Venice Symphony closes 50th season with plans for growth
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Music Director Troy Quinn is leading The Venice Symphony to an explosive end to the orchestra’s 50th anniversary season, while planning for more growth and expansion as it heads into a busy 2024-25 season.
“The Crown Jewel Finale” concerts on April 26 and 27 in the Venice Performing Arts Center will be the biggest the orchestra has ever put together, with about 160 musicians, including members of the Key Chorale chorus and soloists.
The concerts will feature Ralph Vaughan Williams' “Dona nobis pacem,” which Quinn calls a “great work that needs to be heard. It’s timely for the world we’re living in today. The title means to grant us peace, which is apropos in our turbulent times.”
It calls for an expanded brass section with extra trombones, trumpets, tuba and an optional organ. “It’s a management issue, masking sure of the sound balance, but it gives it such great sonority. He only utilizes the entire orchestra at pivotal moments,” Quinn said.
Part of the text is from poems by Walt Whitman about a father and son going off to war and the grave. “It was very influenced by Vaughan Williams working as an ambulance driver in the war. He wrote film scores as part of his duties,” Quinn said.
It inspires the theme of “all things English and royal,” including Hans Zimmer’s popular theme to the hit Netflix series “The Crown,” as well as William Walton’s “Crown Imperial March,” which was written for King Edward VIII.
The concerts feature guest vocalists soprano Deanna Breiwick and bass-baritone Dashon Burton.
It closes a 50th anniversary season that Quinn says tells the community that "we’re here to perform these bold and challenging works, and that we’re very lucky to have this type of an orchestra in Venice. It is a crown jewel in our community. This is the kind of music-making you would expect to get in a major metropolitan city.”
The program also indicates that “we’re growing. We’re not just plateauing. We haven’t reached our pinnacle.”
The orchestra will return outdoors on May 25 for the annual Patriotic Pops Concert at Cool Today Park, ahead of the October start of a new season that will include added performances to meet what Quinn describes as a growing demand from the Venice audience. He said the organization is looking for ways to expand, possibly adding a fourth performance at the Venice Performing Arts Center.
“We are going in that direction, but rather than give four performances in the same venue, we are looking to do more outreach and run our concerts on those Sundays,” he said. “We started a chamber series in Wellen Park. We are trying to diversify our audience and get the music out to the people.”
Most of the orchestra’s performances were sold out this season. “We’re expanding to be one of the premiere part-time regional orchestras. That is not happening anywhere else.”
Here’s a look at what’s coming in the new season
‘A Symphony Spooktacular’
Oct. 11-12
The concert promises to be a “not-so-scary” pre-Halloween program that includes Bernard Herrmann’s “Psycho: A Short Suite for String Orchestra” and music from “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”
‘Instrumental Influencers’
Nov. 15-16
This concert explores the common connections between Beethoven, Vivaldi, Haydn and Brahms, and who influenced their music. Quinn describes this as a "very classical concert, sort of a hierarchical teacher-mentor situation.” It includes Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn and Beethoven’s “Egmont” overture. Principal Viola Rafael Ramirez will perform Vivaldi’s Mandolin Concerto.
‘Home for the Holidays’
Dec. 20-22
The symphony is adding an extra Sunday performance for this concert that will feature Tony and Grammy award-nominated singer Liz Callaway performing holiday favorites and selections from the animated film “Anastasia,” for which she provided the voice of the title character. Concertmaster Marcus Ratzenboeck will play the electric violin on “Miraculum.”
‘Sports Orchestrated’
Jan. 10-11
Quinn admits the title of this concert may be a “little misleading. It’s not just sports music or pop music.” It features Strauss’ Olympic Hymn, an all-star suite featuring Beethoven and Respighi, and music from sports-related films like “Rocky” and “Rudy.”
‘A Salute to Pops’
Jan. 31-Feb. 1
This concert is a tribute to Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra and some of their best arrangements, Quinn said. It will include the “Boston Pops March,” “Bugler’s Holiday,” Leroy Anderson’s arrangement of “Yankee Doodle,” John Williams’ arrangement of “That’s Entertainment” and “Seventy-Six Trombones.”
‘Hollywood in Venice’
Feb. 21-22
Audiences may not know the name of Suzanne Waters, “but she is one of the most recorded female background singers of all time, and a dear colleague,” Quinn said. “She has one of my favorite voices on the planet.” The program will include music from “A Summer Place,” “Ben-Hur,” “Mary Poppins,” “Thor,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Madagascar.”
Arts Newsletter: Sign up to receive the latest news on the Sarasota area arts scene every Monday
Plans for a new theater home: Sarasota Players may face fight to use Payne Park Auditorium
‘Crazy for Gershwin’
March 14-15
Pianist Conrad Tao joins the symphony for a tribute to George Gershwin in a program that includes “Rhapsody in Blue,” “An American in Paris” and “Girl Crazy.”
‘The Rat Pack is Back’
March 22
This special event, not part of the regular subscription series, is a new addition to the lineup featuring the Venice Symphony Jazz Orchestra and singer Michael Andrew (bandleader of the Rainbow Room in New York) celebrating the hits of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and more. Pete Baranbregge leads the ensemble.
‘Cosmic Worlds’
April 25-26, 2025
The symphony takes off into space with Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” inspiring a program that includes themes by John Williams and Franz Waxman. Classical saxophonist Kenneth Radnofsky is a guest artist.
Tickets
Concerts are at the Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Ave., Venice. For subscriptions and single ticket information: 941-207-8822; thevenicesymphony.org
Follow Jay Handelman on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Contact him at jay.handelman@heraldtribune.com. And please support local journalism by subscribing to the Herald-Tribune.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Venice Symphony stages its biggest concert and plans for new season
