin and restored Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...

. He was not the only noted local liturgical composer, however, as M. Immaculée, music director of Immaculata College, was also a well-known composer; she was noted as a composer of choral works, and also promoted liturgical music, and female composers, in the Philadelphia area.

Montani was from New York, but became prominent in Philadelphia as an editor for liturgical music at local publishers, and music director at several Philadelphia Catholic high schools. By the 1920s, he had grown in stature, forming the Society of St. Gregory and the Palestrina Choir, which helped to bring attention to Renaissance polyphony

Renaissance music

Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...

 and publishing the Catholic Choirmaster, a magazine. Montani also created a list of music that did and did not meet the standards put forth by Motu Proprio, in the processing banning or altering well-known works by composers ranging from Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

 and Gioacchino Rossini

Gioacchino Rossini

Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces...

 to Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

 and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

.

Montani's St. Gregory Hymnal was used throughout Philadelphia-area Catholic churches until after the Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

. Modern churches in the city use instruments ranging from electric organs and guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

s to keyboards

Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

, saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

s and marimba

Marimba

The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...

s. The International Eucharistic Congress

International Eucharistic Congress

In the Roman Catholic church, a Eucharistic Congress is a gathering of clergy, religious, and laity to bear witness to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which is an important Roman Catholic doctrine...

 was held in Philadelphia in 1976, resulting in a new hymn called "Gift of Finest Wheat", which has become widespread.

Jazz

Philadelphia developed an early jazz scene, beginning with Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters was an American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.Her best-known recordings includes, "Dinah", "Birmingham Bertha",...

, a singer from nearby Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...

, who was the first star for Black Swan Records

Black Swan Records

Black Swan Records was a United States record label founded in 1921 in Harlem, New York. It was the first widely distributed label to be owned and operated by, and marketed to, African Americans....

. The Standard Theatre and Dunbar Theatre (later renamed the Lincoln Theater) were important venues for jazz in the early 20th century, when most major performers stopped in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and New York. Though jazz was a fundamentally African American style, Philadelphia's multi-ethnic population was attracted to the style, and the city's Italian and Jewish neighborhoods produced several well-known jazz musicians. Two of the most important were the Italian jazz instrumentalists Eddie Lang

Eddie Lang

Eddie Lang was an American jazz guitarist, regarded as the Father of Jazz Guitar. He played a Gibson L-4 and L-5 guitar, providing great influence for many guitarists, including Django Reinhardt.-Biography:...

 and Joe Venuti, the latter of whom became known as the "Mad Fiddler from Philly". Others included Stan Getz

Stan Getz

Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...

, Jimmy Amadie

Jimmy Amadie

Jimmy Amadie is a jazz musician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a music educator, and was known for his bebop style of piano-playing. He has worked with such luminaries as Coleman Hawkins, Mel Tormé, Woody Herman...

, Robert Chudnick and Jan Savitt

Jan Savitt

Jan Savitt was an American bandleader, musical arranger, and violinist....

, who, with his band the Top Hatters, toured with George Tunnell

George Tunnell

George "Bon Bon" Tunnell was an American vocalist. Born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was one of the first African American vocalists to perform with a white band, that of Jan Savitt and his band, The Top Hatters....

, one of the first African American singers in the city to consistently sing with a major white band. The city's early 20th century mainstream dance scene was led by the bandleader Howard Lanin

Howard Lanin

Howard Lanin was an American bandleader, one of the most successful in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area in the early 20th century. Lanin was called, "The King of Society Music." He led the Howard Lanin Orchestra, a group that performed show tunes, waltzes and sweet jazz...

, whose band performed popular showtunes, waltzes and light jazz.

Philadelphia's African American population grew greatly as a result of immigration from the south during World War 2, when future luminaries like the Heath Brothers

Heath Brothers

The Heath Brothers was an American jazz group, formed in 1975 by the brothers Jimmy , Percy , and Albert "Tootie" Heath ; and pianist Stanley Cowell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tony Purrone and Jimmy's son Mtume joined the group later...

, Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...

 and John Coltrane

John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...

 moved to Philadelphia from the Carolinas. Philadelphia's mid-20th century jazz heritage includes an important role in the development of bebop, a style most closely associated with New York. In the 1940s, Philadelphia jazz was based out of clubs along Columbia Avenue in North Philadelphia and clubs like the Clef Club and Pep's in South Philadelphia. The city produced a number of bop

Bebop

Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...

