Music lovers, mark your calendars.
The Florida Orchestra (TFO) will launch its 2022-23 Hough Family Foundation Masterworks series in October with the powerful drama of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, conducted by internationally acclaimed Music Director Michael Francis in venues throughout Tampa Bay.
Big moments in TFO’s 55th season include a mini festival of Rachmaninoff’s Second and Third Piano Concertos; a world-premiere violin concerto composed by Tampa native Michael Ippolito for TFO Concertmaster Jeffrey Multer; great classics such as Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral), and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4; and a once-in-a-lifetime performance of Wagner’s The Ring Without Words.
“We can’t think of a more stirring and sensational way to start the season than the extraordinary spectacle that is the iconic Carmina Burana,” said Francis, who will enter his eighth season with TFO. “There’s nothing like the sheer joy of listening together in the concert hall, and this season we’ll bring some of the most spellbinding sonic experiences ever. We’ll give new life to beloved classics, debut inspiring new works and perform a variety of composers that reflect the different cultures and influences that make up our Tampa Bay community. At the heart of it all are the brilliant Florida Orchestra musicians, whom we will feature throughout the season, as well as world-class soloists.”
The Florida Orchestra will start off the new season with a new title sponsor, the Hough Family Foundation, for its premier classical Masterworks series. This continues the Hough family’s philanthropic legacy and solidifies a meaningful partnership that generously supports TFO’s core mission of bringing epic masterpieces that inspire, unite and educate at the highest levels of excellence under the leadership of Maestro Francis.
TFO’S premier Raymond James Pop Series showcases a variety of Broadway, movie and popular music. It opens with Hollywood Sings (Friday and Saturday, October 14 and 15) with movie music from Frozen, The Wizard of Oz, La La Land and more and pits the Wizarding World against The Empire in Harry Potter vs Star Wars (March 18 and 19, 2023) with music by John Williams, Patrick Doyle and more.
“Our Pop series brings fun, familiar music that’s also the heart and soul of our favorite movies and beyond. This music transports us to a special time and place in our lives like nothing else can. Listening to it live with the power of The Florida Orchestra makes all the difference,” said TFO President and CEO Mark Cantrell.
In Jeans ‘n Classics Presents Abbey Road (February 4, 2023), TFO will perform the famed Beatles album in its entirety, featuring “Come Together,” “Here Comes the Sun” and more. It will be conducted by TFO’s new assistant conductor, Chelsea Gallo.
The Light Favorites Morning Coffee Series, led by Principal Guest Conductor Stuart Malina, includes Poetry in Music (Thursday, October 27) with lyrical works by Debussy, William Grant Still and more; Best of Ballet (Thursday, December 15), which includes Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker; Arabian Fantasy (Saturday, November 17); Spring in Paris (April 12 and 13, 2023); and Divine Inspiration (March 15 and 16, 2023). The nine-concert series at the Mahaffey Theater and the five-concert series at Ruth Eckerd Hall come with a dollop of humor and a Pre-concert Conversation, starting one hour before the performance.
For community concerts in the fall, the orchestra will perform the free Pops in the Park concert in Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg and is planning a wide variety of community partnerships for the 2022-23 season. A full schedule of TFO’s community concerts, such as Inside the Music, Sing Out Tampa Bay, full-orchestra Family Concerts and more, will be released over the summer.
To learn more, visit www.floridaorchestra.org.
