Atlantic Classical Orchestra Announces 2014 Season, Including Two World Premieres

The Atlantic Classical Orchestra (ACO) today announced its 24th season in Florida's Treasure Coast, presenting orchestral and chamber music performances at venues in the beautiful coastal cities of Vero Beach and Stuart. Highlights of the season include two exciting new commissions from the Atlantic Classical Orchestra's Commission Project, begun in the 2013 season, by Emmy Award-winning composer Garth Neustadter and rising star Jeffrey Parola; and an exciting All-American program connecting to an exhibition at the Vero Beach Museum of Art for the Chamber Music Series. Of special note, and new this season, the orchestra introduces a set of open dress rehearsals at the Eissey Theatre in Palm Beach connected to the ACO Concert Series. 2014 Season guest artists include the internationally celebrated Kalichstein, Laredo, Robinson Trio, former ACO orchestra member Russian cellist Ian Maskin, who returns to ACO to perform as half of the compelling duo iAN & ANi, and a return engagement by popular local pianist Lindsay Garritson. ACO's own principal clarinetist Paul Green also appears as soloist.

In announcing the season, Executive Director Anne Berquist said, "It gives me great pleasure to announce the 24th season of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra. Artistic Director Stewart Robertson has created a compelling offering of concerts, balancing traditional favorites such as Mendelssohn's Overture and Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony with contemporary works by American composers and from ACO's latest music venture, The Commission Project, which features two new works by two of today's hottest young American composers.

With such works by the masters ranging from a great cornerstone of the quartet repertoire, Beethoven's String Quartet No. 1 in F, Op. 18, entrenched in the classical tradition, but displaying the composer's explorative, fearless push-the-limits side, to Schubert's only string quartet to be published in his lifetime, the lyrical yet somber String Quartet No. 13 in a, D.804, to Prokofiev's popular Classical Symphony, a work that sounds as if it is from the classical era but which remains true to its own 20th century, and the the tender, elegantly nuanced Symphony No. 39 in Eb by Mozart, ACO audiences are sure to find something to suit every taste.

We are especially pleased to continue our collaborations with the prestigious Vero Beach Museum of Art and the beautiful Blake Library in Stuart this season. The Chamber Music series, which takes place on the stage of the Museum's Leonhardt Auditorium at 3 pm on Sunday afternoons, and in the Library's John F. Armstrong Wing at 11:00 am on Saturdays, includes "American Tradition", an all-American program featuring ACO musicians connecting to one of the Museum's exhibitions, complimenting the artistic genres and underscoring the special nuances of each form."

Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Stewart Robertson stated, "Approaching our 25th anniversary, we've packed variety into ACO's 24th season. The virtuosity of the orchestra itself is featured in January, with works like Mendelssohn's Overture, Gounod's Symphony #1 in D, and the world premiere of an exciting new commission for chamber orchestra, by the incredibly talented American composer Garth Neustadter, part of ACO's continuing American works project. I am also proud to present a second world premiere, a work for solo clarinet and chamber orchestra in March 2014 by another fantastic young composer people will be talking about for years to come, Jeffrey Parola. The guest artists joining us this season are exemplary: the Kalichstein, Laredo, Robinson Trio, 'America's premier trio'; Russian cellist Ian Maskin, a former ACO orchestra member who wowed ACO audiences in 2011 as a guest soloist, returns as half of the sensational duo iAn & ANi with Bulgarian pianist Ani Gogova; Florida's own, pianist Lindsay Garritson, an insightful musician of great sensitivity, and ACO's own talented principal clarinetist Paul Green. We are happy to have these artists join us for the 2014 season."

In addition to the ACO's well-loved pre-concert lectures (held fifty minutes before each Concert Series performance), in which Maestro Robertson offers insights and introduces key themes of the evening's repertoire, this 2014 season the orchestra introduces a set of four free (no tickets), open-to-the-public dress rehearsals to be held at the Orchestra's newest venue, the Eissey Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens. Providing audiences with an intimate look at the preparation that goes into a performance, the rehearsals take place at 2:00 PM in the afternoon once a month from January through April 2014. A wine reception for the audience and the musicians will follow each rehearsal. (See schedule below for open rehearsal dates.)

Completing the 24th season is Atlantic Classical Orchestra's popular education series, "Behind the Baton" with Maestro Stewart Robertson, a partnership with Lifelong Learning at Indian River State College (IRSC), which continues to expand in 2014. The entertaining and informative classroom presentations, which offer a unique insight into the lives of the composers, and the background of the music and history, are designed for all levels of music understanding. The "Behind the Baton" series will run four Mondays in Stuart and four Wednesdays in Vero Beach, January - March, 2014.