-era saxophonists, most famous including John Coltrane

John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...

, one of the most renowned jazz musicians of the 20th century, known for an "active, vigorous, emotionally charged style". The city also produced Charlie Biddle

Charlie Biddle

Charlie Biddle, otherwise known as Charles Reed Biddle was a Canadian jazz bassist.-Biography:...

, Clifford Brown

Clifford Brown

Clifford Brown , aka "Brownie," was an influential and highly rated American jazz trumpeter. He died aged 25, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings...

, Catalyst

Catalyst (band)

Catalyst was a funk/jazz quartet from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose material presaged the work of later jazz fusion artists. The group encountered regional success in the 1970s and have become more widely known since the re-release of their material on CD....

, Philly Joe Jones

Philly Joe Jones

Joseph Rudolph Jones was a Philadelphia-born United States jazz drummer, known as the drummer for the Miles Davis Quintet.Philly Joe Jones was often confused with another influential jazz drummer, Jo Jones...

, Reggie Workman

Reggie Workman

Reginald "Reggie" Workman is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey....

, Jimmy Smith

Jimmy Smith (musician)

Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...

, Hank Mobley

Hank Mobley

Henry Mobley was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz...

, Wilbur Ware

Wilbur Ware

Wilbur Ware was an American jazz double-bassist known for his hard bop percussive style.Born in Chicago, Ware taught himself to play banjo and bass. In the 1940s, he worked with Stuff Smith, Sonny Stitt and Roy Eldridge. In the 1950s, Ware played with Eddie Vinson, Art Blakey, and Buddy DeFranco...

, Hassan ibn Ali and Benny Golson

Benny Golson

Benny Golson is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.-Biography:While in high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Golson played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and...

. And home grown, 20th and Columbia Ave's own, trumpeter Cullen Knight, Jr.

In 1970, Philadelphia became the home of Sun Ra

Sun Ra

Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...

's band, which helped lay the groundwork for the 1980s scene, which locally produced McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...

, Grover Washington, Jr.

Grover Washington, Jr.

Grover Washington, Jr. was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.He wrote some of his material and...

, and Stanley Clarke

Stanley Clarke

Stanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores...

. The 1990s local jazz scene continued to thrive with artists like Terell Stafford

Terell Stafford

Terell Stafford is a professional jazz trumpet player and current Director of Jazz Studies at Temple University.Terell Stafford born in Miami, Florida and raised in both Chicago, Illinois and Silver Spring, Maryland. He went on to get a degree in music education from University of Maryland in 1988...

, Jamaaladeen Tacuma

Jamaaladeen Tacuma

-External links:*...

, Uri Caine

Uri Caine

Uri Caine is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer.-Early years:The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, Caine began playing piano at seven and studied with French jazz pianist Bernard Peiffer at 12. He later studied at the University of Pennsylvania where he came...

, Christian McBride

Christian McBride

Christian McBride is an American jazz bassist. His father, Lee Smith, and his great uncle, Howard Cooper, are well known Philadelphia bassists who served as McBride's early mentors...

, Joey DeFrancesco

Joey DeFrancesco

Joey DeFrancesco is an American jazz organist, trumpeter, and vocalist. Down Beat's Critics and Readers Poll selected him as the top jazz organist every year since 2003.DeFrancesco was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania...

, Ben Schachter, Larry McKenna, Mike Boone, and Byron Landham.

The city has a thriving jazz radio station in WRTI

WRTI

WRTI is a public radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a service of Temple University.WRTI began in 1948 as an AM carrier current station. It was founded by John Roberts, professor emeritus of communications at Temple and long-time anchorman at WFIL-TV . He'd helped found the School...

, sponsored by Temple University. Its hosts include such notables as Bob Perkins

Bob Perkins

Bob Perkins is a judge who sits on the Travis County District Court in Austin, Texas. In November 2005, he was assigned to preside over the Tom DeLay money-laundering case. DeLay's attorneys objected, noting that Perkins was a member of the Democratic Party, and had contributed to the liberal group...

 and Harrison Ridley Jr.

