Sarasota Orchestra - Official Site

Featured

Brahms and Elgar

Concerts

On Sale: Yes
Flex: Yes
Date(s):
- Date: 03-05-2027 19:30, Venue: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8265/8328, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
- Date: 03-06-2027 19:30, Venue: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8265/8334, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
- Date: 03-07-2027 14:30, Venue: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8265/8343, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
Event Cancelled: No
Program (short):
- Composer: Julia ADOLPHE, Piece: {i}Underneath the Sheen{/i}
- Composer: ELGAR, Piece: Cello Concerto
- Composer: BRAHMS, Piece: Symphony No. 2
Has intermission?: Yes
Conductor: Christian Reif
Featured Guest Artists: None/Single Artist, Sterling Elliott
Cost Override: Starting at $43
Program: 2627 | MW6 | ADOLPHE Underneath the Sheen, 2627 | MW6 | ELGAR Cello Concerto , 2627 | MW6 | BRAHMS Symphony No. 2

GRAMMY® Award-winning German conductor Christian Reif makes his Sarasota Orchestra debut in a program designed to light up your senses. Winner of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant, cellist Sterling Elliott has quickly emerged as one of classical music’s most exciting performers. He makes his Sarasota Orchestra debut in Sir Edward Elgar’s deeply moving Cello Concerto, the composer’s final masterpiece for orchestra. The concert culminates with Johannes Brahms’ radiant Symphony No. 2, composed during one of the happiest summers of his life and filled with warmth, lyricism, and the quiet joy of communing with nature. Opening the program, Julia Adolphe’s Underneath the Sheen offers a luminous musical tribute to California’s majestic redwood forests, setting the tone for a listening experience of reflection and renewal.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Concerts

On Sale: Yes
Flex: Yes
Date(s):
- Date: 10-23-2026 19:30, Venue: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8287/8383, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
- Date: 10-24-2026 19:30, Venue: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8287/8384, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
Event Cancelled: No
Has intermission?: Yes
Conductor: Chris Confessore
Cost Override: Starting at $52
Title Override: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Series Override: Movie Pops

You asked, and we answered: Sarasota Orchestra completes the original Star Wars trilogy this season with a symphonic screening of Return of the Jedi. In the saga’s climactic sixth episode, Darth Vader readies the second Death Star to unleash the final blow to the Rebel Alliance. Luke Skywalker joins R2-D2, C-3PO, and Princess Leia to free Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt and launch a desperate attack upon the entire Imperial Fleet. Sarasota Orchestra plays John Williams’ extraordinary music while the iconic film is shown in its entirety on the big screen. Our Movie Pops concerts sell out quickly, so don’t wait to secure your seats for the best show in the galaxy!

Emanuel Ax, featured pianist

Featured

Chopin and Mahler

Concerts

On Sale: Yes
Flex: Yes
Date(s):
- Date: 04-03-2027 19:30, Venue: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8266/8335, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
- Date: 04-04-2027 14:30, Venue: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8266/8344, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
Event Cancelled: No
Program (short):
- Composer: WEBER, Piece: Overture to {i}Der Freischütz{/i}
- Composer: MAHLER, Piece: Adagio from Symphony No. 10
- Composer: CHOPIN, Piece: Piano Concerto No. 2
- Composer: RAVEL, Piece: {i}Daphnis et Chloé{/i} Suite No. 2
Has intermission?: Yes
Conductor: Giancarlo Guerrero
Featured Guest Artists: None/Single Artist, Emanuel Ax
Cost Override: Starting at $43
Program: 2627 | MW7 | WEBER Overture to Der Freischutz, 2627 | MW7 | Mahler Symphony 10 Adagio, 2627 | MW7 | Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2, 2627 | MW7 | RAVEL Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2

Our Masterworks season concludes in dazzling fashion. Don’t miss your chance to hear one of today’s greatest pianists as Musical America’s 2026 Artist of the Year, Emanuel Ax, performs Fryderyk Chopin’s lyrical Piano Concerto No. 2. The journey continues with the opening movement of Gustav Mahler’s unfinished Tenth Symphony, a sweeping musical reflection filled with longing and hope. The season reaches a dazzling finale with Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2, whose shimmering orchestral depiction of sunrise makes it one of classical music’s most spectacular showpieces.

Romantic Rendezvous

Concerts

On Sale: Yes
Flex: Yes
Date(s):
- Date: 02-10-2027 17:30, Venue: Holley Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8282/8311, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
- Date: 02-11-2027 19:30, Venue: Holley Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8282/8317, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
- Date: 02-12-2027 17:30, Venue: Holley Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8282/8323, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
- Date: 02-13-2027 19:30, Venue: Holley Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8282/8348, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
- Date: 02-14-2027 16:00, Venue: Holley Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8282/8353, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
Event Cancelled: No
Has intermission?: Yes
Conductor: Mélisse Brunet
Cost Override: $50

Read the program book

Ignite your heart with a performance designed to sweep you off your feet as the orchestra performs a lush selection of love-themed anthems. From sweeping cinematic romances to the most tender melodies ever written, it’s an accessible, sophisticated way to celebrate Valentine’s week. Some of the highlights include the theme from Casablanca, “As Time Goes By,” Nat King Cole’s "L.O.V.E.," and John Williams' love theme from Superman.

Adagio for Strings

Concerts

On Sale: Yes
Flex: Yes
Date(s):
- Date: 10-29-2026 17:30, Venue: Holley Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8271/8370, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
Event Cancelled: No
Program (short):
- Composer: BERNSTEIN, Piece: Dance Suite
- Composer: BRIDGE, Piece: Phantasy Piano Quartet
- Composer: RAVEL, Piece: {i}Le Tombeau de Couperin{/i}
- Composer: BARBER, Piece: String Quartet
Has intermission?: Yes
Cost Override: $52
Program: 2627 | CS2 | LEONARD BERNSTEIN Dance Suite, 2627 | CS2 | BRIDGE Phantasy Piano Quartet, 2627 | CS2 | MAURICE RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin, 2627 | CS2 | SAMUEL BARBER String Quartet

Read the program book

Barber’s String Quartet is most known for the Adagio movement, employed widely in movies. British composer Frank Bridge’s music is an amalgam of German and French traditions. Le Tombeau de Couperin is Ravel’s homage to the great French Baroque composer François Couperin. Bernstein’s final work, the Dance Suite for brass quintet, opens this heartfelt program.