With Valentine’s Day smack in the middle, February gives us an excuse to savor all the things we love. And there’s so much to love with The Florida Orchestra:
If you love beauty with breakfast … Beautiful Bohemia (Wednesday and Thursday, February 6 and 7): This morning Coffee concert serves up Bohemian classics including Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7 and Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 10, along with free coffee and doughnuts. Music Director Michael Francis conducts.
If you love to sing … Sing Out! Tampa Bay (Thursday, February 7): Belt one out with the rest of Tampa Bay at this casual community singalong with the orchestra, led by Maestro Francis. This year includes This is Me from The Greatest Showman, Over the Rainbow, The Pirate Song and many more. Admission is pay what you can at the Mahaffey Theater.
If you love space … The Planets (Friday to Sunday, February 15-17): The Planets align with NASA video on the big screen for the 100th anniversary of Holst’s supersonic trip through the galaxy. Featuring the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay. Michael Francis conducts. Free tickets for kids and teens in advance.
If you love Shakespeare … A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Friday to Sunday, February 22-24): Michael Francis leads a rare performance of the full work, featuring the Lumina Youth Choir, soloists, a narrator and more. Also, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 with Anne-Marie McDermott, in the Tampa Bay Times Masterworks series.
The orchestra also will perform a Symphonic Shakespeare Coffee concert (Wednesday and Thursday, February 27 & 28), with music inspired by The Bard, including Porter’s Brush Up Your Shakespeare and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. Stuart Malina conducts. Free coffee and doughnuts. Both concerts are part of the Celebration of the Arts.
The Florida Orchestra performs regularly at the Straz Center in Tampa, Mahaffey in St. Petersburg and Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. The orchestra offers affordably priced tickets to a variety of concerts; prices vary. See FloridaOrchestra.org.