Harrison Ridley Jr.

Harrison Ridley Jr. was a teacher and broadcaster on African-American music.Ridley taught music history at Temple University and Villanova University, he was the host of a Sunday night radio show on WRTI entitled, "The Historical Approach to the Positive Music." The "historical approach" Ridley...

.

1950s pop

Philadelphia's first major contribution to mainstream American pop music was the television show American Bandstand

American Bandstand

American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...

, hosted by Dick Clark. The show featured music and dancing teenagers and became an enduring feature of American music and television, groundbreaking in its broadcasting of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. Clark, as the show's host, became a leading American music producer and the show brought attention to Philadelphia's music scene, facilitating the rise of local labels like Swan Records

Swan Records

Swan Records was a mid-20th century United States based record label, founded in 1957, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It had a subsidiary label called Lawn Records....

, Cameo-Parkway and Chancellor Records

Chancellor Records

Chancellor Records was a record label associated with ABC-Paramount Records, which initially distributed the smaller label. Based in Philadelphia, PA, it was an integral part of the dominance of popular Philadelphia artists and music in the late 1950s and early 1960s.Its first hit was "With All My...

. This system produced pop stars including Fabian

Fabian (entertainer)

Fabiano Anthony Forte , known as Fabian, is an American teen idol of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He rose to national prominence after performing several times on American Bandstand. Eleven of his songs reached the Billboard Hot 100 listing.-Early life:Fabian was the son of Josephine and Domenic...

, Bobby Rydell

Bobby Rydell

Bobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a so-called "teen idol"...

 and Frankie Avalon

Frankie Avalon

Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...

. A payola scandal threatened the show and Clark at one point but subsequent congressional hearings cleared the music mogul of wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the show moved to Los Angeles in 1963 and Philadelphia's pop output began to wane.

Philadelphia's 1950s-era musical output included the rock pioneer Bill Haley

Bill Haley

Bill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...

 from Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...

 and the rockabilly

Rockabilly

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...

 musician Charlie Gracie

Charlie Gracie

Charlie Gracie is an American rock pioneer and singer. He was born the same day as another rock and roll singer, Bobby Darin.His father encouraged him to play the guitar...

. Philadelphia also had a vibrant R&B and soul scene, including most influentially the label Cameo-Parkway, which was responsible for some 1950s R&B dance hits beginning with Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...

's "The Twist

The Twist (song)

"The Twist" is a twelve bar blues song that gave birth to the Twistdance craze. The song was written and originally released in 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side but his version was only a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at 28 on the Billboard Hot 100...

". Cameo-Parkway followed with a series of other dance-themed novelty songs like "The Wah Watusi" by The Orlons

The Orlons

The Orlons are an American R&B group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that formed in 1960. They received gold discs for the million selling achievements of three of their singles...

, "Mashed Potato Time" by Dee Dee Sharp

Dee Dee Sharp

Dee Dee Sharp is an American R&B singer, who began her career recording as a backing vocalist in 1961.-Career:...

 and "The Bristol Stomp

Bristol Stomp

"Bristol Stomp" is a song written in 1961 by Kal Mann and Dave Appell, two executives with the Cameo-Parkway record label, for The Dovells, an a cappella singing group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who recorded the song for Cameo-Parkway late that year. It was originally recorded by a group from...

" by The Dovells

The Dovells

The Dovells were an American music group, formed at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1957, under the name 'The Brooktones'. The members were Arnie Silver, Mark Gordesky, Len Borisoff , Jerry Gross, Mike Freda and Jim Mealey...

.

Philadelphia's famous 1950s performers also included Danny & the Juniors

Danny & the Juniors

Danny & The Juniors were a doo-wop quartet from Philadelphia comprising Danny Rapp, Dave White, Frank Maffei and Joe Terranova. Formed in 1955, they are most widely recognized for their hit single "At the Hop", which was released in 1957...

, a doo wop group. They were among the first of Philadelphia's doo wop musicians to gain national success. Doo wop was a style of a cappella

A cappella

A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

 vocal music associated with many cities of the urban East Coast, especially Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey and Baltimore.

