Temple University, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Ensemble Arts have signed a deal for a new partnership
The deal is expected to center on activities in Terra Hall, formerly owned by the University of the Arts.
Broadway stars and orchestral players might lead budding Philadelphia musical talent in master classes, and new college internships could open up at the city’s largest performing arts producer and presenter.
As Temple University prepares to establish an outpost in Philadelphia’s major arts district, the school, and Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts have signed a memorandum of understanding for a new partnership, formalizing a dream stage for joint activities already underway.
The new arrangement is expected to benefit not only Temple University students, but also younger students of Temple Music Prep and the Philadelphia School District.
Temple and the orchestra have long partnered on projects, but the university’s purchase of Terra Hall — near the orchestra and Kimmel Center — will allow a deeper level of involvement, leaders said.
In the fall of 2027, for instance, about three dozen Philadelphia Orchestra current and retired musicians are expected to move their teaching studios from Temple’s main campus to Terra. Other collaborations are expected to take shape over the next year and half.
“The gist of it is, Temple University and the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts are committed to working together to build a tangible partnership. It’s aspirational,” said POEA president and CEO Ryan Fleur of the memorandum of understanding, which was signed last month.
“There’s a lot around the exchange of talent and supporting one another,” said Temple president John Fry.
For POEA, the partnership means it will no longer pursue the possibility of building an additional education wing at the Kimmel Center that had been in the early planning stages.
“When I heard Temple was acquiring Terra Hall,” said Fleur, “the priority shifted from the idea of an education wing over the loading dock to how we could work with Temple to deploy the space in Terra Hall. Our greatest strength is not about building things, and if we unite in Terra Hall for the benefit of Philadelphia students, it’s a win for Philly.”
An education annex at the Kimmel might have cost in the neighborhood of $100 million.
“It was a large figure,” said Fleur. POEA is already in the process of raising hundreds of millions of dollars for a variety of needs from endowment to repairing and renovating its facilities, which include Marian Anderson Hall, the Academy of Music, and the Miller Theater.
Temple has been establishing a series of partnerships south down Broad Street from its main North Philadelphia campus. It has leased space at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and is developing programs there, and is in the process of taking over the Library Company of Philadelphia, on Locust Street just east of Broad.
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It acquired Terra Hall in 2025 for $18 million after the abrupt bankruptcy and closing of the University of the Arts. Terra was already outfitted with practice rooms, a recording studio, performance space, a dance studio, and classrooms.
Fry said that Temple is currently doing work on the Terra building, with particular attention to the foundation and elevators, and that the major part of renovations would be done by September 2027. But he said that some of the spaces will be usable this fall.
Both POEA and Temple have existing relationships with the Philadelphia School District. Fleur said the next step is “uniting” the efforts among the three. Fry said Temple was in discussions with other arts organizations as potential partners in Terra Hall.
“We want people to think of this as a public resource,” he said, “not a closed academic building just for Temple. Where Temple can play a role, we want to be a part of that.”