The Florida Orchestra

Opening Night: Pines of Rome
Fri, Oct 8, 8 pm, Straz Center

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.

Haydn’s The Creation
Fri, Oct 22, 8 pm, Straz Center

Considered to be one of Haydn’s greatest works, this oratorio is a musical offering of piety, reverence and sublime inspiration that overflows with soaring arias, angelic multi-voice themes and explosively gorgeous choral passages.

Mahler’s Symphony No. 6
Fri, Nov 5, 8 pm, Straz Center

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.

Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Fri, Nov 19, 8 pm, Straz Center

Principal Bassoonist Anthony Georgeson performs Mozart’s Concerto for Bassoon in B-flat major, K.191 on a program with the composer's spirited Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Ravel’s elegant and courtly Le Tombeau de Couperin and Stravinsky’s driving and highly rhythmic Symphony in Three Movements.

Dvorak’s Cello Concerto
Fri, Dec 3, 8 pm, Straz Center

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.

Hello Dalí
Fri, Jan 14, 8 pm, Straz Center

Celebrate the new Salvador Dalí Museum with a dose of eccentricity and fun: Beethoven’s Consecration of the House, Heinz Karl Gruber’s Frankenstein!! A Pan-Demonium for Chansonnier & Ensemble, Darius Milhaud’s Le boef sur le toit, Debussy’s orchestration of Eric Satie’s Gymnopedies, and Manuel de Falla’s Three-Cornered Hat, Suite No. 2.

Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
Fri, Jan 28, 8 pm, Straz Center

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.

Gershwin’s Concerto in F
Fri, Feb 18, 8 pm, Straz Center

Lauded by the San Francisco Chronicle as simply “breathtaking,” Stewart Goodyear plays Gershwin’s high-energy and blues-laced Concerto in F on a program with a new work by Osvaldo Golijov and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 with its sparkling Bohemian-inspired melodies.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
Fri, Feb 25, 8 pm, Straz Center

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.

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4
Sun, Mar 13, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Acclaimed German pianist Peter Rösel performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 on this program with Luciano Berio’s orchestration of Contrapunctus XIX from Bach’s The Art of Fugue.  The evening concludes with Shostakovich’s final symphony, No. 15.

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

Elgar’s Enigma Variations
Fri, Mar 25, 8 pm, Straz Center

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
Fri, Apr 15, 8 pm, Straz Center

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.

Bruckner’s Romantic Symphony
Fri, May 13, 8 pm, Straz Center

The evening opens with John Adams’ Doctor Atomic Symphony with its pervasive sense of fear about the atomic bomb.  This is followed by Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, “Romantic,” with its luscious colors, glittering melodies and triumphant symphonic exultations.

Brahms’ Violin Concerto
Fri, May 27, 8 pm, Straz Center

Acclaimed by The New York Times as “a brilliant violinist,” Augustin Hadelich performs Brahms’ Violin Concerto on a program overflowing with gorgeous music: Berlioz’ Béatrice et Bénédict Overture, Barber’s symphonic prayer Adagio for Strings and Stravinsky’s lyrical Pulcinella Suite.