Philly soul

In the 1960s, Philadelphia soul began to develop its own sound, drawing from the girl group

Girl group

A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...

 sound with "strong pop melodies and brassy, upbeat production (without as much use of) interactive harmonies", while other performers, like the funky Howard Tate

Howard Tate

Howard Tate is an American soul music singer and songwriter.-Early life:He moved with his family to Philadelphia in the early 1940s. In his teens, he joined a gospel music group that included Garnet Mimms and, as the Gainors, recorded rhythm and blues sides for Mercury Records and Cameo Records in...

 adoped a more Southern soul

Southern soul

Southern soul is a type of soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues , country, early rock and roll, and a strong gospel influence that emanated from the sounds of Southern African-American churches. The focus of the...

-style sound. Major girl group-oriented acts included Brenda & the Tabulations

Brenda & the Tabulations

Brenda & the Tabulations were an American R&B group formed in 1966 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally composed of Brenda Payton, Eddie L. Jackson, Maurice Coates and Jerry Jones.-History:...

, with their string-dominated doo wop hit "Dry Your Eyes", Barbara Mason

Barbara Mason

Barbara Mason is an American R&B/soul singer best known for her 1965 hit song, "Yes, I'm Ready".-Career:A soul singer, Mason initially focused on songwriting when she entered the music industry in her teens...

's sultry vocals on "Yes, I'm Ready" and Claudine Clark

Claudine Clark

Claudine Clark is an American R&B musician, best known as the singer and composer of the 1962 hit "Party Lights", which reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100....

's "raucous" sound. The most influential of these performers, however, was Patti LaBelle

Patti LaBelle

Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...

, who became a major pop singer in the 1970s.

R&B and soul-oriented indie labels in the 1960s included Phil-LA and Arctic Records, where the songwriting and producing team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff began their careers. Gamble and Huff were architects of the Philadelphia sound

Philadelphia soul

Philadelphia soul, sometimes called the Philadelphia Sound or Sweet Philly, is a style of soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featuring sweeping strings and piercing horns. The subtle sound of a glockenspiel can often be heard in the background of...

 in soul music, beginning with their 1967 hit for The Soul Survivors

The Soul Survivors

The Soul Survivors were a Philadelphia R&B group founded by brothers Richie and Charlie Ingui and New York Native, Kenny Jeremiah, known for their 1967 hit single, "Expressway to Your Heart"; which was the first hit by Philadelphia soul record producers and songwriters, Kenny Gamble and Leon...

' "Expressway to Your Heart". Their signature sound was sentimental and romantic, and began to develop with The Intruders

The Intruders

The Intruders were an American soul music group most popular in the 1960s and 1970s. As one of the first groups to have hit songs under the direction of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, they had a major influence on the development of Philadelphia soul....

, a long-running pop act. Jerry Butler

Jerry Butler (singer)

Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...

 became an increasingly important performer later in the decade, as Gamble and Huff experimented with a lush, orchestral sound produced by large ensembles of strings, bells and horns. The effect was a "funky" style, "more removed from earlier soul's R&B and blues roots", and "reminiscent of Motown in its attention to detail and hooks, but was much more lightweight". Though Gamble and Huff were the most renowned producers of the Philly soul scene, the area also produced Thom Bell

Thom Bell

Thomas Randolph "Thom" Bell is an American songwriter and producer, best known as one of the creators of the Philadelphia style of soul music in the 1970s. He moved to Philadelphia as a child.-Biography:...

, who worked with The Delfonics

The Delfonics

The Delfonics are a pioneering Philadelphia soul singing group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their most notable hits include "La-La ", "Didn't I ", "Break Your Promise," "I'm Sorry," and "Ready or Not Here I Come "...

, The Stylistics

The Stylistics

The Stylistics are a soul music vocal group, and were one of the best-known Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. They formed in 1968, and were composed of lead Russell Thompkins, Jr., Herbie Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All of their US hits were ballads, graced by the...

 and The Spinners on a more doo wop-influenced style.

In the early 1970s, Philly soul broke through with its most popular recordings of the era. Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International label started the trend after signing a distribution agreement with CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

. The O'Jays

The O'Jays

The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1963 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert , Walter Williams , William Powell , Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. The O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005...

 became the first major act under this arrangement, and became known for a grittier lyrical feel, established on the hit "Back Stabbers", which had a socially conscious focus on inner-city life. The O'Jays were followed by the more romantic Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American singing group, one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. The group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco...

