Aug 13, 2009: Addenda to Masterworks News
ReleaseAug 13, 2009: The Florida Orchestra Announces Raymond
James Pops SeriesAug 13, 2009: The Florida Orchestra Announces 2009/2010
Coffee Concert Series
TFO
General Information and Concert Series
PRESS RELEASE
RELEASE DATE: September 24, 2009
CONTACT: Sherry Powell, Director of Marketing & Communications,
727.362.5540 or Henry Adams, Associate Director of Marketing &
Communications, 727.362.5441
The Florida Orchestra Announces Special Concerts:
Cherish
the Ladies, Music of Led Zeppelin and The Blue Planet Live
ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- The Florida Orchestra (TFO) has announced three
Special Concerts for the 2009/2010 season: Cherish the Ladies: A Celtic
Christmas, December 16; The Music of Led Zeppelin: A Rock Symphony, January 16;
and The Blue Planet Live!, May 7. Tickets are now on sale for subscribers
to any of this season’s concert series, with single tickets going on sale to the
general public on October 1. For tickets, call The Florida Orchestra
ticket center at 727.892.3337 or 1.800.662.7286, Monday through Friday, 9 am to
5 pm, or buy online at www.floridaorchestra.org.
Cherish the Ladies: A Celtic Christmas
Wednesday,
December 16, at 8 pm
Progress Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater,
St. Petersburg
Hailed by The New York Times as “passionate, tender and
rambunctious” and singled out by The Washington Post as “an astonishing
array of virtuosity,” the Irish traditional music and dance group, Cherish the
Ladies, joins The Florida Orchestra for A Celtic Christmas. They
will toast the holiday season with their wondrous weaving of Irish vocals,
old-world airs and tug-on-your-heartstrings yuletide tunes, complete with
fiddles, flutes, penny whistles, guitar, banjo, accordion, mandolin and even
some step dancing.
With eleven recordings to their name, including a Grammy nomination
for their Celtic Album with the Boston Pops, they have received
numerous honors, including being selected as the Best Musical Group of the Year
by BBC. In fact, their recording On Christmas Night was chosen as
one of the Top Christmas Albums of the Year by The New York Times, Chicago
Tribune, The Village Voice and The Washington Post.
In addition to performing with such major orchestras as the Boston
Pops, Houston Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, Atlanta Symphony, Detroit Symphony and
Minnesota Orchestra, they have performed at the White House and made broadcast
appearances on CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, Evening at the Pops,
C-Span, PBS, BBC and National Public Radio, among others.
Tickets are $25, $40, $55 and $70, and are on sale to the general
public starting October 1. Call The Florida Orchestra Ticket Center at
727.892.3337 or 1.800.662.7286, Monday – Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, or online at www.floridaorchestra.org
The Music of Led Zeppelin: A Rock
Symphony
Saturday, January 16, at 8 pm
Ruth Eckerd Hall,
Clearwater
Following last season’s Pink Floyd tribute concert with The Florida
Orchestra, conductor Brent Havens and rock vocalist Randy Jackson return to
perform with The Florida Orchestra for a symphonic salute to Led Zeppelin’s
ground-breaking fusion of rock, folk, blues, acoustic and eastern modalities
with such hits as Whole Lotta Love, Ramble On, Kashmir and others.
Brent Haven, Conductor/Arranger
The music was
arranged for orchestra and rock band by Brent Havens, who has also produced
individual symphonic rock shows for the music of The Eagles, The Doors, Queen
and Pink Floyd, the last one performed with The Florida Orchestra on the
2008/2009 season. Haven’s concept for all of these shows has been to
remain as true to the original recordings as possible while making the orchestra
sound like another instrument within the band. And to add to the spirit of
the original music and the times in which it was created, the concerts are
performed to retina-burning rock show lighting.
Brent Havens has performed his various symphonic rock shows with a
variety of orchestras around the country, including the Milwaukee Symphony
Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Rochester
Philharmonic Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and San Diego Symphony,
among others.
Randy Jackson, Vocalist
Randy Jackson’s first
foray into recording success began with the self-titled Zebra debut album,
released on Atlantic Records in 1983. Critically acclaimed for its lush rock
sounds, due in large part to Jackson’s searing lead vocals and soaring guitar
leads, the album sold 75,000 copies the first week. Who’s Behind the
Door, written by Jackson, received serious notice in the press and helped
to form legions of Zebra fans almost instantly. Randy Jackson is the lead
singer of the rock band Zebra, and recently produced and engineered their latest
album, Zebra IV. He has also toured as keyboardist and guitarist with the
reunited Jefferson Airplane, and works extensively in the area of musical
software and hardware development.
Tickets are $55, $75 and $95 and are on sale to the general public
starting October 1. Call The Florida Orchestra Ticket Center at
727.892.3337 or 1.800.662.7286, Monday – Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, or online at www.floridaorchestra.org
The Blue Planet Live!
Friday, May 7, at 8
p.m.
Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Morsani Hall, Tampa
The
Blue Planet Live!, based on the BBC television series Blue Planet,
provides a combined multi-media and concert experience featuring both the
extraordinary beauty and variety of ocean life around the world. With
larger-than-life images of a seemingly endless parade of sea creatures ebbing
and flowing across a towering movie screen, the audience is invited to submerge
itself in this artistic collaboration of cutting-edge underwater photography
with George Fenton’s multi-award-winning score being performed live by The
Florida Orchestra.
The intent of the creators is for the audience to virtually feel the
oceans come alive in wide-eyed wonder through an awe-inspiring underwater
journey of spectacular global locations, including the Galapagos Islands, Cape
of South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Alaska, Antarctica, Vancouver Island, the
Bahamas, Florida and Mexico. And since each of the ocean’s habitats is
completely different, the composer has created unique music to capture their
individual moods and the special character of their unique sea life.
George Fenton, Composer
Composer George Fenton
has written a wide variety music for theater productions, television and
films. His scores for TV series include The Jewel in the Crown, The
Monocled Mutineer, The History Man, Shoestring, Bergerac, Planet Earth
and The Blue Planet, among numerous others. For the music he
composed for BBC’s television series The Blue Planet in 2001, he won
various awards, including the Ivor Novello, BAFTA and Emmy awards for Best
Television Score. Following the series’ success, he created the score for
the live concert production of The Blue Planet Live!, which has toured
internationally with the music being performed by many of the world’s leading
orchestras. He has also composed for a wide variety of feature films,
receiving Academy Award nominations for: The Fisher King, Dangerous
Liaisons and Gandhi and was double-nominated for Cry
Freedom for Original Score and Original Song. Furthermore, Fenton has
received a Royal Television Society Lifetime Achievement Award and has been
appointed a Fellow of the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters.
Tickets are $25, $45 and $65 and are on sale to the general public
starting October 1. Call The Florida Orchestra Ticket Center at
727.892.3337 or 1.800.662.7286, Monday – Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, or online at www.floridaorchestra.org
Dates, programs, artists and venues are subject to change.
Top
PRESS RELEASE
RELEASE DATE: September 17, 2009
CONTACT: Sherry Powell, Marketing Director, 727.362.5440,
or Henry Adams, Associate Director of Marketing, 727.362.5441
Orchestra Offers Free Pops in the Park
Concerts
St. Petersburg, FL -- The Florida Orchestra will perform two free
Pops in the Park Concerts in the Tampa Bay Area in October: Friday,
October 16, at 7 pm at River Tower Park in the Sulphur Springs area of Tampa,
and Saturday, October 17, at 7:00 pm at Vinoy Park in St.
