8290 College Pkwy Suite 103 Ft. Myers, FL 33919 239-418-1500 www.swflso.org
Date: Thursday, September 10, 2015
The Southwest Florida Symphony
Holds its Annual Meeting
Fort Myers, FL – The Southwest Florida Symphony, Lee County’s only professional orchestra and one of the oldest on Florida’s gulf coast, holds its annual meeting on Wednesday, October 21, 2015 from 5:00p.m. until 7:00p.m. The meeting takes place at the Lee County Library’s Downtown Campus located at 2450 First Street. Those who have contributed a minimum of $50 to the Southwest Florida Symphony during its 2014-15 fiscal year are eligible to vote, though the general public is invited to attend. Reservations to attend are strongly suggested and may be made by calling the Southwest Florida Symphony administrative office at 239-418-0996.
The symphony has a wealth of good news to report during this year’s annual meeting; attendance continued to rise with increased subscription and single ticket purchases, it maintained a strong media presence and the Southwest Florida Symphony Society, the symphony’s fundraising auxiliary, had a banner year, exceeding its fundraising goals and garnering significant media attention in its own rite.
The Southwest Florida Symphony’s 55th year promises to be a season of continued enthusiasm as internationally acclaimed Maestro Nir Kabaretti leads the symphony through another year of blockbuster performances. Maestro Kabaretti is the fifth music director in the organization’s history. His presence and caliber of musicality garnered record setting attendance at many of the symphony’s 2014-15 Masterworks Concerts.
Southwest Florida Symphony General Information
The Southwest Florida Symphony is Lee County’s only professional symphony and one of the oldest symphony orchestras On Florida’s gulf coast. It enters its 55th season this year, having made its debut as a community orchestra on April 15, 1961. Conducted by Arlo Deibler, the Symphony consisted of 24 musicians and performed in community centers and schools. It has since grown to become Lee County’s only professional symphony orchestra, filling Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall with symphonic music enthusiasts and a roster consisting of more than 65 world-class musicians. Its mission is to celebrate the joy of music and to inspire audiences with a variety of quality concerts performed by professional musicians that are accessible to all.
Maestro Nir Kabaretti bio
Nir Kabaretti comes to Southwest Florida from the Santa Barbara Symphony in California, where he also serves as music and artistic director. He enters his tenth season with Santa Barbara this year. He has been described as “a conductor with immense musicality and warm personality” by Maestro Zubin Mehta. Kabaretti has earned an impressive reputation across continents for his command of a vast symphonic and operatic repertoire.
Upon graduation from the prestigious University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Kabaretti began working as coach and Chorus Master at the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival. He later advanced to positions as Assistant to the Music Director at the Teatro Real in Madrid and Personal Assistant to Maestro Zubin Mehta at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy.
Nir Kabaretti has worked with some of the world’s most sought-after musicians, such as Lang Lang, Placido Domingo, Itzhak Perlman, and Hélène Grimaud. His guest conducting appearances have included the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires, Orquestre National du Theatre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Orchestra del Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi di Milano, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, La Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, Real Orquesta Sinfònica de Sevilla, La Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria and the Bochumer Symphoniker.
He was appointed Principal Conductor of the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra in Israel in 2002, and later as its Music Director till 2008.
Kabaretti’s operatic experience includes productions at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Real in Madrid, The Israeli Opera, Opéra de Lausanne, Avenches Opera Festival in Switzerland, Tokyo New National Theatre and Opera Santa Barbara.
He conducted The Diary of Anne Frank, a guest production of the Vienna State Opera performed at both the Bregenz Festival and Expo 2000 in Hannover. In 2005, Kabaretti lead Teatro San Carlo di Napoli on its first tour to Japan, conducting Il Trovatore both in Kyoto and Tokyo.
During the 2004-05 season he made his debut at Teatro alla Scala di Milano. In 2007 he was invited again for the ballet production of Mendelssohn’s Midsummer night’s Dream (broadcasted by Italian television RAI, and released as a commercial DVD).
Maestro Kabaretti received the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Grant for Young Conductors. In 1993, he won the Forum Junger Künstler Conducting Competition in Vienna. In 1994 he was among the finalists in the International Competition for Conductors in Douai, France.
Southwest Florida Symphony Sponsors
The Southwest Florida Symphony’s 2015-16 sponsors include The Southwest Florida Community Foundation, The City of Ft. Myers, The State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, The Florida Council on Arts & Culture, The Southwest Florida Symphony Endowment Foundation, The Southwest Florida Symphony Society, The L.A.T. Foundation, Uhler & Vertich Financial Planners, Enterprise Rent-a-car, IberiaBank, Rev. Gary & Mrs. Christine LaCroix, Mr. & Mrs. Charles B. Munsch, Mr. Don Fjellin, Ernie Fogg & Margot Flinn,‘Tween Waters Inn, Bailey’s General Store, Sanibel Captiva Community Bank, Crowne Plaza, Mastello Ristorante, Sheeley Architects, Advanced Pain Management and Spine Specialists, Alexander & Hoover, Mark Loren Designs, Pamela Templeton and the Red Lipstick Foundation, Eric Diefenbach & JK Brown, LCEC, The Cape Coral Community Foundation, The Friends of the Symphony on Sanibel and Mr. & Mrs. Steve and Charlotte Qua
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Event: Southwest Florida Symphony’s Annual Meeting
Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Location: Lee County Library Downtown Campus
Time: 5:00PM
Admission: Anyone who donated $50 or more to the Southwest Florida Symphony during the 2014-15 season may vote, though the general public is invited to attend.
For more information, call the box office at 239-418-1500 or
The administrative office at 239-418-0996
