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Philly native, alto saxophonist, and composer @wilkinsimmanuel (Twitter)/@immanuel.wilkins (Instagram) returns to @KimmelCC (Twitter)/@KimmelCulturalCampus (Facebook and Instagram) on 4/6. For more info, visit kimmelculturalcampus.org.
Press Contacts:
Lauren A. Woodard Hall Hannah Palermo
484-832-1963 267-765-3724
lhall@kimmelculturalcampus.org hpalermo@alliedglobalmarketing.com
KIMMEL CULTURAL CAMPUS PRESENTS ALTO SAXOPHONIST AND COMPOSER, IMMANUEL WILKINS,
APRIL 6, 2023
An Upper Darby local, Wilkins is an alum of the Kimmel’s Jazz Residency program and its Creative Music Program for Jazz
“An alto saxophonist whose playing is at once dazzlingly solid and perfectly lithe.” - The New York Times
“…the future of jazz is in the hands of musicians like Wilkins.” - AllAboutJazz
“Immanuel Wilkins is an alto saxophonist with a glowing tone, a sharp working band and all manner of smart ideas about song form.” - NPR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (March 6, 2023) – The Kimmel Cultural Campus presents Immanuel Wilkins at the Perelman Theater on Thursday, April 6, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. Philadelphia native and former Campus Jazz Residency artist, Immanuel Wilkins returns with his longstanding quartet to perform music from his sophomore Blue Note recording, The 7th Hand.
Alto saxophonist and composer, Wilkins is one of the vital voices of jazz in the 21st century. His music is filled with empathy and conviction, bonding arcs of melody and lamentation to pluming gestures of space and breath. Listeners were introduced to this riveting sound with his acclaimed debut album Omega, which was named the #1 Jazz Album of 2020 by The New York Times. The album also introduced his remarkable quartet with Micah Thomas on piano, Daryl Johns on bass, and Kweku Sumbry on drums, a tight-knit unit that Wilkins features once again on his stunning sophomore album.
“Wilkins honed his artistic skills in church, playing jazz and R&B, and by participating in jazz education opportunities here on the Kimmel Cultural Campus,” said Matías Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc. “Whether as a composer, bandleader, or saxophonist, he has a unique artistic voice that makes a profound spiritual and emotional impact.”
Wilkins grew up in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, where he sharpened his skills in the Prayer Chapel Church of God and studied at the Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, as well as at the Kimmel as part of the Creative Music Program for Jazz. In 2015, he moved to New York City to attend The Juilliard School, where he met trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire, who helped him navigate the jazz scene. He also met musician Jason Moran, a prominent pianist and composer who took Wilkins on tour. In what was one of Wilkins’ biggest gigs to date, he played alto in Moran’s “In My Mind: Monk at Town Hall, 1959,” a series of live performances honoring the great legacy of jazz pianist Thelonious Monk.
The 7th Hand explores relationships between presence and nothingness across an hour-long suite comprised of seven movements. Conceptually, the record evolves what Wilkins began exploring on Omega, which included a four-part suite within the album. On The 7th Hand, all his compositions represent movements, played in succession.
While writing, Wilkins began viewing each movement as a gesture bringing his quartet closer to being a complete vessel, where the music would be entirely improvised, channeled collectively. “It’s the idea of being a conduit for the music as a higher power that actually influences what we’re playing,” he says. The 7th Hand derives its title from a question steeped in Biblical symbolism: If the number 6 represents the extent of human possibility, Wilkins wondered what it would mean — how it would sound — to invoke divine intervention and allow that seventh element to possess his quartet.
Immanuel Wilkins’ performance is a part of the Kimmel Cultural Campus’s Jazz Series. Other featured upcoming performances on the Kimmel Cultural Campus include: The Black Violin Experience (March 9, 2023, Miller Theater), Ranky Tanky with Ms. Lisa Fischer (March 11, 2023, Miller Theater), and Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour (April 8, 2023, Verizon Hall).
Tickets
Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999 or online at www.kimmelculturalcampus.org. In-person ticket sales can be conducted daily from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. at the Academy of Music Box Office, located at 240 S. Broad Street. See www.kimmelculturalcampus.org for more information.
Immanuel Wilkins
Perelman Theater on the Kimmel Cultural Campus
April 6, 2023, at 7:30 p.m.
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KIMMEL CULTURAL CAMPUS
Located in the heart of Center City, Philadelphia, our mission is to engage the region's diverse communities with art through performance and education. Our Cultural Campus serves more than 1-million guests per year and includes Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, and SEI Innovation Studio), the Academy of Music, and the Miller Theater (formerly the Merriam Theater) – representing more than 160 years of rich history for the performing arts along Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts. We are home to The Philadelphia Orchestra and six esteemed Resident Companies: Opera Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, PHILADANCO, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Curtis Institute of Music. With nearly 9,000 seats per night, we are the region's most impactful performing arts center, and the second largest in the country. Our Cultural Campus serves as a preeminent and inclusive place to enjoy exceptional experiences that reflect the spirit of our region by cultivating a creative and socially responsible environment where our community shares experiences that are delivered with pride, integrity, and respect. As a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization, we collaborate on, present, and produce a broad range of relevant and meaningful events, we serve as an active gathering space for social and community events, we educate the region's young people through access to quality arts experiences, and we provide support to artists in the creation of new work. Read Kimmel Cultural Campus' vision statement, world view, and mission statement here. Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and how it encompasses our mission, coworkers, and programs here.
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For photography, please visit https://kcccpress.smugmug.com
For a PDF version of this press release, click here.