Petersburg. Attendees may bring their own picnic dinners to the
concerts or purchase food from food vendors at the parks. For concert
information, call 727.892.3337 or 1.800.662.7286, or visit
www.floridaorchestra.org.
For both concerts, guest conductor Gerald Steichen leads The
Florida Orchestra in a varied program of symphonic and pop favorites, including
highlights from Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suites No. 1 & 2, Rossini’s
La gazza ladra Overture, Gould’s American Salute, Copland’s
Variations on a Shaker Melody, Strauss’ On the Beautiful Blue
Danube, John Williams’ The Cowboys Overture, Sousa’s El
Capitan March, Strauss’ Thunder and Lightning Polka,
selections from The Music Man and Tchaikovksy’s 1812
Overture.
At both of the concerts, attendees are invited to make canned food
donations to Tampa Bay Harvest’s food bank services in the Tampa Bay
Area.
Young Artists in Pre-Concert Performance at Vinoy
Park:
The Vinoy Park Concert will have a pre-concert performance
from 6 pm to 6:30 pm by three finalists from VSA arts of Florida Young Soloists
Competition, who will be representing the State of Florida in the national
competition in Washington, DC later on this year. Serving the entire
state, VSA arts of Florida provides people with disabilities the opportunity to
learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts. For further
information, call 813-558-5095 or visit
www.vsafl.org.
Gerald Steichen, Guest Conductor
With a career
that ranges from symphony to opera, Broadway to chamber music, Gerald Steichen
has established himself as one of America's most versatile young
conductors. He currently holds the positions of music director of the
Ridgefield Symphony in Connecticut, the principal pops conductor of the Utah
Symphony and associate conductor of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Steichen
has appeared with numerous orchestras and is a frequent guest conductor for the
Boston Pops Orchestra and the New Jersey Symphony. He is a gifted pianist
and has worked on Broadway as a performer and a conductor. Pursuing his
passion for education, Steichen has also spent eighteen years with the "Meet the
Artist" series at Lincoln Center as conductor, clinician and pianist.
The River Tower Park concert is sponsored by the City of Tampa with
support from media sponsor WDUV 105.5 fm. The Vinoy Park concert is
sponsored in part by the Homes by Helen Inc., City of St. Petersburg, Fidelity
National Title Group and Westminster Communities of St. Petersburg, and with
additional support from media sponsors: St. Petersburg Times and WDUV 105.5 fm.
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PRESS RELEASE
RELEASE DATE: UPDATED: August 13, 2009
CONTACT: Sherry Powell, Marketing Director, 727.892.3331, ext
335 or Henry Adams, Associate Director of Marketing, ext
336
The Florida OrchestraAnnounces 2009/2010 Masterworks
Series
Following this season overview are outlines of the five
Masterworks series...Imperial (14 concerts), Intermezzo (10 concerts), Ovation
(7 concerts), Fanfare (7 concerts) and Discovery (5 concerts)... listing their
conductors, guest artists, composers, music, dates, times, and halls.
TAMPA, FL -- The Florida Orchestra (TFO) announced the programming
today for its 2009/2010 Masterworks season under the leadership of Music
Director Stefan Sanderling. Commenting on the season, Sanderling
said, “We want to keep our current subscribers coming back for more and
encourage others to become new subscribers. This is also a difficult time
for people in our community and we want to provide them with an uplifting
experience, something that symphonic music does so well. With this
in mind, we will be performing Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto,
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in
Blue and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. We also have
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Dvorak’s New World
Symphony. The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay will join us for
Mendelssohn’s Elijah and its women’s chorus will be featured in
Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. We continue to dedicate ourselves to
other musical giants such as Shostakovich and Bruckner, and we also have several
exciting Florida Orchestra premieres, including the US East Coast premiere of
James MacMillan’s The Sacrifice conducted by the composer.”
With concerts in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, the
Masterworks series is available in packages of 14, 10, 7 and 5 concerts,
starting as low as $90 for the 5-concert Discovery series. Among the
various subscriber benefits are savings off the single-ticket cost of the series
and free flexible ticket exchanges.
All Masterworks subscribers receive a discount off of the
single-ticket cost of their series; however, those who choose the 14-concert
Imperial series enjoy the largest savings of 20% as well as a waiver of their
facility fees, which is an additional savings of $28 per series
seat. For information on the 2009/2010 season, call the TFO ticket
center at 727.892.3337, or 1.800.662.7286, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5
pm For concert information or to purchase tickets online, visit
www.floridaorchestra.org.
Conductors:
Florida Orchestra Music Director
Stefan Sanderling conducts ten of the fourteen Masterworks programs. Two
guest conductors will make their TFO debuts. Scottish composer James
MacMillan conducts the US East Coast premiere of his The Sacrifice: Three
Interludes on a program with the TFO premiere of Vaughan Williams’
Symphony No. 4 and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto featuring TFO
Concertmaster Jeffrey Multer. Estonian conductor Eri Klas takes the podium
for the TFO premiere of Arvo Pärt’s Fratres, together with
selections from Prokofiev’s Cinderella: Suites No. 1 & 2 and
Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 with violinist Elena Urioste.
Grant Llewellyn returns with orchestra Principal Harpist Anna Kate Mackle
playing Alberto Ginastera’s Harp Concerto on a program with Osvaldo
Golijov’s Last Round, Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and Beethoven’s
Symphony No. 1. Also returning is Gunther Herbig conducting
Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2.
Guest Artists:
Guest artists making their TFO
debuts on the 2009/2010 season are: guitarist Manuel Barrueco and bandoneón
artist Daniel Binelli in Piazzolla’s Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra,
mezzo-soprano Jennifer Hines in de Falla’s El Amor Brujo (Love
Bewitched), mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer in Mahler’s Symphony No.
3, Stefan Vladar in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, Russian-born
pianist Mikhail Rudy in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and
American cellist Julie Albers in Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1.
Returning artists include violinist Elena Urioste in Mozart’s Violin
Concerto No. 5, Turkish, TFO Concertmaster Jeffrey Multer performing
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, baritone Stephen Salters in
Mendelssohn’s Elijah and TFO Principal Harpist Anna Kate Mackle playing
Ginastera’s Harp Concerto. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue
will showcase a 1920s piano roll performance of the work by George Gershwin
himself, which will be accompanied by The Florida Orchestra.
The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay & Tampa Bay Children’s
Chorus:
The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay Children’s
Chorus will join TFO to perform Mendelssohn’s Elijah. The women’s
chorus of the chorale will also perform with the orchestra in Mahler’s
Symphony No. 3. A highly select, 170-voice, all-volunteer chorus
of singers from the entire Tampa Bay area, The Master Chorale has performed and
premiered many symphonic choral works under the direction of Jahja Ling, Robert
Shaw, John Nelson, Julius Rudel, Founding Music Director Emeritus Robert Summer
and Jo-Michael Schiebe. The chorale has also performed abroad at London’s
Westminster Cathedral and King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, among other
locales. Designated in 1989 as the principal chorus of TFO, some of its
most recent performances with the orchestra include Beethoven’s Symphony No.
9, Dvorak’s Requiem, Schubert’s Mass No. 6, Faure’s
Requiem and Orff’s Carmina Burana. On the 2008/2009
season, the chorale performed Verdi’s Requiem and Mahler’s Symphony
No. 2, Resurrection.
