Sarasota Orchestra Goes Country: Outdoor Pops Concert Brings Nashville Hits to the Ballpark

By Scott Ferguson | April 2025

When Sarasota Orchestra and guest performers tune up in early May for the next Outdoor Pops concert, the music will have a decidedly country twang. Country Hits: Music from Nashville will mark the 10th time the Orchestra will present a concert at Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium, the spring training home of the Baltimore Orioles. 

While the music is not representative of the Orchestra’s most familiar genre, classical music, it is definitely classic country — with songs from newer artists added to the mix. Spanning the timeless hits of country legends like Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton to those of more recent chart-toppers Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Lee Ann Womack and Martina McBride, the selections would be at home on a jukebox in a honky-tonk roadhouse. But at Outdoor Pops, there’s a twist: silky orchestrations are paired with vocals, guitars, mandolin and banjo to create an immersive and unforgettable Nashville sound.

The Country Hits program, a co-production of Schirmer Theatrical and Greenberg Artists, has been presented at outdoor venues throughout the country, with a hometown touch from each orchestra. Grace Leer and Rick Brantley are the powerful singers who expertly express the hope, heartbreak and humor that unfold in country music lyrics.

Songs will include the Man in Black’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” Womack’s “I Hope You Dance,” McBride’s “Independence Day,” Willie Nelson’s “Always on My Mind,” The Chicks’ “Wide Open Spaces,” and Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

 The annual Outdoor Pops concerts, a tradition launched in 2014 and continued every year (with a pause in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid), have paid homage to a wide variety of musical genres — including rock, jazz, Motown, Broadway, Hollywood, hits from various decades, and a salute to female singing stars, among other themes. The stage is set up in left field at the stadium, with seating for about 3,000 music lovers.

“For our Outdoor Pops concerts, we’re always looking for something that will have a lot of audience appeal,” explains RoseAnne McCabe, Sarasota Orchestra’s Senior VP of Artistic Operations. “We’ve had some great shows over the years and we thought it was time for a little country.”

McCabe says the Orchestra enjoys a great relationship with the Orioles and the staff at Ed Smith Stadium. “They’re fantastic to work with,” she says. “We couldn’t ask for a better partner.” 

She adds that audiences love the casual, laid-back atmosphere of concerts at the ballpark in May, many of them in shorts and t-shirts. “It’s so much fun,” she says. “The weather is beautiful. You can grab a hot dog and a beer and just sit back. Or you can sing along to the songs you know; that’s totally fine. There was a lot of enthusiastic singing from the crowd at our Back to the ‘80s concert last year.” 

Conducting Sarasota Orchestra for this concert is William Waldrop, who has raised his baton to lead musicians for Broadway shows (including Phantom of the Opera and Cats) to regional orchestras at indoor and outdoor venues throughout America and around the world. He has conducted Sarasota Orchestra concerts at the Van Wezel Performing Arts and Holley Hall. Country Hits will be his third Outdoor Pops concert at Ed Smith Stadium; the previous two were Women Rock in 2019 and Back to the ‘80s in 2024.

“I love doing these outdoor concerts,” says Waldrop. “They’re expertly programmed; the creative team collaborates to create a classic Nashville sound. Jeff Tyzik, the arranger, is brilliant. His versions electrify these songs as you’ve never heard them before, in a way that really highlights the orchestra. The musicians love to play them, and audiences love to hear them.

“I also think what’s special about this concert is that the vocalists bring their own personality and characters to these songs. And although we say ‘Crazy’ is ‘as performed by Patsy Cline,’ Grace Leer sings it her way. The audience knows the song and the singers will evoke the original version, but it’s really about how they tell the specific story within the song.”

Waldrop adds that the concert’s other featured singer, Rick Brantley, is a multi-talented artist. 

“He does everything,” Waldrop says. “He’s a record producer, a musician, a songwriter and an incredible country music performer. He grew up in Macon, Georgia, and he brings a lot of his Southern roots into his music.”

A songwriter himself, Waldrop is comfortable in the worlds of country as well as classical music.

“I grew up in Mississippi, so I listened to a lot of country music,” he says. “My grandfather sang Johnny Cash songs with his guitar, and I loved learning them. As a songwriter, I like that kind of structure of a song. Country songs have a beginning, middle and end; they have a great hook; and they have lyrics and tell stories that really draw you in and that everyone can relate to. I think those elements are what make any song great, but it’s especially true in country music.”

While Outdoor Pops concerts like Country Hits or Back to the ‘80s bring in patrons who may not attend a classical concert at the Van Wezel or Holley Hall, there are also many regular patrons who enjoy the musical variety Sarasota Orchestra has to offer. During the season, there are programs that range from Beethoven to Broadway to John Williams’ score for Star Wars performed live, synced to a screening of the film.

“A lot of our dedicated patrons love our concerts at Ed Smith Stadium,” says McCabe. “They enjoy the Masterworks classical concerts and our lighter concerts like the Great Escapes series, and they appreciate the very different experience and atmosphere of our Outdoor Pops concerts as well. I believe that if you love classical music, you probably just love music and it’s likely that you listen to other genres in addition to classical. So I think these concerts speak to anybody — if you like music, you’re going to love this experience.”

Waldrop says Outdoor Pops concerts are a great way to reach out to the community to attract music lovers of all kinds and show them how versatile an orchestra can be.

“The style of music in pops concerts varies so much,” says Waldrop. “There are so many different kinds of programming. When I’m at these concerts, I feel that everyone is thrilled to be there and excited about hearing a type of music they may know, but to hear it in a new way. It may prompt them to say, ‘Oh, I didn’t think an orchestra could sound like that. I wonder what else they’re doing.’ It’s a great way to get people from an outdoor venue into a hall and get them excited about other orchestra concerts.”

Waldrop adds that in Sarasota, “it’s great to be to be with this group of musicians who play together every weekend and have a simpatico relationship with each other. It’s my sixth time with this orchestra, and it’s always a wonderful musical experience; everyone is warm and nice.” 

In addition to kicking up their boots (or flip-flops, in May in Sarasota) to country music, the audience will be treated to the traditional fireworks finale.

“I absolutely adore the fireworks,” says McCabe. “Every year it’s a great conclusion to an amazing concert.” 

For more information and tickets to Country Hits: Music from Nashville, 8 p.m., Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3 at Ed Smith Stadium, visit SarasotaOrchestra.org or call the box office at 941-953-3434.