Jack  Heller    prepares for last performance P. 8

July  19,  2011

Florida Orchestra Concert Reviews P. 4

Inside:

Nikeya  Williams     Editor-­in-­Chief   Photographer     Writer

Sergio  Linares     Type  Layout     Graphic  Designer

Must-­Hear  Reviews  

How  an  Orchestra  FillsThe  Conductor’s  Stand  

Last  Performance  byEsteemed  Conductor  

Conductor’s  Open  Call

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7    

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Editor’s Desk

Contents

Is  a  monthly  magazine  that  costs  $30  a  year  with  free  home  delivery:  to  subscribe  please  look  on  pg.  16.  

Nikeya S. Williams Editor in Chief

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Welcome to the Tampa Bay Classics TBC magazine, we’re the

new classical magazine in the Tampa Bay area. TBC is an

important development to the Tampa Bay area. We’ve published our

developed TBC for theTampa Bay area, to provide a way for classical

musicians to connect and stay informed with the Tampa Bay classical

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phony Orchestra, concert reviews, youth orchestras, and local classical

musicians. All of TBC news reports are gathered from the Tampa Bay

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water. We hope that you will be a part of the new changes in the

Tampa Bay Area.

 monthly  updates  on  any  major  events  and  developments  in  the  Tampa  Bay  classical  community.

 Will  give  subscribers  articles  on  the  classical  music  community  that  they  won’t  get  from  the  St.  Petersburg  Times  and  Tampa  Tribune.

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Lower  Prices  for  the

2011/2012  Season

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F L O R I DA

C O N C E R T

O R C H E S T R A

This is a musical tribute to New York’s famed hot spot, the Copacabana, Grammy Award-winning arranger Victor Vanacore. In addition, Vanacore leads the orchestra in a night of sizzling Latin dance rythms… cha cha, tango, salsa, samba, mambo, and merengue. This performance is very entertaining and interactive with the audience. The orchestra plays the sizzling Latin tones while two dancers perform the cha cha, tango, salsa, samba, mambo, and meregue dances. This performance is worth the experience and time.

The performance Gershwin’s Concerto in F was a high-energy melodic perform-ance given by the Florida Orchestra and accomplished pianist Stewart Goodyear. The breathtaking performance by Goodyear gave the orchestra vigor and passion. Goodyear played his solo in the second segment of the performance; it was lovely to hear Goodyear’s creativity along with the orchestra’s spiraling melodies.

Gershwin’s  Concerto  in  F

Hot!  Hot!  Hot!    A  Night  at  the  Copa

Alexander Mickelthwate joined by Principal Second Violinist Sarah Shellman for Thomas Ades Violin Concerto, Haydn’s Symphony No.59 and Elgar’s beloved Enigma Variations. Mickelthwate and Shellman’s performance captivated the audience with the devilishly

Moreover, the violin solos were absolutely beautifully breath taking. The performance was wonderful in the beginning and end.

 

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didates. “We had meetings with them, and we researched what other Orchestra’s do in looking for [new] conduc-tor,” Klotz said. During the evaluation and interviewing process, the orchestra’s sea- rch committee looked for candidates who would be able to uphold the orches- tra’s mission statement. which is:

“The Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra is made up of retired professionals, but not heavily retired professionals; we have

New   Conductor

Orchestra  Searches  for

Jack Heller, former cond- uctor of the Tampa Bay

Symphony Orchestra retired in April, now the search is

-tor to lead the orchestra. The search for a new conductor began with dozens of advertisements and press releases sent from the orchestra’s search comittee. “We got a lot of responses... I’m not exactly sure how many... We probably had a dozen responses,” said Kurt Klotz, president of Tampa Bay Symphony board of directors. The quick responses meant the search commit-tee had to quickly evaluate and interview potential can-

doctors and lawyers, and we have students,” Klotz said. The search committee looked for candidates who would be able to deal with volunteer musicians. “We want a director that is willing to challenge those that look for the challenge, but yet not overwhelm the younger players,” Klotz said. The search committee also looked at what kind of [music/performance] candidates would be inter-ested in doing for the season. The candidates can use dancers or props for their performances. “The director is the face of an orchestra,” Klotz said. “They have to be openminded about the concert music.”

The orchestras’ search committee will gather feed- back from each of the audience members and from the orchestra members, as

decisions for the new conductor. The new conductor for the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra will be announ-ced at the end of the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra 2011-2012 concert season.

