How Low Can You Go? – featuring Eleni Katz, bassoon and Nina Bernat, double bass – kicks off the Lunch and Listen series onNovember 13, 11:00 a.m. at Palm Aire Country Club. Two of classical music’s most “under the radar” instruments step into the spotlight for a program titled Basso Vox that includes music by Roussell, Hailstork, Bach, Mozart and more. Bassoonist Eleni Katz, winner of the 2022 Concert Artist Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, has established herself as a prominent soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Double bassist Nina Bernat is a recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and recently made her concerto debut with the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä to great acclaim. Tickets are $75 (includes lunch).
Astral Mixtape opens the Lighter Fare series on November 20 with a 5:30 p.m. concert at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Making their Florida debut, Astral Mixtape creates original music with classical instruments and electronics. By combining their wide-ranging listening interests with a lifetime of classical training, Misha Vayman (violin), Michael Siess (violin), Juan-Salvador Carrasco (cello), and Nathan Ben-Yehuda (keyboard) have created a personal musical language all their own. Their live performances synthesize the spectacle of pop, the spontaneity of jazz, and the experimentation of contemporary music. This program includes original works that combine music by Rimsky-Korsakov, Astor Piazzolla, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and others with contemporary electronics for a uniquely exhilarating experience. Tickets are $50.
The Sunday Best series continues with Fry Street Quartet on November 23, 4:00 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church. Robert Waters (violin), Rebecca McFaul (violin), Bradley Ottesen (viola), and Anne Francis Bayless (cello) have been praised by The New York Timesas “a triumph of ensemble playing.” They captured the Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and are in residence at Utah State University. Their program begins with Claude Debussy’s only string quartet, which is followed by Performance Today’s 2025 Classical Woman of the Year Jessie Montgomery’s Source Code. The program closes with Beethoven’s powerful Opus 130 quartet. Tickets are $50 for general seating and $70 for VIP seating.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org or call (941) 306-1202.
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