Founded by in 1989 by Dr. Averill Summer, the Tampa Bay Children’s
Chorus (TBCC) is open to students in grades 3-12, selected by audition, who are
divided by age and ability into four choirs. TBCC also operates choral
instruction programs at four area Boys and Girls Clubs, giving even more
children the opportunity to experience the wonder of music. The Chorus
performs regularly with the Florida Orchestra, Master Chorale of Tampa Bay,
Tampa Oratorio Society, and the choirs and orchestras of the University of South
Florida. In addition to performances in New York City, Washington, D.C.
and across the state of Florida, The Chorus has participated in choral festivals
in Paris, Vienna, London, Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Toronto.
Florida Orchestra Premieres
Of particular note
among the Florida Orchestra premieres on the 2009/2010 season is the US East
Coast premiere of James MacMillan’s The Sacrifice: Three Interludes
conducted by the composer. Other TFO premieres include Astor Piazzolla’s
Concerto for Guitar and Bandoneon, Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No.
6, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 6, Anton von Webern’s
Passacaglia, Charles Ives Symphony No. 3, The Camp
Meeting, Arvo Pärt’s Fratres, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony
No. 4 and Bela Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion and
Celesta.
1. Opening Night: Rhythms on Fire - Oct. 9, 10 &
11
Hailed by The New York Times as “a superior musician,”
Cuban-born classical guitarist Manuel Barrueco and Argentine bandoneón artist
Daniel Binelli are the featured soloists in tango master Astor Piazzolla’s
Concerto for Guitar and Bandoneón. Stefan Sanderling conducts this
program, which will include Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’ Danzón No.
2 and Manuel de Falla’s hauntingly beautiful El Amor Brujo
featuring mezzo-soprano Jennifer Hines. During three decades of
concertizing, Manuel Barrueco has performed with many major orchestras,
including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Russian State Symphony, Philadelphia
Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, NHK
Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Auckland Symphony and Boston Symphony. He has
also appeared in many of the world’s most prestigious musical venues, including
Lincoln Center, the Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall in London, Musikverein in
Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Philharmonie in Berlin, Teatro Real in
Madrid, and Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. These concerts mark the TFO debuts
of Manuel Barrueco, Daniel Binelli and Jennifer Hines.
*Bandoneón: An accordion-like instrument belonging to the
concertina family, which has buttons on both extremes of the billows to sound
the notes. Introduced to Argentina and Uruguay in the late 1800s, it has
become central part of the tango ensemble and has found a large following on the
current international music scene via Argentine composer and performer Astor
Piazzolla (1921-1992).
2. Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 – Oct. 23, 24 &
25
Stefan Sanderling and TFO team up with the women’s chorus of The
Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay Children’s Chorus and mezzo-soprano
Susanne Mentzer to perform Mahler’s transcendental and transformational
Symphony No. 3.
3. Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto - Nov. 6, 7 &
8
Scottish composer James MacMillan makes his conducting debut with
The Florida Orchestra in a program featuring the US East Coast-premiere of his
The Sacrifice: Three Interludes on a program with the TFO premiere of
Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 4 and featuring the orchestra’s
concertmaster Jeffrey Multer in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.
Acclaimed as one of today’s most greatest living composers, James
MacMillan’s musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish
heritage, his Roman Catholic faith, social conscience and close connection with
Celtic folk music, blended together with influences from Far Eastern,
Scandinavian and Eastern European music.
MacMillan first became internationally recognized after the
extraordinary success of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie at the BBC
Proms in 1990. His prolific output includes such major works as Veni,
Veni, Emmanuel, the percussion concerto which has received more than 400
performances, a cello concerto for Mstislav Rostropovich, a major
choral-orchestral work Quickening, three symphonies, and his
recent opera The Sacrifice and his St. John
Passion.
MacMillan was appointed affiliate composer of the
Scottish Chamber Orchestra in 1990, and between 1992 and 2002 he was artistic
director of the Philharmonia Orchestra's Music of Today series. MacMillan is
enjoying increasing international success as a conductor and has been
composer/conductor of the BBC Philharmonic since 2000. Recent guest
conducting successes include concerts with the Baltimore Symphony, Munich
Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, NHK
Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Melbourne Symphony. Among the many
accolades he has received from the international press, The Sunday
Times has called James MacMillan “a conductor of daunting ability.”
TFO has performed two works by MacMillan in recent seasons: The
Confessions of Isobel Gowdie on the 2006/07 season and Veni, Veni
Emmanuel with Principal Percussionist John Shaw as soloist on the 2008/09
season.
Appointed as concertmaster of TFO during the 2005/2006 season,
Jeffrey Multer also serves as first violinist of the critically acclaimed
Elements Quartet, whose New York series was named Best Classical Music Event of
2003 by The Washington Post. He has also appeared as soloist and
recitalist at Lincoln Center in New York, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the
Rudolphinium in Prague, and the Kennedy Center and the National Gallery in
Washington, DC. Among his chamber music activities, Multer frequently
appears with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He has served as first violinist of
the Oxford String Quartet and as a member of Leon Fleisher’s Kennedy Center
Theater Chamber Players. Recent soloist performances with TFO by
Jeffrey Multer have included Berg’s Violin Concerto on the 2008/09 season and
Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 and Mozart’s Duo Concertante for violin and viola
with violist Scott Yoo on the 2006/07 season.
4. Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto - Dec. 4 &
6
As the youngest winner ever of the International Beethoven
Competition Vienna, Austrian pianist Stefan Vladar makes his TFO debut
performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor. Stefan
Sanderling conducts this program, which also includes the TFO premiere of Anton
Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6.
Vladar´s international career has placed him center stage as
soloist with many of the world’s major orchestras under the baton of Claudio
Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Christoph von Dohnányi, Vladimir Fedosejev, Seiji
Ozawa, Christian Thielemann, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Christopher Hogwood, Sir
Neville Marriner, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Michel Plasson, Horst Stein, Sándor Végh
and Daniel Harding.
Vladar has also been a regularly featured soloist at prestigious
music festivals in Salzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Hong Kong, Osaka, Rheingau,
Ludwigsburg and the prestigious Schubertiade in Austria. Among his
many soloist engagements was his European tour with the Beethoven Academie
Antwerpen performing all of Beethoven’s piano concertos.
Stefan Vladar’s discography includes more than 20 releases for
Sony, Deutsche Grammophon and harmonia mundi france.
5. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 6 - Jan. 8, 9 &
10
Stefan Sanderling leads the orchestra in the TFO premiere of
Dmitri Shostakovich’s glorious Symphony No. 6 on a program that includes Richard
Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks and Death and
Transfiguration.
6. Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 - Jan. 29, 30 &
31
In an all-Tchaikovsky program, Stefan Sanderling is joined by
Russian-born pianist Mikhail Rudy in his TFO debut performing Tchaikovsky’s
Piano Concerto No. 1 on a program with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.
3, Polish. Among the various prizes and honors bestowed upon Rudy
have been First Prize at the Marguerite Long Competition in Paris and the French
government’s Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres for Rudy’s
accomplishments as a musician as well as for his quest for excellence in many
areas of art and culture. He has also received various honors as a
recording artist, including the Prix de l'Académie du Disque Français
for his disc featuring Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the St. Petersburg
Philharmonic. Singled out by Gramophone for “playing of the
highest order of imagination” and hailed by Pittsburgh’s Gazette for
his “superhuman virtuosity,” Rudy’s concert career in the West was launched with
a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with violinist Isaac Stern
and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich on the occasion of artist Marc Chagall’s 90th
birthday. His international concert career regularly includes performances
with such prestigious orchestras as The Cleveland Orchestra, Berlin
Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony,
Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, London Philharmonic, London Symphony and Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra.
7. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 – Feb. 12 &
14
Stefan Sanderling conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 on
a program with Sibelius’ The Swan of Tuonela and Sibelius’ Symphony
No. 5.
