The Florida Orchestra

Opening Night: Pines of Rome
Sun, Oct 10, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Hometown favorite Thomas Wilkins returns to open the season with Respighi’s larger-than-life Pines of Rome along with Beckel’s Toccata for Orchestra, Faure’s Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances and Liszt’s Les Préludes.

Mahler’s Symphony No. 6
Sun, Nov 7, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

This is Mahler with his powers to excite and even overwhelm at their highest, and in spite of the music’s many intensely dark moods, the symphony is exhilarating, offering listeners an extraordinarily rewarding musical experience.

Dvorak’s Cello Concerto
Sun, Dec 5, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Hailed by Strings Magazine for his “stunning virtuosity,” Mark Kosower performs Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B minor with its deliciously visceral beauty and soaring melodies bursting with sunlight. This concert opens with Brahms’ youthfully optimistic Serenade No. 1.

Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
Sun, Jan 30, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Hailed by The Cleveland Plain Dealer as a “prodigious and aristocratic violinist,” concertmaster Jeffrey Multer performs Tchaikovsky’s rhapsodic Violin Concerto on this all-Tchaikovsky program featuring his Symphony No. 2, Little Russian, full of rich colors and spirited Ukrainian folk tunes.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
Sun, Feb 27, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Opening with Arnold Schoenberg’s ethereal hymn for eternal peace, Friede auf Erden (Peace on Earth), the orchestra and chorale join forces for one of the most life-affirming works of music in its celebration of hope and the human spirit: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Elgar’s Enigma Variations
Sun, Mar 27, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Lauded by the Los Angeles Times for a “first-rate technique,” Alexander Mickelthwate is joined by Principal Second Violinist Sarah Shellman for Thomas Adès’ Violin Concerto with its devilishly difficult high melodic lines on a program with Haydn’s Symphony No. 59 and Elgar’s beloved Enigma Variations.

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3
Sun, Apr 17, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Acclaimed by The Boston Globe as a “dazzling Russian pianist,” Lilya Zilberstein performs Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with its cascading luscious melodies and thundering chords. The program includes the rich and majestic themes of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 7 as well as his tone poem En Saga.