Kimmel Center, Philadelphia Orchestra websites hit by cyber attack

A cyber attack Friday crippled ticket sales and ticketing functions at the city’s largest arts presenter. Websites for the Kimmel Center and Philadelphia Orchestra were down, and patrons were left with scant information about the exact nature of the disruption.

Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc. spokesperson Ashley Berke declined to provide information about the outage beyond a statement saying that a “cyber incident” had “temporarily impacted” the center’s network systems.

“As we work to resolve this issue, we assure patrons that all performances on campus will proceed as planned and our security protocols are working as intended to protect sensitive data,” the statement said. Berke added that customer credit card information had not been breached.

The event left the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Kimmel’s Broadway series, Philadelphia Ballet, Philadanco, and other groups unable to sell ticket sales or conduct other transactions.

A Ticket Philadelphia associate answering the phone Friday said that the entire ticketing operation was down and that tickets for performances at the Kimmel’s halls were available only at the center’s box office.

The cyber attack comes as Philadelphia arts groups would be selling seats to spring shows. For Philadelphia Ballet, that means not only its “Forward Motion” program currently underway, but also The Sleeping Beauty, which opens March 2.

“Certainly it’s disruptive and an inconvenience,” said ballet executive director Shelly Power. “We hope this will be rectified soon.”

A cyber attack in December halted ticket sales at the Metropolitan Opera for nine days before operations could be restored. It was not clear Friday when normal Kimmel ticketing might resume.

Information: 215-893-1999.