Philadelphia Orchestra and actor John Lithgow at the Academy of Music, Jan. 25

Actor John Lithgow will join the Philadelphia Orchestra for its annual winter fundraising concert and ball at the Academy of Music on January 25, led by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The concert celebrates the 163rd anniversary of the Academy of Music, the orchestra’s performance home from its founding in 1900 until 2001, when it moved next door to the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. On January 23 and 24 the Philadelphia Orchestra will return to the Academy of Music for its first subscription concerts there since 2001, with Nézet-Séguin leading a program of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No.3, which was premiered by the Philadelphians in 1936 on the Academy stage; Vivian Fung’s “Dust Devils”; and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with Yefim Bronfman. “As stewards of this treasured icon, it is essential that we preserve and enhance the Academy for future generations,” said orchestra President and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky. “On this spectacular evening when we celebrate the building we love and cherish so deeply, may we also be reminded of the vital role the Academy plays in our lives all year long, and of the role we play in ensuring this beacon of our community continues to shine.”