Mark Padmore, tenor, and Jonathan Biss, piano, soar at the Kimmel Center

"Dyou know where the Kimmel Center is?" I asked a dozen people as I walked in the driving rain. Amazingly, most did not.

I did find a couple of signs which guided me.

One guy said, "The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts?"

I had to find Broad Street, he told me, which is the equivalent of 14th Street. I'd wrin all this down but on the Streets of Philadelphia, Bruce Springsteen, it meant nuffin.

Before I was married, I worked at 17th and Sansom as secy for the architectural firm of Francis G Vitetta, AIA.

Shot some street scenes as I walked toward the Kimmel Center.

Can't resist furniture shops with COUCHES in the window. My heart is still uneasy b/c yesterday, Garbage Nite, someone had put out a gorgeous burgundy-colored couch full of long white dog hairs.

 Rob, is this your brother's cafe? One in Ardmore, one in Center City?

Wet and bedraggled as a shaggy old dog, I found Mark and Sarah in the huge lobby of the Kimmel Center, near an eatery.

Mark was drinking seltzer water, totally relaxed.

Sarah and I stayed with him and his wife Vickie Mortimer in London. 

After he left to get ready for the 8 pm concert, I borrowed Sarah's iPhone to call Scott to tell him I found the Kimmel Center. Sarah had me figure out how to use the phone. This morning, the next day, Scott stopped by on his way home from work, and thanked me for the call. 

Tall ceiling at the Kimmel.

Sidney Kimmel, formerly of Jones New York, where my Uncle Don worked, is a philanthropist and filmmaker. Born in 1928 in Philly, he now lives in California.

 The small intimate Perelman Theater. Perfect for chamber music. All tickets are an affordable $24.

Mark told little stories about each of the pieces. After Robert Schumann (1810-1856) married Clara, he wrote hundreds of songs. What a thrill hearing Schumann's music pour out of Mark.

Jonathan Biss on piano was marvelous.

Read about Jonathan's musical family here. 

He's only 34 and is already a world-class pianist playing all over. Next gig is in Indiana, his home state. His GF, who plays viola in a quartet, lives in London. But they manage to see one another.

Fans wait to see Mark and Jonathan. Sarah is wearing authentic cowboy boots from her birth state of Texas. She went shopping with her stepmom Donna Deming.

 More photos from star-struck Ruthie.

Miles is one of the organizers at the Kimmel Center. Dig his three-piece suit. Sarah asked how he got the name "Miles."

In the Jewish religion, he said.....

We know, I said. We're Jewish.

Paintings by Francis Bacon.

Grabbed a bite to eat in a posh pub. Mark started off with a beer, and then ordered a delicious looking hamburger with blue cheese.

His car would arrive at 11 pm to take him to Philadelphia International A/P to fly home to London.

When Jonathan left for a moment to see Mark to his car - what great pals they've become! - I took a sip of his almost finished beer. Too sweet for me, not bulging with flavor.

When the guys were gone, I told Waiter Steve who they were. Even if he wanted to, said Steve, he couldn't attend these affordable concerts, as his pub is mobbed after each concert.

Concerts sponsored by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.

At table, I mentioned a female Serkin who plays the cello. Sure enuf, Judith is the sister of Peter, son of the late Rudolf Serkin.

The boys mentioned that alliances are formed by playing at Marlboro in Vermont. The performers then suggest good playing venues for one another, like in Philadelphia.

Sarah went to school, Abington Friends, with a Maureen Nelson, violinist. Maureen is now part of the Enso Quartet

Since I "liked" her on FB, I wanted to buy one of their CDs. 

The Complete Ginastera String Quartets is wonderful! Alberto G was a composer from Argentina.

After we said our many farewells to Jonathan and Mark - and what great stories they told us, which now form part of the ozone layer - Sarah and I took a cab to 30th Street Station, the beautiful and august, where she saw me off to Willow Grove.

My price?

A buck and my Medicare card.

Sarah brought me two gifts - how we love them!

The program from St Matthew Passion at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. Mark Padmore sung the role of "Evangelist" in Peter Sellars' production.

Postcards from the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT. I have already targeted one of them for immediate mailing.

Thirtieth Street Station is a paragon of beauty. 

Say hello to Stephanie from Albright College in the Lehigh Valley. She's studying Latin. I told her to look at all the sculptures, many of them gifts from Philip and Muriel Berman.

(Wrote an article about them when I worked at Art Matters, as I did about the artist who forged in iron The Wissahickon Gate in Philly.)



I fell into bed when I got home but fortunately woke up again this morning.

Some people never do, you know.