8. Ravel’s Bolero - Feb. 26, 27 & 28
American cellist Julie Albers makes her TFO debut performing Haydn’s
Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Hob.VIIb:1. Stefan Sanderling
conducts this concert, which also includes Dukas’ Sorcerer’s
Apprentice, Mozart’s Symphony No. 38, Prague, and Ravel’s
Bolero. A Colorado native, Julie Albers moved to Cleveland during
her junior year of high school to pursue studies through the Young Artist
Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music and shortly thereafter won the Grand
Prize at the XIII International Competition for Young Musicians in Douai,
France. She made her major orchestral debut with The Cleveland Orchestra
in 1998 and has since gone on to perform in recital and with orchestras in the
US, Europe, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand. A performance in Auckland
inspired a critic at the New Zealand Herald to single her out for her
“flawless playing,” which he went on to describe as “a glimpse of heaven.”
In the past several years, she has won various prizes and honors, including
Second Prize in Munich’s Internationalen Musikwettbewerbes der ARD, the
Wilhelm-Weichsler-Musikpreis der Stadt Osnabruch and the first Gold Medal
Laureate of South Korea’s Gyeongnam International Music Competition.
Albers’ current and upcoming engagements include performances with the Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center, Utah Symphony, Munich Chamber Orchestra,
Moritzburg Festival in Germany, Colorado Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and at
the Chautauqua Institution.
9. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue - Mar. 5, 6 & 7
Stefan Sanderling leads the orchestra in a unique performance of Gershwin’s
Rhapsody in Blue with the composer playing the solo part from a
performance captured on a piano roll in the 1920s. The program also
includes Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, Unfinished, together with the TFO
premieres of both Webern’s Passacaglia and Ives’ Symphony No. 3,
The Camp Meeting.
10. Mendelssohn’s Elijah - Mar. 19, 20 &
21
Stefan Sanderling and TFO join forces with The Master Chorale of
Tampa Bay for Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Hailed by The Washington
Post as “intensely imaginative and adventurous” as vocalist, baritone
Stephen Salters will sing the role of Elijah. Other vocal
soloists are yet to be announced.
11. Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 – Apr. 17 &
18
Estonian conductor Eri Klas makes his TFO conducting debut with
violin soloist Elena Urioste in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5,
Turkish. Other works include a suite from Prokofiev’s Cinderella
and the TFO premiere of Arvo Pärt’s Fratres. A native of
Estonia, Eri Klas made his US conducting debut in 1991 with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. In 1995, he made his debuts with The
Cleveland Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony following highly successfully
appearances at the Blossom and Ravinia festivals. Since then, he has
appeared with most of the major North American orchestras including the Boston,
St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati, Vancouver and National symphonies and the
Minnesota Orchestra. In addition to conducting many of Europe’s major
orchestras, he occupies artistic posts with various orchestras and operas: chief
conductor of the Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow, Artistic Director of the
Tallinn Philharmonic in Estonia, Principal Guest Conductor of the Finnish
National Opera and the Holland Kammerphilharmonie, and Conductor Laureate of the
Tampere Philharmonic and the Estonian National Opera. A great champion of
Estonian composers, he has conducted world premieres of works by Pärt, Tamberg,
Tormis, Tubin and Eller.
Recently selected by Symphony magazine as an emerging
artist to watch, Elena Urioste made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at
age thirteen as winner of the Greenfield Competition. Since then, she has
appeared as soloist with such major US orchestras as The Cleveland Orchestra,
Boston Pops, National Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta, Detroit, Pittsburgh,
Baltimore and Hartford symphonies. In 2009, she will make her debut at
Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall with award-winning conductor Alondra de la
Parra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas.
First-place laureate in both the junior and senior divisions of the
Sphinx Competition and the 2007 first-prize winner of the Sion
International Violin Competition, Urioste is a graduate of the Curtis
Institute of Music and is currently pursuing graduate studies at The Juilliard
School.
Urioste last appeared with TFO on the Coffee Concert series on the
2005/2006 season performing the first movement of Brahms’ Violin
Concerto.
12. Dvorak’s New World Symphony – Apr. 30 and May 1 &
2
Stefan Sanderling conducts Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, From the
New World, together with Ives’ The Unanswered Question and the TFO
premiere of Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.
13. Ginastera’s Harp Concerto - May 14 & 16
TFO Principal Harpist Anna Kate Mackle is the soloist in Ginastera’s
Harp Concerto. Grant Llewellyn conducts this program, which also
includes Golijov’s Last Round, Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and
Beethoven’s Symphony No.1.
Anna Kate Mackle is the principal harpist of The Florida Orchestra,
a position she has held since 1999. Prior to joining the orchestra she
served as principal harpist with numerous orchestras and summer festivals,
including the New World Symphony, Sarasota Opera Orchestra, Spoleto Festival
Orchestra (both in Italy and the USA), National Repertory Orchestra, Colorado
Music Festival, Ohio Light Opera Company, and the touring companies of the
Broadway production of State Fair, San Francisco Ballet and Paul Taylor
Dance Company.
In addition to her TFO duties, she is an active soloist, chamber
musician and teacher. She has performed concertos with The Florida Orchestra,
New World Symphony, Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra, Wheeling Symphony and
Mansfield Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared as a chamber musician with
members of The Florida Orchestra in venues around the Tampa Bay area, and she
teaches at St. Petersburg College and Pinellas County Center for the Arts.
During the summers she is faculty member and principal harpist at Eastern Music
Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Music director of the North Carolina Symphony and principal
conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society, Grant Llewellyn’s career has led him
to hold positions with three European orchestras: principal conductor of the
Royal Flanders Philharmonic, principal guest conductor of the Stavanger Symphony
Orchestra and associate guest conductor with the BBC National Orchestra of
Wales. Among his many US guest conducting engagements have been the
symphonies of Boston, Houston, Montreal, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Calgary and
Toronto. Notable recent European engagements have included the Frankfurt Radio
Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony, the SWR Radio Symphony
Orchestra Stuttgart and the Helsinki Philharmonic. He retains close links with
the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with whom he
continues to undertake numerous television, radio and recording
projects. Born in Tenby, South Wales, Llewellyn won a Conducting
Fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts in 1985 where he
worked with Bernstein, Ozawa, Masur and Previn. As assistant conductor of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra in the early 1990s, he conducted concerts at the
Tanglewood Festival, the Boston Symphony and the Boston Pops Orchestra.
14. Gunther Herbig Conducts - May 28 &
29
Internationally renowned conductor Gunther Herbig returns to
conduct TFO in a program of Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 and Brahms’
Symphony No. 2. Herbig left behind the challenging political
environment of East Germany and moved to the United States in 1984, where he has
since conducted all of the top-tier orchestras, including the NewYork
Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia
Orchestra and the Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco symphony orchestras.
Posts he has held include music director of both the Detroit Symphony and the
Toronto Symphony, guest conductor of both the Dallas Symphony and the BBC
Philharmonic Orchestra, and general music director of both the Dresden
Philharmonic Orchestra and Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Key figures in his musical
training include Herman Abendroth, Hermann Scherchen and Herbert von
Karajan. He has recorded over 100 works with a variety of East German
orchestras, Toronto Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra,
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and others. England’s Manchester
Evening News calls Herbig “one of the greats,” adding “Herbig...brings life
and distinction to everything he touches...” Herbig made his TFO
conducting debut on the 2007/2008 season in a program of Mozart’s Symphony No.
41, Jupiter and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1.
