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Southwest Florida Symphony 50th Anniversary Season 2010 – 2011 Concert Calendar

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Southwest Florida Symphony 50th Anniversary Season 2010 2011 Concert Calendar

January 7 & 8, 2011 – When Swing was King (Pops I)

8pm Barbara B Mann Performing Arts Hall

Carl Topilow, Conductor

Helen Welch, Guest Vocalist

Carl Topilow, a past Pops conductor at the Southwest Florida Symphony, will return to entertain audiences with his colorful clarinets and sounds of swing. Carl is renowned worldwide for his versatility, whether he is holding a conductor’s baton or his trademark red clarinet.

January 9, 2011 Mozart and Company (Sanibel I)

7pm Schein Hall, BIG Arts on Sanibel

Michael Hall, Conductor

This concert features Ibert’s Hommage a Mozart, Nielsen’s Little Suiteand Mozart’s Symphony no. 40. Ibert’s Hommage a Mozart is light and debonair, reflecting the mood of Mozart’s overtures to such comedies as Cos fan tutte and The Marriage of Figaro.

Nielsen’s very first opus, Little Suite, reveals his compositional originality and inventiveness; a harbinger of things to come. Mozart’s Symphony no. 40, arguably his most famous symphony, It is a profound and emotionally complex work.

January 29, 2011 – MasterWorks #2 (Classic II)

Guest, Mihai Marica, Cello

January not only brings with it New Year celebrations, but the opportunity to hear extraordinary works. Prokofiev’s Symphony no. 1 “Classical” is featured in our second MasterWorks concert- a piece that is ‘classical’ in form while exhibiting a more modern harmonic language.

The orchestra will also perform the Symphony no. 103 “Drumroll” by Joseph Haydn. This engaging and energetic symphony was the second to last of twelve symphonies that Haydn wrote for London. Along with this timeless piece, the Southwest Florida Symphony will indulge in one the most charming and graceful of all works for cello and orchestra, Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, as well as JC Bach’s Cello Concerto in C minor, both featuring cello soloist Mihai Marica.

February 1, 2011 Classically Simple (Chamber I)

7:30pm The Village Church at Shell Point

Prokofiev’s Symphony no. 1 “Classical” is featured in our second MasterWorks concert- a piece that is ‘classical’ in form while exhibiting a more modern harmonic language. The orchestra will also perform the Symphony no. 103 “Drumroll” by Joseph Haydn. This engaging and energetic symphony was the second to last of twelve symphonies that Haydn wrote for London audiences. Along with this timeless piece, the Southwest Florida Symphony will indulge in one the most charming and graceful of all works for cello and orchestra, Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, as well as JC Bach’s Cello Concerto in C minor, both featuring cello soloist Mihai Marica

February 13, 2011 Come Away My Love (Stained Glass)

4pm Faith Presbyterian Church

Southwest Florida Symphony Chorus

Timothy McDonnell, Conductor

There is something uniquely intimate and personal about the human voice. There is something magical that happens when one voice combines in a chorus, all of a sudden that wonderful sound is created, our emotions are stirred, and we communicate something beyond our words. Come and be transported and inspired.

February 18 & 19, 2011 – Stay Tuned (Pops II)

Guest, Five by Design

February finds the Southwest Florida Symphony saluting the TV Variety shows of the 50’s and 60’s with the humor, novelty acts and quick-change artists known as Five By Design. This national touring group has appeared before thousands. The Washington Post heralded Five By Design as “one of the best pops performances of the season.”

Combining their warm, well-rounded signature vocals with vintage fashions and a bit of theatrical panache, Five By Design will perform, Stay Tuned, a nod to the “television variety show” and American culture from 1950-1966 with the Southwest Florida Symphony.

February 26, 2011 – MasterWorks #3 (Classic III)

In a season celebrating 50 years, it is interesting to look back and reflect onhow much the Southwest Florida Symphony has grown from its modestbeginnings. As a special treat, Maestro Hall takes us back to a recreation of the very first concert for today’s audiences.

You will hear the same program that launched the Southwest Florida Symphony in 1961, including the ever-popular Symphony no. 5 by Beethoven. Even if you are less than familiar with classical music, you are sure to recognize the fatefully tragic ‘da-da-da-daah’ at the beginning. This program also includes Schubert’s breathtaking Symphony no. 8 in B minor, “The Unfinished Symphony,” and Intermezzo from Harry Janos Suite by Kodaly.

March 1, 2011 Genesis (Chamber II)

March 4 & 5, 2011 – A Salute to 50 Years of Motown (Pops III)

Guest, Spectrum

Sharing 50 years of music along with the Southwest Florida Symphony is Motown. Paying tribute to Motown and R&B is one of the most widely known and reputable groups to perform Motown. Spectrum draws upon the talent of four radiant voices and diverse personalities to form a first class vocal quartet.

March 18, 2011 A Banquet of Baroque (Chamber III)

7:30pm Faith Presbyterian Church, Cape Coral

March 20, 2011 – A Banquet of Baroque (Sanibel II)

7pm Schein Hall, BIG Arts on Sanibel

Music with elaborate ornamentation and expressive dissonance, yet so constructed as to reflect the “perfect order” of the universe: that is the essence Baroque music. Enjoy this exuberant program of lively and tuneful Baroque music, including such favorites as Purcell’s Trumpet Voluntary, Bach’s Air on a G string, Pachelbel’s Cannon and more.

March 26, 2011 – MasterWorks #4 (Classic IV)

The Southwest Florida Symphony will bring to life Mahler’s Symphony no. 2 “Resurrection” in MasterWorks #4. This will be the largest production of the year for the Southwest Florida Symphony, with as many as 90 musicians,as well as the Southwest Florida Symphony Chorus filling the stage at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. This piece, Mahler’s most popular and successful work during his lifetime, marks his lifelong view of the promise ofthe afterlife and resurrection.

April 8 & 9, 2011 Ellis Island – The Dream of America (Pops IV)

Guest, Florida Rep

The conclusion to our Pops series features spectacular collaboration projects. The first part of our evening will feature the Southwest Florida Youth Orchestra performing side-by-side with the Southwest Florida Symphony. This rare opportunity will showcase our talented young musicians. You won’t want to miss this inspiring event.

The second half of this collaborative evening will bring to life the challenges and dreams of early immigrants to America with the production of Ellis Island The Dream of America by Peter Boyer. The Southwest Florida Symphony and the Florida Rep Theatre will present a captivating and thoughtful program celebrating the immigrant experience and the American dream. Innovative in its format, the work brings elements of the theatre and multimedia onto the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall stage.

April 10, 2011 For the Love of Woodwinds (Sanibel III)

The first half of the concert is a woodwind lovers paradise with Hahn’s Le Bal de Beatrice d’Este, a French salon piece for wind instruments, piano and harp, and Beethoven’s Rondino, a light and airy piece for woodwind octet. The second half features Sibelius’ Pelleas et Melisande Suite, incidental music for a play that tells the story of doomed and forbidden love.

April 16, 2011 – MasterWorks #5 (Classic V)

Our last Classical concert of our 50th Anniversary season will feature a second world premiere, entitled Pandora’s Waltz a concerto for flute. Also included in MasterWorks #5 is the romantic Hebrides Overture by Mendelssohn and the featured piece of the evening, Symphony no.2, by the Finnish nationalist, Jean Sibelius.