In March, The Florida Orchestra starts out rocking before delving into some of the most beautiful music ever written. All live, with concerts in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater. Here are highlights:
Women Rock (Friday to Sunday, March 1-3): This Raymond James Pops concert pays tribute to the women who changed rock ‘n’ roll forever, including Carole King, Tina Turner, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Pat Benatar and more. Featuring I Feel The Earth Move, What’s Love Got To Do With It, Proud Mary, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, I Love Rock n’ Roll and You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman, with premiere vocalists and conducted by Bob Bernhardt. A special performance will take place Friday, March 1, at Busch Gardens in Tampa.
The French Connection Coffee concert (Thursday, March 14): French works that are simply fantastique featuring Debussy’s Clair de Lune and Gounod’s Funeral March of a Marionette and Saint-Saens Danse Bacchanale. Stuart Malina conducts. Free coffee and doughnuts served at this morning matinee.
Broadway Tonight (Saturday and Sunday, March 16 & 17): Performers straight from Broadway revisit your favorite classics, featuring songs from Lion King, Evita, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and many more. William Waldrop conducts.
The Creation (Friday to Sunday, March 22-24): Haydn’s crowning achievement takes all the drama of creating the world and transforms it into a resounding choral masterpiece, featuring soloists and the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay. Michael Francis conducts. Free tickets are available for kids and teens in advance to this and to all Tampa Bay Times Masterworks concerts. Special performance will take place on Friday, March 22 at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz.
Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 (Friday to Sunday, March 29-31): Michael Francis leads one of the world’s most sought-after pianists, Benjamin Grosvenor, on Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, along with a deeply moving performance of Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night, played mostly in the dark. Free tickets are available for kids and teens in advance.
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. See FloridaOrchestra.org or call 727-892-3337 and 800-662-7286.
