Dilworth Park Fountain to Let Visitors Recreate ‘Fantasia’ Scene
The fountain in Dilworth Park will soon allow visitors to get creative with its water jets. A new art installation at the park will celebrate the Philadelphia Orchestra’s role in…
The fountain in Dilworth Park will soon allow visitors to get creative with its water jets. A new art installation at the park will celebrate the Philadelphia Orchestra's role in the classic Disney film Fantasia.
Beginning Friday, Sept. 5, visitors can step onto a platform near the fountain and become maestros in the moment by waving a conductor's wand that controls the fountain's water jets and music at the park. The new art installation will stay open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Oct. 3.
The musical soundtrack for the art installation will include a curated selection of classical pieces performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. This music will consist of Paul Dukas' symphonic work "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," Richard Strauss' "Don Juan," and Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition."
The Philadelphia Orchestra plans to invite several guest conductors and youth ensembles to visit the installation for on-the-spot performances. A performance featuring several orchestra musicians will take place at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11, led by Philadelphia Orchestra music and artistic director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
The creators of the "Water Orchestra" artwork chose Philadelphia for the installation to honor the legacy of Disney's Fantasia. Much of the score for the 1940 animated classic was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski, its former music director and conductor. The fountain project celebrates the famous scene in the film in which Mickey Mouse brings a broom to life to carry water for him and conducts the stars and clouds to the music of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."
"The idea behind Water Orchestra is to bring the thrill of classical music to the public square, reframing it as an act of participation rather than performance, and inviting Philadelphians and visitors to move, listen, and play together," said Center City District President and CEO Prema Katari Gupta in a statement shared with the PhillyVoice.
