Transmenu powered by JoomlArt.com - Mambo Joomla Professional Templates Club

Florida Orchestra Concerts To Offer Classical, Jazz, Pops — And Fizz

by Henry Adams

Special to Tropical Breeze

The Florida Orchestra and Music Director Stefan Sanderling offer the proverbial something for everyone among their upcoming concerts, including a morning Coffee Concert featuring American composers; trumpet star Arturo Sandoval; a two-week Tchaikovksy Festival; and, a pops show with golden-voice crooner Jack Jones.

First, ring in the New Year with an evening overflowing with the elegance and charm of old-world Vienna: a red-carpet welcome, cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and a Viennese-themed concert by The Florida Orchestra with Sanderling conducting. The concert will be followed by a gourmet dinner, desserts, champagne toasts, fireworks and dancing to the Southtown Fever Band. This is at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg beginning at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 31. For reservations, contact Amy Scott at 813-286-1170, ext. 340.

Cuban-born trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval takes center stage at the next Raymond James Super Pops concert series Jan. 5, 6 and 8.

There promises to be plenty of sizzle and perhaps even a little salsa as Cuban-born trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval takes center stage at the next Raymond James Super Pops concert with Richard Kaufman conducting. The winner of four Grammys, six Billboard Awards and an Emmy, Sandoval is equally at home with jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythms, pop, bebop and classical. Hailed by The New York Times as simply spectacular, Sandoval joins the orchestra January 5, 6 and 8 in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, respectively. Part of the orchestra’s first “Festival de Musica Latina,” other concerts between now and May will include the guitar quartet The Romeros, Mexican dance troup El Ballet Gran Folklorico de Mexico and guitarist and conductor Angel Romero, among other artists.

Associate Conductor Susan Haig takes the podium for a morning Coffee Concert in January: “Born in the USA,” showcases works by American composers Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber and Aaron Copland on Thursday, Jan. 4. The concert starts at 11 a.m. at the Mahaffey Theater at the Progress Energy Center in St. Petersburg. Come early for complimentary coffee and donuts and a pre-concert talk at 10 a.m.

For Russian music fans, the orchestra opens its two-weekend Tchaikovsky Festival with Tchaikovsky’s beloved “Symphony No. 6, Pathetique.” This is paired with Stravinskys visceral and rhythmically propulsive “The Rite of Spring,” whose revolutionary treatment actually caused a riot at its first performance in Paris, changing the music world forever. The performances are January 12, 13 and 14. The second program features Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg with her half classical artist, half rock star stage presence performing Tchaikovskys gorgeous “Violin Concerto.” This program also includes Rachmaninoff’s lush and luscious “Symphony No. 3,” together with Borodin’s “In the Steppes of Central Asia.” This concert is January 19, 20 and 21. Both programs will be performed in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater with Sanderling conducting.

Hailed by Frank Sinatra as one of the major singers of our time, Grammy Award winner Jack Jones will join the orchestra for a night of love ballads and some of his all-time hits, including “Lollipops and Roses,” “Wives and Lovers,” “Call Me Irresponsible,” “Alfie,” “The Impossible Dream” and more. These concerts are February 1, 2 and 3 in Clearwater, Tampa and St. Petersburg, respectively.

For more information or to buy tickets, go online to www.floridaorchestra.org or call 813-286-2403 or 1-800-662-7286, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.