Academy of Music (Philadelphia)
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| Address | 240 S. Broad Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States |
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| Public transit | Walnut-Locust: 15th-16th & Locust: |
| Owner | Philadelphia Orchestra |
| Operator | Philadelphia Orchestra |
| Type | Opera house |
| Capacity | 2,509 |
| Opened | 1857 |
| Website | |
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Academy of Music
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| Coordinates | 39°56′52.84″N 75°9′54.4″W / 39.9480111°N 75.165111°WCoordinates: 39°56′52.84″N 75°9′54.4″W / 39.9480111°N 75.165111°W |
| Built | 1855-57 |
| Architect | Napoleon LeBrun & Gustavus Runge |
| Architectural style | Renaissance |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000674 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | December 29, 1962 |
The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at 240 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its location is between Locust and Manning Streets in the Avenue of the Arts area of Center City.
The hall was built in 1855-57 and is the oldest opera house in the United States that is still used for its original purpose. Known as the "Grand Old Lady of Locust Street," the venue is the home of the Pennsylvania Ballet and Opera Philadelphia. It was also home to the Philadelphia Orchestra from its inception in 1900 until 2001, when the orchestra moved to the new Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The Philadelphia Orchestra still retains ownership of the Academy.
The hall was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962.
The Academy of Music held an inaugural ball on January 26, 1857. At the time The New York Times described the theater as "magnificently gorgeous, brilliantly lighted, solidly constructed, finely located, beautifully ornamented" but went on to lament "all that lacks is a few singers to render it 'the thing'." The theatre had its first opera production, and what was billed as its formal opening, a month later on February 25, 1857 with a performance by the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company of Verdi's Il trovatore starring Marietta Gazzaniga as Leonora, Alessandro Amodio as Count di Luna, Zoë Aldini as Azucena, Pasquale Brignoli as Manrico, and Max Maretzek conducting. Maretzek, who was already presenting operas at the Academy of Music in New York City and at the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia since 1850, brought his company back annually to the Academy of Music in Philadelphia through 1873. Due to his association with both the Philadelphia and New York City Academy of Music venues, his company was sometimes referred to as the Academy of Music Opera Company.
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