Pre-Concert Conversations
All of the Masterworks concerts offer pre-concert conversations
in each hall beginning one hour before curtain time. To provide audience
members with a more enjoyable concert experience, Stefan Sanderling and other
musical guests talk about the personalities and circumstances behind the music
as well as share fun and informative insights and anecdotes related to each
program.
NOTE: Photographs, biographies and press reviews of guest
artists are available upon request.
Attached – Addenda to Masterworks News Release: This includes
the 2009/2010 season summary of Masterworks programs and series breakouts,
subscription prices and additional ticket information.
All programs, halls, dates and artists are subject to change. The
Florida Orchestra makes every effort to notify ticket holders in the event of a
change. No refunds.
In addition to the 14-concert Masterworks series, The Florida
Orchestra presents an 8-concert Raymond James Pops series, which is also
performed in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater. There is also the
7-concert Coffee Concert series in St. Petersburg, a variety of free Pops in the
Parks Concerts performed in parks around the Tampa Bay area, and a Progress
Energy Youth Concerts series reaching 30,000 4th and 5th graders annually.
Top
Addenda to Masterworks News Release
THE FLORIDA
ORCHESTRA: 2009/2010 SEASON
SUMMARY OF MASTERWORKS PROGRAMS
The Florida Orchestra’s 14 Masterworks programs are available in
five series packages as outlined below.
FIVE SERIES PACKAGES
Imperial = 14
Concerts
Intermezzo = 10 Concerts
Ovation & Fanfare = 7 Concerts Each
Discovery = 5 Concerts
CONCERT HALLS
Most of the Masterworks programs are performed in each of the three
principal concert facilities in the Tampa Bay area: Tampa Bay Performing Arts
Center’s Carol Morsani Hall or Ferguson Hall in Tampa; the Progress Energy
Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg; and Ruth Eckerd Hall
in Clearwater. Due to hall booking challenges, some concerts could not be
scheduled in all halls, and subscribers will be assigned alternate halls.
Concert Hall Codes:
The following hall codes
are used for the concert summary below.
CMH = Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Carol Morsani Hall,
Tampa
FH = Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Ferguson Hall, Tampa
MAH =
Progress Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg
REH =
Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
1) Rhythms on Fire
Stefan Sanderling, conductor
Manuel Barrueco, guitar
Daniel
Binelli, bandoneón
Jennifer Hines, mezzo-soprano
MARQUEZ: Danzón No. 2
FALLA: El Amor Brujo (Love
Bewitched)
PIAZZOLLA: Concerto for Guitar &
Bandoneón
REVUELTAS: La Noche de los Mayas (Night of the Mayas)
Fri, Oct 9, 8 pm, CMH
Sat, Oct 10, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Oct 11,
7:30 pm, REH
2) Mahler’s Symphony No. 3
Stefan Sanderling, conductor
Susanne Mentzer, alto
Women’s
Chorus of
The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay Children’s
Chorus
Averill Summer, artistic director
MAHLER: Symphony No. 3
Fri, Oct 23, 8 pm, CMH
Sat, Oct 24, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Oct 25,
7:30 pm, REH
3) Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto
James MacMillan, conductor
Jeffrey Multer, violin
MACMILLAN: The Sacrifice: Three Interludes
MENDELSSOHN: Violin
Concerto
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Symphony No. 4
Fri, Nov 6, 8 pm, CMH
Sat, Nov 7, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Nov 8, 7:30
pm, REH
4) Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto
Stefan Sanderling, conductor
Stefan Vladar, piano
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor
BRUCKNER: Symphony No.
6
Fri, Dec 4, 8 pm, CMH
Sun, Dec 6, 7:30 pm,
REH
5) Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 6
Stefan Sanderling, conductor
R. STRAUSS: Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
R. STRAUSS: Death
& Transfiguration
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 6
Fri, Jan 8, 8 pm, CMH
Sat, Jan 9, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Jan 10, 7:30
pm, REH
6) Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1
Stefan Sanderling, conductor
Mikhail Rudy, piano
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 3
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No.
1
Fri, Jan 29, 8 pm, FH
Sat, Jan 30, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Jan 31,
7:30 pm, REH
7) Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5
Stefan Sanderling, conductor
SIBELIUS: The Swan of Tuonela
SIBELIUS: Symphony No.
5
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5
Fri, Feb 12, 8 pm, FH
Sun, Feb 14, 7:30 pm, REH
8) Ravel’s Bolero
Stefan Sanderling, conductor
Julie Albers, cello
DUKAS: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
MOZART: Symphony No. 38,
Prague
HAYDN: Cello Concerto No. 1
RAVEL: Bolero
Fri, Feb 26, 8 pm, FH
Sat, Feb 27, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Feb 28,
7:30 pm, REH
9) Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue
Stefan Sanderling, conductor
George Gershwin, piano *
WEBERN: Passacaglia
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8,
Unfinished
IVES: Symphony No. 3, The Camp Meeting
GERSHWIN:
Rhapsody in Blue
Fri, Mar 5, 8 pm, FH
Sat, Mar 6, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Mar 7, 7:30
pm, REH
*Orchestra accompanies a piano roll performance by George Gershwin
from the 1920s.
10) Mendelssohn’s Elijah
Stefan Sanderling, conductor
Stephen Salters, baritone
Other
solo vocalists to be announced
The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay
MENDELSSOHN: Elijah
Fri, Mar 19, 8 pm, CMH
Sat,
Mar 20, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Mar 21, 7:30 pm, REH
11) Mozart’s Violin Concert No. 5
Eri Klas, conductor
Elena Urioste, violin
PART: Fratres
MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 5,
Turkish
PROKOFIEV: Cinderella: Suite
Sat, Apr 17, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Apr 18, 7:30 pm, REH
12) The New World Symphony
Stefan Sanderling, conductor
IVES: The Unanswered Question
BARTOK : Music for Strings,
Percussion & Celesta
DVORAK: Symphony No. 9, From the New World
Fri, Apr 30, 8 pm, FH
Sat, May 1, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, May 2, 7:30
pm, REH
13) Ginastera’s Harp Concerto
Grant Llewellyn, conductor
Anna Kate Mackle, harp
GOLIJOV: Last Round
GINASTERA: Harp Concerto
WAGNER:
Siegfried Idyll
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No
1
Fri, May 14, 8 pm, FH
Sun, May 16, 7:30 pm,
REH
14) Gunther Herbig Conducts Schubert &
Brahms
Gunther Herbig, conductor
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 5
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2
Fri, May 28, 8 pm, FH
Sat, May 29, 8 pm, MAH
All programs, halls, dates, artists and prices are subject to
change. The Florida Orchestra makes every effort to notify ticket holders in the
event of a change. Sorry, no refunds.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICES FOR MASTERWORK
SERIES
Masterworks Subscriptions on sale now!
Concert Series Seating Section
A B C D E
Imperial Series (14
concerts) $750 $594 $482 $336 $224
Intermezzo
(10
concerts) $549 $435 $353 $246 $164
Ovation
or Fanfare (7
concerts) $399 $315 $256 $179
$119
Discovery (5
concerts) $302 $239 $194 $135 $
90
Note: Series prices do not include the Facility
Fees charged by the individual concert halls nor the orchestra’s postage and
handling fee for processing a subscription order.
ADDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTION AND TICKET
INFORMATION
For Series Tickets or A Free Brochure
Call The Florida
Orchestra Ticket Center 727.892.3337 (Pinellas County), or 1.800.662.7286
(Hillsborough County), Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm
Subscriber Exchange Period
Orchestra
subscribers enjoy a one-week Subscriber Exchange Period, prior to single tickets
going on sale to the general public on August 10, 2009. At that time,
subscribers may exchange their subscription tickets for other concerts of their
choice, and may purchase single tickets to other concerts.
