A Note from Cathy
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the countdown of the Mann’s 50th Anniversary! We have an incredible story to tell as we prepare to celebrate this golden milestone. And if you consider that our first home across the river at the Robin Hood Dell (now the Dell) dates to 1930, we are nearly 100 years old!
Part of our story is your story. Your story of support for this Philadelphia treasure. Your personal stories that my team and I gleefully hear every time we mention where we work. So many of you share that the Mann was the site of your first date, the place where you created cherished memories sitting on the lawn with family and listening to The Philadelphia Orchestra, or meeting up with friends to hear your favorite rock band and take in the best view of Philadelphia’s city skyline.
We’ve heard it all and we love it! Believe me when I tell you your stories are a source of pride, boosting our pursuit of excellence. Whether you are a long-time member, major gift donor, or brand new to us, you are part of the Mann family.
I have been the President and CEO of the Mann now for 16 years. I so enjoy working alongside our incredible staff. This talented team is truly the best in the business. We have faced our challenges, ranging from financial and programmatic, to the continuous maintenance of our 22-acre campus and its impressive stages. Thanks to you, we made it. We are now in a place where we can dream bigger, and we are doing just that! We can’t wait for you to experience the special events we have planned, along with our new, huge entrance plaza, coming in summer 2026!
We are also thrilled to have new partnerships and major gift supporters as we move into the Mann’s next 50 years. In fact, let me be the first to introduce you to our new name, Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts! We are excited to welcome Highmark Blue Shield to Philadelphia as our new naming rights sponsor for the entire campus. Additionally, we are grateful to TD Bank for its renewal of the naming rights to the TD Pavilion. Both companies have generously committed to our education and community engagement efforts over the years, and their stewardship will see these programs continue to grow. I’d also like to extend a big thank you to Ed and Cyma Satell for giving us the funds to create a brand-new digital East Wall, an exciting new attraction.
Please make plans to join us for our sensational 50th Anniversary season. In the meantime, you can support our Highmark Mann @ 50 Campaign (HighmarkMann.org/50) and be a part of the future that we are planning for this wonderful place in the park.
With Gratitude,
Cathy M. Cahill President and CEO, Highmark Mann
Looking for a tax-free way to support Highmark Mann before the end of the year? Consider making a DAF or QCD gift by December 31st! Also, you can support our education programs with your EITC gifts.
Scan the QR code below to learn more about how you can help invest in the future of Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts.
GOLDEN GROUNDBREAKING
October 15, 2025 marked the start of a golden moment for the Mann, as we officially broke ground on the new Plaza construction on our campus. The day shone extra bright thanks to the exciting announcement of our new Naming Rights Sponsor, Highmark Blue Shield. We are thrilled to join forces with Highmark to begin a new chapter in our organization’s history as Highmark Mann!
A GOLDEN MILESTONE The Mann @ 50 Campaign
On the Eve of the 50th Anniversary, the Countdown is On to an All-New
Highmark Mann Experience
Pat Sanders, VP of Special Projects, is already looking forward to spring and to that first sold-out concert of 2026 when 12,000 people stream into Highmark Mann and have room to breathe.
Sanders is spending the off-season overseeing a major overhaul of the Plaza, one that will more than triple the size from 16,000 to 60,000 square feet.
“It’s going to be a game changer,” she says.
A 21st-CENTURY PATRON EXPERIENCE
The game itself has changed drastically since the Mann was built in 1976 as a summer home for The Philadelphia Orchestra. Back then, it was six weeks of orchestra concerts, three performances a week, and a handful of pop shows in between. To get in, all you had to do was show a ticket.
Fast forward to today. The Highmark Mann hosts more events than ever before. The audience has doubled. There are high-tech demands: security screenings and bag checks. The new space will mean easier entry and shorter lines all around, making the patron experience more comfortable, and it will also make it easier to buy tickets, get a drink, or use the restrooms—all critical investments in the audience experience.
“You have to have something on stage the guests want to see, yes, but you also have to craft a very wonderful, welcoming, gracious experience,” says Highmark Mann President & CEO Catherine M. Cahill, “because there’s a lot of competition. You can spend your entertainment dollars in many, many different places…so having the best guest experience, to be the premier destination for artists and audiences, to make sure that we have cutting-edge technology, and the best audio and visual experience for our patrons is paramount.”
