Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Opens 25th Anniversary Season with Two Performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9

The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra kicks off its 25th Anniversary Season, marking a pivotal moment in the organization's history with the 25th Anniversary Season Opening Weekend: Beethoven's Ninth on Saturday, September 30, 2017 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 1 at 2 p.m. at Bob Carr Theater, located at 401 W. Livingston St.

Music Director Eric Jacobsen leads the Philharmonic in this program, which includes Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor "Chorale." One of Beethoven's best-known works in all classical music, the piece is known for its idea of the "brotherhood of man" and is the great composer's final complete symphony.

The Philharmonic is excited to feature the following guest artists on this concert; Sherezade Panthaki, soprano; Kate Maroney, mezzo soprano; Dann Coakwell, tenor; Dashon Burton, baritone; and the University of Central Florida Chorus.

"To start the season with a world premiere by Orlando composer Keith Lay and featuring brass players from the orchestra, some who have been in the orchestra for 25 years, there is no better way to open the 25th season and celebrate Orlando," said Jacobsen.

The Classics Series is sponsored by FAIRWINDS Credit Union and the Accommodations Sponsor is DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando Downtown.

Single tickets are available starting at $23 and can be purchased online at orlandophil.org, by calling 407.770.0071, or in person at the Box Office, located at The Plaza Live (425 N. Bumby Avenue, Orlando). The Box Office is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Ticket prices subject to change.)

Celebrating its 25th Anniversary Season, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra is led by Music Director Eric Jacobsen and comprised of accomplished musicians from around the world. The Philharmonic annually presents the FAIRWINDS Classics and Pops Series at Bob Carr Theater and its Sounds of Summer, Focus and Women in Song Series at The Plaza Live. Known for its artistic excellence and community collaboration, the Philharmonic presents more than 150 live concerts and impacts more than 70,000 children, youth and families annually through its Young People's Concerts, Symphony Storytime Series, Notes in Your Neighborhood program, and free outdoor community concerts. A resident company of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the Philharmonic will perform in Steinmetz Hall when it opens in 2020. Learn more at OrlandoPhil.org.

About the Artists:

ERIC JACOBSEN - Hailed by The New York Times as "an interpretive dynamo," conductor and cellist Eric Jacobsen has built a reputation for engaging audiences with innovative and collaborative projects. As co-founder and Artistic Director of the adventurous orchestra The Knights and a founding member of the genre-defying string quartet Brooklyn Rider, Jacobsen, along with his brother, violinist Colin Jacobsen, was awarded a prestigious United States Artists Fellowship in 2012. Jacobsen celebrated his inaugural season with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in 2015/2016.

SHEREZADE PANTHAKI - Soprano Sherezade Panthaki's international success has been fueled by superbly honed musicianship; "shimmering sensitivity" (Cleveland Plain Dealer), "astonishing coloratura with radiant top notes" (Calgary Herald); a vocal color "combining brilliance with a dark, plumlike tone" (The Wall Street Journal), and passionately informed interpretations, "mining deep emotion from the subtle shaping of the lines" (The New York Times). An acknowledged star in the early-music field, Ms. Panthaki has developEd Strong collaborations with many of the world's leading interpreters including Nicholas McGegan, Mark Morris, Matthew Halls, Nicholas Kraemer, Simon Carrington, the late John Scott, and Masaaki Suzuki, with whom she made her New York Philharmonic debut in a program of Bach and Mendelssohn.

KATE MARONEY - Recognized by The New York Times for her "vibrant and colorful" singing, mezzo-soprano Kate Maroney is in demand on concert, oratorio and opera stages in works that span from the Renaissance to the 21st century. Kate is a passionate believer in the deeply transformative, fully humanizing power of music and in its ability to foster empathy in the community of performers and listeners alike. She particularly values collaborations with kind and generous colleagues who share this conviction.

DANN COAKWELL -

Dann Coakwell, tenor, has been praised as a “clear-voiced and eloquent … vivid storyteller” (The New York Times), with “a gorgeous lyric tenor that could threaten or caress on the turn of a dime" (The Dallas Morning News). He can be heard as a soloist on the Grammy-winning The Sacred Spirit of Russia (2014), Grammy-nominated Considering Matthew Shephard by composer/director Craig Hella Johnson (2016), which peaked at number three on the Billboard Classical chart, and Grammy-nominated Conspirare: A Company of Voices (2009). All three collaborations joined Conspirare on Harmonia Mundi records. He also appeared on the Naxos release of composer Mohammed Fairouz’s Zabur (as Jibreel), with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and Orchestra, which Napster.com praised as one of the top 10 best classical albums of 2016. He has performed as a soloist internationally under such acclaimed conductors as Helmuth Rilling, Masaaki Suzuki, William Christie, María Guinand, Nicholas McGegan, Matthew Halls, and the late John Scott. Coakwell has performed many times at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center's Alice Tully and David Geffen halls, as well as Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue and Trinity Church Wall Street in New York. He has appeared as a soloist with organizations such as Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart in Germany, Bach Collegium Japan (across Europe, Mexico, and Japan), Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco, Oregon Bach Festival, and Conspirare. Specializing in the Evangelist and tenor roles of J.S. Bach, Coakwell frequently performs the composer’s major oratorios—St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Christmas Oratorio, and Mass in B-Minor—as well as many of Bach’s cantatas. An enthusiast of Benjamin Britten, Coakwell has appeared in several productions of Britten’s Canticles, Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, and St. Nicolas. Other prominent solo and titular roles performed also include: Rameau’s Pigmalion; Handel’s Samson, Judas Maccabaeus, Israel in Egypt, Alexander’s Feast, and Messiah; Haydn’s Creation and Missa in Angustiis; Mozart Requiem and Mass in c (Levin, Beyer, and Süssmayr completions); Medelssohn’s Elijah; and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Coakwell also serves on the voice faculty at Ithaca College, and has enjoyed guest teaching artist residencies at institutions such as El Teatro Teresa Carreño in Venezuela, Yale University, University of Missouri Kansas City, Dartmouth College, Texas State University, and University of Idaho. He holds an Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music/Institute of Sacred Music, a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degree from Texas Tech University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

DASHON BURTON - Praised for his "nobility and rich tone," (The New York Times) and his "enormous, thrilling voice seemingly capable ... [of] raising the dead;" (Wall Street Journal), bass-baritone Dashon Burton has appeared in both the Brahms Requiem and Beethoven 9 with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra in the last two seasons; re-engagements following his 2014 debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in its groundbreaking production of Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen.

University of Central Florida University Choir - The choral organizations offer an opportunity to study and perform a variety of choral music of many styles, contexts, and cultures, including classical masterworks with instruments and art and folk music of many traditions. Choral ensemble experiences encourage and reinforce healthy singing technique, provide an awareness of cultural and historical style, tradition and context, refine critical listening and reading skills, encourage analytical thinking through analysis-in-practice, and provide a community of musicians an opportunity to explore together the power of shared music-making.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.