Sarasota Orchestra closes its season with a program of works that left the door open for more. No one is certain why Schubert never finished his Eighth Symphony, but the two movements that he did compose remain among his most beloved. Julia Perry’s Short Piece for Orchestra was the first work by a woman of color to be performed by the New York Philharmonic; Perry’s life and career were cut short at age 55. In his Symphony No. 45, Haydn sent a not-so subtle message to his employer that the orchestra was ready for a break. This symphony has delighted audiences for over 250 years and concludes our 76th season with a chuckle as each musician exits the stage in a dramatic send-off.

EPSG:4326

Unfinished Business

Sarasota Opera House

Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero conducts a richly compelling program pairing Leonard Bernstein and Gustav Mahler. Violinist Chee-Yun brings her “high gloss tone” (The New York Times) to Bernstein’s Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium). The masterwork is an exploration of the nature and purpose of love and is one of Bernstein’s most lyrical compositions. Mahler’s Fifth Symphony is a towering work, showcasing an enormous orchestra and Mahler’s legendary emotional power. Fierce yet uplifting, it provides a majestic conclusion to the Masterworks season.

Bernstein and Mahler

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

Please Note: All seating is General Admission. General Admission refers to seating areas that are not assigned or reserved, and are occupied on a first-come, first-served basis. When purchasing tickets for a General Admission event, you may be quoted section, row, and seat numbers, however these are for inventory purposes only and do not reflect any actual seating location.

Conductor's Corner 7: Bernstein and Mahler

Sarasota Orchestra

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ_ZQW5C2pw&amp;t=2s

The Artelize Podcast Presenting Will Shutes: 'Bring it down out of the clouds to human being level'

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFe6mW6x9pc

The Artelize Podcast: 'Amplifying What Makes Us Human'. A conversation with Zuly E. Inirio

Podcast link: https://youtu.be/4hagYvrYbuM

The Artelize Podcast and Kasper Holten - Pedefining Opera for the modern world

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36M5Hi6O80

The Artelize Podcast - A legacy of innovation in Opera: Celebrating Marc A. Scorca

The program features Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony, whose four opening notes are recognized the world over and whose sheer power remains unmatched. One of the most popular symphonies of all time, every performance brings something memorable to enthusiastic audiences. Brahms composed his Academic Festival Overture as a musical thank-you for his awarding of an honorary doctorate. The lighthearted work incorporates several student “beer hall” songs and spotlights Brahms’ sense of humor. Cellist Zlatomir Fung performs Dvořák’s glorious Cello Concerto, adored for its nobility and sentimentality.

Beethoven's Fifth

State College of Florida - SCF Bradenton

Conductor's Corner 6: Beethoven's Fifth

Welcome spring with a sunny program of music for strings, winds, piano, and harp. Hungarian pianist and composer Ernő Dohnányi was inspired by works penned by Mozart and Beethoven. His Serenade has found a revered place in the string trio repertoire. Belgian composer Joseph Jongen’s trios for flute, cello, and harp reveal the influence of Impressionist composers Debussy and Ravel. Mozart was so pleased with his Quintet for Piano and Winds that he wrote to his father that it was “… the best thing I have written in my life." Generations of audiences have reveled in this grand and joyful work.

Mozart in March

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Music Director Joshua Bell return to the USA for a major tour with multiple programmes including Brahms’ magnificent Violin Concerto in D major and Saint-Saëns’  Violin Concerto No.3 in B minor with Bell taking centre stage, then leading Schumann’s vibrant, energetic and joyful  ‘Spring’ Symphony No. 1 and Dvorak’s Symphony No.8 in G major from the violin.

ASMF & Joshua Bell USA

Soka University of America

University of Iowa

Carnegie Hall

The Music Center at Strathmore

California State University, Northridge

College of the Desert

Temple Theatre

University of California, Davis

The Community Church of Vero Beach

Spring is in the air as Sarasota Orchestra offers a program of monumental works, each of which broke new ground in their day. Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring was so novel and unprecedented that a riot broke out at its premiere. A tour de force for the orchestra musicians and conductor, its live performance is a not-to-be-missed event. Violinist Benjamin Beilman brings his trademark flair to Mozart’s final and most virtuosic violin concerto. The program opens with Joan Tower’s 1920/2019, composed in 2019 to honor the 1920 passage of the 19th amendment granting women suffrage.