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C I R Q U EDE  LA  SYMPHONIE

Tampa - STRAZ

St. Petersburg - MAH

Clearwater - REH

Pop  Series:  RAYMOND  JAMES

For information: 727.892.5767

For tickets: 727.898.2100 www.ticketmaster.com

Hours: Thursday through Saturday 12 pm - 6 pm and 90 minutes prior to any ticketed event.

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Jack Heller

Conductor  Prepares    

For  Last    Performance

As he sat in the black barstool chair on the

podium in St. James Metho-th

Ave N., Jack Heller, the conductor of the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra, prepa- red for his last performance with the orchestra. He was dressed casual with his blue short sleeve shirt with a pocket on the right and wrinkle-free khaki pants. The atmosphere in the room seemed “business as usual.” Heller didn’t start practice by doting on one of his favorite pieces that he

with the orchestra nor did he say that he appreciated

the commitment from the members. He never mentio-ned anything about the new conductor, and his plans for the orchestra. Heller simply sat on his black bar-stool chair with the music stand in front of him, and he started to conduct as Maxwell Grossman played feverishly on the piano. The beautiful melodic sounds from the music didn’t echo throughout the room, since the room wasn’t built for orchestras to practice, but the music seem to take the pressure off the obvious, only for a little while.

sits on the black bar-stool

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chair preparing the orches-

“Violins are you listening?” Heller said with frustration in his voice. Heller started conduct- ing for the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra in 1986, when it was still known as the St. Petersburg Commu- nity Symphony. When Heller started conducting here years ago, Conrad Denny, a member of the orchestra at that time, asked Heller if he would be interested in conducting for the Tampa Bay Symphony Orchestra. Heller was ecstatic and honored to lead the orchestra.

“I’m very inte rested in comm-unity music making,” he said. As the orchestra played its last movement of Gustav Mahler, Heller looked as though he approved, which

It seemed as though he some- how reached the pinnacle of his career. However, he had concerns about the orchestra’s future. “The orchestra is a non-

he said. “In the past, the Tampa Bay Orchestra would perform on astage in Vinoy Park, but now they can’t do that with all the cutbacks that they had to make.”

Heller said that he has thought about retiring from his position for years, so this

his words. “ I wrote a letter to the board, and said that this would be my last year,” he said. “I conducted many community orchestras before I [moved] down to Tampa.” Before Heller moved to Tampa, he was a conductor for the University of Connec- ticut Symphony Orchestra from 1960-1967, and the Manchester Civic Orchestra from 1968-1985. Heller said that he wants to explore life, but that “It’s been a wonderful 25 years.”

Heller’s son, Mark, a cello player in the orchestra since 1992 and now the assistant director, said that he doesn’t think that he will apply for his father’s position because he’s not sure he can commit the time.

“Being a conductor has been a great privilege [for my father],” he said. Heller hopes that the Tampa Bay Symphony Orch- estra will continue to progress and grow after he retires. “I think that the orchestra,” he said. “Is a wonderful idea.”

Nikeya Williams / TBC Magazine

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 Auditions  Start  For  

Conducting  Position

The three candidates Dr. John Bannon, Mark

Sforzini, and Dr. Susan Robinson will audition for the Tampa Bay Orchestra conductor position for the

The auditions are scheduled

at the Palladium Theater in downtown St. Petersburg. Each candidate will conduct an entire concert session for the orchestra. Banon is Principal Tym- panist for the Florida Orchestra, and he conducts the band and Orchestra, and teaches conducting at St. Petersburg College. Bannon also teaches percussion at Hillsborough Community College, and during the summers he coaches cham-ber music and teaches

percussion at the Kinhaven Music School in Vermont. Sforzini is Conductor and Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Opera Com- pany and Encore Series of chamber music at the Palladium Theater. Sforzini teaches bassoon at St. Petersburg College and is an accomplished composer across the country. Robinson is Conductor and Music Director of Pinellas Youth Symphony and the South Shore Symphony Orchestra. Robinson con- ducts at the University of Tampa Orchestra and tea-ches at St. Petersburg College, University of Tampa, and Marica P. Hoffman Institute for the Performing Arts in Clearwater.

Dr.  John  Bannon  will  conduct  the  fall  concert  series  on:

Tuesday, Nov. 1 - Sunday, Nov. 18

Mark  Sforzini  will  conduct  the  winter  concert  series  on:  

Sunday, Feb. 12 - Wednesday, Feb. 15

Dr.  Susan  Robinson  will  conduct  the  spring  concert  series  on:

Sunday, April 22 - Wednesday, April 25

Florida Orchestra Images

St.Petersburg Opera Images

Tampa Bay Symphony Images

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