Sarasota Orchestra - Official Site

Featured

Mozart and Dvořák

Concerts

On Sale: Yes
Memorial Concert Subtitle: Allan Friedman Memorial Piano Concert
Flex: Yes
Date(s):
- Date: 01-09-2027 19:30, Venue: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8262/8331, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
- Date: 01-10-2027 14:30, Venue: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8262/8338, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
Event Cancelled: No
Program (short):
- Composer: BRITTEN, Piece: Four Sea Interludes from {i}Peter Grimes{/i}
- Composer: MOZART, Piece: Piano Concerto No. 23
- Composer: DVOŘÁK, Piece: Symphony No. 7
Has intermission?: Yes
Conductor: Benjamin Manis
Featured Guest Artists: None/Single Artist, Zlata Chochieva
Cost Override: Starting at $43
Program: 2627 | MW3 | BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes, 2627 | MW3 | MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23, 2627 | MW3 | DVORAK Symphony No. 7

Rising star conductor Benjamin Manis makes his Sarasota Orchestra debut with a program that sparkles with color and imagination. International piano sensation Zlata Chochieva takes the stage for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23. With extraordinary musicality and captivating stage presence, she has “a rare ability to make time stand still,” according to the San Francisco Classical Voice. Be swept away by Antonín Dvořák's Seventh Symphony, a dramatic work pulsing with driving rhythms and vaulting melodies. The concert opens with Benjamin Britten's Four Sea Interludes, evoking the crashing waves, shifting skies, and rugged beauty of England's coastline.

Tchaikovsky and Strauss

Concerts

On Sale: Yes
Flex: Yes
Date(s):
- Date: 12-05-2026 19:30, Venue: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8261/8330, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
- Date: 12-06-2026 14:30, Venue: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Purchase URL: https://buy.sarasotaorchestra.org/8261/8337, Is Sold Out?: No, Is Cancelled?: No, Is Postponed?: No
Event Cancelled: No
Program (short):
- Composer: STRAUSS, Piece: {i}Don Quixote{/i}
- Composer: TCHAIKOVSKY, Piece: Act II from {i}The Nutcracker{/i}
Has intermission?: Yes
Conductor: Giancarlo Guerrero
Featured Guest Artists: None/Single Artist, Natalie Helm and Stephanie Block
Cost Override: Starting at $43
Program: 2627 | MW2 | STRAUSS Don Quixote, 2627 | MW2 | TCHAIKOVSKY Act II from The Nutcracker

Step into a storybook. The first half of this colorful program brings to life the adventures of literature's famous dreamer, Don Quixote. In a dazzling showcase of your Sarasota Orchestra's talent, Principal Cellist Natalie Helm portrays the idealistic, eccentric knight, while Principal Violist Stephanie Block captures the spirit of his loyal companion Sancho Panza. The journey shifts into pure enchantment with the beloved music from Act II of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. From the delicacy of the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy to the grand, swirling Waltz of the Flowers, this timeless score has delighted generations and fills the holiday season with wonder.

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.