December 15, 2014
Sarasota Concert Association presents
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Pinchas Zukerman
January 14 Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
The acclaimed orchestra returns to Sarasota under the baton of Pinchas Zukerman
with a program that includes works by Mozart, Bruch and Dvořák.
“Youth sticks with some people. Zukerman seems the forever young virtuoso: expressively resourceful, infectiously musical, technically impeccable, effortless. As usual, it was a joy to be in his musical company.”–Los Angeles Times
(Sarasota, Florida) The Sarasota Concert Association (SCA) opens its 70th season with the return of the renowned Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Pinchas Zukerman, conductor and soloist, on Wednesday, January 14, 8 p.m. The evening’s program will open with Mozart’s spirited “Overture to the Marriage of Figaro,” followed by Bruch’s “Violin Concert No. 1,” and will conclude with Dvořák’s lyrical “Symphony No. 8 in G Major.” The concert, part of SCA’s “Great Performers Series,” is at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, in Sarasota. Individual tickets are $45, $55, $65, and $75. Subscriptions for all five Great Performers Series concerts are $155, $195, $235 and $265. Tickets and information for the Great Performers Series are available by calling 941-225-6500 or online at www.scasarasota.org.
Founded in 1946 by Sir Thomas Beecham, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has enjoyed more than 65 years of success worldwide, giving first-class performances of a wide range of musical repertoire with artists of the highest caliber. The RPO has also always prided itself on its distinguished conductors, including Pinchas Zukerman, now in his sixth season as principal guest conductor. A renowned violinist, violist, conductor, and teacher, Zukerman is hailed as a phenomenon of the music world. As the San Francisco Chronicle attests: “There’s no denying Zukerman’s legitimate claim as a triple threat. His violin playing is bright and sinuous, his viola playing is rich and soulful, and he conducts with an abundance of spirit.”
Born in Tel Aviv in 1948, Zukerman came to the United States in 1962 where he studied at The Juilliard School. He has been awarded the Medal of Arts, the Isaac Stern Award for Artistic Excellence and was appointed as the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative’s first instrumentalist mentor in the music discipline. Over the last decade, Zukerman has become as equally regarded a conductor as he is an instrumentalist, leading many of the world’s top ensembles in a wide variety of the orchestral repertoire’s most demanding works. Zukerman’s extensive discography contains over 100 titles, and has earned him 2 Grammy awards and 21 nominations.
“We’re delighted to welcome this beloved orchestra and Mr. Zukerman back to Sarasota,” says Joy McIntyre, SCA’s board president. “It’s the perfect way to launch our 70th anniversary season.”
The 2015 Great Performers Series season continues on January 26, 8 p.m., with cellist David Finckel and musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performing “Folk Inspirations,” a varied program of folk-influenced works by Brahms, Dvořák and Kodaly. The next concert, on March 1, at 4 p.m., features the historic Dresden Philharmonic, conducted by Michael Sanderling, with young virtuoso cellist Johannes Moser. The season continues on March 17, at 8 p.m., with the Takács Quartet, recognized as one of the worlds’ great ensembles, with guest pianist Joyce Yang. The 2015 season concludes on March 25, at 8 p.m., with the eminent pianist Murray Perahia. In the more than 40 years that he has been performing on the concert stage, Perahia has become one of the most sought-after and cherished pianists of our time.
All concerts are at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 North Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. Subscriptions for all five concerts are $265, $235, $195, and $155. For subscription information, call 941-225-6500. Tickets and subscriptions are also available online at www.scasarasota.org.
SCA is celebrating its 70th anniversary with a special performance by renowned pianist and composer Dick Hyman, February 11, 5 p.m., at the Historic Asolo Theater, followed by dinner at Treviso restaurant. Tickets for the concert and dinner are $125. For reservations, call 941-225-6500 or email [email protected]. Tickets for the concert only are $45 and are available by calling the Historic Asolo Theater box office at 941-360-7399.
SCA also presents “Munchtime Musicales,” a series of free concerts featuring performances by high-caliber, area-based artists. The series is designed to offer a wide variety of musical genres, including classical, folk, and jazz, featuring both vocal and instrumental performers. The 2014-15 concert season continues with Heqing Huang and Emily Charlson, two young Floridian pianists who took first and second place at the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota’s 2014 Competition for Piano (January 21, 2015); Sarasota Mandolin Orchestra conducted by Paul Wolfe, co-founder of the Sarasota Music Festival (February 18, 2015); Studio Artists from the Sarasota Opera, Sarasota’s ambassadors of opera who bring this musical form to stages beyond the walls of the Sarasota Opera House (March 18, 2105); and the State College of Florida Chamber Choir, an 18-person vocal ensemble that performs repertoire spanning from Renaissance madrigals to contemporary jazz (April 8, 2015). All performances are at noon at the Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center, 709 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. The series is free and open to the public. Seating is open; no reservations taken. For more information about Munchtime Musicales, call 941-351-7467 or visit www.scasarasota.org.
About the Sarasota Concert Association
The Sarasota Concert Association (SCA) exists to foster the development of an appreciation for the musical arts by sponsoring professional presentations that are not otherwise available in the community, through a not-for-profit, organized-audience plan. SCA aims to set reasonable fees for all performances. The organization is not designed to make a profit but does intend to be self-supporting. It provides outreach to all members of the regional community by offering a series of free concerts, Munchtime Musicales, held every year. For more information about SCA, visit www.scasarasota.org.