The Plaza renovations will include a new welcome center and ticket office, additional bathrooms, a permanent bar with 61 additional feet of bar service, enhanced signage, ramps, visitor services, a gift shop, and an archive space for the Music Hall of Fame.
HISTORIC LEGACY, BOLD VISION
Highmark Mann celebrates not only its 50th Anniversary in 2026—along with the nation’s 250th—but also its physical place in Fairmount Park, in Philadelphia’s Centennial District, where the U.S. celebrated its 100th birthday with the 1876 Centennial Exposition—the nation’s first “world’s fair.”
“Highmark Mann is a civic treasure,” says Cahill, “and is vital to the city’s cultural scene.” This milestone solidifies its position as a major contributor to the arts and performing arts landscape in Philadelphia and beyond, and underscores its commitment to summer music camps, after-school and workforce development programs, educational activities, HBCU festivals, and other special events that directly benefit the West Philadelphia communities of Parkside and Wynnefield.
“We’re all very proud of our role as a community citizen,” says Cahill. “Highmark Mann is not going anywhere. We have a responsibility to be a trusted and responsible neighbor, and we take that very, very seriously.”
The golden milestone also represents an impressive financial success story, one marked by determination, never giving up, and envisioning the future even in tough times, like when Cahill first arrived, right after the 2008 market collapse.
“We rolled up our sleeves,” she says. “We were a small but mighty team…maybe eight people on a $6 million budget. We’re now 44 people on a $43 million budget.”
Cahill attributes the success to Highmark Mann’s “fantastic and dedicated” Board of Directors and staff, generous corporate sponsors and private donors, valuable community and education partners, and a crucial collaboration with powerhouse Live Nation Entertainment, Highmark Mann’s exclusive booking partner for pop acts since 2020.
“They are a critical partner in ensuring that we have the highest level of artistic excellence in the contemporary music field on our stages, and because of their influence and the size of their business and their company, we certainly wouldn’t be where we are today without them.”
BETTER BACKSTAGE, BETTER BUSINESS
The 50th Anniversary campus improvements began with a now-completed backstage renovation—including HVAC, hardline internet, and a new power grid, as well as amenities catering to the life of the touring artist. Think more showers with great water pressure, new laundry facilities, fast internet; and comfortable spaces to relax, recharge, and get a hot meal. Artists—especially their crews and managers, some of whom spend 200-plus days a year on the road— are loving it.
“Everybody is absolutely blown away,” says Sanders. “We have road crews who will come in and say, ‘Oh, we’re so glad to be back. You guys have the best showers at two o’clock in the morning!’ This is so important to people.”
It’s also important to the bottom line.
“The business has shifted so much into a hospitality-based business that it makes us far more competitive in the booking process to have a great backstage that really makes them feel like they’re at home,” says Highmark Mann VP & General Manager Evan Rogers. “We’re seeing tour management come into my office at the end of the night, asking to book for next summer. And that never happens. So that’s exciting.”
THAT PHILLY VIBE
You know the old touring joke: If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium? “Artists come in, they get off that bus, they come backstage, they walk onto the stage, they have no idea where they are,” says Sanders.
That no longer applies. In addition to being functional, comfortable, and secure, the new backstage also tells a story, so even the most tightly scheduled road-weary performer will know exactly where they are—at Highmark Mann, in Fairmount Park, in the city of Brotherly Love—even if they never see the spectacular skyline view that every audience member enjoys.
From the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society-curated garden adjacent to the bus parking lot to the 40-foot branding wall at the entrance to the whimsical custom wallpaper of Ben Franklin blowing bubblegum bubbles, there’s a distinctly Philadelphia vibe. There’s also a wall listing the names of top talent from all over the world who have played Highmark Mann, giving each new and returning artist a sense of the venue’s legacy, and their own place within it.
“You can pretty much list any name, and they will have played the Mann. Ray Charles played here. James Taylor played here,” says Rogers. “Ringo Starr is right next to Eugene Ormandy, who’s next to a children’s dance troupe from West Philadelphia that does break dancing… That’s all a part of our culture.”
THE MANN @ 50 CAMPAIGN: INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
Highmark Mann has nearly reached its $70 million 50th Anniversary Campaign goal, with funding that enhances both the audience and artist experience, and deepens the commitment to education and investment in the West Philadelphia community. Still to be raised: approximately $5 million more to secure the endowment.
