Sarasota Orchestra performs a gala 75th anniversary concert

The Sarasota Orchestra is getting a little jump on its 75th birthday in March with a gala concert conductor Peter Oundjian describes as “All-American.”

It features Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” paired with Joan Tower’s “Fanfare No. 1 for the Uncommon Woman” and George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.” The centerpiece is Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30, which will be performed by guest pianist Garrick Ohlsson.

The concert is part of an evening that includes a pre-performance reception followed by a gala dinner. The dinner is sold out, but tickets are available for the concert.

Rachmaninoff’s name may not suggest red, white and blue Americana, but Oundjian said the piece had its premiere by “whatever they called the New York Philharmonic at the time.” The 1909 premiere was conducted by Walter Damrosch with Rachmaninoff himself performing.

"People are touchy about Russian music, but when it comes to music by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff or Shostakovich, they were not people who embraced the regimes they were living in at the time,” Oundjian said.

Oundjian has been working with the Sarasota Orchestra as a “creative partner” helping to plan concert programs while the organization continues its search for a new music director. He described Ohlsson as an old friend going back “to my first ever concert experience after I stopped playing violin. I did the Shostakovich first piano concerto with Garrick, so we go way back.”

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Oundjian, who will be back to conduct the “Rhapsody in Blue @ 100” concert in March, said the program comes “at a good moment for fanfares. I think Joan Tower is one of the greatest living composers, and she’s quite a good friend. And the idea of doing ‘An American in Paris’ felt so right. It’s a great piece, so craftily created. It is such a feel-good piece, so lovely and relaxing to listen to when the saxophones start playing. It’s full of beautiful nostalgia.”

Gala concerts are a bit more relaxed, he said, “but in some ways it has more adrenaline. It’s compressed and we have a great statement to make about where this orchestra is, the support the orchestra is getting.”

During the program, the organization also will be recognizing musicians who have been with the ensemble for at least 25 years, including principal timpani Yoko Kita (33 years), principal flute Betsy Hudson Traba (30), principal bass John Miller (30) and concertmaster Dan Jordan (25).

‘Celebrate 75’

Sarasota Orchestra marks its 75th anniversary with guest conductor Peter Oundjian and pianist Garrick Ohlsson. 7 p.m. Feb. 15, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Concert-only ticktes are $59-$159. 941-953-3434; sarasotaorchestra.org

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Orchestra marks 75 years with gala concert program