Flexible Ticket Exchange Policy
Series
subscribers can exchange their series tickets for tickets to concerts on any
series subject to availability. This is a free service for subscribers
only. The orchestra must be in receipt of original tickets before new
tickets may be issued. Some restrictions apply.
Group Rates
Discounts on tickets are available
for groups of 10 or more for the Masterworks, Pops and Coffee Concert
series. For information, call the Group Sales Office at 727.892.3331, ext.
305.
Top
PRESS RELEASE
RELEASE DATE: UPDATED August 13, 2009
CONTACT: Sherry Powell, Director of Marketing – 727.892.3331 - ext 335 or
Henry Adams, Associate Director of Marketing – ext 336
The Florida Orchestra Announces 2009/2010 Season: Raymond
James Pops Series
TAMPA, FL -- The Florida Orchestra (TFO) announced the programming
today for the 2009/2010 Raymond James Pops series. The eight-concert symphonic
pops series covers a variety of musical styles and artists: a night of tropical
steel drum tunes and other Caribbean favorites with the Tampa Bay Steel
Orchestra; Magical Mystery Tour’s spot-on impersonation and tribute to The
Beatles’ best-loved songs; A Holiday Pops of beloved Christmas carols and other
yuletide tunes; the return of Cirque de la Symphonie with world-class cirque
artists performing to soaring symphonic sounds; vocalist Ellis Hall in a
hit-parade of top of the chart crowd pleasers in A Tribute to Ray Charles;
Marvin Hamlisch in a night of piano improvisations, award-winning film scores
and pop standards; A Century of Broadway’s Best with hit songs ranging from
George M. Cohan to Andrew Lloyd Webber; and a symphonic tour de force of Classic
James Bond themes from almost four decades of 007 films.
The Raymond James Pops programs are performed in the three
principal performance venues of the Tampa Bay area: Fridays in Tampa at the
Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in Carol Morsani Hall or Ferguson Hall,
Saturdays in St. Petersburg at the Progress Energy Center for the Arts -
Mahaffey Theater and Sundays in Clearwater at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Please note that
Pops programming dates may not always align with available hall dates for some
concerts, and consequently, not all eight pops programs are performed in each
hall.
Among the various subscriber benefits are savings off the
single-ticket cost of the series and free flexible ticket exchanges. Pops series
prices start as low as $133. To order a series subscription or request a season
brochure on the Raymond James Pops series, call The Florida Orchestra Ticket
Center at 727.892.3337 or toll free at 1.800.662.7286, Monday through Friday, 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays. For concert information or to purchase tickets
online, visit
www.floridaorchestra.org.
1) The Tampa Bay Steel Orchestra: Oct 31 & Nov
1
Gerald Steichen, conductor
Fred Johnson, vocalist
John Shaw, steel drums
Principal Percussionist John Shaw returns with The Tampa Bay Steel
Orchestra and Tampa Bay vocalist Fred Johnson to share the stage with The
Florida Orchestra in another night of sizzling steel drum and Caribbean hits,
including Yellow Bird, Marianne, Day-O, Jump In the Line, One Love and
more.
The Tampa Bay Steel Orchestra’s seven members are among the most
accomplished steel pan players in the country. The group has appeared with The
Florida Orchestra and been featured at First Night in St. Petersburg and the
Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival. They have also performed on Tampa Bay area
television shows, including Daytime on Channel 8 and Studio 10
on Channel 10. In 2001, four members performed the national anthem for the Tampa
Bay Devil Rays, becoming the first steel drum band ever to do so for a Major
League Baseball game. After a decade of collaborating with each of the members
separately, John Shaw brought them together to form the seven-piece ensemble in
2003. Since then, they have performed across the state of Florida and recently
issued their first recording.
Sat, Oct 31, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Nov 1, 7:30 pm, REH
2) Classical Mystery Tour: Nov 27, 28 & 30
Martin Herman, conductor
Jim Owen, rhythm guitar and piano
Tony Kishman, bass guitar and piano
Chris Camilleri, drums
Tom Teeley, lead guitar
With members of the acclaimed Broadway sensation
Beatlemania, it’s a night of Beatles hits…Penny Lane, Yesterday,
Eleanor Rigby, Hey Jude, Strawberry Fields Forever, I Saw Her Standing
There and more. The Los Angeles Times singled out their concert
for its “high goose-bump quotient,” adding “the crowd stood and bellowed for
more.” Performing in concerts with orchestras around the world, the members of
the band are all accomplished vocalists and include Jim Owen on rhythm guitar
and piano, Tony Kishman on bass guitar and piano, Chris Camilleri on drums and
Tom Teeley on lead guitar.
(Thanksgiving Weekend)
Fri, Nov 27, 8 pm, CMH
Sat, Nov 28, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Nov 29, 2pm, MAH
3) A Holiday Pops: Dec 11, 12 & 13
Jeff Tyzik, conductor
The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay
Sure to put a smile on your face and good cheer in your heart,
treat yourself and your family to a sleigh load of musical chestnuts, favorite
yuletide tunes and best-loved Christmas carols…all with the over 150-voices of
the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay.
Now in his fourteenth season as principal pops conductor of the
Rochester Philharmonic, Jeff Tyzik has lead many of the top orchestras around
the United States, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony,
Boston Pops, Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops. In
addition, his compositions and arrangements have been recorded by the Cincinnati
Pops Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and by Doc Severinsen with the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra in London. He has also composed and arranged music for
the Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman orchestras, as well as composed theme
music for many of the major television networks, including ABC, NBC and HBO.
Jeff Tyzik’s most recent appearance with TFO was on the 2008/2009 season for a
Halloween pops program.
Fri, Dec 11, 8 pm, CMH
Sat, Dec 12, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Dec 13, 7:30 pm, REH
4) Cirque de la Symphonie: Jan 22, 23 & 24
Stuart Malina, conductor
Back by popular demand, Cirque de la Symphonie returns with a
breathtaking variety of seemingly impossible acts by some of the world’s
premiere cirque artists. Among the performers featured are aerial flyers,
acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers and strongmen. These are
some of the most accomplished veterans of Cirque du Soleil and artists from
other exceptional cirque programs of international stature. The artists include
world-record holders, gold-medal winners of international competitions, and some
of the most original talent seen anywhere. The Florida Orchestra accompanies
these extraordinary performers in a far-reaching selection of everybody’s
symphonic favorites.
Fri, Jan 22, 8 pm, MAH
Sat, Jan 23, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Jan 24, 7:30 pm, REH
5) A Tribute to Ray Charles: Feb 19, 20 & 21
Matt Catingub, conductor
Ellis Hall, vocalist
Featuring multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ellis Hall, it’s a
salute to the legendary singer and pianist who put soul into country, ballads,
pop and anything else with a melody: Mr. Ray Charles. With a career spanning
five decades and garnering 12 Grammys, there are so many great tunes to
celebrate…Georgia on My Mind, Hit the Road Jack, Unchain My Heart, I Got a
Woman, What’d I Say, Ruby, I Can’t Stop Loving You, Your Cheating Heart and
more.