“Our endowment fund is woefully low compared to our operating budget, and that is another reason this campaign is so important. It ensures the future,” says Highmark Mann SVP & Chief Advancement Officer Joan Roebuck-Carter.
Fortunately, she says, patrons are stepping up.
“I think our donors truly love the campus. I think they love coming to concerts here,” she says. “I also think that because we are fiscally responsible, people trust us to do the right thing with their funds. We have a strong strategic initiative that was thoroughly researched. That gives us credibility in the community and in the business and individual giving sector.”
“Highmark Mann is a magical place,” says Cahill, “and that magic—with great outdoors and a night under the stars—you can’t get that anywhere else. We want to preserve that. We want to make sure it’s here for future generations.”
For more information or to contribute to our 50th Anniversary Campaign, please visit HighmarkMann.org/50th-campaign or contact Joan Roebuck-Carter at JRoebuck Carter@HighmarkMann.org | 215-546-7900 Ext.148
Donor Spotlight: Ed Satell
In 1876, one quarter of the nation’s population descended on Philadelphia for the Centennial Exposition, a world’s fair that showcased the greatest technology of the era. Inventions like Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone and the massive torso of the Statue of Liberty were on display for the nation’s 100th Anniversary, in what is now known as the Centennial District—the part of Fairmount Park that is home to Highmark Mann.
Current-day entrepreneur and business leader Ed Satell, founder of the non-profit Satell Institute, a Think and Do Tank dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility, is proud of that moment in time. Passionate about civics and history, he wants to showcase Highmark Mann’s prominent place in the Centennial District—and what better way than to fully fund the state-of-the-art, 21st-century technology, that will be on display through the all-digital, 4,900-square-foot Satell Centennial Wall East, which will be seen up to a mile away and will be a dynamic new addition to the Highmark Mann experience that impacts audiences well into the future.
“When I was a youngster, all this stuff was science fiction!” marvels the 89-year-old philanthropist. “This is extraordinary technology that Highmark Mann deserves.”
Satell passionately expressed, “The 250th Anniversary of the country is a great opportunity to talk about the rich past. We all stand on the shoulders of the leaders who came before us.” He is proud to have encouraged Catherine M. Cahill, Highmark Mann President and CEO, to position this beautiful and historic treasure in the Centennial District as a cornerstone of the nation’s upcoming semiquincentennial in the spring, summer, and fall of 2026, and to be a new destination to showcase innovation.
He envisions an even brighter future for Highmark Mann, one that secures its place in history and a deserved place of honor among the world’s top venues. “I challenged Cathy to make it better than Tanglewood!” he says, adding that Highmark Mann’s firm financial footing, paired with the vision of Cathy and her team, inspired him and his wife, Cyma, to make their generous donation, a gift they hope will inspire Philadelphians and leaders in other cities to dream big.
“It’s all about the past, the present, and the future,” Satell says. “We’ve got the potential to make this innovation a phenomenal experience for everybody.”
SHARE YOUR
Help us kick off Love the Mann Day by sharing YOUR story with us! Scan the QR code (above) to share your favorite Mann Memory & story — we might even feature it in our upcoming 2026 celebration plans!
Introducing… HIGHMARK MANN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Philadelphia’s premier outdoor music destination kicks off its 50th Anniversary with a new name! A 12-year partnership with Highmark Blue Shield officially ushers in the era of Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts and serves as a catalyst for inventive artistic programming, greater community engagement, and broader educational reach.
“We are incredibly grateful for Highmark’s leadership and wholehearted belief in our mission,” said Catherine M. Cahill, president and CEO of Highmark Mann. “With their partnership and long-term commitment, we are reimagining together how we can serve the future of our city…Today is the beginning of a bold new chapter as Highmark Mann, extending beautifully the legacy that our original namesake and fearless leader, Fredric R. Mann, established 50 years ago.”
“We believe in the connection between art, music, and health, and that equitable access to creative opportunities in the arts can contribute to community well-being in profound ways,” said Dan Tropeano, market president, Highmark Blue Shield in southeastern Pennsylvania. “As one of Philadelphia’s cultural treasures, the Mann has a long, successful history of community involvement and arts education that changes lives, and we couldn’t be prouder to now play a larger part in that story.”
