Several hundred attended the rededication at the Kimmel Center on Saturday, declared “Marian Anderson Day” in both the city and commonwealth.
Philadelphia Orchestra Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, left, and Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts President and CEO Matias Tarnopolsky celebrate the unveiling and rededication of Verizon Hall to honor Marian Anderson on June 8, 2024.
The hall previously carried a commercial moniker — it was Verizon Hall since the arts center’s beginnings nearly a quarter-century ago — and now it boasts a rarity: a Black woman’s name atop an important civic building. But she made her biggest mark on Easter Sunday, 1939. After being turned away from a concert date in Washington, D.C.’s Constitution Hall because of her race, Anderson sang instead in front of the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of 75,000 and a radio listenership in the millions.
Saturday’s festivities brought a redolent reminder of 1939. Members of the Anderson family attended the rededication, and they, along with Eleanor Roosevelt’s great-grandson Nicholas W. Roosevelt, were expected at the Great Stages Gala Saturday evening to be hosted by Queen Latifah.
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