, which produced the future solo vocalist Teddy Pendergrass

Teddy Pendergrass

Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade...

.

By the middle of the 1970s, Philadelphia soul had declined greatly in popularity. Audiences embraced disco, where Philadelphia's only major contribution was the local veteran Patti LaBelle. The city remained important musically, giving rise to widely popular local blue-eyed soul

Blue-eyed soul

Blue-eyed soul is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and...

 duo Hall & Oates

Hall & Oates

Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...

 and continuing to influence The Four Tops.

Recent music scene

In the late 20th century and early 21st century, Philadelphia's local music scene produced a number of respected performers from a variety of fields, including jazz, R&B, rock, hip hop and dancehall. The city's most historically important contribution to popular music since the 1980s was a major part in the early evolution of East Coast hip hop

East Coast hip hop

East Coast hip hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in New York City, USA during the 1970s. Hip hop is recognized to have originated and evolved first in the East Coast...

, a style based out of New York City. In more recent years, the city's large Jamaican population has caused the spread of dancehall and reggae clubs to dominate a large part of Philadelphia's nightlife. Grindcore

Grindcore

Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....

, industrial music

Industrial music

Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...

 and hardcore punk

Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 are also a part of Philadelphia's modern music scene, built around labels like Relapse

Relapse Records

Relapse Records is an independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990.-History:The label was started by Matthew F. Jacobson in August, 1990 in his parents' basement in Aurora, Colorado...

 and Dancing Ferret

Dancing Ferret

The Dancing Ferret entertainment group is an unofficial collective name for Dancing Ferret Discs and Dancing Ferret Concerts. It was started by Patrick Rodgers in 1995 with the formation of Dancing Ferret Concerts...

, respectively.

Classical music

Philadelphia has a thriving classical music scene. Many orchestras, choral groups, chamber groups, and new music ensembles call it home. Several famous and successful composers live in Philadelphia, including Jennifer Higdon

Jennifer Higdon

Jennifer Higdon is an American composer of classical music. Higdon has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto and the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her Percussion Concerto.-Biography:Higdon was born in Brooklyn,...

 and Joseph Hallman.

Electronic music

Philadelphia has a diverse DJ scene of electronic dance music, based in an area sometimes called Vinyl Row on Fourth Street. Most major events and parties are advertised in this area, and in a column by Sean O'Neal called DJ Nights in the Philadelphia City Paper. DJ clubs include Fluid, Shampoo and Transit, while the city's most prominent DJs include Rob Paine

Rob Paine

Rob Paine is a DJ from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. His style mixes house music with elements of dub and reggae. He has been performing since 1992, and has established Worship Recordings with Dan McGehean. He has recorded with Zach Eberz , Chris Brann...

, Tom Colontonio

Tom Colontonio

Tom Colontonio was born July 26 in New Jersey, US and is both an International trance producer , House Music producer and DJ.He became a DJ in 1996 and a producer in 2005. His first public gig was at the legendary nightclub in Atlantic City...

, Willyum, LickAshot, Roland Riso, Sat-One, DJ Smoove, and Robbie Tronco

Robbie Tronco

Robbie Tronco is a DJ from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. He has performed across the United States, as well as abroad in Canada and Japan, and has had shows on WIOQ in Philadelphia. Robbie has spun at virtually every club within the Philadelphia, PA club scene from the 80's...

.

Philadelphia's electronic music scene includes DJs who play house

House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

, techno and other styles, but the city is particularly known for the techstep style of drum and bass

Drum and bass

Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...

, and is home to perhaps the country's most popular DJ of that style, Dieselboy

Dieselboy

Dieselboy is the stage name of Damian Higgins, an American drum and bass DJ, producer, remixer, founder of the Human Imprint music label, and co-founder of its sublabel SubHuman : Human Imprint which launched in September 2010...

. The most important drum and bass nightclub in Philadelphia is Club Skyline, and local performers include Jordana LeSesne, Karl K and MC Dub 2. The composer Joseph Hallman is also an avid remixer/producer and works primarily in Philadelphia.

