Sarasota Orchestra Announces January 2022 Concerts

Sarasota Orchestra's January programs include a Masterworks concert featuring towering giant of the classical piano world, Garrick Ohlsson, and a Pops concert tribute to one of the legendary giants of 20th century rock, The Beatles. The third installment of the popular Great Escapes series features a program of tunes known for their comedic element.

Masterworks 3: Ohlsson Plays Rachmaninoff

Sarasota Orchestra kicks off the new year with one of the classical music world's most high-profile pianists: Garrick Ohlsson. With Jeffrey Kahane (also an accomplished pianist) at the podium as conductor, the concert features two staples of the orchestral repertoire. The program opens with Brahms' sunny Symphony No. 2 and concludes with Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3.

Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, pianist Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of interpretive and technical prowess. To date he has at his command more than 80 concertos, ranging from Haydn and Mozart to works of the 21st century, many commissioned for him. His recording of Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3, with the Atlanta Symphony and Robert Spano, was released in 2011.

Jeffrey Kahane is recognized around the world for his mastery of a diverse repertoire and has guest conducted many of the major U.S. orchestras including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras and the symphonies of Chicago and Detroit. In 2017, Kahane completed his 20th and final season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Jeffrey Kahane is Music Director of the Sarasota Music Festival.

January 7 | 8:00pm | Van Wezel

January 8 | 8:00pm | Van Wezel

January 9 | 2:30pm | Van Wezel

How: Tickets from $35, available at www.SarasotaOrchestra.org or (941) 953-3434

Great Escapes 3: Comedy Tonight

This Great Escapes performance combines music and comedy to lift the spirits. Guest conductor Christopher Confessore adds his own humor in between songs on the program, which includes music by Stephen Sondheim, Leroy Anderson, and Peter Schickele, the classical music jokester popularly known as "P. D. Q. Bach."

Christopher Confessore currently serves as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra and Resident Conductor and Principal POPS Conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. As a Pops conductor, he has appeared with a diverse group of superstars, including Grammy Award winners Art Garfunkel, Marvin Hamlisch, LeAnn Rimes, Chris Botti and Idina Menzel. Music columnist Mary Colurso of The Birmingham News remarked "Anyone who regards the symphony as stuffy and elitist hasn't been to a...show when Confessore's in charge. He exudes nice-guy appeal on stage, along with real warmth, a sense of humor and smarts to spare."

Tickets from $42, available at www.SarasotaOrchestra.org or (941) 953-3434

Pops 1: Revolution: The Music of The Beatles, A Symphonic Tribute

Sarasota Orchestra performs classic songs by The Beatles in a new, authorized symphonic tribute to the Fab Four, featuring GRAMMY winner Jeff Tyzik's arrangements for orchestra plus rock band. Guest stars offer authentic renditions based on The Beatles' original master recordings at Abbey Road. With Broadway conductor William Waldrop on the podium, Revolution will take audiences on a musical tour of the hits, from "Yesterday" to "Here Comes the Sun."

Broadway music director, conductor and pianist William Waldrop currently serves as the Associate Conductor for Broadway's longest running musical, The Phantom of the Opera. In 2017, he finished a highly celebrated run as Music Director and Conductor of the Broadway revival of Cats. Equally comfortable on the podium with the orchestra on stage or conducting from the pit, Waldrop has been hailed for his "dynamic conducting" and has been praised in cities all over the U.S. and abroad.

January 21 | 7:30pm | Van Wezel

January 22 | 2:30pm | Van Wezel

January 22 | 7:30pm | Van Wezel

How: Tickets from $37, available at www.SarasotaOrchestra.org or (941) 953-3434

Chamber Soirée 5: Mendelssohn Octet

Illuminated by the poem "The Beautiful Night" by Goethe, this program of two classic chamber works leads listeners from music of the night to bright sunshine. Goethe's poem was the basis for a song of Schubert's, which the latter then "borrowed" from himself to write the Nocturne for piano trio. The work casts an illusion of being suspended in time, with its three instruments' voices orbiting as if in a slow, midair dance. Following the trio, eight players take the stage for Mendelssohn's beloved Octet for strings in the joyful key of E-flat major. In collaboration with Florida Studio Theatre, the program opens with a dramatic reading of Goethe's "The Beautiful Night" by actor J Paul Nicholas.

When: January 23, 4:00pm

Where: Holley Hall

How: Tickets from $38, available at www.SarasotaOrchestra.org or (941) 953-3434

Chamber Soirée 6: Inheritance

Beethoven, Mozart, and Michael Tilson Thomas: each of these composers learned the "family business" from his father. Inspired by "The Harp," Bruce Weigl's ode to paternal artistry and influence, the program opens with an early opus from Beethoven for piano and winds. In 1988, Tilson Thomas dedicated his brass quintet Street Song to his father, Ted, "who was and still is the central musical influence on my life." Mozart's String Quartet No. 17 numbers fourth in the set of six quartets he dedicated to Haydn, the "father" of the musical form. In collaboration with Florida Studio Theatre, the program opens with a dramatic reading of Bruce Weigl's "The Harp" by actor J Paul Nicholas.

When: January 27, 5:30pm

Where: Holley Hall

How: Tickets from $38, available at www.SarasotaOrchestra.org or (941) 953-3434