Chamber Orchestra Presents Free Concert on Jan 24

January 3, 2024 – Venice

The Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota (COS) will present a free concert on Wednesday, January 24 at 7:00pm at the Venice Performing Arts Center on the campus of Venice High School. The program is titled “Making Music Together.” The Chamber Orchestra will join forces with members of the Venice High School Orchestra (VHSO) to present this special concert.

“The program is a side-by-side concert,” says COS music director Robert Vodnoy. “In this type of concert, the professional orchestra and the student orchestra each will perform several selections on their own, and then combine forces and sit together ‘side-by-side’ for the finale of the program.”

The program is sponsored in part by the Music Performance Trust Fund, which was established in 1948 as a nonprofit independent public service organization whose mission includes contributing to the public knowledge and appreciation of music, as well as making music a part of every child’s life experience. The MPTF is funded via a royalty stream from the signatory record labels, led by the three major labels. 

Additional sponsorship for this concert has been provided by a grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, made possible through the Venice Endowment Fund.

“The Chamber Orchestra is proud to have received an MPTF grant for three consecutive seasons,” Vodnoy said. “We are also grateful to the GCCF for sponsorship of this concert. This is the second year that the GCCF has provided a grant to help fund this free concert and our second year performing with the Venice High School Orchestra.”

The COS, under music director Robert Vodnoy, will perform music by Benedetto Marcello, African-American composer Adolphus Hailstork, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Violist Rafael Ramirez, who is also a virtuoso mandolin player, will be featured as soloist for Vivaldi’s Concerto in A Minor. The VHSO, under conductor Christopher Riley, will perform music by Bach and Mozart. Both Riley and Ramirez are principal players in the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota as well as the Venice Symphony Orchestra. The two orchestras, under Maestro Vodnoy, will join forces to perform Por una Cabeza, Mediation from Thaïs, and Libertango. 

Thanks to sponsorships from the MPTF, GCCF and several individual donors, the concert is free and open to the public. There will be general seating, but eople can guarantee seats by visiting the Chamber Orchestra’s website and registering under the “buy tickets” tab. No purchase is required. 

The Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota is one of the few professional chamber orchestras in the State of Florida. Its mission is to provide opportunities for diverse audiences and performers to experience the unique repertoire of a chamber orchestra, employing the finest musicians in the Sarasota area and performing in small and intimate venues. This is the orchestra’s seventh season. 

Robert Vodnoy made his professional debut as a conductor in 1975 with the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, which he led as music director for 30 years. He was Music Director of the Northwest Indiana Symphony, the Huron Symphony, and guest conducted orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim. He is also music director of the Whiting Park Festival Orchestra. An experienced educator, he was Director of Orchestras/Professor of Strings and Music History at Northern State University from 2005-2018. He co-founded the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota in 2017. Vodnoy holds a BM summa cum laude and MM in composition from Hartt College of the University of Hartford, and a DM in Conducting from Indiana University. He and his wife Kayla reside in Venice, Florida and Valparaiso, Indiana.

For more information about this and other concerts by the Chamber Orchestra, visit the orchestra’s website at www.chamberorchestrasarasota.org  or call 219-928-8665.