Some of Philadelphia's current event companies include ROC Philly who produce many special events throughout the year, Sundae made famous by their "Sundae" parties have recently started a moving Monday called "Rover" which visits different venues, Worship which produce the long running house monthly "Shakedown" and also gets at least 2 visits a year from Josh Wink

Josh Wink

Josh Wink is an electronic music DJ, label owner, producer, remixer, and artist. He is a native of Philadelphia, United States. A pioneering DJ in the American rave scene during the early 1990s, Wink was the most prominent exponent of the tribal forms of techno and house in the U.S...

.

R&B and Hip-hop

The first major pop hip hop acts from Philadelphia were Will Smith

Will Smith

Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...

 and DJ Jazzy Jeff

DJ Jazzy Jeff

Jeffrey Allen Townes , also known as DJ Jazzy Jeff or simply Jazz, is an American hip hop, R&B record producer, turntablist and actor. He is best known for his early career with Will Smith as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince...

; the city also produced a number of other noted performers, like Tuff Crew

Tuff Crew

The Tuff Crew, composed of Ice Dog, L. A. Kid, Monty G, Tone Love, and DJ Too Tuff, is a hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, dubbed "Philly's first Rap Supergroup". They released four albums...

, Lisa Lopes

Lisa Lopes

Lisa Nicole Lopes better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper, singer, dancer, actress, television host, and songwriter...

 of TLC, and New Jack Swing

New jack swing

New jack swing or swingbeat is a fusion genre spearheaded by Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle which became extremely popular from the late-1980s into the mid-1990s. Its influence, along with hip-hop, seeped into pop culture and was the definitive sound of the inventive Black New York club scene...

 group Boyz II Men

Boyz II Men

Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...

. Local recorded hip hop began in the Late 1970s, with Lady B

Lady B

Wendy "Lady B" Clark is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is one of the earliest female rappers in hip hop history, and one of the first to record a studio album...

.

It was Schoolly D

Schoolly D

Jesse B. Weaver Jr. , better known by the stage name Schoolly D, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.- Career :...

, however, who first put Philadelphia on the hip hop map and made Philadelphia "the spawning ground for a whole new direction in rap music". Often considered the first hardcore rapper and gangsta rap

Gangsta rap

Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...

per, Schoolly D rose to local fame with the single "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?

P.S.K. What Does It Mean?

"P.S.K. What Does It Mean?" is a song released in 1985 by Philadelphia rapper Schoolly D on his independent label Schoolly D Records. P.S.K. are the initials for Park Side Killas, a street gang that Schoolly D affiliated himself with...

", which got airplay as far north as New York. He rapped about the life of a "gangsta

Gangster

A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....

", about living in the ghetto

Ghetto

A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...

 and dealing with poverty

Poverty

Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

 and crime

Crime

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...

, but he is most famous for performing the theme song for the Adult Swim

Adult Swim

Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...

 program Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Aqua Teen Hunger Force , retitled Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 in 2011, is an American animated television series on Cartoon Network late night programing block, Adult Swim, as well as Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block and later G4 Canada's ADd block in Canada...

.

Despite the fact that Philadelphia is one of the birth places of hardcore rap, the upbeat and party-driven Will Smith

Will Smith

Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...

 became the most visible of the early stars. However, the local scene remains vibrant, with regular performances across the city, including at Temple University

Temple University

Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...

's African Student Union. Some performers have achieved considerable national acclaim since Smith, however, especially The Roots

The Roots

The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...

, Cassidy, The Goats, Beanie Sigel

Beanie Sigel

Dwight Grant , also known as Beanie Sigel, is a American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,most recently he was in talks with 50 Cent to sign with G-Unit Records and is a former member/artist of Dame Dash Music Group and Roc-A-Fella Records where he had formed a close association with rappers...

, Freeway

Freeway (rapper)

Leslie Edward Pridgen , better known by his stage name Freeway, is an American rapper. Best known for his tenure on Roc-A-Fella Records and his affiliation with Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel, he is recognized by his high-pitched delivery and for the long beard he keeps due to his Muslim faith...

, Peedi Crakk, State Property

State Property (Group)

State Property is a rap group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA led by rapper Beanie Sigel with Philly rappers Freeway, Peedi Peedi, Oschino, and Omillio Sparks, and the Young Gunz and female R&B singer Casha...

