The Philadelphia cultural scene has been energized and enriched in the last 20 years by innovators who combine artistic talent with entrepreneurial drive. They don't wait for traditional cultural institutions to give them permission to do what they do. They make things happen with the resources on hand. For the final Sunday Breakfast Club program of the season, we'll meet three such artist/entrepreneurs: Nick Stuccio, co-founder and producing director of FringeArts; Thaddeus Squire, founder of the Hidden City Philadelphia festival and Web site; and Jeri Lynne Johnson, founder and music director of Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra.

The Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra is a part two time winner of this prestigious award for innovation in the Arts. This year, we are once again a finalist and have been invited to perform as part of the Award Ceremony!

Love Beethoven? So do we! Join us on February 23rd or 24th for a collaborative performance with Maestro Alan Harler and the Mendelssohn Club in a concert full of passion, innovation and choral magic featuring Beethoven's Second Symphony and his majestic Choral Fantasy and a commission by Philadelphia composer Jeremy Gill.

Want a ticket discount to out next concert? Bring a children's book to the Beethoven & Gill concert for donation to the Tree House Books book drive and get $5.00 off the next BPCO concert! Tree House Books is on a mission to grow and sustain a community of readers, writers, and thinkers in North Central Philadelphia. Packed with books and homemade art, Tree House is the only urban literary cafe for young people in the city. During the after-school program, Life with Books, elementary-aged children meet with literacy coaches and are given the opportunity to join book clubs, meet authors, write their own stories, and build their at-home libraries. With 9 schools closing in Tree House's zip code alone, access to books and a safe place have never been more important in the North Central neighborhood.

Love Beethoven? So do we! Join us on February 23rd or 24th for a collaborative performance with Maestro Alan Harler and the Mendelssohn Club in a concert full of passion, innovation and choral magic featuring Beethoven's Second Symphony and his majestic Choral Fantasy and a commission by Philadelphia composer Jeremy Gill.

Want a ticket discount to out next concert? Bring a children's book to the Beethoven & Gill concert for donation to the Tree House Books book drive and get $5.00 off the next BPCO concert! Tree House Books is on a mission to grow and sustain a community of readers, writers, and thinkers in North Central Philadelphia. Packed with books and homemade art, Tree House is the only urban literary cafe for young people in the city. During the after-school program, Life with Books, elementary-aged children meet with literacy coaches and are given the opportunity to join book clubs, meet authors, write their own stories, and build their at-home libraries. With 9 schools closing in Tree House's zip code alone, access to books and a safe place have never been more important in the North Central neighborhood.

BPCO is delighted to help Salem Baptist Church celebrate the installation of its new pastor, Reverend Marshall Mitchell, by performing Handel's Messiah! This performance will feature the Jeremy Winston Chorale, recent gold medal winners at the 2012 World Choir Games, and special music from Salem's talented and gifted musicians, including the Robert Johnson Smith Male Chorus

Free with admission to the Barnes. Tickets allowing entry into building, special exhibition and performances in the Court are available on-site the day of visit. $10; free for members. For tickets: (888)616-0277

Bring a date and experience a provocative performance of classical music featured in the 50 Shades of Grey novels. Let the sensuous sounds of Villa Lobos' haunting aria from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, featuring soprano Kelly Ann Bixby of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, wash over you amid the gorgeous art work of the great masters in the new Barnes Foundation. A proud part of the Barnes' First Friday Concert Series.

Once again, the BPCO will present its fun and exciting iConduct! program as part of WHYY's celebration of the creative connectors in Philadelphia. This time, Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik will be featured!

Join the Black Pearl for our last festival date at Philadelphia's City Hall Courtyard. Situated in the heart of Philadelphia's bustling Center City District, the BPCO will put the baton into the hands of some of Philly's finest!

Join the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra for the 3rd concert in its iConduct! Festival- where the audience can join Maestra Jeri Lynne Johnson on stage and receive a mini-conducting lesson in front of a live world-class orchestra! This FREE event is open to the public!

