Sarasota Orchestra Unveils February 2024 Concerts Featuring 75th Anniversary Celebration & More

This February, Sarasota Orchestra will continue its 75th Anniversary season in thrilling fashion, featuring performances that highlight its impact, artistry, and community. Creative Partner Peter Oundjian will lead a special anniversary concert entitled “Celebrate 75” with pianist Garrick Ohlsson performing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. In a nod to the organization's longstanding and highly regarded education programs, the Orchestra will feature an alumna of the Sarasota Music Festival, violinist Stella Chen, in Masterworks: Smoke and Fire. Students of the Youth Philharmonic will also take the stage with professional musicians of Sarasota Orchestra for its annual side-by-side performance that has inspired many youth orchestra alumni to pursue careers in music.

Great Escapes: Revolutionary Music

Sarasota Orchestra kicks off February with a tribute to “revolutionary” compositions that opened new doors to music and changed everything. Taking audiences backward as far as Beethoven and Mozart but also including groundbreaking selections from The Beatles and the film scores of the great John Williams, conductor Lawrence Loh leads the Orchestra through this journey of much-loved music.

Lawrence Loh is Music Director of Symphoria (Syracuse, NY) and the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. He has had a decade-plus association with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where he currently leads annual pops and other select programs.

When:

Wednesday, January 31, 5:30pm

Thursday, February 1, 7:30pm

Friday, February 2, 5:30pm

Saturday, February 3, 7:30pm

Sunday, February 4, 4:00pm

Where: Holley Hall

How: Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org or call the Box Office at (941) 953-3434.

Masterworks: Smoke and Fire

Norwegian conductor Rune Bergmann makes his Sarasota Orchestra debut in a program full of lively folk-dance episodes and violin pyrotechnics. Audiences will enjoy the rousing overture to Danish composer Carl Nielsen's opera Maskarade, Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, and a performance of Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 by violinist Stella Chen, a Sarasota Music Festival alumna and winner of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition.

Rune Bergmann is Music Director of Canada's Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Violinist Stella Chen, a past Sarasota Music Festival fellow, recently made solo debuts with the New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

When/Where:

Thursday, February 8, 7:30pm | Neel Performing Arts Center

Friday, February 9, 7:30pm | Van Wezel

Saturday, February 10, 7:30pm | Van Wezel

Sunday, February 11, 2:30pm | Van Wezel

How: Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org or call the Box Office at (941) 953-3434.

Celebrate 75: Special Concert

Creative Partner Peter Oundjian leads Sarasota Orchestra in an evening that captures the euphoria of its 75th anniversary and rich history as Florida's oldest continuously operating orchestra. After two fanfares by Aaron Copland and Joan Tower, legendary pianist Garrick Ohlsson joins Sarasota Orchestra for Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. Concluding with Gershwin's An American in Paris, a rhapsodic portrait of a stroll through the City of Lights, this one-night-only program promises to thrill.

Conductor Peter Oundjian, former member of the award-winning Tokyo String Quartet, is Conductor Emeritus of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, pianist Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of interpretive and technical prowess.

When: Thursday, February 15, 7:00pm

Where: Van Wezel

How: Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org or call the Box Office at (941) 953-3434.

Thrill of a Lifetime

In what is truly a “Thrill of a Lifetime” for the young members of the Youth Philharmonic, students take the stage with professional musicians of Sarasota Orchestra for a side-by-side performance. Youth Orchestra alumni frequently describe this concert as the most electrifying experience from their educational studies with Sarasota Orchestra—one that has inspired many past participants to pursue music careers of their own.

When: Sunday, February 18, 1:00pm

Where: Riverview High School Performing Arts Center

How: Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org or call the Box Office at (941) 953-3434.

Chamber Soirées: Heavenly Harmony

Sarasota Orchestra presents a heavenly evening of music with compositions that have delighted audiences for over 200 years. Massenet's beloved “Méditation” from his opera Thaïs presents a gorgeous arrangement for four cellos. Albert Roussel's Sérénade combines flute and harp with string trio for a work that is alternatingly haunting and lighthearted. The program concludes with Mozart's Wind Serenade for two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons and two horns.

When: Sunday, February 25, 4:00pm

Where: Holley Hall

How: Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org or call the Box Office at (941) 953-3434.

About Sarasota Orchestra:

Sarasota Orchestra is celebrating 75 years of performances that move, delight, and inspire music-lovers across the region and visitors from around the world. Each year, the 76-member Orchestra performs more than 100 classical, pops, chamber music, and community outreach concerts. Sarasota Orchestra's mission also extends to music education, including its acclaimed Sarasota Youth Orchestra programs and the world-renowned Sarasota Music Festival. For further information, please visit www.SarasotaOrchestra.org.

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