, Meek Mill and Eve

Eve (rapper)

Eve Jihan Jeffers , is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and actress. Her first three albums have reached a total of over 8 million albums sold worldwide. She has also achieved success in fashion as she started a clothing line titled "Fetish." She won a Grammy Award in 2002 for the...

; the city has also produced the well-known alternative hip hop

Alternative hip hop

Alternative hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music. Allmusic defines it as follows: -Origin:...

 duo Jedi Mind Tricks

Jedi Mind Tricks

Jedi Mind Tricks is a hip hop duo with Vinnie Paz from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Jus Allah from Camden, New Jersey. The group was founded by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz and former producer/DJ Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind...

, Princess Superstar

Princess Superstar

Princess Superstar is an American emcee and DJ.Her musical style, as she describes it, is flip-flop — a mixture of 'hip hop, electroclash and electronica'.-Background:...

, Bahamadia

Bahamadia

Bahamadia is a Philadelphia-born hip hop artist born in 1970, and a DJ who later became an MC. As a member of Gang Starr Foundation, she released her critically acclaimed debut album entitled Kollage in 1996. The album featured production by Guru and DJ Premier of Gang Starr...

, Chiddy Bang

Chiddy Bang

Chiddy Bang is an American alternative hip hop band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The group consists of Chidera "Chiddy" Anamege and Noah "Xaphoon Jones" Beresin. The duo was introduced through former band member Zachary Sewall in late 2008 during their freshman year at Drexel University, in...

, Tony Two-Step, Spank Rock

Spank Rock

Spank Rock is an American hip-hop group consisting of rapper Naeem Juwan and producer Alex Epton . Their style is generally described as a mix of underground alternative rap and electro and rock.- Biography :...

 and Amanda Blank

Amanda Blank

Amanda Blank is an American singer and member of the performance art band Sweatheart based in Philadelphia.-Early life:Amanda Blank was born in Germantown, a neighborhood in northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

. Philadelphia has also been home to a number of recent R&B and pop acts like Jill Scott

Jill Scott

Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...

, Jazmine Sullivan

Jazmine Sullivan

Jazmine Marie Sullivan is an American recording artist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is also the protégé of rapper Missy Elliott. Her debut single "Need U Bad" reached number one on Billboards Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while her second single, "Bust Your Windows" peaked at number four...

 and Musiq Soulchild, and neo-soul star John Legend

John Legend

John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...

 attended the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 and has maintained ties to the city.

Unlike many other cities, Philadelphia's Hip Hop scene is known to have remained untouched by mainstream culture in the early years of the 21st century. Nevertheless, newer rappers like Asher Roth, Gilbere Forte and Chiddy Bang have incorporated pop and electronica elements to their music.

Jamaican music

Philadelphia is home to the second-largest Jamaican population of any city in the United States. Jamaican music clubs, devoted to styles like dancehall

Dancehall

Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...

, have become a major part of the Philadelphia nightclub scene in the early first decade of the 21st century. Clubs like Upper Deck, Genesis, Pinnacle and Reef have been mainstays of the Philadelphia dancehall scene. Many of these clubs hold dancehall contests, though there is no single such contest that is extremely famous or semi-official in the city.

DJ and music promoter David Russell

David Russell

David Russell may refer to:* David Russell , Anglican bishop* David Russell , Lance Corporal with the 22nd Battalion, New Zealand Infantry, 2nd NZEF* David Russell , classical guitarist...

has done a lot to establish the Philadelphia dancehall scene. Russell, who is from Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

, first became a DJ in Jamaica, then moved to Philadelphia in 1994. He then created Jamaican Dave Productions, which has spurred the growth of the local industry and performers like Peter Blacks and the Reggae Vibrations Sound System.

Rock/indie music

In recent years, the Philadelphia area has become a profoundly rock-loving place. The city and its suburbs have been the home of a couple of influential rock artists like Joan Jett. However, it was only in the 1990s that the city's rock culture began to expand and get recognition. Nowadays, many bands call Philadelphia home, and the area is constantly highly regarded by rock bands and artists.

The area includes critically acclaimed rock and metal bands, including A Life Once Lost

A Life Once Lost

A Life Once Lost is an American metalcore band formed in 1999 in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After releases on Robotic Empire and Deathwish Inc., A Life Once Lost released their successful album, Hunter on Ferret Music in 2005...