Come spend the weekend with the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra as we help celebrate the opening of the Barnes Foundation’s Philadelphia campus with 56 consecutive hours of free access and activities. Inspiring the weekend’s films, foods, and performances are the mix of cultures represented in the Barnes’s collection and the 1920s, the heady decade when the Foundation began. The BPCO will offer anyone who wishes the opportunity to receive a mini-conducting lesson in front of the orchestra with Maestra Jeri Lynne Johnson! Activities are designed for participants of all ages, with events that are particularly family friendly clustered in the hours between 11 am and 4 pm each day.

This year's Philadelphia on Parade will feature more than 800 performing artists on 5 electrifying stages highlighting the diversity of world music with a line-up that includes classical, gospel, spoken word, jazz, rhythm & blues, funk, and rock, global dance ensembles, dance workshops, and a crafts marketplace. CIGNA Children's Pavilion will include storytellers, jugglers, face painters, mini-circus, arts & craft stations, sing-a-longs, as well as interactive demonstrations to get the little ones dancing and exercising. Independence Blue Cross Health Pavilion, feature life-saving techniques, blood pressure testing, cholesterol testing, massages, wellness sessions, healthy eating tips, yoga, Zumba, senior movements, line dancing, demonstrations, book signings and more. This year the Mann is delighted to welcome Parkside Association of Philadelphia as a health pavilion partner under the direction of Lucinda Hudson. Parkside Association of Philadelphia, PAP, is a community based organization that supports the West Parkside community. PAP identifies and accesses social services to promote a better quality of life for all of its residents.

Bring your lawn chairs—picnics are welcome!

The BPCO joins Philadelphia's Singing City Choir in their 64th Anniversary Concert!

Join Maestra Jeri Lynne Johnson and the talented members of the Trowbridge Chamber Orchestra, an educational partnership for the most talented young musicians in the city of Philadelphia, to celebrate 104 years of community music making at the legendary Settlement Music School Gala

Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint George was one of the most important figures in Paris' 18th century musical scene and was one of the earliest known musicians of the European classical type to have African ancestry. Boulonge had many diverse skills - but it was his musical talent as a composer, conductor and violin virtuoso that earned him the moniker, the "Black Mozart." The BPCO will feature violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins and violist Robin Fay Massie as soloists in W.A. Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola and orchestra as well as other works by Haydn.

Maestra Jeri Lynne Johnson will lead members of the BPCO and the Trowbridge Ensemble from Settlement Music School in a joint performance to celebrate the re-election of Philadelphia Mayor, Michal Nutter.

The BPCO heats up this Fall with three amazing works inspired by dance. The concert opens with Sibelius' Valse Triste and continues with Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla's sultry tango-inspired Four Seasons of Buenos Aires featuring Venezuelan violinist and BPCO co-concertmaster, Luigi Mazzocchi, as soloist. The concert closes with the heart-pounding rhythms of Beethoven's dynamic Symphony No. 7.

For gala reception ticket buyers! Wear your best denim and pearliest bling and join the BPCO after the concert for elegant cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at Mid Atlantic Restaurant on 38th and Chestnut Streets at our Denim and Pearls reception!

BPCO offers hundreds of young children in Philadelphia the opportunity to learn about classical music and develop their leadership potential through iConduct!

Orchestrating Leadership (OL) is a unique leadership training course that gradually introduces students to classical music while using the art of conducting to teach life skills. BPCO musicians introduce youth in under served communities to the instruments and repertoire of a symphony orchestra. As they become actively involved with classical music, students also learn time management and interpersonal skills needed for higher education, employment and life. Over the course of the program, students practice clear verbal communication skills and the body language that connotes maturity, dignity, and self-confidence. OL is currently presented as one of the music programs offered at Martin Luther King High School at the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Technology in Northwest Philadelphia. If you would like to bring this unique program to your community, contact us!

Orchestrating Leadership (OL) is a unique leadership training course that gradually introduces students to classical music while using the art of conducting to teach life skills. BPCO musicians introduce youth in under served communities to the instruments and repertoire of a symphony orchestra. As they become actively involved with classical music, students also learn time management and interpersonal skills needed for higher education, employment and life. Over the course of the program, students practice clear verbal communication skills and the body language that connotes maturity, dignity, and self-confidence. OL is currently presented as one of the music programs offered at Martin Luther King High School at the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Technology in Northwest Philadelphia. If you would like to bring this unique program to your community, contact us!