Philadelphia Orchestra celebrates LGBTQ+ community with fourth annual Pride Concert

Leading into Pride Month, the Philadelphia Orchestra and Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will deliver the fourth annual Pride Celebration and Concert at 7 p.m. on June 4. The concert will be held in Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

Featuring Martha Graham Cracker, the ANNA Crusis Feminist Choir, Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus and Philadelphia Voices of Pride, the concert celebrates the LGBTQ+ community through music, embodying themes of joy, love, resilience and perseverance.

Martha Graham Cracker, a well-known drag performer, will serve as this year’s host and perform a surprise song with the Orchestra. Other performances include Benj Pasek’s “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman, Nile Rodgers’ “I’m Coming Out,” most famously sung by Diana Ross, and Bernstein’s “Make Our Garden Grow” from Candide featuring the soloists from this season’s Tristan and Isolde performances, among other selections.

The pre-concert celebration will start at 4:30 p.m. in the Commonwealth Plaza at the Kimmel Center. There will be a rainbow runway where guest can show off their best Pride outfits and a drag opener with several of Philadelphia’s queens and kings, including Brittany Lynn, Lisa Lisa, Hannibal Lickher, Mister Right and That Queen.

There will also be local LGBTQ+ business set up in the plaza, alongside a DJ set from DJ Da Boo Boo and additional special giveaways.

The ANNA Crusis Feminist Choir, Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus and Philadelphia Voices of Pride were invited to perform at the 2024 Pride Concert. Credit: the Philadelphia Orchestra's Instagram

Nézet-Séguin is in his 13th season with the Philadelphia Orchestra and started the Pride Concert in 2022. He is highly decorated with five Grammy awards and is known for his commitment to embracing diverse groups in the orchestra and the city of Philadelphia. 

“Music has the power to unite and uplift—two things we need more than ever. From the beginning, Philadelphia has warmly embraced me and my husband, Pierre. I look forward to sharing moments of joy, love, and connection with a community that means so much to me,” Nézet-Séguin said in a statement. 

The concert will be held on the Wednesday after Philly Pride Weekend, which celebrates LGBTQ+ communities through several events, including a 600-foot-long flag raising, pride march and pride festival in the Gayborhood of Philadelphia.

Tickets for the concert are free, although they must be reserved in advance on the Orchestra’s website. Seating is general admission and will be available on a first-come come first-served basis.