, Cinderella

Cinderella (band)

Cinderella is an American heavy metal band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They emerged in the mid-1980s with a series of multi-platinum albums and hit singles whose music videos received heavy MTV rotation. They were famous for being a glam metal band, but then shifted over towards a more hard...

, Circa Survive

Circa Survive

Circa Survive is an American alternative rock band from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania suburb of Doylestown, formed in 2004. The band consists of vocalist Anthony Green, former singer of Saosin and members of the now-defunct This Day Forward....

, Valencia

Valencia (band)

Valencia is an alternative rock/punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are currently on hiatus.-History:Valencia met by playing local shows together around the tri-state area in separate bands. George Ciukurescu and JD Perry grew up together; attending elementary school, high school, and...

, Free Energy

Free Energy (band)

Free Energy is an American rock band based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The members include Scott Wells, Paul Sprangers, Evan Wells, and Nicholas Shuminsky.-History:...

, and The Hooters

The Hooters

The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...

. Popular rock and indie rock musicians from Philadelphia include Man Man

Man Man

Man Man is an experimental band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Man Man is known for their exuberant live performances. When performing, the members of the band sometimes coordinate their outfits, often seen in white outfits and, more commonly, war paint....

, A Sunny Day in Glasgow

A Sunny Day in Glasgow

A Sunny Day in Glasgow are a band from Philadelphia, formed in 2006, undergoing many lineup changes since then, though always led by Ben Daniels.-Background:...

, Bardo Pond

Bardo Pond

Bardo Pond are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1991, and who are currently signed to London based label Fire Records. The current members are Michael Gibbons , John Gibbons , Isobel Sollenberger , Clint Takeda , Jason Kourkonis , and Aaron Igler...

, The Wonder Years

The Wonder Years (band)

The Wonder Years is an American pop punk band from Lansdale, Pennsylvania that began in June 2005. Since then, they have released three full length albums, two EPs, and several splits/compilation contributions...

, Dr. Dog

Dr. Dog

Dr. Dog is a psychedelic rock band from West Grove, Pennsylvania. Its lineup currently consists of Toby Leaman , Scott McMicken , Frank McElroy , Zach Miller , and Eric Slick . Lead vocal duties are shared between Leaman and McMicken, with all members contributing harmonies...

, Reading Rainbow, Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile is a guitarist and singer born in 1980 from the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. He was signed by Matador Records as a solo artist in May 2009....

, Sun Airway, The War on Drugs

The War on Drugs (band)

-History:Band member Adam Granduciel moved from Oakland, California to Philadelphia in 2003, where he met Kurt Vile and began playing music with him. They began playing as The War on Drugs in 2005, and self-released a demo EP...

, Clockcleaner

Clockcleaner

Clockcleaner is a punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,USA, named after a particular "hot bag" of heroin that was distributed in Philadelphia in the 1980s. The band consists of John Sharkey III on vocals/guitar, Karen Horner on 6-string bass guitar, and Richie Charles Jr on drums...

 and Cold Cave

Cold Cave

Cold Cave is the experimental musical project of Wesley Eisold based in New York City and originating in Philadelphia and is described as "a collage of darkwave, noise, and synth pop"...

. Musicians from popular bands such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is an American indie rock group based in Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, was self-released in 2005.-History:...

 and The Walkmen

The Walkmen

The Walkmen are an American indie rock band, with members based in New York City and Philadelphia. The band formed in 2000 with three members from Jonathan Fire*Eater—Paul Maroon , Walter Martin , and Matt Barrick —and two from The Recoys, Peter Bauer and Hamilton Leithauser . All but Bauer...

 are also from Philadelphia.

See also

• Curtis Organ
  Curtis Organ
  The Curtis Organ, named for publisher Cyrus H. K. Curtis, is one of the largest pipe organs in the world with 162 ranks and 10,731 pipes. It was manufactured by the Austin Organ Company as its Opus 1416 in 1926 for the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exposition. It was known as the "Organists'...
  
  
• List of people from Philadelphia
• Wanamaker Organ
  Wanamaker Organ
  The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the largest operational pipe organ in the world, located within a spacious 7-story court at Macy's Center City . The largest organ by some measures is the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ...
  
  

External links

• Historical Notes on Philadelphia African American composers