Philadelphia Orchestra's Home Renamed Marian Anderson Hall As Verizon Name Comes Off

CBS Philadelphia

February 29, 2024

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Orchestra's home is being renamed Marian Anderson Hall in honor of the pioneering Black American contralto, a rare case of an artist's name replacing a corporation.

The orchestra's auditorium in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts was known as Verizon Hall from 1999 through 2023, as part of a $14.5 million contribution agreed to by Bell Atlantic Corp. before its name change in 2000 to Verizon Communications Inc.

Anderson, who died in 1993 at age 96, was born in Philadelphia and in 1955 became the first Black singer to appear at New York's Metropolitan Opera. The renaming was announced Wednesday, a day after the 127th anniversary of her birth.

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