New Residency Festival brings big-name concerts to Dr. Phillips Center

The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts will present a new festival this fall, headlined by Harry Connick Jr., Diana Ross, Beck and Broadway superstars Sutton Foster and Brian Stokes Mitchell.

The Orlando arts center’s Residency Festival, Oct. 3-8, was announced Friday, with tickets going on sale at noon Monday, Sept. 11. It will be anchored by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, which will play six concerts with guest artists from multiple musical genres.

The new festival on the Central Florida arts scene draws on two precedents, said Dr. Phillips Center president Kathy Ramsberger: The musical melange that opened the arts center’s Steinmetz Hall in 2022 and the Festival of Orchestras, a nonprofit that presented touring classical-music ensembles for more than 25 years before closing down in 2011.

“We always thought we would be presenting orchestras” after the Festival of Orchestras shut down, Ramsberger said. “We thought we would pick that up.”

The Steinmetz Hall celebratory opening was how the arts center connected with the Royal Philharmonic, which played multiple concerts fronted by guest artists such as Jennifer Hudson, Leon Bridges, Lyle Lovett and Audra MacDonald. That was the Royal Philharmonic’s first residency at an American arts center — and the orchestra was eager to return, Ramsberger said.

The arts center was eager to welcome the group back, as well, for several reasons — not the least of which is building new audiences.

During the sold-out cross-genre performances for the Steinmetz Hall opening, data showed that many of those who bought tickets had never visited the arts center before, Ramsberger said. The festival also complements the center’s touring-orchestra series, which sold out its three performances last season. And the orchestra’s residency will support the center’s educational initiatives.

Arts center officials also wanted the concerts to provide a different experience than what audiences hear from local organizations such as the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra.

“We were sensitive to that,” Ramsberger said.

Besides the unique pairings of orchestra and performer, the concerts will feature preshow dining experiences, including a gala dinner before Connick’s Oct. 5 performance.

Another festival highlight: The Oct. 8 performance will include a tribute to the United Kingdom’s King Charles III featuring two pieces performed by musicians with the Royal Philharmonic at his Westminster Abbey coronation service in May. One, Tarik O’Regan’s “Coronation Agnus Day,” will feature a world-premiere orchestration commissioned by the Dr. Phillips Center.

“The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is proud to be returning this October to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts for a unique Residency that truly reflects the diverse spectrum of orchestral music,” said James Williams, the orchestra’s managing director, in a statement. “From the legendary musical worlds of Diana Ross, Beck and Harry Connick Jr, through to the exquisite beauty of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s dancers, the RPO’s 85 musicians will be bringing alive the world-class acoustics of the Steinmetz Hall to create exclusive musical experiences. We look forward with great anticipation to our forthcoming residency and to reconnecting with Orlando’s audiences.”

The ability to attract top talent has been made easier by the completion of Steinmetz Hall, one of the world’s most state-of-the-art concert venues, a selling point made to obtain funding for the roughly $240 million hall in the $613 million arts center.

“When the artists love the room, that is such a success,” said Ramsberger, calling the interest in the festival “a validation of the quality of the hall.”

The artists performing in this inaugural festival have sold millions of records and racked up numerous awards. Ross has two Lifetime Grammy Awards, one for herself and one as a member of The Supremes. Beck counts eight Grammys, last winning in 2021. Connick has three, alongside two Emmys for his television work.

Foster has received seven Tony nominations and won twice — in 2002 for “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and 2011 for “Anything Goes.” She also starred in TV’s “Younger” for six years and most recently starred on Broadway opposite Hugh Jackman in “The Music Man.”

Mitchell has four times been nominated for the Tony, winning in 2000 for “Kiss Me, Kate,” and in 2016 won the Tonys’ Isabelle Stevenson Award for his philanthropy. That year, he performed in Orlando as part of “From Broadway with Love,” a fundraiser for those affected by the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub.

The appreciation for Steinmetz Hall by artists around the nation and the world is magnified across Central Florida, Ramsberger said: “There’s a sense of pride for the people who live here.”

The Residency Festival already has found community support, she added — Experience Kissimmee, Fifth Third Bank, Morgan Stanley, PepsiCo, Jacqueline Bradley and Clarence Otis have signed on as sponsors — and the arts center plans to make it an annual event.

“We have the chance to showcase really wonderful artists to audiences here and give them more culture in their lives,” Ramsberger said. “As soon as this festival is done, we’ll start planning for next year’s.”

Inaugural Residency Festival

• What: Six-day series of concerts in which the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London will be joined by different guest artists: Birmingham Royal Ballet, Oct. 3; rock singer Beck, Oct. 4; crooner Harry Connick Jr., Oct. 5; superstar Diana Ross, Oct. 6; Tony winners Sutton Foster and Brian Stokes Mitchell, Oct. 7; the Bach Festival Choir, Oct. 8

• Where: Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando

• Info: drphillipscenter.org

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