Rite of Spring

Conductor's Corner 5: Rite of Spring

Share in the inspiration as Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero, our professional orchestra and the young members of the Youth Philharmonic come together for an unforgettable side-by-side performance. The Sarasota Youth Orchestras' alumni frequently describe this concert as one of the most electrifying experiences from their time in Sarasota Orchestra’s education programs—one that inspires many to pursue music careers of their own. The Youth Philharmonic is the most advanced of the eight Sarasota Youth Orchestras ensembles.

Side-by-side Concert

Riverview High School

Sarasota Orchestra Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero makes his Chamber Soirée debut, leading three landmark works. Stravinsky’s Danses concertantes is a delight tinged with Stravinsky’s trademark spicy interpretation. Wagner composed his highly romantic Siegfried Idyll as a birthday gift for his wife, hiring a small ensemble to perform it on the staircase outside her bedroom. Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 1 was a pivotal work, bridging the gap between 19th-century romanticism and 20th-century modernism.

Miniature Masterworks

Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero opens the rich treasure chest of American music. Adolphus Hailstork’s An American Port of Call captures the relentless energy of the port of Norfolk, Virginia. Pianist Clayton Stephenson performs Gershwin’s jazz and blues-infused Concerto in F. Charles Ives composed his delightful and quirky Variations on “America” when he was only 17. Audiences at the 1934 premiere of Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony were so moved that they erupted in applause at the end of each movement. Decades later, the extraordinary work has returned to the standard repertoire with accolades.

Variations on America

Conductor's Corner 4: Variations on America

Sarasota Orchestra lights up listeners of all ages in this 60-minute concert of familiar favorites. The program's centerpiece is Peter and the Wolf, Sergey Prokofiev's "symphonic fairy tale for children." General admission tickets are $5 for this close-up encounter with Sarasota Orchestra, with a Spanish version of the performance at 4:00 pm.

Peter and the Wolf

The program showcases Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. The vibrant musical depictions of Viktor Hartmann’s paintings, including the majestic Great Gate of Kiev, have been inspiring audiences for generations. Fourteen-year-old Japanese violinist Himari has been described as a once-in-a-generation talent. The prodigy will perform Bruch’s richly Romantic Violin Concerto No. 1. Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Abels is best known for his genre-defying scores for the Jordan Peele films Get Out, Us, and Nope. His work Amplify was co-commissioned by Sarasota Orchestra.

Pictures at an Exhibition

Conductor's Corner 3: Pictures at an Exhibition

Revel in the genius of “the Dean of American composers,” Aaron Copland. Conductor David Alan Miller leads this retrospective of the wide-ranging gifts of the composer whose music is synonymous with America. From the wide-open spaces depicted in his ballet scores Appalachian Spring and Rodeo, to his jazz-infused Music for the Theatre, Copland created a soundtrack of American life that continues to inspire. Audiences will bask in the glory of the Appalachian Spring Suite as originally scored for full orchestra. Hailed for a voice that glows with “perfect enunciation and pleasing warmth” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), bass-baritone William Socolof brings the all charm and grace of Copland’s American folksong arrangements fully to life.

Orchestral events in Sarasota, FL

Unfinished Business

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Conductor's Corner 6: Bee...

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Mozart in March

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ASMF & Joshua Bell USA

Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Rite of Spring

Sarasota Orchestra

Conductor's Corner 5: Rit...

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Side-by-side Concert

Sarasota Orchestra

Miniature Masterworks

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Variations on America

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Conductor's Corner 4: Var...

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Peter and the Wolf

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Pictures at an Exhibition...

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Conductor's Corner 3: Pic...

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Copland: An American Jour...

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Levin Plays Mozart

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Death and The Maiden

Sarasota Orchestra