Southwest Florida Symphony announces its 62nd Concert Season
The Southwest Florida Symphony, Lee County’s only professional orchestra and the fourth oldest in the state, has announced its 2022-2023 season lineup of performances. The Symphony’s 62nd season features a newmusic director on the podium, one of classical music’s most celebrated violinists and innovative music by diverse and groundbreaking composers.
The symphony opens its season in October with a TinyConcert – MiniMasterworks, featuring the orchestra’s exceptional professional musicians who will perform the Mendelssohn Octet and Mozart String Quartet No. 19. The Masterworks Classical Concert Series features world renowned guest violinist Gil Shaham; the return of Sphinx Competition winner, cellist Thomas Mesa; and partnerships with Opera Naples and Naples-based Grand Piano Series.
The Pops Series has evolved into Brave New Pops; innovative programming where the orchestra co-stars in groundbreaking performances of fusion concerts, multimedia presentations and orchestral arrangements of contemporary rock & roll. This year’s Brave New Pops features the long-awaited music of Elton John in Remember When Rock Was Young, the Ocala Symphony’s Music Director Matt Wardell with his program, Heroes: Bowie & Glass, featuring his fusion of David Bowie and classical composer Phillip Glass, and the return of local favorite, Steve Hackman with his Bohemian Rhapsody in Blue fusion.
The symphony will also present a new Christmas tradition with a Holiday Pops program that’s been created for the by a regular visitor to the symphony stage, Maestro Andrew Lipke, who has curated the SWFLSO Christmas Show!, which will appear at three locations between Lee and Charlotte Counties.
Further details on the Symphony’s 62nd season are available by calling 239-418-1500 or online at WWW.SWFLSO.ORG. Season subscriptions and single tickets to some individual concerts are currently on sale.
The Symphony’s 62nd Season
MiniMasterworks
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465 “Dissonance”
Felix Mendelssohn: Octet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20
Tribby Arts Center at Shell Point – Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022 Time TBD
The Gulf Theater, Punta Gorda – Friday, Oct. 14, 2022, Time TBD
Bell Tower, Fort Myers – Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, Time TBD
Holiday Pops
Andrew Lipke, Guest Artist
The SWFLSO Christmas Show!
The Gulf Theater, Punta Gorda – Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, Time TBD
Village Church at Shell Point – Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, Time TBD
First Presbyterian, Bonita Springs -Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, Time TBD
Brave New Pops 1
Remember When Rock Was Young: The Elton John Tribute
Charlotte Performing Arts Center – Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, Time TBD
Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall — Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Brave New Pops 2
Bowie And Glass: A Symphonic Tribute
Big Arts Sanibel – Friday, Feb. 10, 2023, Time TBD
Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall – Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023 | 7:30 p.m.
Sunday | February 12, 2023 | 7 p.m.?
Charlotte Performing Arts Center
Brave New Pops 3
Bohemian Rhapsody In Blue
Steve Hackman, Conductor
Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall – Saturday, May 6, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Charlotte Performing Arts Center – Sunday, May 7, 2023, Time TBD
Masterworks 1
Radu Paponiu, Conductor
Gil Shaham, Violin
Saturday, January 28, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Magic Flute, K. 620: Overture
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Violin Concerto In G Minor, Op.80
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
Masterworks 2
Radu Paponiu, Conductor
Thomas Mesa, Cello
Saturday, March 11, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Jessie Montgomery: Overture
Antonín Dvořák: Cello Concerto In B Minor, Op. 104
Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
Masterworks 3
Radu Paponiu, Conductor
Partnership with Opera Naples
Saturday, April 1, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
A Night At The Opera returns with various popular arias.
Masterworks 4
Saturday, April 22, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Partnership With Grand Piano Series Of Naples
Radu Paponiu, Conductor
Ying Li, Piano
Jennifer Higdon: Blue Cathedral
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 In C Minor, Op. 18
Modest Mussorgsky (Arr. Ravel): Pictures At An Exhibition