Star Vocalist and Grammy® Award Winner, Samara Joy, with "A Joyful Holiday" Featuring The McLendon Family

KIMMEL CULTURAL CAMPUS PRESENTS STAR VOCALIST AND GRAMMY^® AWARD WINNER, SAMARA JOY, WITH A JOYFUL HOLIDAY FEATURING THE MCLENDON FAMILY, DECEMBER 22, 2023

Joy is accompanied onstage by local family members

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (November 1, 2023) – The Kimmel Cultural Campus presents star vocalist and Grammy ^® Award winner, Samara Joy, with A Joyful Holiday featuring The McLendon Family on Friday, December 22, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. at the Campus’ Miller Theater.

The 23-year-old jazz star, Samara Joy, is having a great year: a double win at the 2023 Grammy ^® Awards (Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best New Artist), a scrapbook full of rave reviews, and a full slate of performances, from Jazz at Lincoln Center to gigs across the U.S. The New York Times praised the "silky-voiced rising star" for "helping jazz take a youthful turn" while NPR All Things Considered named her a "classic jazz singer from a new generation. Now she brings a swinging holiday concert special to Philadelphia with an ensemble that includes some of her family members with deep Philadelphia roots in gospel music.

“Samara Joy is one of the bright emerging voices in the world of jazz” said Frances Egler, Vice President of Theatrical Programming & Presentations on the Kimmel Cultural Campus. “We are excited to bring a concert celebrating both the time of year and her Philly roots that will bring a sense of warmth and togetherness to our holiday lineup.”

With a voice that’s bright, velvety, and classy, Joy has been compared to Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, and Billie Holiday, and has elated audiences in her appearances on shows such as the TODAY Show, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, CBS Mornings, MSNBC, The Jennifer Hudson Show, The Drew Barrymore Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and more. With millions of likes on TikTok, she is cementing her status as perhaps the first Gen Z jazz star.

Joy’s family, the McLendons, join her this holiday season to perform A Joyful Holiday. Three generations of Philly-raised musicians grace the stage in the city where her grandparents, Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, performed with Philadelphia gospel group, The Savettes, founded in the 1950s. North Philly native, singer, songwriter, and producer, Antonio McLendon, will also be on stage with Joy performing.

Other holiday selections across the Kimmel Cultural Campus include: Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (November 24 – 26, 2023); A Very Philly Christmas (Nine shows, including December 1, 2, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, and 23, 2023); The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show (December 8, 2023); The Philadelphia Orchestra’s The Glorious Sound of Christmas^® (December 14 – 16, 2023), Children’s Holiday Spectacular (December 16, 2023),  Messiah (December 20 – 21, 2023), and Elf™ in Concert (December 22 – 23, 2023); and Cirque Dreams Holidaze (December 26 – 31, 2023). And to ring in the new year, The Philadelphia Orchestra offers a New Year’s Eve Celebration (December 31, 2023) and Lunar New Year (January 12, 2024).

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.

Samara Joy: A Joyful Holiday featuring The McLendon Family

Miller Theater on the Kimmel Cultural Campus

Friday, December 22, 2023, 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 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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