Ellis Hall has been invited to share his vocal talents on several
special occasions that honored the legendary Ray Charles. In 2003, for Camille
Cosby's New Visionary Leadership Project honoring Ray Charles, Ellis performed
You Don't Know Me at the Kennedy Center. He also performed a salute to
Ray Charles at the Kennedy Center Honors Weekend. In 2005, Ellis Hall was
featured at Concord Records Grammy Party, which was later shown on the BET
Special "Jammin' For Ray,” and he performed with a host of stars in a
commemoration of the 75th birthday of Ray Charles, "A Night With Concord
Records," at the Hollywood Bowl presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Association's Jazz at the Bowl series. His numerous credits also include lead
vocalist for soul group Tower of Power, his gold and platinum selling California
Raisins albums and vocals featured in movie and television soundtracks,
including The Wonder Years, New York Undercover, NYPD Blue, Lion King II,
Big Momma's House, Bruce Almighty, Universal and Polar Express,
among others.
Matt Catingub is the youngest son of the late great jazz vocalist
Mavis Rivers, who was known as “Polynesia’s First Lady of Song.” After dabbling
on various instruments as a teenager, he got a chance to perform on alto sax at
the Monterrey Jazz Festival at the age of 17 and was quickly recruited to travel
to Japan to play with Dizzy Gillespie, Thad Jones, Ruth Brown and Kenny Burrel.
Next he joined the Louie Bellson Big Band and in just a few months had one of
his compositions, Explosion, recorded on Bellson’s album
Dynamite, which launched Catingub’s reputation as a composer/arranger
as well as an alto sax soloist. He went on to become the music director for
singers Jack Jones and Toni Tennille. The year 1998 gave him the double pleasure
of debuting on the Concord Jazz label and becoming the conductor of the Honolulu
Symphony Pops, where he is now in his eighth season. Matt Catingub has performed
on TFO’s pops series twice in the last several seasons: in a salute to Frank
Sinatra with fellow Hawaii resident singer Jimmy Borges and more recently in an
evening of jazz with singers Karin Allyson and Tampa Bay’s own Fred Johnson.
During the 2009/2010 season, also conducted a Valentine’s pops concert.
Fri, Feb 19, 8 pm, FH
Sat, Feb 20, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Feb 21, 7:30 pm, REH
6) Marvin Hamlisch: Mar 13 & 14
Marvin Hamlisch, conductor & piano
Marvin Hamlisch returns with his wit, charm, flair and talent as
pianist extraordinaire in a night of his award-winning film scores, dazzling pop
tunes and amazing piano improvisations.
With over forty motion picture scores to his name, Marvin
Hamlisch’s output as a composer has garnered every major award that exists:
three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony, three Golden Globes, and a
Pulitzer Prize. Among his numerous award-winning scores are The Way We Were,
The Sting, A Chorus Line, Pennies from Heaven, Sophie’s Choice, Ordinary People,
Ice Castles and Save the Tiger. Hamlisch is the principal pops
conductor of both the Pittsburgh Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra in
Washington, D.C. He also has an extensive guest conducting schedule with major
orchestras across the U.S.
Hamlisch is known for his animated stage presence, which is filled
with lively banter, wit and improvisational talents at the piano, often creating
delightfully silly and very entertaining songs from seemingly unrelated words
and phrases shouted out by audience members. Of his performances, The
Toronto Globe/Mail hails him for “a wonderfully varied and entertaining
evening” and The New York Times calls his performances
“brilliant...clever,” adding that “he had everyone in stitches.”
Sat, Mar 13, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Mar 14, 7:30 pm, REH
7) A Century of Broadway: Apr 10 & 11
Jeff Tyzik, conductor
Christiane Noll, vocalist
Doug LaBrecque, vocalist
With hits spanning from George M. Cohan to Andrew Lloyd Webber,
it’s a celebration of a century of Broadway’s best from Desert Song, Naughty
Marietta, Showboat, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Chicago, Jesus Christ
Superstar, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd and more.
Christiane Noll made her Broadway debut starring in Jekyll
& Hyde in the role of Emma. She went on to receive an Ovation Award for
her comedic turn as Hope Cladwell in the national tour of Urinetown and
wowed audiences again both as Vanna Vane in the new musical The Mambo Kings
and as Jane Smart in the American premiere of The Witches of
Eastwick. Noll is one of the most versatile actresses in the American
Musical Theatre with a varied repertoire in Broadway, opera, operetta and jazz.
She has been a frequent guest soloist as part of Bravo Broadway with symphony
orchestras around the world, including the National Symphony, Cincinnati Pops,
Jerusalem Symphony and Philadelphia Pops, as well as in appearances with The
Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and Hong Kong
Philharmonic.
Doug LaBrecque thrilled theatre audiences as The Phantom and Raoul
in the Harold Prince production of The Phantom of the Opera. In
addition, he has starred on Broadway as Ravenal in the Hal Prince revival of
Showboat, a role he also performed in Canada and Chicago. He was
featured in Oscar Hammerstein's 100th Birthday Celebration on Broadway
at The Gershwin Theatre and toured nationally with Les Miserables.
Regionally, LaBrecque has performed leading roles in Candide, A Chorus
Line and Man of La Mancha, among many other shows. A graduate of
the University of Michigan, he was also featured in the world premiere of A
Wonderful Life, written by Sheldon Harnick and Joe Raposo, and starred in
the premiere revival of Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner's Love Life. An
active concert performer, LaBrecque has been a soloist with some of the world's
finest symphony orchestras, including The National Symphony, Israel
Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra,
Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony and San Francisco Symphony.
Sat, Apr 10, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Apr 11, 7:30 pm, REH
8) Classic James Bond: May 21, 22 and 23
Carl Davis, conductor
Mary Carewe, vocalist
It’s a night of “symphonic espionage” reliving the thrills, the
spills and the ever-so-cool chills of 007…”Bond, James Bond”… with hits from
Goldfinger, From Russia with Love, Thunderball, Casino Royale, Diamonds Are
Forever, Live and Let Die and other films.
Vocalist Mary Carewe has performed under the baton of such renowned
conductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Kurt Masur, John Rutter and Charles Hazlewood.
In her now long-established artistic relationship with Carl Davis, she has sung
a variety of programs, including a James Bond program and an Oscar Winners
program with the main British orchestras, Orchestre Philharmonique du
Luxembourg, Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra, Spain, Malaysian Philharmonic
Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Orchestra and Indianapolis
Symphony Orchestra. She will be making her Carnegie Hall debut in the James Bond
program with The New York Pops in March 2009 with Carl Davis conducting.
Carl Davis is a prolific composer of music for feature films,
television, silent films, ballets and musicals as well as the Liverpool
Oratorio that he co-wrote with Paul McCartney. In 1959, he and fellow
student Stephen Vinaver wrote the revue Diversions, which won him an
Obie for this off-Broadway production. Shortly thereafter, Ned Sherrin of BBC
commissioned Davis to compose for That Was The Week That Was, paving
the way for many radio and television commissions, including the BBC’s
production of Pride and Prejudice as well as The Snow Goose, The
World At War, Hollywood, Cold War, The Far Pavilions, The Naked Civil Servant,
Good Night Mr Tom and, most recently, Cranford. Davis is also
recognized for the scores he has composed for such feature films as The
French Lieutenant's Woman, Champions, Scandal, Ken Russell's The
Rainbow, Widow’s Peak, Mike Leigh’s Topsy Turvy and The Book
of Eve. Another area reflecting his creative output includes his musical
scores for over fifty silent films, including one for Abel Gance's epic film
Napoleon, for which Davis received the order of Chevalier des Arts
et des Lettres from the French Minister of Culture after a screening of the
film in Paris. Among the many silent films for which he has orchestrated music
are Ben Hur, Phantom of the Opera, Flesh and the Devil, Old Heidelberg, The
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Intolerance, The Crowd and The Big Parade,
Chaplin’s Behind the Screen and King Vidor’s Show People.