This is an exciting and impactful investment. Highmark is proud to partner with the Mann Center to build a healthier community through cultural, musical and other creative experiences. The arts are vital to our well-being and we look forward to the increased access to education, youth programming, and entertainment that this will bring to Parkside.
Ken Lawrence Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Highmark Blue Shield
“I love the Mann!” It’s a refrain we hear all the time. It seems like everyone has a favorite story or memory that underscores just how special the Mann is to them.
Now it’s our turn to let our fans know how much we love them back with Love Highmark Mann Day! The all-day event, part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations, will give the public a chance to experience all the Mann has to offer—for free. From our brand-new Plaza inside the entry gates to the Skyline Stage atop the Russ and Wendy Palmer Great Lawn, every inch of the Highmark Mann’s campus will be bursting with music, food, hands-on workshops, thematically wrapped activities and performances.
Love Highmark Mann Day will also showcase many of the talented student musicians and future music industry professionals that Highmark Mann mentors. Frank Machos, the newly appointed VP & Director of Highmark Mann Institute for Creative Arts and Community Impact, says it’s a great way to spread the word about the Mann’s robust educational offerings.
“We do great work, but not a lot of people know about it,” Machos says. “Love Highmark Mann Day will certainly help with that goal.”
The main goal, though? “First and foremost, we want everyone to have fun!”
The date for Love Highmark Mann Day is TBA. More info coming soon!
A Year of Signature Programming in 2026
In honor of its 50th Anniversary and the nation’s 250th, Highmark Mann will present a year of original commissions and performances celebrating the history made on or near its campus in 1876, 1976, and, soon, 2026. Stay tuned for more details and additional events to be announced!
A Hundred Years On with The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Crossing, and Soloists TBA
Commissioned by Highmark Mann, this world premiere, an original oratorio by GRAMMY-nominated composer Peter Boyer and Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Mark Campbell, honors the 1876 Centennial Exposition that took place on the grounds the Mann now occupies. Major support comes from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from America250PA and the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial. Premieres June 2026.
50 Years of Music in the Park with The Philadelphia Orchestra
Fifty years after music first echoed through the summer air at Highmark Mann, The Philadelphia Orchestra returns to celebrate the magic of that opening night with a golden anniversary celebration rich in harmony and history. July 2026.
Programs, Artists, and Repertoire are subject to change.
BalletX’s The Four Seasons Reimagined
Reimagining Vivaldi’s iconic score with a bold new composition created and performed live by Dan Deacon, four of today’s most compelling choreographers will bring each season to life through stunning, original choreography. Co-commissioned with ArtPhilly’s What Now: 2026 Festival and Highmark Mann. Premieres June 4 & 5, 2026.
Mural Arts Partnership
Highmark Mann’s new partnership with Mural Arts Philadelphia comes to life in a community-led mural featuring West Philadelphia artists. Installed along North Georges Hill Drive and the Skyline Stage fence line, this vibrant public artwork will mark 2026 with a lasting symbol of creativity and connection.
Dance Party in the Plaza
“Party like it’s 1976” at the biggest event of Highmark Mann’s 2026 season! We can’t wait to celebrate our 50th Anniversary with you, along with our Highmark Mann @ 50 Campaign, and our beautiful, brand-new Plaza. Join us as we turn back time to 1976 with a nod to the culture, food, fashion, and music of the era, all culminating in an epic dance party with live musical entertainment. Don’t miss it!
Programs, Artists, and Repertoire are subject to change.
Don’t Miss this Golden Moment!
Now’s the time to support Highmark Mann by becoming a member or renewing your annual Highmark Mann Membership for the 2026 Season.
In addition, we’re also asking all of our 2026 Highmark Mann Members to consider an additional gift of $50 or more to support our 50th Anniversary Campaign! 100% membership support at $50 each would put us $30,000 closer to our remaining fundraising goal of $5 million for the campaign.
UP FOR THE CHALLENGE? Scan the QR code (below) to become a member or renew your membership for the 2026 Season and learn more about how you can support our 50th Anniversary Campaign.
Scan the QR code (to the right) to renew your membership for the 2026 Season and learn more about how you can support our 50th Anniversary Campaign.
