Pacifica Performances mixes new with well-known

Artistic Director Billy Philadelpha wants Pacificans on stage and in the seats
By Chris Hunter
Coastside News
Mar 21, 2025

Billy Philadelphia has been part of the Bay Area arts scene since 1973, when he moved to California from Philadelphia. “I’ve been playing piano since I was six years old,” says the man with the eponymous name of his hometown in Pennsylvania.

A lengthy career as a pianist, including a 20-year gig playing at the posh One Market Restaurant in San Francisco, has involved a multitude of professional accomplishments. He has been a band leader for two local TV shows, a musical director for shows at San Jose Rep, Marin Theatre Company and Aurora Theatre. You might have seen him in the championship parade for the 2012 San Francisco Giants in which he played the calliope.

Philadelphia once created an original show featuring the history and music of Hoagy Carmichael. He raised $50,000 for the production and performed it in San Francisco, Milwaukee and Miami.

He and his wife, singer Meg Mackay, also perform as a duo, with Cabaret-style appearances scattered throughout the Bay Area, including in Pacifica, where the couple now live.

When longtime Pacifica Performances artistic director Morning Nichols retired from that position, she suggested Philadelphia pick up the baton. Having once been selected as a performer by Mildred Owen, the late legendary founder of the arts organization, Philadelphia already knew he liked the intimacy of the venue.

“I brought a new face to the group,” says Philadelphia, “but I wasn’t going to be breaking something that was working. I’ve been learning how to to book the room.”

Professional Pacifica musicians have often become regulars at the Mildred Owen Concert Hall. Morning Nichols and her husband Jim Nichols, will be appearing April 5, for example. Peter Loeb’s Wall of Blues, Golden Bough and Larry Dunlap with Bobbe Norris are just a few other examples of familiar faces that attract local audiences. Philadelphia himself has become part of the musical repertory.

A Christmas concert last year was salvaged when a last-minute cancellation pushed Philadelphia and Meg Mackay into the limelight, unexpectedly. This coming Christmas, a special concert with Larry Dunlap is planned.

Admitting that maintaining local favorites on stage is important, Philadelphia also knows he has to introduce Pacifica audiences to new faces.

“I can see doing this for 10 years,” says the spry 72-year-old, who bounces on stage to introduce acts and thank audiences for coming. “But I would like to find the person who can help me market the venue. I’d like to see more people than just Pacificans attend.”

The Pacifica Center for the Arts, which is a unique facility owned by the City of Pacifica and incorporating the Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica Performances at the Mildred Owen Concert Hall, artist studios and the Stephen Johnson Photography Gallery, was a former elementary school purchased by the city when it was no longer needed by the Pacifica School District. There’s also a soccer field and dog park there.

Philadelphia, as a Pacifican himself, recognizes the special dynamics of the coastal bedroom-community city of 38,000 people. Many people still haven’t discovered the weekly concerts scheduled in the Mildred Owen Concert Hall, which he likes to simply call “The Hall.” There’s always someone who exclaims they have never before been to a concert there while they are queueing up for a glass of wine or cookie during intermission. As a long, narrow city with multiple neighborhoods connected only by Highway 1, residents from the north end of town often don’t venture south and then east on Linda Mar Boulevard to reach the Sanchez Art Center.

The venue can’t really afford to bring in more world-famous artists asking for high fees, relying on the drawing power of known musicians or special events. Although the Bay Area’s Maria Muldaur brings her well-known talent to town on March 22, such a famous name is relatively rare at the Hall. Billy Philadelphia is hoping to attract more folks to see musicians at affordable prices. Concerts are generally $25 a seat, with membership making it even more of a bargain for regular attendees.

You can check out all the upcoming events being planned by Billy Philadelphia for Pacifica Performances at:
pacificaperformances.org