Fri, May 21, 8 pm, FH
Sat, May 22, 8 pm, MAH
Sun, Mar 23, 7:30 pm, REH
CONCERT HALLS
FH = Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Ferguson Hall, Tampa
CMH = Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Carol Morsani Hall, Tampa
MAH = Progress Energy Center for the Arts, Mahaffey Theater, St.
Petersburg
REH = Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
Raymond James Pops Series Prices
$445 $352 $286 $199 $133
Top
PRESS RELEASE
RELEASE DATE: UPDATED August 13, 2009
CONTACT: Sherry Powell, Director of Marketing &
Communications – 727.892.3331 x 335 or Henry Adams, Associate Director of
Marketing & Communications - 727.892.3331 x
336
The Florida Orchestra Announces 2009/2010 Coffee Concert
Series
ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- The Florida Orchestra (TFO) announced program
highlights for its 2009/2010 Coffee Concert series under the direction of
Alastair Willis, now in his second season as principal coffee concert conductor
at TFO. Held at the Progress Energy Center for the Arts - Mahaffey Theater
in St. Petersburg, this morning series includes a broad selection of music by
Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian, Copland, Verdi, Puccini, Elgar, Ives, Sibelius,
Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Dvorak, Rachmaninoff and others. Due to the
popularity of the series, it has been increased from six to seven concerts,
which is the first time in over a decade that the orchestra has increased the
number of concerts in any of its concert series. Alastair Willis will
conduct six of the concerts and Grant Cooper, the artistic director and
conductor of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, will guest conduct one
concert February 2010.
Taking place in a relaxed setting with a casual format, the
conductor talks to the audience about the music and the composers during the
performances. Prior to all concerts, complimentary coffee and donuts are
served in the lobby of the hall, and pre-concert talks by the conductor and
various orchestra musicians are offered in the concert hall one hour before the
11 a.m. curtain time. With series packages starting at $134, these concerts run
from October 29, 2009 through May 20, 2010. For more information or to
purchase a series package, call The Florida Orchestra Ticket Center at
727.892.3337 or toll free at 1.800.662.7286, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. For concert information or to purchase tickets online, visit
www.floridaorchestra.org.
Coffee Conductor Alastair Willis
Six of the Coffee Concerts will be led by Alastair Willis, whose
conducting talents regularly place him in front of such orchestras as the New
York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, St. Louis Symphony,
Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Oregon Symphony and
San Diego Symphony, among others. He has also occupied a variety of
conducting posts, including resident conductor of the Seattle Symphony,
assistant conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops orchestras and music
director of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra.
A native of Massachusetts, Willis received his bachelor's degree
with honors from England's Bristol University and a post-graduate certificate of
education at Kingston University. In 1996, he won a scholarship to study
with Maestro Larry Rachleff at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University
in Houston, graduating with a master of music degree in 1999.
Guest Conductor Grant Cooper
Prior to becoming the artistic director and conductor of the West
Virginia Symphony Orchestra in 2001, Grant Cooper served as resident conductor
of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, where he gave almost 600 performances with
the orchestra, appearing to critical acclaim on all the major
series. Cooper is also artistic director of the Bach and Beyond
Festival in Fredonia, New York.
Born in New Zealand as the son of a professional opera singer,
he sang and acted in his first opera at age four and studied piano and music
theory prior to college. After completing his degree in pure mathematics at the
University of Auckland, he embarked on a performance career as an orchestral
trumpet player while fostering his growing interest in conducting, the latter
leading to a fellowship from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council for study with
Gerard Schwarz in the United States. This, in turn, led to performances in
New York's Carnegie Hall and at Tanglewood under Arthur Fiedler, where he also
performed as principal trumpet under conductors Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa,
and Sir Neville Marriner, among others.
Since then, his many guest conducting engagements have included the
Houston Symphony, Spokane Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic,
Rochester Philharmonic, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia and
the Syracuse Opera, among others.
THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE
2009/2010
COFFEE CONCERT SERIES
Progress Energy Center for the Arts - Mahaffey Theater
Thursday
Mornings in St. Petersburg
NOTE: Only select movements will be performed for some of the
pieces listed. Other works and guest artists are yet to be selected for
inclusion in these programs.
Symphonic
Dances
Alastair Willis, conductor
BERNSTEIN: West Side Story Selections
COPLAND: Hoe-down
from Rodeo
SAINT-SAENS: Danse Macabre, Op. 40
STRAVINSKY:
Firebird Suite: Berceuse et Finale
VERDI: Aida: Triumphal March
& Ballet
DE FALLA: El Amor Brujo: Ritual Fire
Dance
TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake Suite, Op. 20a. – 1. Scene & 3.
Danse de cygnes
TCHAIKOVSKY: Sleeping Beauty Suite, Op. 66a: II.
Adagio: Pas d’action
Thu, Oct 29, 11 am
Progress Energy Center for the Arts –
Mahaffey Theater
Opera’s Greatest Hits
Alastair Willis, conductor
VERDI: Traviata, Prelude to Act III
PUCCINI: La Boheme
ROSSINI: Overture: Italian Girl in Algiers
Additional works yet to be
selected
Thu, Dec 10, 11 am
Progress Energy Center for the Arts –
Mahaffey Theater
Last Night of the Proms
Alastair Willis, conductor
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Overture: The Wasps
ELGAR:
Serenade, Op. 20: II. Larghetto
ELGAR: Concerto for Violoncello, Op.
85. in E minor – IV. Allegro
SULLIVAN: Overture to HMS
Pinafore
IVES: Variations on “America” (God Save the Queen)
WOOD:
Fantasia on British Sea Songs (excerpts)
PARRY: Jerusalem
ELGAR: Pomp and
Circumstance March No. 1 in D major, Op. 39
Thu, Jan 21, 11 am
Progress Energy Center for the Arts –
Mahaffey Theater
Music Around the World
Grant Cooper, conductor
SIBELIUS: Finlandia
BERLIOZ: Hungarian March
MENDELSSOHN:
Hebrides Overture
Thu, Feb 18, 11 am
Progress Energy Center for the Arts –
Mahaffey Theater
Romantic Bohemia
Alastair Willis, conductor
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8, D. 759 in B minor (Unfinished) – I.
Allegro moderato
BRAHMS: Hungarian Dance No. 3
DVORAK: Slavonic
Dance Op. 46, No. 1 in C major: Presto
DVORAK: Czech Suite, Op. 39
in D major: V. Furiant: Presto
SMETANA: Ma Vlast: 2. Vltava
(Moldau)
KODALY: Dances of Galanta
Thu, Mar 11, 11 am
Progress Energy Center for the Arts –
Mahaffey Theater
Russian Extravaganza
Alastair Willis, conductor
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Russian Easter Overture, Op. 36
RACHMANINOFF:
Vocalise
BORODIN: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor
BORODIN: In
the Steppes of Central Asia
IPPOLITOV-IVANOV: Caucasian Sketches, Op.
10
III. In the Mosque
IV. Procession of the
Sardar
TCHAIKOVSKY: Overture: 1812, Op. 49
Thu, Apr 8, 11 am
Progress Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey
Theater
Wonderful Waltzes
Alastair Willis, conductor
TCHAIKOVSKY: Sleeping Beauty
RODGERS: Carousel
STRAUSS:
Blue Danube
Thu, May 20, 11 am
Progress Energy Center for the Arts –
Mahaffey Theater
2008/09 Coffee Series Prices: 7
Concerts
Seat Sections A B C D
$235 $190 $162 $134
The 2009/2010 season marks 42 years of music-making for The Florida
Orchestra, which performs more than 100 concerts annually in the tri-city area
of Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg. These include: