2010-2011 Season

September | October | November | December | January | February | March | April | May

Masterworks | Pops | Journeys to Genius | Great Escapes | Chamber | Special Events


Single Tickets for the 2010-2011 season go on sale September 7, 2010.

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Family Concert: Sights and Sounds of the Circus

September 11, 2010
2pm | John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art


In a collaboration with the Ringling Museum, the Sarasota Orchestra performs the family concert Sights and Sounds of the Circus at the Historic Asolo Theater. Tickets ($10) include concert and Museum admission. Step right up for an afternoon of music and museum fun with the music of the big top. From the traditional circus parade anthem Entry of the Gladiators to Barnum & Bailey’s Favorites, Dance of the Tumblers and The Comedians, circus fans of all ages will be bouncing in their seats.


Chamber Soireé 1: Drum Roll

September 16, 2010
5:30pm | Holley Hall


Mackey | Micro-Concerto for Solo Percussion
Ginastera | Variaciones concertantes, Op. 23
Haydn | Symphony No. 102, Drum Roll 


Portraits in Passion

September 25, 2010
8pm | Sarasota Opera House


Four dynamic Sarasota Orchestra musicians perform unique solo performances of harp, cello, horn and bassoon -- each preceded by an autobiographical video. Also featured is the premiere of Randall Woolf's Where the Wild Things Are, and Michael Daugherty's Superman inspired Oh Lois!


Chamber Soireé 2: Summer Tempest

September 30, 2010
5:30pm | Holley Hall


Moravec | Tempest Fantasy
Plog | Four Sketches
Beethoven | Quartet Op. 18, No. 6

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Tchaikovsky: Twist of Fate

Saturday, October 9, 2010
4pm & 8pm | Sarasota Opera House

Discover how Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony hinges on the role fate plays in attaining happiness, and then hear the symphony in its entirety with new perspective.


Great Escapes: Million Dollar Memories

October 13, 14, 15, 16, 2010
Dirk Meyer, conductor | Holley Hall


Disney, the Beatles, the Muppets, Barry Manilow... Who could ask for anything more? How about some Good Vibrations from the Beach Boys and a tribute to Broadway? Hear your all-time favorites in this delightful night of beloved tunes!


Chamber Soireé 3: Baroque to Brahms

October 28, 2010
5:30pm | Holley Hall


Albinoni | Sonata St. Mark
Scarlatti | Sonata No. 49
Brahms | Quintet in F Minor

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Masterworks: Virtuoso

November 12, 13, 14, 2010
Leif Bjaland, conductor | Vadim Gluzman, violin


In a thrilling program of short, colorful works, the Orchestra and guest artist prove their virtuosity. From Ravel to Tchaikovsky, Strauss and Barber, this fastpaced concert will feature passion, delight and mastery.


Irving, George and Aaron: Inventing the America Sound

Saturday, November 20, 2010
4pm & 8pm | Sarasota Opera House


The music of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Aaron Copland is known as the "American Sound." Featured will be Copland's Appalachian Spring, Berlin's Blue Skies, and excerpts from Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

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Masterworks: Russia

December 3, 4, 5, 2010
Leif Bjaland, conductor | Ya-Fei Chuang, piano


Enjoy Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, the most enduring and popular of his works. The concert concludes with the high voltage Prokofiev Fifth Symphony, which is a triumphant testament to the Russian spirit.


Great Escapes: Salute to the Kings

December 8, 9, 10, 11, 2010
Dirk Meyer, conductor | Holley Hall


Join us for this salute to American music royalty with a special tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson and memorable numbers by Duke Ellington and Elvis.


Chamber Soireé 4: Happy Birthday Ludwig

December 16 , 2010
5:30pm | Holley Hall


Beethoven | Quartet No. 10, Op. 74, Harp
Beethoven | Quintet for Piano and Winds Op. 16 


Family Concert: Holiday Concert at Mote

December 21, 2010
2pm | Mote Marine


Admission for the day at Mote Marine during this holiday school vacation day includes so much more than manatees. Enjoy a full holiday concert experience near the shark tank. A festive program for the young and young-at-heart, the concert includes the Suite from Polar Express, Sleigh Ride, White Christmas, A Christmas Festival (sing-a-long) and Festive Sounds of Hanukah. Folding in music themed for the aquarium, the audience will hear The Penguin and hornpipe from Water Music. Call Mote Marine Aquarium for ticket information: (941) 388-4441.


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Masterworks: España

January 6, 7, 8, 2011
Leif Bjaland, conductor | Caroline Goulding, violin
Jeanine DeBique, vocalist | Robert Belinic, guitar

Experience a collage of classical works with a Spanish accent. From Ravel’s Bolero, to Sarasate’s passionate Carmen Fantasy and Chabrier’s rousing España, instrumental color and rhythm flows through the concert hall.


Great Escapes: The Reel Thing

January 12, 13, 14, 15, 2011
Dirk Meyer, conductor | Holley Hall


No Mission [is] Impossible! We take on the dazzling scores from the silver screen including selections from Grease and Fame, Casablanca's famous As Time Goes By, and The Pink Panther.


Chamber Soireé 5: Don Quixote

January 20, 2011
5:30pm | Holley Hall


Harbison | Quintet for Winds
Turina | Scènes Andalous
R. Strauss/Varga | Don Quixote


Pops: On Broadway

Saturday, January 22, 2011
8pm | Van Wezel

Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim represented one of the most productive and successful Broadway collaborations of all time. Their body of work has become synonymous with the American musical. Enjoy great songs and music from West Side Story, On the Town, Sweeney Todd, Gypsy, Into the Woods, and so much more.


