The Florida Orchestra

Opening Night: Carmina Burana
Sat, Oct 15, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

Mixing monk-like chant, angelic arias, writhing rhythms, raucous lyrics and raw visceral power, Orff’s Carmina Burana is an intoxicating powerhouse of a piece for over 200 instrumentalists and voices on a program with Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio Overture and Haydn’s Symphony No. 100, Military.

Mahler's Symphony No. 7
Sat, Oct 29, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

Immerse yourself in Mahler’s Symphony No. 7...overflowing with an emotional and enigmatic mix of swirling sonorities, rich colors, pensive passages, haunting horn calls, rhythmic energies, romantic nocturnal interludes and contrasting moods of light and shadow...in a glorious and daunting musical journey.

Beethoven's Violin Concerto
Sat, Nov 12, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

Hailed by The Washington Post as having “talent that’s off the scale,” Stefan Jackiw performs Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with its glorious blend of beauty, elegance and bravura...in stark contrast to Prokofiev’s elegy to the losses of war in his Symphony No. 6.

Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21
Sat, Dec 3, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

Award-winning Austrian pianist Cornelia Herrmann performs Mozart’s sunny and buoyant Piano Concerto No. 21 on a program with Haydn’s La fedelta premiata overture and Bruckner’s monumental Symphony No. 3.

Celebrate Delius
Sat, Jan 7, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

Baritone Leon Williams and The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay join the orchestra to celebrate English composer Frederick Delius with his Sea Drift and Appalachia: Variations on an Old Slave Song. The concert opens with Beethoven’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage and closes with Copland’s Lincoln Portrait.

Pictures at an Exhibition
Sat, Jan 14, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

From carefree and spirited to almost overwhelming, it is a night of musical impressions inspired by great art:  Botticelli in Respighi’s Trittico Botticelliano, Matthias Grünewald in Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler and Victor Hartmann in Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Suite
Sat, Jan 28, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

Lauded by The Toronto Star as “a great pianist,” Markus Groh returns to perform Bartok’s vivacious and highly rhythmic musical roller coaster ride...Piano Concerto No. 2...in a night with Bartok’s Divertimento and the sweeping balletic themes of Tchaikovsky’s famed Swan Lake Suite.

Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Sun, Feb 5, 2 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall
(earlier time for Super Bowl Sunday)

In the tradition of a chamber orchestra with the concertmaster giving direction to the orchestra musicians, enjoy the intimate sounds of Vivaldi’s ever-popular Four Seasons, together with the string orchestra version of Bartok’s charming Rumanian Folk Dances and J.S. Bach’s elegant Orchestral Suite No. 3.

Please note, the Mahaffey Theater is not available for this performance, and an alternate venue has been selected.

Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2
Sat, Feb 18, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

Hailed as “a gigantic talent” by The Baltimore Sun, Valentina Lisitsa reveals the rapturous beauty and rhapsodic themes of one of the most popular of all romantic concertos, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2...in a night with Nielsen’s Helios Overture and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1.

Voices of Spring
Sat, Mar 17, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

Embrace the promise of springtime, the spirit of renewal and the carefree days of warmer weather with Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Schumann’s Symphony No. 1, “Spring.”

Brahms' Symphony No. 4
Sat, Apr 14, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

Acclaimed simply as “one of the greats” by the Manchester Evening News, internationally renowned conductor Günther Herbig is joined by Principal Trumpet Robert Smith in Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto on a program with Brahms’ mighty Symphony No. 4.

A Musical Feast
Sat, Apr 28, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

James Tocco gives the United States premiere of 19th century composer Eduard Franck’s Piano Concerto No. 1 that has recently been rediscovered, as part of this musical feast of spirited overtures from Weber’s Oberon, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lortzing’s Der Waffenschmied and Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, along with Wagner’s Die Meistersinger: Prelude.

Rhythms of Cuba
Sat, May 12, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

In a Latin flavored program, Music Director of La Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba Enrique Pérez Mesa is joined by Principal Timpanist John Bannon in James Lewis’ Cubanitis for solo timpani and orchestra on a program with Carlos Fariñas’ Penthesilea: Preludio, Guido López-Gavilán’s Ritmotiv, José Pablo Moncayo’s Huapango and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, Classical.

Beethoven's Eroica
Sat, May 26, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

Singled out by The New York Times as “brilliant, sensitive and imaginative,” Martina Filjak performs Ravel’s gloriously coloristic Piano Concerto in G Major with its mix of jazz motifs, meditative melodies and sparkling energy...on a program with Chabrier’s Habanera and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Eroica.