Sounds of Spring and Renewal in Sarasota Orchestra’s April Concerts

March 20, 2023 – Sarasota

Sarasota Orchestra’s Masterworks series closes with a highly anticipated commission as part of the League of American Orchestra’s Virginia B. Toulmin Orchestral Commissions Program. The Orchestra celebrates the sounds of spring in its Great Escapes series and glorious melodies from show business in its third Pops show of the season.

Masterworks 7: A Hero’s Life

Sarasota Orchestra concludes the Masterworks season with a program of heroic proportions. Internationally acclaimed violinist Gil Shaham shines in one of his signature works: Korngold’s sweeping, cinematic Violin Concerto. The Orchestra is the star of Richard Strauss’ virtuosic tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life). This thinly veiled musical autobiography includes snippets of Strauss’ greatest hits and has been thrilling audiences for 125 years. The Orchestra will premiere a new work by Sarah Gibson entitled to make this mountain taller, a commission of the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Carlos Miguel Prieto, Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México and of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, will conduct.

When/Where:

March 31 | 7:30pm | Van Wezel

April 1 | 7:30pm | Van Wezel

April 2 | 2:30pm | Van Wezel

How: Tickets from $37, available at www.SarasotaOrchestra.org or (941) 953-3434

Great Escapes 6: Sounds of Spring

Sarasota Orchestra evokes birdsong, budding blooms, and warm breezes to welcome in the season of freshness and renewal. This program includes sunny numbers from musicals such as Mary Poppins, Oklahoma!, and South Pacific alongside excerpts from lush classical works, including Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers, Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony No. 6, and Respighi’s Gli uccelli (“The Birds”). Listeners will also be treated to an Argentine take on Vivaldi’s beloved violin concertos with the “Spring” movement of Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.

When/Where:

April 12 | 5:30pm | Holley Hall

April 13 | 7:30pm | Holley Hall

April 14 | 5:30pm | Holley Hall

April 15 | 7:30pm | Holley Hall

How: Tickets from $45, available at www.SarasotaOrchestra.org or (941) 953-3434

Pops 3: Broadway Bound

Curtain up! Light the lights! Conductor William Waldrop leads a program celebrating Broadway’s resilience and featuring the talent of Broadway’s own Carmen Ruby Floyd, Eryn LeCroy, and Josh Young. Prepare to melt as Floyd makes the rafters ring with her “heavenly voice” (Associated Press) in numbers from musicals in which she starred, including the Tony Award-winning Avenue Q and The Lion King. Look forward to more beloved hits with LeCroy and Young from current, long-running shows such as ThePhantom of the Opera, Wicked, and Chicago, and revel in Broadway’s incredible history with classic songs from Carousel, Gypsy, and 42nd Street.

When/Where:

April 21 | 7:30pm | Van Wezel

April 22 | 2:30pm | Van Wezel

April 22 | 7:30pm | Van Wezel

How: Tickets from $40, available at www.SarasotaOrchestra.org or (941) 953-3434

Chamber Soirée 6: Schumann and Brahms

The chamber season concludes with intimate fairy tales and largescale drama. Schumann’s Fairy Tales for clarinet, viola, and piano is a collection of miniatures, written shortly after Schumann first met a young Johannes Brahms. Brahms’ affection for Schumann’s wife, Clara, inspired him to begin his Piano Quartet in C Minor. Brahms’ magnificent reflection on unrequited love provides a powerful conclusion to the chamber season.

When: April 23, 4:00pm

Where: Holley Hall

How: Tickets from $40, available at www.SarasotaOrchestra.org or (941) 953-3434