Masterworks: Rome

January 28, 29, 30, 2011
Leif Bjaland, conductor | Alessio Bax, piano

Berlioz' Roman Carnival Overture was a success from the moment it premiered. A brilliant Italian musician takes on Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24. Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 and Respighi's Roman Festivals round out this Italian affair.

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Pops: John Pizzarelli presents: The American Songbook

Saturday, February 5, 2011
8pm | Van Wezel



Let yourself be swept away by the seductive rhythms and warm, inventive style of jazz guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli as he performs with the Sarasota Orchestra. Celebrate the love songs from the Great American Songbook. Simply unforgettable!


Chamber Soireé 6: By the Numbers

February 10, 2011
5:30pm | Holley Hall


Poulenc | Sextet for Piano and Winds
Saint-Saëns | Septet, Op. 65
Mendelssohn | Octet, Op. 20 


Masterworks: Finlandia

February 18, 19, 20 , 2011
Anu Tali, guest conductor | Jennifer Frautschi, violin

Estonian maestra Anu Tali leads the Orchestra in Sibelius' Finlandia and Tchaikovsk's epic Fifth Symphony. Bruch's Violin Concerto's romantic lyricism adds to this evening of intense beauty.


Great Escapes: All That Jazz

February 23, 24, 25, 26, 2011
Andrew Lane, conductor | Holley Hall


No Mission [is] Impossible! We take on the dazzling scores from the silver screen including selections from Grease and Fame, Casablanca's famous As Time Goes By, and The Pink Panther.


Side by Side: The Thrill of a Lifetime

February 28, 2011
7:30pm | Neel


The professional musicians of the Orchestra perform Side-by-Side with the Youth Philharmonic. See the future of great music with special solos from the winners of the Edward and Ida Wilkof Young Artist Concerto Competition.

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Family Concert 3: Sounds of Nature

March 3, 2011
7pm | South Florida Museum


Two resident ensembles of the Sarasota Orchestra, the Sarasota String Quartet and the Sarasota Wind Quintet, take on the challenge of depicting nature through music. This unique program will be both delightful and moving, as it features images in the Planetarium setting. Call South Florida Museum for ticket information: (941) 746-4131.


Behind the Mask Gala

March 5, 2011
6pm | Ritz


Unmask your passions with Maestro Leif Bjaland, the Sarasota Orchestra and celebrated Broadway performers in a dazzling, magical event celebrating the music of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and selections from current Broadway hits.



Bach to Rock

March 6, 2011
4pm | Holley Hall


The Sarasota Brass Quintet starts with a traditional Bach fugue. The concert includes performances of rock classics Bohemian Rhapsody and Purple Haze. In between, the audience will hear a world premiere of Gwyneth Walker's Circus of Creation for Brass Quintet, percussion and narrator.


Masterworks: Hero

March 10, 11, 12, 13, 2011
Leif Bjaland, conductor | Yevgeny Sudbin, piano

This "all Beethoven" concert begins with his second Leonore overture. His stormy Piano Concerto No. 3 is exhilarating. And in a heroic climax, the Third Symphony (Eroica) illustrates passionate triumph.


Great Escapes: Spring Training

March 16, 17, 18, 19, 2011
Dirk Meyer, conductor | Holley Hall


We will get you in the mood for the ballpark with a narrated musical rendition of Casey at the Bat. Your adrenaline will be pumping with Vangelis' inspirational Chariots of Fire, highlights from Rocky and the thrilling Entrance of the Gladiators.


New Music: Featuring Eve Beglarian

March 26, 2011
8pm | Holley Hall

Proving that classical music can have a cutting edge, the Sarasota Orchestra, in collaboration with the Hermitage Artists Retreat, presents a new composition by Greenfield Prize winner Eve Beglarian. The program highlights other unique, powerful and accessible contemporary compositions.

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Masterworks: Paradise

March 31, April 1, 2, 3, 2011
Leif Bjaland, conductor | Jennifer Hines, mezzo-soprano
Key Chorale; Sarasota Young Voices

In Mahler's gigantic Third Symphony, every shade of human emotion is explored. Its musical and choral themes range from the enjoyment of nature to the pleasures of heaven, from spiritual darkness to romantic love.


Great Escapes: Hot Summer Nights

April 6, 7, 8, 9, 2011
Leif Bjaland, conductor | Holley Hall


Lose yourself in Dvorak's beautiful Song to the Moon and then swoon to Billy Joel's Uptown Girl and Richard's Cuban Fire Suite. Get ready for a celebration of sizzling music that will burn up the night sky!  


Pops: Hitchcock

Saturday, April 15, 2011
8pm | Van Wezel


Alfred Hitchcock pioneered the psychological thriller genre of movies. In this innovative tribute, clips from many of his great movies are paired with live performances of the original scores by the Sarasota Orchestra. A musical evening of suspense, excitement and thrills.

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Shostakovich: Truth or Consequences

Saturday, May 7, 2011
4pm & 8pm | Sarasota Opera House


Shostakovich wrote his Fifth Symphony as a testament to his triumph over adversity. But triumph how? Survival required Shostakovich to wear many masks and speak in a code that few could truly understand. 


Chamber Soireé 7: Quartet Duo

May 12, 2011
5:30pm | Holley Hall


Schubert | String Quartet No. 13, Op. 29 Rosamunde
Ginastera | String Quartet No. 1


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